Dragonfly crisis in Japan: A likely consequence of recent agricultural habitat degradation

Abstract

Many Japanese dragonfly species depend on habitat complexes maintained in rice paddy systems. We postulated that recent alterations to habitat complexes in paddy systems have had adverse effects on dragonfly populations, especially those ‘once common species’ that have come to depend primarily on paddy systems following losses of natural floodplain habitats. A high proportion of Japanese lentic dragonfly species depends on paddy fields or agricultural ponds that have been extensively degraded, while lotic species can often use both paddies and natural river systems. Thus we also postulated that lentic species are more susceptible to changes in agricultural habitats and are subject to higher extinction risks than lotic species. We aimed to extend previous work on estimating dragonfly extinction risk by developing mechanistic insights into the processes involved. Postulates were tested by analyzing relationships between (1) previous quantitative extinction risk assessments for dragonfly species and (2) species’ ecological characteristics (i.e., distribution range and habitat type [lentic or lotic]). Lentic species were disproportionately represented among those with elevated extinction risk. Species with large distribution ranges were also subject to higher extinction risks than those with narrower ranges, reflecting a driving force acting at a national scale (i.e., intensive degradation of paddy systems).