Monitoring of transitions of vegetation and sand-move with activity of landscape conservation for anti-glass-land in Tottori [Japan] sand dune

The Tottori sand dune which has been specified to natural monument was covered by meadow because of planting the windbreak in the period of 1970s-1980s. However, the original landscape of the sand dune is recovering through the landscape conservation activities such as weeding and felling windbreak. Effectiveness of the landscape conservation activities to regain sand drifting by active change to the distribution of vegetation was analyzed by using vegetation maps, air plane survey maps, the records of landscape conservation activities and satellite remote sensing data. The front and the back in the three of fixed sand dunes which were parallel to coastal line were erosive and accumulative tendency, respectively, owing to transferring of sand from seaside to inland by winter monsoon in the ordinary. However, a quantity of sand moving toward inland area has remarkably reduced due to glass-land from 1970s to 1980s. Moreover vegetation area was spreading from the west part of sand dune which had cut a windbreak to inland accumulative area. After the start of a landscape conservation activity such as weeding, the vegetation area has remarkably decreased and sand move recovered. It indicates that the landscape conservation activity was useful to recover a natural sand dune.