Abstract
Increasing concern over the human impact on the flora and fauna of rivers and their surrounding environment has produced a strong demand for operational tools to assess these issues and to develop mitigation procedures. To realize sustainable development in agriculture, it is essential to grasp ecology of organisms dwelling in and around paddy environment. To date, many researchers have proposed various models to quantify the habitat preference of aquatic and terrestrial animals. Although some models have achieved accurate prediction of spatial distribution of target species, only the standard habitat suitability index (HSI), based on resource selection functions, has been applied in a practical level for its simplicity in the modeling procedure. However, only a few studies have verified accuracy and the difference among standard type indices in predicting habitat selection. It is very important to clarify their ability to capture the habitat preference of target species. The present study has verified the prediction ability of the HSIs using field study focusing on Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), one of the most common fish dwelling in paddy environment in Japan. Consequently, Vanderploeg and Scavia's relativized electivity showed the best accuracy among the indices.
