Abstract
Approximately 86% of the wetlands in Japan are in Hokkaido. To conserve wetland ecosystems in Japan, it is important to understand the conditions and degradation of wetland ecosystems in Hokkaido. However, the information on the plant distribution in wetland ecosystems in Hokkaido is limited to studies of individual wetlands. This study created a comprehensive plant database for the wetlands in Hokkaido and evaluated the conservation priorities of wetlands, and gaps in current conservation areas. Information on plant distributions obtained after 1990 and for more than two sampling times was available for only 55 and 32 of the 155 wetlands in Hokkaido, respectively. The results indicated that few studies have evaluated the condition of wetland ecosystems in Hokkaido and more information must be compiled. Furthermore, we evaluated conservation prioritized wetlands (CPWs) using hotspot (richness and Red List species) analysis and complementarity analysis, and gaps in current conservation areas (Ramsar Convention and natural parks) using gap analysis. From the 55 wetlands, 28 CPWs were selected and only 4 of the 28 CPWs were designated as special protection zones. These findings show that more CPWs and more diverse CPWs should be selected to conserve the plant diversity of wetland ecosystems in Hokkaido.
