Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples provide different habitats for birds living in Japanese cities

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23780028
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Horticulture/Landscape architecture
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University of Education (2014); Iwate Medical University (2011-2013)
• Principal Investigator: MIKAMI Osamu 北海道教育大学, 教育学部, 准教授 (10404055)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 都市 / 鳥類 / 多様性 / 社寺林

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Japanese cities, many green spaces are on the properties of shrines and temples. These two religions are different. Shrines are separately located throughout the cities, whereas Buddhist temples are often placed together. Shrines sometimes have huge trees that are considered sacred, whereas temples have graves. Shinto priests usually visit from outside of the shrines, while a Buddhist priest lives in a temple with his or her family and manages the temple.
These differences may be significant for birds. Here, we compared bird species composition between the temples and shrines in Japan. We found that the average number of species was not very different, but the total number of species observed in all the shrines was larger than that observed in all the temples. This suggests that each temple provides a similar habitat for birds, whereas each shrine provides a different habitat. Thus, these two religions have roles in providing different habitats for birds in Japanese cities.

Free Research Field

生態学