2000 Volume 17 Issue 1 Pages 1-14
A classification and evaluation of landscape were carried out symphytosociologically in the suburb of a metropolitan area in the Miura Peninsula, Kanagawa Prefecture, central Japan. By means of a grid method that combined mesh analysis with sigmareleve based on an actual vegetation map (1 : 50000), the landscape of the study area was classified into the following four community complexes as landscape units : Chrysanthemo - Miscantho = Euonymo - Pittosporo geosigmataxon (A) ; Polysticho - Perseo = Castanopsio geosigmataxon(B); Rubo - Aralio = Daphno - Querco geosigmataxon (C) ; Non-vegetation landscape area (D). For the evaluation of the natural grade of the landscape by principal component analysis, the relative vegetation naturalness (RVN), the relative diversity index of natural vegetation (RDNV), and the mean population density were calculated for each community complex. Consequently, the natural grades of landscape were high in A and B, but low in C and D. Based on the natural grade of landscape and the similarity of location as calculated by several geological data, the potential natural landscapes that could be substituted for C and D were presumed to be B and A, respectively. The method applied in this study will be an effective measure for planning of environmental conservation.
