Ecological and social evaluation of landscape in a rural area with terraced paddies in southwestern Japan

Abstract

Since the 1960s, improving socio-economic conditions in rural Japan have led to the rise in man-made or man-shaped landscapes, which has in turn resulted in formerly abundant species becoming endangered. In order to conserve biodiversity in rural areas, former agricultural landscapes must be conserved. The problem is that ecologically appropriate landscapes are not always compatible with the needs of local residents or land owners. Prior to carrying out any particular conservation measures, regional landscape management must consider both ecological and social approaches and present acceptable approach-specific management goals in an open and transparent manner. This study, undertaken in the Ohaga district of southwestern Japan, a typical rural area with terraced paddy fields, sought to develop a framework for evaluating regional resources from a landscape ecology perspective. Monitoring the temporal change of landscape structures and vegetation revealed the presence of habitats, such as the pine forest and grasslands bordering the rice paddies, which harbour specific plant species or populations, some now endangered. From a social standpoint, questionnaires revealed that local inhabitants wanted landscape management options which would conserve the pine forest, paddy fields and levee grasslands. Local farmers thought that the landscape should be used and managed as a rural park, rather than for agricultural purposes. These desirable landscape element types can serve as targets for conservation, but ultimately a new system of agricultural management must be developed to sustain the rural landscape.

Natural reforestation is changing spatial patterns of rural mountain and hill landscapes: A global overview

“…The first spatial attribute is very important in a global landscape analysis. Spatial heterogeneity is often maintained by man in preserving cultural landscapes (Antrop, 1997;Palang and Fry, 2003;Iiyama et al, 2005), where boundary length increases biodiversity, thereby causing the presence of a large number of edge species in the area (Forman, 1995). We tried to find a common trend on the changing spatial attributes.…”

The relationships between the structure of paddy levees and the plant species diversity in cultural landscapes on the west side of Lake Biwa, Shiga, Japan

“…As existing studies have shown, various factors unique to each area should be considered to explain species diversity in paddy levees (Ohkuro et al 1996;Iiyama et al 2002Iiyama et al , 2005Kitagawa et al 2004;Yamada et al 2005). Without a deep understanding of the relationship between residents and their land, it is difficult to understand the biodiversity of the area.…”

Characterizing land-use diversity in village landscapes for sustainable mountain development: a case study from Indian Himalaya

“…However, if shifting agriculture is a minor land-use interspersed with other tree-rich land-use/cover types, tree regeneration during fallow phase may be significant as reported in this study. Land-use variability brings in habitat heterogeneity resulting in a high level of biodiversity in village landscapes (Smeding and Joenjeb 1999;Iiyama et al 2005). However, both shifting agriculture and forests in the present study area provide niche for an invasive alien species Lantana camara posing threats to indigenous biodiversity and ecosystem functions in future (Duggin and Gentle 1998).…”