Abstract
Residents of urban area like to be near rural animals during their daily life, so it is important conserve the suburban Yato landscape in Japan. This study targets the species of frogs that are commonly found in Yato paddies. It is necessary to various frogs inhabiting in Yato, because frogs are popular among Japanese, who as children enjoy capturing tadpoles and frogs. Its purpose is to clarify how that composition of frog species changes when the functionality of a frog habitat is diminished by urbanization. The survey, conducted in the Eastern Kanagawa area in central Japan, determined the distribution of each species of frog in grid cells measuring 0.5-$\textrm{km}^2$. It hsows wide distributing species (Hyla japonica; they always inhabit in all paddies), the middle range distributing species (Rhacophorus schlegelii and Rana porosa p.), the limited range distributing species (R. rugosa; they are most critical species, sine they are recognized only two cells), and so on. Correspondence analysis based on the frog species composition in each cell was performed to ascertain the adaptability of each species to various paddy field conditions. The results allowed us to classify cells into four groups according to the composition of the inhabiting species. And we recognized that the process by which frogs disappear occurs in reaction to either of two patterns of change. As paddy fields are improved by farmland consolidation, R. rugosa, R. ornativentris, R. japonica, and Bufo. japonica f. decline rapidly. In plateau areas, a smore andmore paddies are converted into strong, well-drained fields, only H. japonica and R. porosa p. remain. But in hilly areasd, the species composition becomes only H. japonica and R. schlegelii. Finally, we discuss the concept of ecological urban design in the context of the conservation of frog species in Yato paddies.