Search

Urban residents need to live in an ecologically sustainable way to mitigate and adapt to climate change. To discuss the model of urban ecological life, this paper focused on Satoyama landscapes and reviewed academic articles on the existing cases of Satoyama conservation by urban residents in the Greater Tokyo Area. We analyzed activities performed by participants, benefits to participants, and targeted and achieved ecosystems. Several findings were obtained from the review of published literature. First, the participants were mainly elderly men aged 60 years or older, who were not necessarily local people and who were motivated mostly by the need to conserve nature and improve their health. People with intellectual disabilities also enjoyed the benefits of Satoyama woodland management. Second, participants tended to recognize benefits in terms of health promotion, social cohesion, recreation, and resource utilization, rather than landscape and biodiversity conservation. Third, there were different directions of Satoyama conservation from the perspectives of nature and humans. The broader ecosystem beyond each site was not necessarily considered in Satoyama conservation. These findings show the potential of, and the necessity for, attracting other urban residents by including various activities that consist of not only vegetation conservation but also communal events based on different preferences. There is also a need for balancing environmental and socio-economic perspectives, and the targeted ecosystem should be further explored in collaboration with experts in ecology and landscape planning to make urban ecological life feasible.

Star magnolia, Magnolia stellata, is an endemic rare subcanopy tree species in the Pacific Ocean side of central Japan and an important component of Satoyama coppice forests in the area. This speci...

Satoyama is one of the semi-natural ecosystems in Japan. Traditional agricultural practices in satoyama provide preferable habitats for many species, thus, enhancing biodiversity. However, many satoyama ecosystems have been altered by agricultural intensification and rapid urbanization. Meanwhile, ageing and shrinking population has led to the abandonment of remaining satoyama ecosystems, resulting in their potential degradation. We argue that counteracting the abandonment of satoyama is particularly essential in urbanized landscapes because conserving its biodiversity would have a payoff for urban communities. We focused on nature-oriented park use of satoyama ecosystems, utilizing their original scenery, topography, water features, and vegetation. To evaluate the potential of nature-oriented park use for biodiversity conservation, we examined the differences in diversity and species composition of vascular plants and butterflies among three land-use types (agricultural-use, park-use, and abandoned sites) of satoyama ecosystems. Diversity of native plants and butterflies did not significantly differ between agricultural-use and park-use sites and that of native plants was significantly lower at abandoned sites than at agricultural-use sites. Although species composition of native plants at agricultural-use sites and park-use sites significantly differ, that of native butterflies did not. The efficacy of park use for biodiversity conservation, thus, depended on the taxa. Nonetheless, for striking a balance between the difficulty in maintaining agricultural use and accelerating satoyama abandonment, our study highlights the utility of park use as an alternative usage, contributing to biodiversity conservation. Balancing the wise use of satoyama in urbanized landscapes is a fundamental step toward the conservation of its biodiversity and human–nature interactions.

Approaching sustainability through landscapes helps appreciate the value of the diversity of human ways to live with nature that exists today. On the basis of fieldwork research in Japan, we explore the landscapes of natural parks, satoyama, and permaculture, all three recognized as sustainable and of high biodiversity value despite showing significant differences in terms of nature protection and landscape management strategies. We use the ‘framework of the milieu’ inspired by Watsuji Tetsurō and Augustin Berque to situate individual experiences and behaviours within the landscape’s dynamics. It sheds light on the ideas of human-nature relations that underpin the understandings of sustainability as reflected in each landscape. We derive three corresponding landscape types: scenic, cultural, and ecotopian landscapes. We show that these types can be complementary insofar as they together support healthy ecosystems and fuel a sense of connectedness to nature.EDITED BY Jacqueline Loos

Through a case study of peri-urban satoyama woodland in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, this present paper discusses the benefits and challenges of small-scale wood biomass utilization aimed at landscape improvement in local communities. In this study, a unique methodology that combines the assessment of biomass availability with landscape improvement was first developed and then applied to the case study. In total, 10,213 trees were identified, and its aboveground biomass was estimated. The available biomass per year was estimated based on three landscape improvement options: (1) “thinning trees alongside path”, (2) “thinning trees in dense stand”, and (3) “creating coppice with standard”. Then, the number of local households exposed to wood biomass as renewable energy was estimated under both ordinary and emergency situations (e.g., earthquake). The results of the woodland case study show that 61.4–163.2 Mg year−1 of wood biomass can be provided by the landscape improvements, resulting in wood energy for 9.7–55.6 households in an ordinary situation and heating and cooking energy for 896–4761 nearby households in an emergency. In spite of many economic, social, and environmental challenges, this small-scale restoration of satoyama woodland as a local bio-resource can be a starting point for the consideration of the reconstruction of urban–rural relations. Further conceptual and practical studies are needed to strengthen and scale the approach.

Agricultural intensification and socioeconomic changes over several decades have generated many abandoned fields. These changes have led to reduce plant and animal biodiversity, as well as associated loss of ecosystem services, and represent deterioration of a unique socio-ecological production landscape known as “Satoyama” in Japan. Appropriate management measures should be implemented to restore these abandoned fields. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine the effect of goat grazing on vegetation dynamics and animal performance in response to different stocking rates over a five-year period; and 2) evaluate the economic potential of weed management through goat grazing by comparing this method to mowing with a brush cutter. We found that goat grazing changed vegetational composition, increased the number of plant species, and improved plant diversity in the abandoned field, although stocking rate had little effect on plant diversity. Goat grazing changed vegetation quality, even though goats maintained their nutritional status and body weight over five years. Goat grazing showed economic advantages over mowing during a relatively short period (up to 8–12 days per 1,000 m2). Overall, we found that goats would be ecologically and economically useful in restoring, managing, and conserving agricultural fields. However, a more comprehensive approach is still necessary for conserving “Satoyama”. Combination of grazing, mowing with a machine and prescribed burning may be more effective, and animal and biofuel production in these field would be a solution for reducing field abandonment.

Land-use changes cause biodiversity loss in semi-natural ecosystems worldwide. Biotic homogenization has led to biodiversity loss, mainly through declines in species composition turnover. Elucidating patterns of turnover in species composition could enhance our understanding of how anthropogenic activities affect community assembly. Here, we focused on whether the decreasing patterns in plant diversity and turnover of species composition resulting from land-use change vary in two regions. We estimated the species diversity and composition of semi-natural grasslands surrounding paddy fields in satoyama landscapes. We examined the differences in species diversity and composition across three land-use types (abandoned, traditional, and intensified) in two regions (Hyogo and Niigata Prefectures, Japan), which were characterized by different climatic conditions. We then assessed alpha-, beta-, and gamma-diversity to compare the patterns of diversity losses in the two regions as a result of land-use changes. In each region, gamma-diversity was consistently higher in the traditional sites compared to abandoned or intensified sites. The analyses revealed that most of the beta-diversity in traditional sites differed significantly from those of abandoned and intensified sites in both regions. However, the beta-diversity of total and perennial species did not differ between traditional and abandoned sites in the Hyogo region. We noted that the beta-diversity of total and perennial species in intensified sites was much lower than that in the traditional sites of the Niigata region. Overall, the patterns of alpha- and gamma-diversity loss were similar in both study regions. Although the biotic homogenization was caused by intensified land-use in the Niigata region, this hypothesis did not completely explain the loss of biodiversity in the abandoned sites in the Hyogo region. The present study contributes to the growing body of work investigating changes in biodiversity as a result of both biotic homogenization and differentiation in semi-natural ecosystems. Conservationists and policy makers should focus on patterns of species composition responded to land-use changes that continue to increase worldwide.

To reframe the imperfect review processes of nation-scale actions on area-based conservation through protected area (PA) networks, we first created novel infrastructure to visualize nation-level biodiversity information in Japan. We then assessed the performance of the existing PA network relative to land exploitation pressure and evaluated conservation effectiveness of PA expansion for the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The Zonation software was used to spatially prioritize conservation areas to minimize biodiversity loss and the extinction risk for 8077 Japanese vascular plant and vertebrate species under constraints of the existing PA network and land use. The spatial pattern of the identified priority areas, which were considered candidate areas for expansion of the current PA network, was influenced by land-use types according to the mask layers of non-PAs, and low-, middle-, and high-ranked PAs. The current PA network reduced the aggregate extinction risk of multiple species by 36.6%. Indeed, the proportion of built-up areas in the existing PAs was generally smaller than that in the areas surrounding PAs. Notably, high-ranked PAs effectively restricted the built-up pressure (0.04% every 10 years), whereas low-ranked PAs in national park and wild-life protection areas did not (1.8% every 10 years). Conservation effects were predicted to substantially improve by expansion of high-ranked (legally strict) PAs into remote non-PAs without population/socioeconomic activities, or expansion of medium-ranked PAs into satoyama which have traditionally been used for agriculture and forestry, and urban areas. A 30% land conservation target was predicted to decrease extinction risk by 74.1% when PA expansion was implemented across remote areas, satoyama, and urban areas; moreover, PA connectivity almost doubled compared with the existing PA network. In contrast, a conventional scenario showed that placing national parks in state-owned and non-populated areas would reduce extinction risk by only 4.0%. Conservation prioritization analyses demonstrated the effectiveness of using a comprehensive conservation approach that reconciles land-sparing protection and land-sharing conservation in other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) in satoyama and urban green spaces. Our results revealed that complementary inclusion of various PA interventions related to their governance and land-use planning plays a critical role in effectively preventing biodiversity loss and makes it more feasible to achieve ambitious conservation targets.

Production landscapes play an important role in conserving biodiversity outside protected areas. Socio-ecological production landscapes (SEPL) are places where people use for primary production that conserve biodiversity. Such places can be found around the world, but a lack of geographic information on SEPL has resulted in their potential for conservation being neglected in policies and programs. We tested the global applicability of the Satoyama Index for identifying SEPL in multi-use cultural landscapes using global land use/cover data and two datasets of known SEPL. We found that the Satoyama Index, which was developed with a focus on biodiversity and tested in Japan, could be used globally to identify landscapes resulting from complex interactions between people and nature with statistical significance. This makes SEPL more relevant in the global conservation discourse. As the Satoyama Index mapping revealed that approximately 80% of SEPL occur outside recognized conservation priorities, such as protected areas and key biodiversity areas, identifying SEPL under the scheme of other area-based conservation measures (OECM) may bring more conservation attention to SEPL. Based on the issues identified in the SEPL mapping, we discuss ways that could improve the Satoyama Index mapping at global scale with the longitudinal temporal dimension and at more local scale with spatial and thematic resolution.

金沢大学環日本海域環境研究センター, Latrine sites, or areas where otters scent-mark and deposit feces, are a habitat feature that serve an important role in communication for many otter species. The small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus) inhabits both natural and rice field landscapes in Southeast Asia. However, latrine site use by small-clawed otters in rice field landscapes is largely unknown. Based on a 53-week field survey and landscape analyses, we investigated latrine site use by small-clawed otters in rice field landscapes in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Using land use and/or local environmental variables as predictors, we performed generalized linear model analyses to explain the spatial patterns of latrine site occurrence and otter visitation frequency to latrine sites. We determined that small-clawed otters use some latrine sites repeatedly over time; 10 latrine sites were still in use more than 7 years after their initial discovery. Generalized linear model analyses revealed that an intermediate number of rice field huts was the single most important predictor of latrine site occurrence, whereas distance to the nearest settlement, distance to the river, and mean water depth of the rice field adjacent to the latrine site were important predictors of otter visitation frequency to latrine sites. These results indicate that the latrine site preferences of small-clawed otters in rice field landscapes are strongly associated with intermediate levels of rice farming activities. Indonesian rice fields are being degraded or disappearing at an accelerated rate because of land conversion and modernization of agriculture. We emphasize an urgent need for design and implementation of otter-friendly rice farming to conserve small-clawed otters. © 2017 The Ecological Society of Japan, Embargo Period 12 months

金沢大学環日本海域環境研究センター, Farm ponds are among the most biodiverse anthropogenic freshwater habitats because of their small size, shallow water depth, and aquatic vegetation. Land-use changes, such as converting riparian vegetation to human use or changing the management practices of farm ponds, are assumed to be major factors that change such ecosystems from a clear-water state to a turbid state, leading to deterioration of water quality and biodiversity in such ponds. Using the database of a large-scale pond survey, we evaluated the effects of surrounding land use (landscape factors and modern pond management practices), fish abundance, and other environmental variables on total phosphorus concentration and taxonomic richness patterns of six biological indicators associated with changes in the trophic state. Local- and landscape-level vegetation structure associated with land use and total fish abundance were among the factors influencing the total phosphorus concentration of farm ponds, a main driver of trophic state changes. In addition, a transition from a clear-water state to a turbid state was associated with lower taxonomic richness of aquatic plants, macroinvertebrates, and adult Odonata, and a higher taxonomic richness of phytoplankton and fish. Based on these results, we discuss potential land-use and pond management strategies for conserving and/or restoring the water quality and biodiversity of farm ponds through maintenance of a clear-water state. © 2017 Elsevier B.V., Embargo Period 24 months

Land-use/land-cover heterogeneity is among the most important factors influencing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and is the key to the conservation of multi-habitat dwellers that use both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Heterogeneity indices based on land-use/land-cover maps typically do not integrate ecological dissimilarity between land-use/land-cover types. Here, we applied the concept of functional diversity to an existing land-use/land-cover diversity index (Satoyama index) to incorporate ecological dissimilarity and proposed a new index called the dissimilarity-based Satoyama index (DSI). Using Japan as a case study, we calculated the DSI for three land-use/land-cover maps with different spatial resolutions and derived similarity information from normalized difference vegetation index values. The DSI showed better performance in the prediction of Japanese damselfly species richness than that of the existing index, and a higher correlation between the index and species richness was obtained for higher resolution maps. Thus, our approach to improve the land-use/land-cover diversity index holds promise for future development and can be effective for conservation and monitoring efforts.

Overuse of natural resources by humans is a major threat to biodiversity. Overuse often involves species of economic or esthetic value, and fish are a typical example for a group that is exploited both for economic reasons (for human consumption) and for esthetic reasons (e.g. by aquarists). Pseudorhodeus tanago (Tanaka, 1909) (formerly known as Tanakia tanago) is a small colorful but legally protected (fishing, keeping and transfer are banned) bitterling fish distributed around Tokyo, Japan. Whereas it is critically endangered and more and more habitat loss has occurred, at least four stocks have been newly found during the last decade. To explore whether emergence of these newly found habitats is a consequence of incomplete survey, we genotyped mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence of P. tanago from 17 localities and an illegal home aquarium. Populations known by the past extensive survey (13 localities) showed geographically structured population genetic characteristics. Population-specific haplotypes were common indicating past divergence and bottleneck events. Four (north, {center + west}, south_1, south_2) or five (north, center, west, south_1, south_2) geographic groups were detectable as for these known localities. On the other hand, newly found stocks were polymorphic and showed identical haplotypes from distant known localities. If we assume historical basis of distribution and genetic characteristics of these newly found stocks, it must be a series of unlikely geological events and haplotype sorting. We discuss potential issues posed by these questionable stocks.

Conservation of temperate forest biodiversity has historically focused on natural old-growth. Less than 3% of the world's temperate forests remain unmodified by humans, however, and much of temperate-forest biodiversity is held in the predominating planted and secondary forests. Japan provides a widely applicable model for examining how to maximize biodiversity in managed temperate forests, because of its richness of forestry research generated from its vast forest area, albeit largely in Japanese, and the wide practice of its dominant management interventions across the northern temperate zone. Management for plantations includes thinning, extended rotation cycles and clear-cutting. For secondary forests regenerating from past clearance, traditional management varies in its intensities, from clear-cutting as coppices to small-scale understory clearance. Here we provide a first synthesis of published research on biodiversity in planted and secondary forests of Japan, relevant to management of these types of forest in northern temperate regions. Systematic review and meta-analyses of papers published in English and Japanese quantified management impacts on species richness and abundance of several taxa, in relation to moderator variables including stand age and management intensity. Plantation thinning substantially increases the richness and abundance of several taxa. Effect sizes decline with time since thinning for the abundance of regenerating saplings and seedlings, necessitating repeated thinning treatments every 6 years to sustain this positive effect. Taxonomic groups exhibit variable relationships with stand age in both planted and secondary forests, indicating a need to include both young and old forest stands in managed forest mosaics. We find an insufficient evidence base is available to allow for a meaningful synthesis of low-intensity management effects in historically managed secondary forests, with studies varying widely in scale and reported outcomes. We outline an agenda for the research community to achieve a systematic evaluation of scale-dependent effects of traditional forest management on biodiversity.

The Minabe-Tanabe Ume System in central Japan is defined as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. This study examined relationships between parcel-level plant diversity and land use, management, and development in traditional sloped Ume (Japanese apricot, Prunus mume) orchards and adjoining level orchards recently developed through large-scale cut-fill land development. We constructed and overlaid past (1974) and present (2015) digital land-use maps to assess land use and topography. We conducted field vegetation surveys in land parcels with different development and management histories. Although 249 ha (4.6% of the total 2015 area) were developed using cut-fill methods, 5148 ha remain a traditional orchard surrounded by coppice forests. Vegetation surveys and a two-way indicator species analysis revealed that traditional orchards had more native species and a higher plant diversity index. Cut-fill orchards contained a higher proportion of alien species, however, the degree depended on parcel history and management. Overall, this area remains a dynamic mosaic landscape containing a core of long-standing Ume orchards. We suggest that biodiversity conservation in this area should focus on conservation measures such as indirect land-use regulations, including some acceptable landform transformations, to promote continued farming of this ecologically important area.

Sympetrum pedemontanum (Müller in Allioni) (Odonata: Libellulidae), which is distributed widely in the Eurasian continent and its neighboring islands, is listed as a Least Concern species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List (2015). In Japan, however, the population of its subspecies S. pedemontanum elatum (Selys) has been rapidly decreasing since the 1970s. In order to conserve this subspecies, it is important to understand the seasonal microhabitat use by its larvae. However, this has been a difficult task because larvae of S. pedemontanum elatum often coexist with those of a common congener, S. eroticum (Selys), and cannot be morphologically distinguished from the latter. Thus, in this study, we first established a molecular technique based on the polymerase chain reaction to accurately identify each species. In the subsequent field survey in 2015 with its application in the Sakasegawa River, Hyogo Prefecture, we found that S. pedemontanum elatum larvae hatch in stagnant water and subsequently advance into weakly flowing water. Our results indicated a change in the microhabitats during the larval developmental process, reflecting the need for a continuous spectrum of stagnant, transitional, and flowing water. Such aquatic environments with a spectrum of water conditions are disappearing in Satoyama, a rural farming area in Japan. This has endangered species such as S. pedemontanum elatum and Oryzias latipes (Beloniformes: Adrianichthyidae) by depriving them of their favorable habitats. For their conservation, it is necessary to develop methods to recover the traditional aquatic environments in Satoyama.

Many production landscapes around the world have been sustained through appropriate use and management of natural resources, but many are now facing overuse or underuse. This paper explores future perspectives on the satoyama landscape (traditional Japanese rural landscape) as a social–ecological system through an overview of its transformation. Two phases in the human–nature relationship are observed: before the fossil fuel revolution of the late 1950s, people maintained a direct relationship with nature, and the landscape was integrally managed through community cooperation to avoid overuse; then, after the late 1950s, inflow of goods and services from outside and outflow of the population resulted in underuse of natural resources, and the human–nature relationship became weakened and more indirect. Rebuilding the human–nature relationship in the present day calls for efforts that go beyond the local level toward cross-scale, connected and coupled social–ecological systems.

A quantitative understanding of relations between ecosystems and human well-being is critical to a range of decisions and to communities. This study examined home food production and the sharing of food with non-market transactions and its implications for physical functioning and social relations. To characterize the quantity and varieties of non-market food consumed per household at the community level and to discover how food is shared in social relations within and beyond communities, we conducted face-to-face interviews in three communities with varying socio-geographic attributes in Japan’s Noto peninsula. We found that rural households in inland and coastal communities consume greater varieties and quantities of food grown at home and/or received from others than households in semi-urban community. The varieties and quantities correlated positively with the number of sharing partners, indicating that households with more connections to other households consume greater food varieties and quantities. Rural households primarily share food within their communities. Among semi-urban households, social connections beyond their communities, particularly connections to rural communities, enhance non-market food consumption. Urbanization has weakened these personal connections and sharing mechanisms. Balancing market and non-market food provisioning and connecting rural and urban areas will be key to building localized models of sustainable societies.

A Satoyama landscape is an important reservoir of biodiversity; however, in post-industrial era traditional Satoyama management became economically unfeasible. To maintain Satoyama, labor-saving management styles have begun to be implemented. In contrast to the traditional styles based on labor-intensive practices such as rotational tree clear-cutting, the labor-saving styles consist mainly in tree thinning and ground vegetation cutting within a small spatial range. The consequences of this new approach are unclear, and our study aimed at filling this gap in our knowledge by analyzing the effects of small scale management on ground beetle community in suburban Satoyama (Kashiwa city, central Japan). We applied labor-saving management at limited spatial range, and sampled and analyzed ground beetles both before and after management. Cluster analysis revealed three groups of beetle assemblages, corresponding to three habitats: forest, bamboo stand and grassland. Comparison of wing traits showed that, before management, brachypterous beetles dominated forest plots and macropterous beetles were more prominent in the grassland plot, while in the bamboo stand both types of wing morphology were evenly represented. This trend can be linked to habitat structural stability driven by vegetation regeneration cycles which reflect dominant plant longevity. After management, macroptery increased in all three habitats. Probably, habitat disturbance created by vegetation management gave advantage to macropterous beetles over brachypterous beetles. These results suggest that wing type can be linked to vegetation structural stability. In some species, decline in abundance was accompanied with decline in body size. Our study shows that small scale Satoyama management can have pronounced effects on beetle assemblages.

The “Noto's Satoyama and Satoumi” in Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan is a system of Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS) mosaics interconnected with highly productive coastal areas that have been formed and maintained through long-term human influence, which supports not only its diverse and traditional agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but also sustains local livelihoods and conserves its flourishing biodiversity. Since the designation of Noto as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2011, there have been active developments of conservation and revitalization efforts amongst the local governments, and communities, as well as pouring interest from the academia, international community and private sector. The paper will discuss the developments of Noto's GIAHS through examining several case studies of recent conservation and revitalization efforts of new initiatives and those building on existing schemes. The report will be based on li...

Since the 1980s, giant bamboo groves consisting mainly of naturalized Phyllostachys pubescens have been expanding in Japanese rural landscapes (satoyama). Using aerial photographs, I evaluated changes in bamboo grove distribution between 1947 and 2006 at Mount Hachiman, Ohmi-hachiman City in western Japan, where there is an area of satoyama landscape adjacent to the suburbs. I also quantitatively determined the natural and artificial factors that accelerated bamboo grove expansion using a multiple logistic regression analysis with stepwise procedure. I attempted to describe the positions of bamboo groves in Japanese satoyama landscapes. The area of bamboo groves in the survey area expanded after 1967. The bamboo groves are located at the base of mountain slopes and on alluvial fans adjacent to residential areas, where they are most susceptible to human interferences (mainly disturbance). They mark the boundary between agricultural fields and secondary forests. The model analysis indicated that the abandonment of lands adjacent to bamboo groves caused bamboo-grove expansion. As forests and agricultural land were abandoned, bamboo, mainly P. pubescens, invaded these areas by rhizomatous clonal growth. Bamboo grove expansion in Japanese satoyama landscapes is dependent on the type of land use, topography, and existing vegetation as well as the invasive life-history traits of P. pubescens.

In the wake of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that devastated part of northeastern Japan in March 2011, proposals for reconstruction and rehabilitation are still subjects of debate. The claim by many climate scientists that large-scale extreme events can be expected in the future, with similar catastrophic effects in coastal areas, suggests the need for long-term planning that aims at building resilience, the ability for socio-ecological systems to withstand and recover quickly from natural disasters, and continue to develop. We hypothesize that ecosystems and socio-economic resilience will provide affected communities with flexible barriers against future disasters and greater protection in the long run than will hard/engineering solutions such as high seawalls aimed at ensuring only physical security. Building social/ecological resilience in the Tohoku region will increase general security and is anticipated also to contribute to an enhanced quality of life now and for generations to come. This paper argues that building resilience in the affected area requires a transformation to sustainable agriculture, forestry and fisheries and we describe how the links between satoyama and satoumi, traditional rural territorial and coastal landscapes in Japan, can contribute to this revitalization and to strengthening the relationship between local residents and the landscape in the affected communities. Decision makers at local, regional and national levels need to take a holistic approach based on sustainability science to understand the inter-relationships between these landscapes and ecosystems to develop a robust rebuilding plan for the affected communities. Moreover, this paper suggests that building resilient communities in Japan that demonstrate the strategic benefits of satoyama and satoumi linkages can be a model for building resilient rural and urban communities throughout the world.

Agricultural landscapes generally include not only crop fields but also semi-natural habitats. In Japan, such a mixed rural landscape is called "satoyama." Although ground beetles are potential predators of pests, the environmental factors that determine their distribution in Japanese rural landscapes have not been fully elucidated. To understand the effects of distance from woodland edges, soil moisture, and weed height on assemblages of carabid beetles, we examined the number of adult beetles in pitfall traps placed in a satoyama landscape in the lowlands of western Honshu, Japan. Our results show that the carabid species could be largely differentiated into woodland, intermediate, and open-land species. The "intermediate species" group includes species that depend on woodland or woodland edges for at least part of their life cycles. Paddy fields must have long provided semi-natural habitats that complement those in natural grasslands and wetlands for open-land beetles that prefer wet conditions. Weeds can also increase the abundance of some intermediate and woodland species; thus, the arrangement of such landscape elements as woodlands and paddies can determine the species richness and abundance of ground beetles in agricultural fields.

To examine the effects of cultivated field abandonment on butterfly assemblages, we investigated butterfly assemblages in seven local settlements with varying degrees of abandonment of cultivated fields. We hypothesized that species with specialist characteristics (univoltine and oligophagous species) would increase with an increasing proportion of old abandoned fields (50–80% of these fields had been abandoned for approximately 30 years) and that species that utilized annual plants would increase with an increasing proportion of recently abandoned fields (abandoned for one to two years). Species richness and the abundance of univoltine, oligophagous, and non-annual feeding species increased with increasing proportions of old abandoned fields, whereas those of multivoltine, polyphagous, and annual feeding species decreased or remain stable. Species that utilized annual plants did not respond to the amount of recently abandoned fields. Redundancy analyses showed that the proportions of old and recently abandoned fields affected butterfly assemblages but that other uncontrolled factors, such as road density and the distance to the continuous forests, did not affect butterfly assemblages. Our results showed that abandoned cultivated fields are beneficial to some specialist butterflies that are sensitive to the simplification of landscapes and can be an option for increasing biodiversity, particularly in simplified agricultural landscapes. Further research is required to reveal factors affecting vegetation types in abandoned cultivated fields, to determine the relative effects of local compared with landscape factors regulating butterfly assemblages, and to examine the role of abandoned cultivated fields compared with other semi-natural vegetation for conserving biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Traditional, pre-industrial farming was adapted to the natural environment—topography, geology, hydrology, climate, and biota. Traditional land use systems are still to be traced in Scandinavia as an “infield/outland landscape”, and in Japan as a “Satoyama landscape.” There are obvious similarities and differences in land use—the main difference being that pasturing of cattle and sheep has been less important in Japan. These land use systems can be traced back to early sedentary settlements 1500–2500 years ago. In both regions, traditional management almost ceased in the mid-twentieth century leading to afforestation and decreased biological diversity. Today, there is in Japan a growing movement for landscape restoration and promotion of a sustainable living countryside based on local agrarian and forestry production, local energy, tourism, etc. With this background, the so-called Satoyama Initiative has been organized and introduced as a global socio-ecological project with ecosystem services for human well-being.

Numerous studies have looked at sustainable tourism as the key to balancing environmental conservation and development in agricultural heritage sites. A microcosm of the traditional rural productive landscape, the Noto Satoyama Satoumi landscape has been designated as a pilot site for the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) in Japan. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of green tourism, focusing on the GIAHS program. The secondary objective is to explore the features of green tourism in Japan. First, the historic development and current state of green tourism in Japan is reviewed. The case in study is a typical green tourism project concerning an organization of farmers in the Noto Peninsula—the Shunran-no-Sato group. The question of how to develop green tourism in the context of the GIAHS project and considering the sustainable development of rural society and its farming systems by increasing incomes of rural households, is investigated. The study combined literature review and in-depth interviews with farm inn owners to investigate tourism development in the depopulated rural areas of Japan, examine its challenges, and present this information to international readers.

This paper reviews research on the ecosystem services or multifunctionality of paddy rice cultivation in Japan, focusing on biodiversity as a basis for ecosystem services, with the aim of describing the current status and impact of the subject and exploring options for sustainable practices. Ecosystem services provided by paddy fields include; groundwater recharge, production of non-rice foods, flood control, soil erosion and landslide prevention, climate-change mitigation, water purification, culture and landscape, and support of ecosystems and biodiversity. Among these services, the value of services that regulate ecosystem functions was estimated to be US$ 72.8 billion in Japan. More than 5000 species have been recorded in paddy fields and the surrounding environment. Because paddy fields are artificially disturbed by water level management, plowing, and harvest, most species move between paddy fields and the surrounding environment. The linkage between paddy fields and the associated environment plays an important role in biodiversity. Two changes that have affected the ecosystem of paddy fields are modernization and abandonment of farming. Satoyama, a traditional socio-ecological production landscape, which provided a functional linkage between paddy fields and the associated environment has lost its functions. Biodiversity-conscious rice farming has been promoted by collaborations among farmers, consumers and governments. Biodiversity certification programs are successful examples of biodiversity-conscious framing. In these programs incentives include direct payments and/or premium prices paid by consumers, as well as farmers willingness to improve the safety of food and environment.

We examined the relative impacts of socioeconomic and biophysical variables on understory vegetation in urban woodlands using the example of satoyama woodland in peri-urban areas of Tokyo, Japan to determine an appropriate institutional framework for enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban woodlands. Satoyama woodland was historically managed, however, the recent abandonment endangers its biodiversity and ecosystem services. We addressed two main working questions: (1) Which variables (among conservation measures, management actors, and other environmental variables) are the main constraints on the current understory vegetation of urban woodland? (2) How does each management actor behave in the context of different conservation measures and how does this behavior affect the understory vegetation? We employed dwarf bamboo (Pleioblastus chino) as an indicator of the intensity of satoyama woodland management and combined ecological analysis with interviews of municipal officials. We found that the conditions of understory vegetation were mainly affected by differences in the behavior of management actors, as the height of dwarf bamboo was shortest at the woodland managed by community group, followed by municipality and private landowner. This suggests that it will be necessary to consider both biophysical variables and socioeconomic variables in urban ecosystem management. We also found that different management actors had different reasons to conduct or not conduct woodland management. To improve management by these multiple actors, we recommend: developing management plans for conserved areas, providing economic and non-economic support, and developing clear indicators for monitoring the effects of management, with their different behaviors in mind.

By comparing with the historic semi-natural grassland and woodland vegetation data compiled in the 1970s and 1980s, we aimed to reveal potential roles of small and linear habitat fragments remaining in the urbanized satoyama landscape (i.e., agricultural landscape) in Japan for conservation of grassland plant species. TWINSPAN cluster analysis differentiated the current vegetation from historic one. Current vegetation of Miscanthus grassland was classified into two different groups and one of the two was equivalent to current understory vegetation of fragmented woodland. The linear woodland edge vegetation along the roads was classified into one group and separated from the other current vegetation groups. The current vegetation groups were characterized by higher richness of exotic species than historic vegetation groups. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) revealed that there were no groups of current vegetation that is equivalent to historic woodland understory vegetation. The vegetation quality of the current group of Miscanthus grassland and secondary woodland remaining on urban public properties, and the group of linear roadside vegetation were almost equivalent to that of historic semi-natural grassland. Both of the small and linear habitat fragments might have functioned as habitats for grassland species under regular mowing management. Although small and linear habitat fragments would not be sufficient for sustaining grassland populations in the future, these habitats can serve as key reservoirs for grassland species recovery in the conservation and restoration of grassland communities in the urbanized satoyama landscape.

Japan's rice terrace landscapes are not only used for food production but also appreciated as a place of high biocultural value. This paper pursues the question as to how far esthetic and spiritual values influence the motivation to participate in collective agricultural actions aiming at the conservation of traditional land use systems, the respective cultural (= traditional rural) landscapes and their biocultural diversity. Our results show that in the Ownership System of Ōyamasenmaida (Chiba Prefecture, Japan) landscape beauty is the main motivator for the mainly urban volunteers (the ‘tenants’) to participate in activities of the local Preservation Association, as well as for visitors who merely come to enjoy the scenery of the rice terraces. The active tenants, however, differ from the ‘passive’ visitors in their ecological interest and emotional attachment to the area. Interestingly, there is also a difference regarding the belief in nature spirits. A higher percentage of people who can imagine that such spirits are always present have been found among the tenants than among the visitors. Even more significant in this respect was the difference between female tenants and female visitors. To what extent spirituality is the cause for or an effect of involvement in nature conservation activities cannot be concluded from this survey. Future studies should therefore take a closer look at the connection between spirituality/religiosity and engagement in nature conservation activities. In Western countries (mainly in Central Europe or North America), nature conservation works on a more ‘scientific’ level, mobilizing engagement through scientific evidence on, for example, losses of species or biodiversity. Addressing the motivations of the volunteers on an emotional, esthetic or social level could be a promising way forward.

The purpose of this study was to determine the traditional knowledge (TK) associated with edible wild plants and mushrooms, as well as to examine the status of relevant TK by a set of indicators de...

Populations of the Heike firefly, Luciola lateralis, a representative species of Japan's traditional agricultural landscape (known as satoyama), have recently experienced rapid declines in many areas of Japan. Owing to the popularity of this firefly, many local communities have increased conservation efforts through the restoration of aquatic habitat complexes in satoyama. To provide fundamental parameters to predict population dynamics of the firefly, we conducted a mark-recapture study in restored paddy fields, and we estimated adult population parameters such as population size, survival, recruitment, sex ratio, and body size. We found that capture probability generally decreased as the season advanced, probably because of seasonal changes in detectability and/or firefly behavior. The daily survival rate of adults decreased over the season and may be related to a seasonal decline in adult body size. Adult population exhibited a highly male-biased sex ratio. Firefly abundance in the restored paddy fields doubled during the 4-year study period. Our analysis showed that adult detectability, recruitment, and survival rate are seasonally variable and could affect population size estimates obtained by a simple flash census. The mark-recapture technique can provide precise estimates of adult L. lateralis population characteristics and, thus, is a valuable method for predicting firefly populations and assessing the success of the restoration program. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Facilitation can occur when one species changes form to function as a nurse plant. Miscanthus sinensis grasslands are one component of the typical Satoyama landscape. Due to dieback, the shoot density of M. sinensis decreases with increasing patch size, forming “fairy rings” and subsequently facilitating the establishment of co-existing plants by improving soil and light conditions. M. sinensis forms fairy rings also with human management efforts, particularly burning or cutting. In this study, it was hypothesized that M. sinensis fairy rings created by human management function as a nursery for other species in Sengokuhara grasslands maintained by burning or cutting. To test this hypothesis, the plant species richness inside and outside M. sinensis fairy-ring patches was compared after management events. Species richness was higher inside M. sinensis patches than outside the patches. The type of management method also affected plant species richness. Total number of species and the number of woody plant species were significantly lower in the burned areas than in the cut areas, whereas the reverse was observed for the number of spring ephemeral species. These differences may have been caused by micro-environmental differences generated by management methods and by plant life forms. The results indicate that management-induced facilitation may play an important role in conserving plant species diversity in Satoyama grasslands.

The species and uses of trees located in paddy fields were investigated in three villages in Champasak Province, Lao PDR. The villages were different in their distance from Pakse City, the capital of the province, and age since foundation. A total of 71 species were recorded, and most were used by local people. The most frequent use was for fruit, firewood, and medicine, though most trees also offered shade for cattle and people. Species composition differed among villages. The youngest paddy supported more trees, remnants of the original forest, for timber. Older paddies supported fewer trees for timber but more for fruit and firewood. The introduced species increased according to the age of the paddy. Products other than timber obtained from the trees were common among villages. The significance of trees in rice cultivation in Laos was compared with that in the Satoyama landscape of Japan.

To develop an appropriate method of conservation for the native Rhododendron sections Brachycalyx and Tsutsusi, the symbol of Satoyama, field experiments were performed in the dry granite region in Japan. When carpet-type landscape of native rhododendrons was desired, all plants were cut at 20 cm above the ground level of all trees and shrubs, and the herbs and ferns were weeded (once and three times, respectively). When the shrubby-type landscape of native rhododendrons was desired, all plants, excluding native rhododendrons, were cut at 20 cm above the ground level of all trees and shrubs, the herbs and ferns were weeded, and the litter was swept. After three years of monitoring the percentage and depth of crowns with flower buds, the following major results were obtained. Cutting all plants excluding native rhododendrons was effective to keep the depth of crowns with flower buds. However, weeding and sweeping of litter on the ground caused desiccation of surface soil, which induced a transitory decrease in the percentage of crowns with flower buds. One weeding was effective in keeping the depth of crowns with flower buds; however, the second and third weeding had no distinct effect. In a dry granite region, considerable attention to desiccation of surface soil is critical, in opposition to limiting attention to maintenance of sunlight, which is the common practice.

The Grey-faced Buzzard (Butastur indicus) is a migratory raptor breeding in Japan. It has a high breeding density in what is known as “Satoyama”, a traditional mosaic landscape of paddy fields, woodland, grassland, and streams. We studied the foraging behavior of five buzzard pairs in Satoyama of Tochigi Prefecture, central Japan, for two years. Seasonal changes in foraging sites and differences in the amount of prey captured at each foraging site were analyzed by Bayesian inference using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm. The main vegetation types which characterized the foraging areas of the buzzards varied over the course of the breeding season from paddy fields to levees and grass-arable fields, and eventually to wooded areas. Along with this shift, the main prey of the buzzards changed from frogs to insects. In paddy fields, frogs and small mammals were frequently captured. A variety of prey including frogs, small mammals, lizards, snakes, and insects were taken at levees and grass...

Lone trees, rows of trees, groves, and hedges (in this study called “isolated trees and hedges”) dot many Satoyama landscapes in Japan. They have traditionally played an important role in agriculture and horticulture, in the production of firewood, and as windbreaks, boundaries, and screens. Through this investigation of a suburban Satoyama landscape in western Japan, which includes old and new residential areas, public space, farmland, and abandoned land, we aimed to show how isolated trees and hedges are connected with local traditional cultural features, and how this link has impacted their distribution and species composition. By examining land categories, shape patterns, and species compositions of isolated trees and hedges in both traditional and newly developed regions of the study area, we showed how the presence or absence of related traditional cultural features has influenced biodiversity. We further examined the role of traditional management techniques and cultural features in maintaining high numbers of local native species in isolated trees and hedges. Based on our results, we argue that awareness and promotion of the biocultural link in isolated trees and hedges will play an important role in future efforts to preserve the unique local identity and biodiversity of this cultural landscape.

Landscape and urban planning is increasingly shaped by maturing conditions of economic stagnation and upward demographic shifts. Planners must grapple with the challenges that maturation brings, while opportunistically directing the “slow lane” of low-growth trajectories towards more sustainable progress. New directions demand new concepts and approaches, and super-aging and economically faltering Japan provides valuable lessons. We describe how concepts and practices maligned in high-growth modernity are being reinvented in the low-growth present. Focusing on urban agriculture and woodland management, we show that restoration of working urban greenspaces provides a strategy for planners to direct the slow lane towards urban sustainability.

Agricultural development to meet rapidly growing demands for food and biofuel and the abandonment of traditional land use have had major impacts on biodiversity. Habitat diversity is one of the most important factors influencing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. In this study we propose an ecological index of ecosystem or habitat diversity in agricultural landscapes – the Satoyama Index (SI) – that is discernible under appropriate spatial units (e.g., 6 km × 6 km) from 1 km × 1 km gridded land-cover data available from an open-access web site. A high SI value is an indicator of high habitat diversity, which is characteristic of traditional agricultural systems, including Japanese satoyama landscapes, while a low value indicates a monotonic habitat condition typical of extensive monoculture landscapes. The index correlated well with the spatial patterns of occurrence of a bird of prey (Butastur indicus) and species richness of amphibians and damselflies in Japan. The values of the SI also corresponded well to the spatial patterns of typical traditional agricultural landscapes with high conservation value in other countries, for example, the dehesas of the Iberian Peninsula and shade coffee landscapes in Central America. Globally, the pattern of East/South-East Asian paddy belts with their high index values contrasts markedly with the low values of the Eurasian, American, and Australian wheat or corn belts. The SI, which correlates landscapes with biodiversity through potential habitat availability, is highly promising for assessing and monitoring the status of biodiversity irrespective of scale.