Social-Ecological Restoration in Paddy-Dominated Landscapes (Ecological Research Monographs)

With a focus on environmentally friendly rice farming, this unique book integrates both ecosystem and human dimensions of ecological restoration to provide strategies to promote sustainable agriculture and rural development. Paddy fields have multiple functions beyond their role of producing rice: They serve as refuge habitats for a range of wildlife that once inhabited floodplain wetlands and contain a number of unique and threatened aquatic species. They also provide various ecosystem services for regional communities such as water retention, erosion control, flood control, fish culture, and educational opportunities. However, rice paddies are threatened worldwide due to the modernization of agriculture and abandonment of farmland caused by depopulation and the aging of rural communities. Therefore, multiple ecological and sociological aspects must be considered in the ecological restoration of paddy fields. This book aims to do so by incorporating various disciplines of natural and social sciences. Strategies for sustainable agriculture are reviewed, including financial incentives for farmers and the use of flagship wildlife species such as the crested ibis (toki) to promote ecological restoration. With the increasing popularity of environmentally friendly rice farming in parts of Asia and the western United States, this book offers model cases for sustainable management of paddy-dominated landscapes. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Japan’s Agricultural Policies After World War II: Agricultural Land Use Policies and Problems....Pages 3-15 Socio-ecological Systems in Paddy-Dominated Landscapes in Asian Monsoon....Pages 17-37 Column: Promoting Agriculture with a Recognition of Biological Diversity in the Context of Rice Paddy Resolutions....Pages 39-44 Distribution and Abundance of Organisms in Paddy-Dominated Landscapes with Implications for Wildlife-Friendly Farming....Pages 45-65 Front Matter....Pages 67-67 Environmentally Friendly Farming in Japan: Introduction....Pages 69-86 Column: Endangered Species in Japan: Ex Situ Conservation Approaches and Reintroduction in the Wild....Pages 87-94 Effectiveness of Wildlife-Friendly Farming on Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Diversity on Sado Island in Japan....Pages 95-113 Column: Sado Wrinkled Frog: An Alternative Symbol for Wildlife-Friendly Farming on Sado Island?....Pages 115-121 Using the Oriental White Stork as an Indicator Species for Farmland Restoration....Pages 123-138 Nursery Grounds for Round Crucian Carp, Carassius auratus grandoculis , in Rice Paddies Around Lake Biwa....Pages 139-164 Column: Rice-Fish Culture: The Contemporary Significance of a Traditional Practice....Pages 165-172 Responses of Aquatic Insect, Terrestrial Arthropod, and Plant Biodiversity to the V-Furrow Direct Seeding Management in Rice Fields....Pages 173-195 Can Paddy Fields Mitigate Flood Disaster? Possible Use and Technical Aspects of the Paddy Field Dam....Pages 197-207 Front Matter....Pages 209-209 Sustainable Rice Agriculture by Maintaining the Functional Biodiversity on Ridges....Pages 211-221 Assessing the Difficulty of Implementing Wildlife-Friendly Farming Practices by Using the Best–Worst Scaling Approach....Pages 223-236 Column: In Search of Biodiversity-Oriented Farming....Pages 237-242 Sociological Advantages and Challenges of Community Farms in Sustainable Agricultural Practice....Pages 243-262 Consumer Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Eco-labeled Rice: A Choice Experiment Approach to Evaluation of Toki-Friendly Rice Consumption....Pages 263-279 Front Matter....Pages 281-281 Linking Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Dynamics for the Effective Management of Agricultural Landscapes....Pages 283-294 Synthesis....Pages 295-302 Back Matter....Pages 303-308