Conserving bird species in Japanese farmland: Past achievements and future challenges

A high proportion of threatened and near-threatened species in the world now inhabit farmland. Although much data regarding the impact of agriculture on farmland biodiversity have been accumulated in Western countries, such information, particularly on the impact of rice cultivation, is fragmentary in other parts of the world and has rarely been disseminated internationally. Therefore, this paper aims to clarify what information has become available through earlier studies in Japan, where farmland mainly consists of rice paddy areas, and give directions for future studies about the impact of agriculture on farmland birds in Japan. This study made three notable observations. First, a review of earlier studies of farmland bird species in Japan uncovered some evidence of both increases (e.g., wildfowl and cranes) and declines (e.g., waders) in population size. Second, this paper closely examined case studies of two types of typical farmland birds: (1) geese and cranes foraging on crops and/or harvested remains of crops and (2) waders and egrets foraging on small organisms in farmland, not agricultural crops. This portion of the study identified some potential routes through which human activities in farmland affect bird species in Japan, and offered practical implications for conservation and management of these species supported by scientific data. Finally, based on the results of this review, three key tasks for future conservation studies and practices in Japanese farmland were suggested: (1) establishing quantitative indices based on monitoring surveys in farmland to track the population status, (2) collecting further evidence of the impact of agriculture, particularly on population-level responses by birds, and in a food-web context, and (3) applying evidence-based conservation to practice.