Distribution and adjacent land uses of “yatsuta” within stream systems

Abstract

Yatsuta are narrow rice paddies, often surrounded by woodland, considered by many ecologists to be an important landscape for preserving biodiversity in rural environments. Yatsuta are typically considered to be located at the tips of branching stream systems. However, narrow rice paddies may exist at many places within rice paddy networks. A GIS analysis of narrow rice paddies in the Kanto Region found many stream-tip rice paddies, as expected, but also found many mid-stream rice paddies, or narrow sections in large rice paddy networks, surrounded by highly variable land uses.