Background
Natural wetlands support high and unique biodiversity and provide a wide range of ecosystem services which translate into important health and economic revenues for human populations. Yet, and despite considerable international efforts, approximately 65% of natural wetlands worldwide have been lost in the last century. Agriculture is among the largest contributors to wetland and biodiversity loss through conversion of natural habitats to intensely managed systems. Rice is the primary food for 40% of the world human population and rice fields, mostly cultivated on former wetlands, occupy an area larger than any other crop in the world. Therefore, there is very strong conflict between the expansion of crops and the need to protect natural wetlands and ecosystem services. On the other hand, the value of some agricultural ecosystems as habitats for wildlife, such as rice fields for waterbirds, is widely recognized. Thus, the debate on whether efforts should focus on intensifying agriculture to release other land for protection versus the implementation of biodiversity-friendly farming over larger areas still thrives on the research and conservation agendas. Critical pieces of evidence-based information still lack to solve this conundrum, but among the most urgent is the understanding on whether (and the extent to which) agricultural systems can provide an equivalent functional framework for animal assemblages in comparison to natural habitats.