2016 Volume 21 Issue 2 Pages 135-146
We prioritized Japanese lakes for aquatic macrophyte conservation using both scoring- and complementarity-based approaches employing recent (2001 and onwards) flora data. Focal lakes were scored in terms of species richness, the number of red-list species, and the extent of species persistence in and after 2001. In all, 14 lakes ranked in the top 20 on all indices, while 26 ranked in the top 20 on at least one index, suggesting that species-rich lakes tended both to host many endangered species and sustain numerous other species. Complementarity-based prioritization required 20 lakes to represent 85 species. These included both species-rich and species-poor lakes with unique species. We further prioritized lakes that had not been surveyed since 2001; future re-surveillance was planned. We identified 31 lakes that ranked in the top 20 in terms of either or both species richness and the number of red-list species. In addition, we identified another 30 lakes containing species that have not been found in other Japanese lakes since 2001. The lakes prioritized for conservation are widely distributed in Japan and are diverse in size. Attention must be paid to lakes with diverse characteristics throughout the country to conserve macrophytes.
