In order to conserve terraced paddy landscapes in mountainous areas in Japan, strategic land-use zoning for terraced paddies, surrounding forests and villages is important. For this purpose, it is essential to understand spatial distribution of original terraced paddy parcels before intensive afforestation and mechanism of land-use changes. In this study, we interpreted large-scale 1953 aerial photographs and constructed vector parcel dataset, and conducted spatial analysis in consideration of landforms and the current land covers.
As the results, we identified that many terraced paddy parcels in 1953 were very tiny lots with its sizes were less than 100m2. It was suggested that terraced paddy parcels in nearby areas along the Arida River tended to be still cultivated until now, whereas those on the steep slope over 20 degree in upper river area are mostly abandoned. And our results also showed 40% of the parcels were planted with conifer trees and 40% could be changed into broadleaf forests as natural forest succession in this area.
Our parcel dataset could contribute to develop a deeper understanding of the land use change process of terraced paddy field and its backgrounds, and to make a new conservation strategy with not only conceptual design but also numerical goals based on scientific evidence.
