Changes in vegetation and flora of abandoned paddy terraces in responses to drawdown

Abstract

In order to assess the impacts of drawdown for land-use change on a Sphagnum-marsh, we compared the vegetation and flora of the wetland before and after the drawdown with focusing on the population of Sphagnum palustre L. Remarkable changes in the coverage of S. palustre and the major vegetational components of the wetland were observed. The coverage of S. palustre markedly decreased by about 75% (from approx. 247 m2 in 2011 to approx. 62 m2 in 2015) after the drawdown. Tree species such as Salix spp. extended (from about 70% to about 83% in the total coverage of the wetland), whereas herbaceous species shrunk after the drawdown. Upland-inhabiting species such as obligate plants for uplands (OBU) increased, whereas wetland-inhabiting species such as facultative plants for wetlands (FACW) and OBW decreased in terms of vegetational coverage. The total number of plant species decreased from 70 species to 62 species after the drawdown, including the disappearance of some wetland-inhabiting species from the wetland. We suggest that the attention for further studies on the abandoned paddy terraces (APTs) and effort for the management and conservation of APTs and APT-inhabiting species that are vulnerable to human-induced disturbances have to be paid more.