Manabu Miyoshi (1861-1939), one of the pioneers of plant biology in Japan, is also known as the inventor of the term "Keikan" which is well used nowadays among various scientific fields--geography, ecology, landscape design, etc. However, we're not sure what he meant by "Keikan" except a topic that he translated German term "Landschaft" to "Keikan", just as a comment by a famous geographer Taro Tsujimura.We need the correct knowledge about the original meanings of "Keikan" for transdisciplinary discussions on this ambiguous term "Keikan". The objectives of this paper is to make clear the meaning of the term "Keikan" by Miyoshi through analyses of the original texts by Miyoshi himself. As the result, following points were revealed. 1. "Keikan" was neither a translation of "Landschaft" nor other single term in Western word. 2. "Keikan" had both meanings of "Vegetations" and "Ansichten" in German. 3. "Keikan" was used for describing some environments with scientific observation and aesthetic admiration under an influence of physiognomic way of thinking by Alexander von Humboldt. 4. Miyoshi's concern for "Keikan" led him to the action for protection of natural monuments in Japan. 5. "Keikan" was first used in 1902 by Miyoshi, and also was introduced as general word by public education soon.

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This is a basic research reflecting upon the structure of the fragrance experienced in the traditional Japanese gardens. The author calls the landscape experienced through fragrance "the Scent-scape". The structure of the Scent-scape was investigated through the studies of all the sceneries described in "the Tale of Genji". Although the incense from inside the house has often been the subject for the former studies, the Scent-scape is the unique aspect of this study. It deals not only with the subjective (sensory) aspects of the fragrance, but also with the objective (physical) aspects and the integration of the two. From this research, it was clarified firstly that the nobles in the Heian era already appreciated the fragrance of the currently popular garden plants such as Ume (Prunus mume), Tachibana (Citrus tachibana), Fuji (Wisteria floribuda), and five other species. Secondly, they appreciated the scent of garden plants together with their physical aspects such as colors, shapes. These plants are placed in close distances from the buildings. Lastly, wind played an important role to integrate the two aspects by often maximizing the experience through embracing the scent of plants that is often strongly associated with their special memories of the past.

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Shigemori Mirei (1896-1975), who was the famous scholar and gardener in Showa era based his theory about Japanese traditional gardens upon a great many on-the-spot investigation of gardens.He described four existing gardens at Jhouei-ji, Manpuku-ji, Iko-ji, and Kyu-kameishibou, as designed by Sesshu. And he supposed that Sesshu designed these gardens by transforming the two-dimensional landscape paintings into the three-dimensional. The aim of this paper is to clarify Shigemoris understanding about "picturesque garden layout by Sesshu". Through detailed investigation into his description in "An Illustration Book on the History of Japanese Garden," vol.3, 4, and "Japanese Garden History Survey," vol.5, 6, 7, we made it clear that Shigemori pointed out following three characteristics some other gardens during Muromachi-era also had (1) - (3), and two peculiar to Sesshu (4-) - (5) : (1) the undulating ground which rises in proportion to the distance from the viewpoint ; (2) the semicircular form of the garden plan ; (3) the space left on this side of the pond ; (4) the space left between garden elements which has picturesque effect as like the shading in India ink drawing ; (5) the detailed correspondence between the composition of landscape paintings and the view of gardens.

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The aim of this paper is to give the actual situation and significance of dramatic amusements in the Imperial garden at the beginning of Kinsei era. In Genroku period, courtiers enjoyed a dramatic re-enactment of a spring day in the garden of the former Emperor Meisho's suburban residence in the midst of August. Cherry trees were adorned with artificial blossoms, extremely lifelike dolls were placed in the garden pavilion (ochaya), and courtiers themselves put costumes on. Indeed the whole garden functioned as a stage for the dramatic amusement. These were often unique events and they rarely appear in surviving documents nor their objects remain. However, its tradition is likely to have continued for some time into the history. One of characteristics of these amusements was the life-size dolls, the main attraction in the production. This reflects the sense of period when puppet shows were becoming increasingly popular. Similar events also took place in daimyo gardens, and indeed this entertainment genre is likely to have been cultivated and nurtured through the cultural interaction between warrior and aristocratic classes. This paper explores the culture of garden amusement at the beginning of Kinsei era, and the function of garden that is not necessarily apparent from its material appearance.

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Donggweoldo is a painting which was drawn on royal palaces (Changdeok palace, Changgyung palace and Whowon) of Joseon dynasty. The situation of landscape design on 19 century could be grasped from Donggweoldo, because the painting was produced in the 1820s. The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics of landscape architectural elements in Korean royal places by analyzing Donggweoldo. To analyze landscape architectural elements and clarify characteristics of those, the elements were classified to spatial elements, house elements, plant elements, water elements, stone elements. The appearance frequency of those elements was different as a role of the place. It is understood that Confucianism was reflected by elements in the place such as Uezo where retainers work or Chizo where is held ceremonies. There are various ornamental elements in Yeonzo where a king and his family live and Whowon which is a large garden where people relax and enjoy nature. Especially in back yard of kings bed house, there are ornamental elements such as flower terrace, various plant, oddly shaped stone. These data is expected to be a fundamental data when royal places restored to original state.

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The International House of Japan was established in 1952 for the purpose of promoting international exchange and mutual understanding. The present location of the house used to be the residence and garden of Koyata Iwasaki, the fourth president of the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu, which resided from 1930 to 1945. The residence was destroyed in the war destruction in 1945 and was replaced by the International House of Japan ten years after. The purpose of this study is to achieve clarity of the spacial structures of Iwasaki residence and the current International House of Japan. The study was taken place by, first of all, searching for scattered records, and analyzing the documents in the periodical order. Secondly, the present state of the garden was cleared up by surveying the placements of plants and rocks. Finally, the spacial characters of the Iwasaki residence and the International House of Japan were compared to clarify the changes that took place in the transformation phase. As a result of this analysis, the spacial features the Iwasaki residence became clear ; it carried a courtyard, a tea room, a fall and a running water, with the architecture and garden intricately entwining. Meanwhile the International House of Japan which inherited the garden from the Iwasaki residence took a different approach in dealing with the garden ; the architecture kept some distance away and placed a vast lawn garden in between. Rooftop garden were also installed to be correlated with the garden while meeting the modern architecture style.

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By examining maps, pictures and literatures illustrated and published in Edo and Meiji eras, this study aims to identify the use of temple gardens in Edo era and their transformation processes during Meiji era. Having Edo, former Tokyo, as a case study, the study identified two principal uses of temple gardens in Edo era as (a) a place for receiving dignitary guests and (b) a place for the general publics entertainment. Dignitary guests were received at gardens in "honbo (principal temple)" and "shi-in (branch temple)" while gardens established in "keidai-chi (precinct)" were opened for the use of the general public. The study also identified that more than 40% of the gardens found in Edo era were destroyed and transformed into other uses in Meiji era, while the rate of extinct gardens in shi-in was significantly higher than that in honbo and keidai-chi.

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Fukuba Hayato (1856-1921) is known as a person who created the foundation of modern gardening. This study is aimed to search his thoughts of modern horticulture and landscape gardening in Japan through his personal records.Also the author intended to clarify his influences on modern horticulture and landscape gardening in Japan. He studied knowledge and skills of modern horticulture and landscape gardening from foreign countries over his life for refining the Shinjuku Imperial Gardens (Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden). He advocated the ideal way of Imperial gardens and gardening in Japan, established Kunaisyo Naienkyoku (after Imperial Household Agency, Maintenance and Works Department, Gardens Division), and popularized skills of modern landscape gardening not only inside of imperial palaces. In addition, he greatly contributed to the development of the modern landscape gardening including professional educations. In conclusion, the author pointed out the influence that he had given to the horticulture and landscape gardening in Japan was considered as a critical one that has continued until today.

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In Japan, after the school turf movement in 1970s, only a few turfs were settled on school grounds until the next wave began about late 1990's. After 2000,many school turfs were settled in Japan. The turfs of public high schools in the south Kanto region were surveyed in 1997. That year is just before the turning point of school turf history. There were some differences between the school turfs before and after the year 2000. Those schools which already had turf in 1997 had had relatively wide school ground. Recently some cool season grasses are planted on some school grounds. However, all of the turfgrasses of surveyed schools were zoysiagrasses (Zoysia matrella and Z. japonica). Fertilizer was supplied only at some of the schools. It can be said that the characteristic of the school turf of 1997s is low maintenance turf with zoysiagrasses on wide school grounds.School personnel had been playing main role of maintenance work of the turf at most schools. The students had participated in the maintenance work at 7 schools among surveyed 16 schools. The work had ordered to professional company from only 2 schools. Many teachers and students had thought that heavy labor was problem to keep turf on the grounds. But most of them had thought that the merit of the turf is much more than the problem.

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Transformation processes of green open spaces in Edo / Tokyo from the late Edo era to the early Meiji era have remained as amissing linkin the history of Japanese open space. This study aims to identify, mainly in quantitative manner, how green open spaces in Edo in the late Edo era have been succeeded to Tokyo in the early Meiji era. A significant deterioration of green open spaces on the alluvial plain was identified in the eastern half of the city while new farmland patches were identified on the plateau in the western half,which externally resulted in the preservation of the quantity of green open space in the city. These new farmland patches, developed mostly on former residential lots, not necessarily cultivated but designated as farmland, were thus understood to be one of key players in the history of green open space in Edo/Meiji, as the patches afterwards became to be seed lots for parks and public facilities established during Meiji era.

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In recent years, at the Islands in the Seto Inland Sea, the flower planting movement by islanders and so on has be expanded gradually. This movement has created new 'Flower Landscape' and received attention, because of the possibility of not only the tools for repairing the run-down landscape here, but also the tourist attractions. Therefore,the objective of this study is to find the cultural property of the 'Flower Landscape', that is tounderstand the present flower planting movement in the context of the regional culture. At one time, the occupation of islanders in this region made another 'Flower Landscape'. This landscape made of the beautiful mosaic pattern. Such landscape has the nature deep-rooted in the islander's life culture, and also the nature as the original landscape which many islanders can share. In addition, this 'Flower Landscape' came to have the nature of the popular tourist attraction especially after 1960's.

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The purpose of this research is to consider how to newly develop this industry by analyzing how the trends of landscape construction industry have been changing since the bubble economy bursted. By referring to the statistical data on the number of the enterprises and the employee population, which show the scale, on the value added,which shows productivity and on the value of construction completed, which shows the number of the construction achievements, the trends of landscape construction industry could be clarified. During the years from 1991 to 1996, following the burst of the bubble economy, the private construction investments decreased, whereas the government investments increased. As a result, the number of the enterprises trying to work for the public construction rose, consequently increasing the entire employee population. Since 1997, public construction has been decreasing and so shave the value of construction completed and the value added. However, the number of the enterprises and the employee population continue to rise. Thus, the supply-demand balance has been upset, which causes the affairs of this industry to be in poor shape.

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We performed trimming shrubs and sweeping up litters in a post-fire secondary forest to develop the skill for conserving the regenerated scrub forest using native Rhododendrons, not depending on forest fires. In results, we found several initial effects regarding preserving native Rhododendron communities and promoting the flower-buds differentiation. It is necessary to protect native Rhododendrons from being suppressed by other shrubs because most of species growing on this site had traits of vigorous sprouting. Especially, Eurya japonica that grows in higher density and Ligustrum lucidum, Robinia pseudo-acacia and Lespedeza cyrtobotrya that sprout longer branches need to be controlled.The effect of shrub trimming on seedling establishment was not clear at the next year after the shrub trimming. However, the effect of sweeping up litters will be expected by making adding efforts like keeping existing seedlings away from damages by sweeping, and sowing new seeds on suitable seedbeds after sweeping. The effect on flowering rates in the next spring after the shrub trimming was not observed because the timing of trimming was too late to stimulate the flower buds differentiation.

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Large and aesthetic populations of native plant species such as Erythronium japonicum, Corydalis ambigua, Gagea lutea, Cardiocrinum cordatum var. glehnii, and Trillium camschatcense impart a beautiful color to the floors of broad-leaved deciduous forests in Hokkaido, Japan. In this study, we revealed that the effects of seed sowing, tuber age, and transplanting depth of tubers in Corydalis ambigua on the germination and growth of tubers in the following year. In May, immediately after the seed collection, seeds were sown both in pots in the flame house and in the deciduous forest floor. Pots were watered adequately and the soil surface in the forest floor was well prepared. In the following spring, 66% of the seeds germinated in pots and 36% - 45% of the seeds germinated in the forest floor. Both the 1-year-old tubers and the 2-year-old tubers were transplanted at a depth of 2 cm or 8 cm in the autumn immediately after the root emerging from tubers, and then more than 89% of both tubers that were transplanted at a depth of 2 cm or 8 cm sprouted leaves in the following spring.Tubers transplanted at a depth of 8 cm tended to grow more than tubers transplanted at a depth of 2 cm. Dry weight of 1-year-old tubers that experienced one growing season increased by 3 - 7 times to their initial dry weight,and by 3 - 5 times in the 2-year-old tubers. About 50% of the 2-year-old tubers transplanted in autumn flowered in the following spring and have average of about 3 flowers. However no 1-year-old tuber flowered in the next year.

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We estimated the ability of aerial roots of Hedera helix 'Pittsburg' to adhere to the surface of 190mm-long wooden props with the cross section of 15mm X 15mm. On one side of the surface of a prop the 190mm-long ditch was made. The shape of the ditch was V-shaped (we called this type prop as V-prop) or rectangle (we called this type prop as R-prop). The width of the ditch in both V-prop and R-prop was 6mm or 9mm. For 84-85% of plants with V-prop, aerial roots grown toward the bottom of the V-shaped ditch, adhered to it and then extended longitudinally along it. And also for 68-74% of the p1ants with R-prop, aerial roots adhered to one of the L-shaped corners of a ditch and extended longitudinally along it. In some plants (9-23%) with either V-prop or R-prop aerial roots adhered to the flat surface of the lateral side or the bottom of the ditch and extended elliptically. These results showed that aerial roots prefer dark place such as the V-shaped valley or the L-shaped corners of a ditch, thus these results suggested the negative heliotropism of aerial roots of H. helix.

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Parking lot greening attracts attention as a new greenery technology of urban space, and the actual demonstrative experiments have been carried out in various places. Although turf grass is mainly used for greenig of the surface of parking lots, the damage of dying back considered to originate in the heat from vehicles was observed frequently. In this research, the survey of damage was performed first. Subsequently, using various automobile vehicles. At three grass-covered parking lot area, it turned out that the damage occurred at approximately 100% frequency. From the result of the experiment using car of various model, it was found that one cause of the damage to the grass was a hot wind injected downward from the engine portion of a car. The strength of the hot wind was different among car models. In four car models of seven car models used for the experiment, the surface temperature of the lawn rose to more than 55 degrees Celsius, and the damage may have come out. At the experiment using a type of a car with the strongest hot wind from engine, the lawn surface reached 70 degrees Celsius at the maximum. The damage occurred in the examination of 10 minutes. However, it was judged that the heat rise under the ground was small and there was no serious influence in the root of the lawn.

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In many cases, rot starts from pruning cut surfaces ; it may lead to hollowing out of the trunk, and sometimes result in trees falling. We surveyed tree specialists in Japan as to whether or not they applied medicated wraps to pruning cut surfaces, and the type and effectiveness of any that they used,in order to test and compare these. The tree species that we tested, the Somei yoshino cherry genetically, shows small variation between individuals in its reaction to pruning, and is prone to rot at pruning cut surfaces.We found that even in the Somei yoshino cherry trees, skillful pruning did not result in wood discoloration even if medication was not applied to the cut surfaces, but medication that does not kill living tissue was more effective in preventing rot. We also found that medication that is strong enough to kill living tissue tends to discourage formation of calluses but also promotes discoloration of wood.

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Bulbs of three tulip cultivars (Gander, Ben van Zanten and Apricot Beauty) were planted at October 29th in the field without being stored (convention treatment). And at same time, bulbs of same cultivars were stored under 2 degree C (cold-stored treatment) or room temperature (room-stored treatment) for 6 weeks and were planted at December 10th. By the room-stored treatment, flowering occurred later than by other two treatments, and also the flowering period was shorter than by those. In each cultivar, the cold-stored treatment promoted flower bud development and resulted in early flowering. The cold-storage treatment also made tulip flower stalks longer than those of tulips by other treatments. It also caused the improvement of flower quality.

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In Japan, the public tends to believe that shrine forests are the remnant of primary vegetation of the region. However, recent studies demonstrate that the forest was once dominated by pine trees at several shrine forests in Kansai region and suppose that forest resources were constantly utilized. We studied the relationship between the vegetative landscape of Kamomioya Shrine and resource utilization from the latter 17th to 18th century. Comparison of old drawings indicated that there was a mixed forest with pine-type trees and broadleaved-type trees, which is different from present-day landscape dominated by broadleaved trees and that Japanese-cedar-type trees existed around the shrine pavilions. The precinct also included bamboo forests. The old diary of a shrine family revealed that dead pines, bamboos and underbrush were cut and collected from specified places and utilized in various forms. Pine trees were rarely planted and would be naturally regenerated by periodical underbrush clearings and floods.

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The purpose of this study is to inspect the relations with programs of nature conservation work and the relaxation effect which was planned by city inhabitants and a administration in a suburb forest, as a result, the following became clear. 1) Stress of a participant is reduced and a motivation of a participant rises adversely by performing nature conservation work. 2) If it simplifies programs and it increase rest and can reduce fatigue, a senior citizen can enjoy it, too. 3) For a young participant, stress is easy to decrease, and motivations are easy to increase. Quantity of stress reduction and quantity of motivation increment are improved by a small program with a little number of the participation families. 4) Quantity of stress reduction is improved by a case to participate in with a family and activity in a forest and this edge. 5) A motivation of a man is raised into plural programs and cool environment. The nature conservation work that utilized nature in the suburbs of a city was effective in relaxing a participant, and a problem to do the activity in more effective contents became clear.

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In order to discuss the effective method to control the bamboo forest expansion, we surveyed the former Japanese cypress forest which was seriously invaded by Phyllostanchys pubescens since after forest clearing through April to June in the shooting season, for 3 years under different cutting conditions namely summer selective bamboo cutting and repeatedly clear cutting. In every summer selective bamboo cutting stand, 3 years later, such pioneer species as Zanthoxylum ailanthoides and Mallotus japonicus grew thick at the height of about 7. 1m. Whereas bamboo shoots decreased and shrank due to the oppression and shading by these pioneer species, and disappeared completely in 2 years. On the contrary, in the repeatedly clear cutting stand, the small bamboo glass-like shoots were still seen even 3 years later. In the abandoned control stand, bamboo shoots generated year by year, and recovered the former bamboo forest.

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The stand structure after vegetation management for 11 years was investigated in coppice forests (summergreen secondary forests) with different amounts of cover of evergreen broadleaved species, in southern Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Coppice forests were managed by cutting evergreen shrubs and bamboo grasses, and by keeping dominant trees like Quercus serrata intact. In forest floor vegetation after the 11-year management, the smaller the cover of evergreen broadleaved species before the vegetation management, the greater the frequency and the tree size of summergreen species (summergreen tree and summergreen shrub). On the other hand, the greater the cover of evergreen broadleaved species before the management, the greater the frequency and the tree size of evergreen broadleaved tree species after the management. It is considered that light conditions, influenced by evergreen broadleaved species before the management and the increase in evergreen broadleaved species by the vegetation management, affects the stand structure after the vegetation management. These results suggest that selective and frequent cutting of evergreen broadleaved species is necessary for creating the physiognomy of summergreen high forests and for increasing species richness, in the coppice forest with much cover of evergreen broadleaved species.

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The vegetation of Miyake Island has been widely effected by the volcanic eruption in July 2000. This phenomenon is still going on and much of the vegetation cover has been changed. It is quite important to monitor the vegetation recovery process because of ecosystem study, prevention of disaster and rehabilitation of the Island. This study investigated an evaluation of the vegetation recovery process in Miyakejima Island after the 2000 volcanic eruption using satellite remote sensing and field vegetation survey. Multi temporal 12 satellite images of Terra/ASTER and JERS-1/OPS were selected and combined into three time series datasets such as the before eruption, the after eruption within two years and the after eruption more than three years. These three time series image datasets were analyzed into the seamless images of the maximum NDVI value. According to the unsupervised classification of these three images, Miyakejima Island was divided into six classes with vegetation change patterns. These results followed past works and field vegetation survey well. The classes were recognized with the vegetation change which shows the damage of trees and the recovery of vegetation after the volcanic eruption of the year 2000.

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Japan's Environmental Impact Assessment Law was enacted in 1997. However, there are still many problems in Japan's ecological impact assessments. Among these problems, we turned our attention to problems stemming from 1. The system of Japan's EIA ; 2. The team of EIAs ; and 3. Technical methodologies. We applied the Habitat Evaluation Procedure for the first time to an EIA in Japan. Through this experience, we reviewed effectiveness of HEP as a solution to the above problems in Japan's EIAs. The proposed project was a residential development in Yokohama. The site was located in one of the largest remaining natural suburban areas in the city,consisting of densely vegetated hills and creeks which provide quality habitats to wildlife including fireflies and brown frogs, selected as evaluation species in this HEP. Some modifications of original HEP were introduced, including technical revision for the fragmented natural area which has a peculiar land use in Japan. As a result, HEP contributed to formation of substantial mitigation measures for habitats conservation through analyses and discussions among HEP team members.

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Recently, decreases and changes in aquatic plant habits in irrigation canals are becoming an important problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between aquatic plant distributions and environmental conditions in irrigation canals in order to develop appropriate conservation plans. The range of aquatic plant distribution, water quality, the structure of the irrigation canal, and surrounding land use were surveyed for 91 plots covering a total distance of 20783.4 meters in Kamiina District, Nagano Prefecture. Thirteen aquatic plants including the threatened species, Sparganium japonicum, were identified, and eight types of plant communities were distinguished at the third level of the TWINSPAN classification. Three main plant community types were identified : Ranunculus nipponicus var. submersus community type, paddy weed - Sparganium japonicum community type and naturalized plant species Elodea nuttallii community type. The R. nipponicus var. submersus community type was found in irrigation canals with in lower water temperature and electric conductivity values than observation points for other community types.The paddy weed - S. japonicum community type was typified by lower oxygen saturation and higher electric conductivity than for other community types. As the naturalized plant species E.nuttallii community type was located between other types and also widely distributed, this poses an important problem for conservation of these habitats.

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In Japan, Coreopsis lanceolata has been invading riverbed vegetation and is designated as an invasive alien species. A study regarding its occurrence and the vegetation transition in the riverbed of Kiso River was conducted. Comparing the vegetation maps of 1979, 1996 and 2006 revealed that over time, the area of the wet grassland had decreased. However, the forest area and bamboo/dwarf bamboo community had increased. Contrastingly, the area of the dry grassland tends to change little and is sustained. C. lanceolata occurred in 70% of the area of the dry grassland and 50% of the area of shrubs in 2006. C. lanceolata occurred frequently in the Artemisia capillaris-Anaphalis margaritacea subsp. yedoensis community and Zoysia japonica-Potentilla chinensis community in 2006. This study reports regarding some types of the dry grassland including the communities with the specific native plants that was sustained for a long time and is invaded easily by C. lanceolata.

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In Japan, the ecology of the shrubs that grow in rocky stretches in dingle is poorly understood. One of the shrubs, Spiraea thunbergii (Rosaceae), which grows naturally in rocky stretches along rivers, is endangered regionally in Osaka and Hiroshima. To learn more about the shrubs growing along rocky stretches and to consider conservation strategies for this species, the habitat characteristics of S. thunbergii were investigated along a rocky stretch of the Tama River in the Sawai area (70 km from the river mouth, Ome City, Tokyo). Individual shrubs were measured and their habitat was surveyed, including their relative elevation from the water surface, distance from the river, microhabitat, and local moss cover. Many individuals grew in a mossy, rocky stretch of the river. Smaller individuals tended to grow on the moss. Approximately 70% of the shrubs grew between 0 and 2 m from the water surface. Therefore, it is very likely that mosses serve an important role in the growth of S. thunbergii, especially smaller plants.

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The purpose of this study was to understand the changes in mangrove forests in the catchment basin of the Nakara River in Iriomote Island during the period from 1972 to 2003. This study revealed that the mangrove forests expanded their habitats in the landward and riverside areas of the river, as well as to the shoal where sand tends to accumulates easily. Specifically, in the middle area between the downriver and upriver areas, a tendency towards an increase in mangrove habitats was seen in the lower river region, and there was a new emergence of this trend in the upper river region. It is speculated that the expansion of mangrove forests to the landward area may be partly due to a wider landward area with a moderate incline, and rise in sea level. In addition, the investigation into change in mangrove forests related to species growing in the study area suggests that human pressure, such as the use of mangroves as construction materials prior to the designation of this area as a national park, may have had an effect on the differences in species growing there.

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Identifying conservation units in a species and prioritizing their conservation were attempted in order to efficient conservation practice. We defined a conservation unit as a distinct populations between which individuals cannot be exchanged because of unique genetic and ecological characteristics. Conservation priority was given to conservation units that were restricted in distribution or those where habitats were not protected, because habitat loss is one of the most important factors leading to species extinction. We identified a gap between species distribution and conservation status using the land use master plan. We considered nature conservation areas, natural park areas, and protected forest areas as protected land, urbanization promotion areas as not protected, and agricultural promotion areas and private forest areas as at intermediate risk. The Japanese clouded salamander Hynobius nebulosus was used as a model species. An assessment was carried out after defining the conservation units of this species based on reported geographic variation in allozyme, mt-DNA, or morphology. The presence/absence of the species and land use regulation were recorded on a 1-km grid. The greatest numbers of records of species occurrence were in agriculture promotion areas (17.4%) and private forest areas (39.5%) with 791 records. Of the ten conservation units, the Tottori population was given at highest priority for conservation.

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In this study, we tried selection the index species in frogs and toads, because it was necessary to verify the relation with the population density of the index species and the ecological location type in rural landscape planning. The fauna composition and seasonal changes in the number of frogs was investigated by visual encounter survey and audio strip survey in hilly area, northern Kanto in 2006. Two species, Rana japonica and R. porosa porosa, has been selected as the index species for evaluation of the habitat quality. And the evaluation by the calculation value of yearlings should be low validity, and use the calculation value of adults. The suitable investigation season of two species for quantitative survey was clarified. In addition, it was shown that the presence of R. rugosa was able to become indices of various frog species composition when limiting it to the environment where the rice field existed.

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Recently, the changes in the habitation of living organisms and degradation of biodiversity caused by transfiguration of rural landscape have emerged as serious issues in rural areas. For future landscape planning, it is imperative to examine the relationship between each landscape element and habitation. In this study, the relationship between rural landscape elements and the distribution pattern of several species of wild mice was investigated in south Boso peninsula, Chiba prefecture. The results showed that the distribution of forest dependant Apodemus argenteus, forest and grassland dependant A. speciosus, cultivated land dependant Mus musculus, and strongly grassland dependant Micromys minutus species of mice corresponded almost with each landscape element. These results suggest that the local mice in the study area were largely sustained by forests and grasslands and that the distribution and habitation of M. minutus depended on the variations in the grassland structure caused by cultivation management within terrace paddy fields.

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To promote the understanding of succession process in artificial urban ecological environments, we invested the changes in bryophyte flora in an urban afforested woodland in Kyoto city. Focusing on three bryophyte functional groups (substrate preference, growth form and reproductive type), we compared the bryophyte flora in 2002 with those in 2007. A total of 41 species were recorded in 2002, and 52 species in 2007. The number of bryophyte species on trunk increased markedly compared to those of bryophyte speceis on other substrates, while bryophytes on rock showed higher turn over rate.From a view point of growth forms, bryophytes of cushion form, thread-like form, small-size appressed form and thalloid form increased greater than bryophytes of other growth forms, and bryophytes of small turf form and squamous form had a higher turn over rate. Additionally, the number of bryophyte species with asexual reproduction invaded more frequently than those of bryophyte species without asexual reproduction. These differences were explained by characteristic of bryophyte functional groups. In conclusion, to restore bryophyte vegetation in this study site based on the concept of potential natural vegetation, planting trees around the site, placing large rocks in the site and maintenance such as weeding were considered to be effective for the restoration of native bryophyte vegetation. Moreover, it was possible that introducing bryophyte species with poor dispersal ability into this site was needed for the restoration.

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Facilitating the establishment of pteridophytes is an important issue in future revegetation activities. In this study, we investigated the species composition and the species richness of pteridophyte communities established in levees around Nagatani dam, Hyogo Prefecture, to gain an understanding of habitat conditions suitable for pteridophytes. The vegetation in the levees in which two types of slope-protection materials, namely, wooden blocks and wire netting, were used was surveyed. The survey results indicated that the number of species of pteridophytes and the coverage of pteridophytes were higher in the levee protected by wooden blocks than in that protected by wire netting. The occurrence frequency of most pteridophytes was also higher in the levee protected by wooden blocks than in that protected by wire netting ; herbaceous seed plants such as roadside weeds, however, were dominant in the levee protected by wire netting and were less abundant in that protected by wooden blocks. The number of species of pteridophytes per unit area was also higher in the levee protected by wooden blocks than in the surrounding secondary vegetation such as pine forests. Moderate moisture and the darkness in the gaps between the wooden blocks, which function as establishment sites for individual plants, are possible factors that promote the development of the pteridophyte community.

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To research the life history of Cephalanthera falcate, individual monitoring was carried through ten years on a 1. 4-hectare secondary Quercus serrata woodland. The tree layer in this woodland was last cut more than 40 years ago. The floor vegetation has been cut in winter and fallen leaves have been swept up since 18 years ago. The distribution of Cephalanthera falcate was recorded every year, and each individual was identified. The number of Cephalanthera falcate increased from 236 individuals to 389 individuals during the ten-year study period.About 120 grew continuously for ten years and 200 or more were newly observed after the second year. Flowering and individuals 30cm or more high were observed among the new ones. Good growth occurred randomly, irrespective of light conditions. The distribution and growth change were not explained by the usual autotrophic plant. It was suggested that Cephalanthera falcate is a mixotrophy plant that obtains carbon from its own photosynthesis and symbiosis mycorrhiza.

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This study aimed at comparing the seed bank compositions of Miscanthus sinensis grassland established on two different topographical conditions to make clear the appearance of grassland species from the seed source in the soil. We conducted germination tests for soil samples taken from the managed grassland on the flat floor of the Tsukuba-Inashiki Upland and the steep slope adjacent to the 'Yatsu' paddy fields. The buried seed composition was greatly different between them. The grassland on the steep slopes contained more species and seed grains per soil sample than those on the upland. Although more than 20 grassland species appeared in the above ground vegetation, only a few sprouted from the soil seed bank of the grassland along the 'Yatsu' paddy fields, while from the grassland on the flat floor eight grassland species appeared. The results of this study suggests that the soil seed bank of the Miscanthus sinensis grassland on both topographical conditions contribute little as a source of native grassland species.

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This research attempted to reveal that utilization of aerial photographs image range feature for classification of forest crowns by Same-Color-Region Determining Method of Castanopsis cuspidate coppice woodland and Cryptomeria japonica and Chamaecyparis obtusa artificial forest in northern part of Kyusyu, Japan. This research consist from two parts, one is the method improving applied by image range features such as standard deviation and cumulative frequency of tree crown edge for parameter setting. And the other is crown width classification accuracy was proved by field survey data of each tree crowns. As a results, supervised classifications of this improved method were capable of correctly classifying coppice woodland canopies with radii greater than 1.5 m (r<+-1.0 m) to an accuracy of 34.4%. For artificial forest, 41.4% of trees with tree crown radii greater than 1.0 m (r<+-0.5 m) could be correctly classified.

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This study focuses on the development of method to posit view conditions of the forest videos (filmed every day by the "Robot Camera" in the forest of University of Tokyo located in Chichibu) with the help of meteorological data observed near the camera, and on the practicality verification of the method in case of applying it to collect the intended videos in foliage season. First, for the development of the method, view conditions are divided into 4 categories in terms of visibility and sunshine, by watching 3 shots by which view condition of that day is represented. Then, by the discriminant functions (by the logit model) of meteorological data, view conditions of each day are discriminated into the said 4 categories in error rate of about 0. 3. Second, the application of this method is tried on the assumption that users of these forest videos collect videos by which the typical sceneries in foliage season are filmed.In the result, it can be concluded that the method developed on this study is effectual in some purposes and that it is possible to enhance the practicality to consider several ways of application.

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The purpose of this study is to research and clarify the representation of the space of the landscape paintings on bamboo. There are 1608 pieces of paintings of landscape as the Chinese classical original source. The method of the research is to take out the elements from the painting, especially at first the bamboo as the representation of plant and the main factor. And 142 paintings of bamboo were found out in the source. There are three elements of landscape paintings which are the representations of plants, architecture and water. The representations of bamboo are considered to 3 types (Pan, Gun, Rin) and the representations of architecture are considered to 5 types (Mu, Teiken, kan, Tei, En) and the representations of water are considered to 4 types (Mu, Keiryu, Keiryu+suimen, Suimen). According to the basic types of three elements, the 142 paintings of bamboo were classified. Finally the study of 4 types of the representation of the space of the landscape of paintings on bamboo was depended on the three elements, which tells us some information on landscape about bamboo and may give us some advice to the design of landscape.

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In Japan, June 2004, the Landscape Law was enacted, together with amendments of the Urban Open Space Conservation Law and the Outdoor Advertisement Law, and these laws are being called Keikan-midori San Pou (the three laws for Landscape and Greenery). This study was conducted to clarify the law system for urban landscape and green space through comparing with the case of Japan. The similar Korean laws are the Urban Parks and Open Spaces Law, Outdoor Advertisement Law, and the Landscape Law. This law system was made under the influences of the Japanese one, but it has some differences too. The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics of the Korean law system for conservation and development of urban green space and landscape, and to analyze the differences from the Japanese system and their reasons. As a result, it was remarkable that in Korea the laws with different establishment process or objective tend to be integrated under the new ideas or aims. While being affected by Japanese low system, the national territory plan and the city planning were integrated, and the open space conservation and the Urban Parks Low were integrated too. In this process, the relationships and hierarchy among related lows have become very clear. It was also characteristic that the Korean low system has the green space area as one of the land use categories and has urban nature park area that was specialized to the aims of urban nature conservation and management.

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This study aims to examine and discuss how public parks are appealed with relation to their conditions of house price and environment. For surveying some expectations for public parks, an informational magazine of free paper was used with some assumptions that the expectation is reflected in the housing market to some extent. First, contents of descriptions of parks were extracted from each propertys article and classified to some park types according to the similarities of the descriptions. Next, the relations between appeal points of parks and conditions of house price and environment (house price, distance from station to house, distance from house to park, area of park, etc.) were examined by each park types. As the result, 8 types of description of park were extracted. And differences in the descriptions for park function were observed with relation to the house price. It can be said that both of local governments and private developers need to keep providing qualities and quantities of public parks with paying attentions for such kinds of differences of expectations for park.

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In this research, it aimed to understand the existence situation of a regional resource in the city park, and to investigate the use of the city park as the refuge of a regional resource and the directionality of the use of a regional resource in the future. As a result, it has been understood that a regional resource is produced after in recent years while the kind of the involved a regional resource is various, and has had a lot of things to tell "History and event" in the one and the region concerning "Land". Moreover, it was suggested that the possibility of maintenance and using a regional resource in each city park by investigation into detailed of the movement of a regional resource in the city park and the realities of use.

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GPS-camera based methods for collecting accessibility information was discussed. This research had two objectives : (a) examine what kind type of accessibility information for mobility impaired people can be derived from the GPS-camera image data, (b) show the potential of accessibility map may be improved by GPS-camera based approach. Our results showed park managers 'notice points' biased to facility related, on the other hand, mobility impaired 'notice points' were very sensitive to accessibility, especially in positive and negative aspect from view point of user. To increase the likelihood that there is a strong match between accessibility information and actual situations, it is essential to gain the participation of the intended users.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the evaluation by users about KISO SANSEN national government managed park as an institution which offers the outdoor experience services. Therefore, this study examined the evaluation and wish to return to the outdoor experience services, paying attention to the difference in users' attribute, the interest in nature, and experiences on the outdoor experience services use. The results are as follows. There are many users with children. Although many of users are repeaters to the park, they have not used the outdoor experience services. The degree of total satisfaction and wish to return are high, and there is interrelation between them. The factors which evaluate the outdoor experience services are features of the park, diversity of the outdoor experience services, and fullness of the outdoor experience services which enable users to play in various nature. The factors which influence the degree of total satisfaction differ by whether the users have had experiences on the outdoor experience services use. Although diversity of the outdoor experience services influences the degree of total satisfaction of the users who use the outdoor experience services first, this does not influence it of repeaters.

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This study used a questionnaire survey to clarify the relationship between Play Parks' operational types and guardians' evaluation. As a result, we found that the guardians positively evaluated all three Play Parks for future use.Each Play Park is in a different location, and in some parks it is difficult for children to play alone.However,despite their locations' limitations, Play Parks attract guardians and children to come and play. The guardians also appreciate the organizers' efforts to have more play leaders available than are required by the applicable contract at the park, and at their own expense. Specifically, the guardians feel the need for play leaders for both the safety and the variety of activities, and they evaluate parks with more play leaders available for longer hours more positively than parks with fewer play leaders available for fewer hours.

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Understanding a site-choice behavior of park visitor has been a major focus of research in management of national parks and protected areas. This paper addresses a site-choice behavior of general public using choice experiment for six national parks in Hokkaido, Japan : Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu, Shiretoko, Daisetsuzan, Akan, Kusiro-Shitsugen, and Shikotsu-Toya National Park. The result shows that visiting each national park is valued by respondents. The highest willingness to pay is JPY 80,767 for visiting Shiretoko National Park, and the lowest is JPY 16,476 for Shikotsu-Toya National Park, for example. In addition, a short travel time is positively valued as expected. A willingness to pay for additional one hour is JPY-2,289. On the basis of the results and rates of past visitation for these national parks, recreation opportunities expected by visitors are all different respectively, therefore; role-sharing and characteristic park plans to meet various taste of recreation or tourism in Hokkaido need to be prepared.

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Impact on user expectations in natural parks is probable even if users do not actually visit the area. This research attempts to elucidate the expectations for climbing and the support of management actions of not actual climbers but visitors to the base area of Mt. Fuji in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park in Japan. The aim is to clarify the relationship between visitor expectations and support of management actions. The methodology employed a randomly distributed questionnaire at rest stops in the base area during the summer vacation period in 2006. As a result, visitor expectations were classified into five groups, and large impact on one of "state of visitor health, physical strength and interest", and the other of "conserving wilderness and solitude" was found. Particularly, visitors' expectation of "conserving wilderness and solitude" was shown to be connected to their support of management actions related to control of entrance to the mountain area. In addition, differences in visitors attributes influence their perspective on the support of management actions. These results indicate that park management and planning should be discussed assuming a broader range of visitors.

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Pricing system can be an alternative plan to implement the reasonable utilization of National Parks in response to park overuse problem. The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics and the effect of pricing system in Korea National Park. Pricing system has merits ; (1) environment preservation by controlling the overuse (2) realization of improving park services, and (3) employment increases through affluent finances. The characteristics of pricing system in National Park of Korea are to enact legislation on pricing system since the early days of establishment of National Park, to strengthen management and service by establishment of professional institution, and to collect and regulate utilization fees by gate. Therefore, it seems practical to conclude that the pricing system of National Park of Korea is effective for overuse control and service and employment. Especially, it seems quite effective for overuse control in region which is crowded with user.

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This study examined park management issues by comparing results obtained by questionnaire surveys concerning visitors attitude toward the desired conditions of each setting in a zone with the desired conditions according to an administrative plan based on zoning regulations for appropriate recreational use in Shiretoko National Park. These conditions were specific to the conservation of environmental resource and enhancement of the quality of visitor experience. Questionnaire surveys were conducted at several points of time including the period during which a majority of visits occurred in the summer of 2005 and 2006. Visitors ranked the settings according to the characteristics of biophysical, social, and managerial aspects of each setting. The order of ranking of these settings was similar in the 2005 and 2006 survey, although statistically significant differences were observed between the two years in certain aspects in several settings. The order of ranking of these settings according to visitors responses was similar to that according to the administrative plan. Visitors' order of ranking for the setting appeared to be constant even though their attitude toward the desired conditions was affected by actual experience and personal perceptions.

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The myxomycetes are eulcaryotic unicellular organism. They live in forest floor and feed on micro-organisms such as bacteria, molds, algae and protozoa that inhabit soil, fallen leaves or rotten wood. They make spores and spores are scattered from a fruit body by the wind. When a spore falls in a suitable place for germination, its spore buds and grows. This study aims to develop how to use the myxomycetes as a bio-indicator showed the quality of the urban green environment. The results showed that 222 kinds of the myxomycetes occurred in 35 urban green in Tokyo. For this reason, it reveals that a number of the myxomycetes live in narrow or isolated urban green. Twelve kinds of the myxomycetes were found in investigation at Showa Memorial Park. The myxomycetes lives in the secondary forest covered with fallen leaves and rotten wood, but we couldnt find them in the forest which ground is hard or grassed down. According to the results derived in our study and other reference, it needs study to put the myxomycetes as bio-indicator to practical use, example observations of life and case of environmental education or museum exhibit about the myxomycetes. However, we appreciate the myxomycetes as new bio-indicator of urban green environment because of the advantage that if there is a suitable place for living, the myxomycetes can live in urban green because spores of the myxomycetes are scattered by the wind.

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In current road design practice, consideration for the environment and landscape usually occurs after route has been determined. Yet, an understanding of the surroundings during the route determination phase is indispensable. In this research, we have made full use of newest information technologies to build a system that can examine and express a road's surroundings, in real time, while the road's location is still being determined. The research methods were as follow. First, a three-dimensional road alignment search system was created using genetic algorithms (GA). Secondly, Extended Digital Mapping data was applied to the road design. Thirdly, an increase in the efficiency of the road design was attained. Fourthly, a three-dimensional road landscape architecture systems configuration was created in cooperation with three-dimensional virtual reality software (VR). Fifthly, a real time landscape simulation system was created and can be used for public involvement (PI). As a result, this system has the ability to take into account the environment and landscape during the route definition phase. In this research, it is now possible to better employ PI and perform environmental assessments. wind.

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