シダ類のハードスケープハビタット選好性とその保全・活用に関する研究

和解生態学の視点から

抄録

Hard landscape elements, such as walls, building gaps, or road pavement seams (i.e., hardscape), can provide habitats for ferns and lycophytes. In this study, ferns growing on hardscapes in the urban roadside environments from Kanto to Tohoku, Japan, were investigated. This study aimed to determine which type of hardscape is the preferred habitat of ferns, examine the climatic factors that influence the differences in species composition, and discuss the potential use of hardscapes based on the above two findings and reconciliation ecology. Results showed that the dominant fern species in hardscape habitats in Kanto and Tohoku shifted from Pteris multifida and Anisocampium niponicum to Athyrium yokoscense, with a lower average annual temperature or Warmth Index of Kira. In the study areas, most hardscape habitats were found in building gaps than on stone walls, walls, or road pavement seams. In examining the species-specific preferences of hardscape habitats, wall-preferring species were more common in this study. The high number of building gaps as hardscape habitats and the relative abundance of wall-preferring species are likely characteristics of Japan’s urban fern habitats under a cool-temperature climate. Any species rare enough to be listed in the National Red Data Book were not identified, but some rare species listed in plural local Red Data Books were recorded, such as Asplenium scolopendrium. This suggests that the use of hardscapes should be considered for the conservation of these species. While discussing the results of this study from the viewpoint of reconciliation ecology, it is recommended to build masonry walls in gardens or create humid building gaps for each household to facilitate the growth of these rare species.