We tried more precise mapping of vegetation using UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), as a new method of creating vegetation maps, and we objected to be clearly the efficient mapping of vegetation using the UAV method by comparing vegetation maps created by analysing aerial photographs taken by a UAV and an aircraft (manned flight). The aerial photography using UAV was conducted in the Niida River estuary (the secondary river flowing into Minamisoma City in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan). The photography period was in August 2013. We analysed the aerial photographs using ArcGis 9 (Esri Japan Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). The aerial photographs of the main plant communities (Phragmites australis, Typha domingensis, and Miscanthus sacchariflorus) taken by the UAV could clearly discriminate each plant community at the 1/50 scale. Moreover, it could clearly discriminate the shape of a plant at the 1/10 scale. We compared the vegetation maps by analysing the aerial photos taken by a UAV (2013 shooting) and an aircraft (2011 shooting). As a result, the vegetation map created by the UAV method could clearly discriminate community distributions. We conclude that vegetation surveys using UAV are possible and are capable of a highly precise community division in places where field reconnaissance is difficult. The UAV method is effective and will contribute to the improvement of research methods in the future; this method may reduce research costs associated with a reduction in field survey days and manpower.

In this report, we reviewed the differences in the ecosystem services of coastal and inland areas surrounding 39 Sake breweries in Chiba Prefecture by investigating environmental variables (e.g., location, altitude, soil, and hardness of preparation water). The Sake breweries were located in three distinct environments: the coastal vicinity, the river plains region, and the plateau/ mountainous region. The hardness of the preparation water and the soil types in the coastal vicinity were compared with those of the river plains and the plateau/mountainous region. Strong hard and hard water sources were observed in 70% or more of the breweries in the coastal vicinity, and sand dune regosol, coarse particle brown lowland soil, and coarse particle grey soil were more prevalent along the coast than inland. Most of the Sake brewery wells in the coastal vicinity were approximately 5 - 10 munderground, and there were no great differences in the number of Sake breweries in each well depth class in the river plains and the plateau/mountains region. We analysed environmental factors (distance from the sea, soil type, water hardness and preparation water collection depth) using a principal component analysis. This analysis revealed the existence of three main environments: the coastal vicinity, the river plains and the plateau/mountainous region. We conclude that the decrease in altitude between the inland Sake breweries and those along the coast is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the hardness of preparation water (from soft water to strong hard or hard water) and shifts in soil composition from gley soil, grey lowland soil, brown forest soil, and andosol to sand dune regosol, coarse particle brown lowland soil, and coarse particle grey soil.

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Winter-flooded paddy field is an agricultural method which putting a water among the winter, it is paid attention as an environmental friendly agriculture. Especially, it is said, winter-flooding is control paddy weeds and there is the farming potential that the annual rice yield is high. However, there is no detailed research about the effects of weed communities by winter-flooding, as the purpose of this study, we investigated the effects of the inhibition of weed communities (life cycle, harmful weed) by winter-flooding at a shore of Inba Lake, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, and compared them to paddy weeds in a dry paddy field. Methods examined the plant height (cm) and the cover degree class of all appearance species in each quadrant frame (1 m²). Quadrant in the two type paddies were 10 frames (D1-D10) at the control, and were 10 frames (W1-W10) at the treatment (Figure 1). In a winter-flooded paddy field, species number and plant volume of winter-annual plants decreased in the third winter after winter-flooding, In particular, the plant volume of Alopecurus aequalis, Cardamine flexuosa decreased significantly. We considered that the cause of this decrease was due to the depth of flooding (more than 10 cm). Eleocharis kuroguwai and Echinochloa oryzoides, which are perennial plants, Sagittaria trifolia, which is an annual plant, increased in a winter-flooded paddy field in the third summer after winter-flooding. We considered that these species grew thicker at places where the seeds germinated, and grew easily, because the conservation situation of the seeds fitted well under the winter-flooding conditions. They started to grow immediately after the drainage of water. The period of drainage coincided with increasing light intensity and temperature. In addition, the annual rice yield of the third year after winter-flooding was higher than that of the habitual practice rice field

In this study, we compared and analysed vegetation communities in the estuarine tidal flats of the four major rivers of Ise Bay (Suzuka River, Tanaka River, Kushida River and Miya River) in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Along the Suzuka River, Eragrostis curvula of the exotic plant accounted for 60.0% or more of the entire surface area, and the plant volume was high. Along the Tanaka River, Suaeda maritima community occupied the sand-mud zone in the vicinity of the shoreline on gravel bars, while Phragmites australis community was distributed along a shallow lake upstream. In the Kushida River, a salt marsh plant community (a community type found in areas flooded at high tide) of Suaeda maritima, Phragmites australis and Artemisia scoparia was distributed on the sand-mud surface along the main river. A salt marsh plant community (a community type found in areas that do not flood at high tide) of Phacelurus latifolius accounted for least 50.0% of the entire surface area. Along the Miya River, the area covered by the annual salt marsh plant community type was larger than the area occupied by this community type along the other rivers. The flow volume of the Miya River was high in April, June and August-October of 2006, July and September of 2007 and April-June of 2008. The flow volume was especially high in July 2007, when it reached levels above 1500.0 m³/s; change in flow volume was also large. We suggest that a large-scale disturbance occurred in...