Quantitative evaluation of the cultural ecosystem services of birds in Haiku

Abstract

Quantitative evaluations of ecosystem services are important for promoting sustainable use. However, evaluations of cultural ecosystem services (CESs) lag behind those of other services. Artistic inspiration obtained from ecosystems, which is a component of CESs, has been evaluated using the number of artistic works produced about ecosystems. However, this service has not yet been evaluated for modern Japanese artistic works created by ordinary citizens. Therefore, I attempted to evaluate the artistic inspiration service of birds, using modern haiku created by ordinary people. I collected haikus related to birds from Asahi Haidan, which is the haiku-posting section of Asahi Shimbun, from 2014.2019, and examined relationships between the number of haikus related to each bird family and their habitats. In addition, to determine annual changes in the inspiration service, I examined annual changes in the numbers of haikus related to birds from 1996-2019. The relationships between habitats and the numbers of haikus showed that bird families inhabiting farmland, lakes and rivers were more often used as the subjects of haikus. This is thought to be because people and birds share living space in these habitats. The annual changes in the numbers of haikus related to birds showed that the total numbers did not change between 1996 and 2019. However, the numbers of haikus related to birds generally (not related to any specific family) increased, while the numbers of haikus related to specific bird families decreased. This could be because of a decline in ordinary peoples’ ability to identify species, their knowledge of the ecology of species, and their willingness to make detailed observations, which are necessary for the creation of haikus related to specific bird families. Based on these results, it seems plausible that ecological education and the conservation of ecosystems, particularly farmland, lakes and rivers, may be important for the conservation of the artistic inspiration services provided by birds. This study is a valuable example of a quantitative assessment of the inspiration service of modern Japanese artistic work. Integrating these results with the results of assessments of other ecosystem services could lead to more balanced decision-making on conservation.