A flora survey method for municipal areas utilizing a mesh-system (1): route setting and research efforts

Abstract

A flora survey was conducted in a municipal area utilizing a mesh-system to: 1) set survey routes using existing documents such as Topography classification maps, Existence vegetation maps, and Habitat lists, and 2) examine appropriate research efforts, i.e. survey route distance, survey time, and research season, based on the present results with investigated survey routes. This survey was made in 12 third local meshes (1 km × 1 km), in Yurihonjo city, Akita Prefecture, Japan, in Spring (May to July) and Autumn (September to October), 2004. Flora surveys were performed every 8 hours in each mesh throughout each season across the investigated survey routes. These surveys clarified the importance of choosing routes containing various topography and habitats, and in turn verified the effectiveness of Topography classification mapping and Habitat lists, by which topography and vegetation can be easily comprehended. Although the number of identified species increased with survey time, the rate of increase in identified species remained low after 6 hours of surveying. About 70 % of total identified species were confirmed within the 6 hour survey period. As some species are identifiable only in a specific season, we concluded that a total of 6 survey hours containing 2 hours from each different season is suitable for comprehensive assessment of the local flora. Such methods can aid in taking inventories for practical use of local natural resources in regional vitalization.