■ Introduction to Research〓 Research Area : Rural Planning

Construction of community planning theory led by residents
There have been cases where local residents in Japanese rural areas are embarking
on planning and revitalizational development
themselves in decades. In this research, wefocus on such movements within the settlements scale, and try to clarify difference andcharacteristics compared to the conventional administration-led form. The results will allow us to construct a planning theory peculiar to the Japaneserural area and can be expected to be useful as a guideline for future regional development.

Practical study on construction of measures to damage by wildlife based on planning perspective〓 Prof.
KUKI Yasuaki

The damage of agricultural products caused by wildlife suchas deer, wildboars and monkeys is becoming more serious in
Japanese rural area. The purpose of this research is to develop
the program to prevent from the damage that will lead to thefarmland conservation and the local communities' sustainability.
So we look into the consciousness of the residents in the affected area and the local government officers to clarify the issues
for solution, and consider the technical requirements for themeasures from the field survey. And we propose the solution of
the reduction of the damage at the municipal level and practicethem to verify the effects. The followings have been obtained from the previous studies: 1. the animals
prefer forested former paddy fields and abandoned farmland when they invade rural communities; 2. theeffectiveness of damage prevention can be improved by mowing abandoned farmland around the fences.
Based on these findings, we proposed a method for managing the marginal space when implementing
measures based on the fences to prevent agricultural damage by wildlife.

〓 Research Area : Physiological Plant Ecology

Stand dynamics and regeneration in natural forests
Tree population in the forest stand has been changed and maintained in the process of recruitment, survival, and growth of tree individuals,
which are determined by different disturbances and environmental factors including biotic and abiotic factors. The tree population show
slow temporal changes and spatial heterogeneity. Therefore, it is necessary toconduct long-term and large-scale ecological researches for demonstrating tree
population, stand dynamics, and regeneration of the forests. I have conductedlong-term and large-scale ecological researches with adding tree ring analysis
in different natural forests. In beech forests of Japan, the researches have been
demonstrating dynamics of seedlings, understory trees, and canopy trees indifferent environmental conditions and the regeneration processes and mechanisms. In boreal forests of Mongolia, the researches have been demonstrating
effects of disturbance by forest fires and logging on the regeneration and degradation mechanisms after large-scale forest fires.
Boreal forest in Mongolia

Stand dynamics of secondary forests, Satoyama forests, and the conservation〓 Prof.
SAKAMOTO Keiji

Deciduous oak forest in Japan

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Satoyama forests are secondary forests that were maintained by natural processes
and human's activities. They sustainably supplied bio-resources because regeneration
occurred after the harvesting. However, these Satoyama forests have been abandoned
since energy regimes changed from bio-resources of forests into fossil fuel around1960s. The abandonment has caused degradation of biodiversity, expansion of disease damages, and expansion of abandoned bamboo forests. On the other hand,these abandoned forests have been reevaluated as sustainable bio-resources recently.
Therefore, it is necessary to demonstrate the degradation processes of abandoned
forests and restore them. I have conducted ecological researches on the stand dynamics of Satoyama forests. The researches have been demonstrating degradation of
the stand structure and possibility of the artificial regeneration in pine forests damagedby pine wilt disease, expansion processes and mechanisms of abandoned bamboo
forests, and regeneration processes after logging in deciduous oak forests.