In the traditional rural landscapes in Japan which are called “Satoyama”, people lived in an intimate relationship with the regional ecosystems, and they created the habitats of the specific organisms adapted to rural landscapes unintentionally (meadow plants, organisms in paddy fields, etc.). However, these habitats are decreasing after industrialization. Although Satoyama landscapes which have a harmonious relationship between humans and nature are becoming rarer, available methods for assessment of Satoyama landscapes in all of Japan are lacking. In this study, we assessed Satoyama landscapes based on long-distance line-transect with same indicator plant species in Japan.

We classified landscapes which were divided by Secondary Area Partition by these containing land cover types, and selected 56 landscapes. These landscapes were mixture of forests, farmlands and residences. In these landscapes, we set 10km line and examined the existence/absence of indicators each 1km segments. Character species of Miscanthetea sinensis class and Sagittario-Monochorietum alliance were used for indicators.

Occurrence of indicators was higher in Chugoku, Tohoku, and lower in Hokkaido. Topographical or climatic condition, historical and current land use are key factors determining distribution of species. Therefore, we need to consider these relations to assess Satoyama landscapes.