Abstract
Landscape structures of three areas of Higashi-lyayama Village, in the eastern Shikoku Mountains in Shikoku, Japan, are compared in 1954, 1975 and 1989/1990. The landscape structure of the Tsurugi area has become heterogeneous. There have been no settlements in this area. The matrix of natural Fagus crenata forest has been segmented by newly induced patches of coniferous plantations. In Ochiai and Mibuchi areas in 1954, patchy landscapes composed of different successional vegetations were established due to cyclical forest use, such as slash and burn agriculture. In 1975, the landscape became more heterogeneous because a new coniferous plantation appeared in the abandoned slash and burn fields. After 1975, the landscape became homogeneous because of the growth of the forests. The trends in landscape change in Ochiai and Mibuchi were similar, though the Ochiai landscape was more heterogeneous. The differences in landscape heterogeneities were correlated with differences in social size.
