Abstract
Bird communities as an indicator of biodiversity for evaluation of a river ecosystem were surveyed in the riparian stripe zone of the Abukuma River. In addition, landscape factors, including anthropogenic disturbance, were analyzed in order to determine the relationship between bird communities and these factors. The survey area was divided in fifty-five plots according to the continuous landscape elements. At each plot, summer bird communities were grouped into five and water bird communities and terrestrial bird communities in winter were each grouped into four. The number of bird species at each plot had a strong positive correlation with the number of natural elements of landscape factors and transverse distance, and there was a negative correlation with the gradient of the river embankment. The diversity index had a strong positive correlation with transverse distance. Nine bird species in the summer survey and two terrestrial bird species in the winter survey were selected out of the respective classified groups which showed highest values of correlated landscape elements with the integrated multivariate analysis, including a gap analysis. Destruction and degradation of riparian ecosystems have been continued by human activities. However, some of the detrimental effects of anthropogenic disturbance on riparian ecosystems can be minimized with proper planning. Three important landscape elements suggested in this study can be taken to conserve riparian ecosystems. To minimize development in and along floodplains, it is necessary to keep the transverse distance › 100m, incorporate gentle gradient embankment, and maintain the number of such natural landscape elements as vegetation and gravel.
