DIWPA: DIVERSITAS in the Western Pacific and Asia

DIWPA News Letter
Office: Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, Japan

March
2022

No. 46Those high school students provided preliminary
questions in advance, and the experts examined them
before the forum. I introduced some of those questions
below:• What kind of animals designated as endangered
species in your country conserved?
• Are there any species currently recovering well fromendangered species?
• Which private companies work to preserve or protect
each country’s wildlife habitat?

Message from the Chairperson
Shin-ichi Nakano

I wish all people of the world peace andhappiness.

They were also interested in the experts’ motivation forresearch:• What is the most rewarding moment while studying
ecology?
• What advice would you give to students who want topursue ecology as a career?

On 10 November 2021, “Global Ecological Literacy
Youth Forum” was held online, organized by National
Institute of Ecology (NIE), South Korea. NIE wants topromote the project to develop practical programs forhigh school students to foster ecological literacy inSouth Korea. Through the opportunity, they makefriends from the same generation in programs that cancultivate ecological literacy in their local areas. The
program focused on wetland, endangered species, andhabitat conservation.
The forum was chaired by Dr. Sung Ryong
Kang, General Manager of International Cooperation,
NIE). As a part of the program, NIE intended to maketime to interview international experts. Therefore, I was
invited as DIWPA Chair and one of the experts inecology and biodiversity, together with other experts asfollows:• Dr. Andre Mader: Director, Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies• Dr. Martin Bauert: Head of Conservation, Zoo Zurich

Furthermore, those students wanted to know how South
Korea’s ecosystem conservation is evaluated by theexperts:• How is the evaluation of Korea’s ecosystem statusfrom the international community?

At the forum, total 11 students from 3 high schools
participated:• 3 students from Seocheon High School• 4 students from Seocheon Girls' High School• 4 students from Janghang High School

Souvenir photo of “Global Ecological Literacy Youth Forum”
held on 10 November 2021

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DIWPA News Letter No.46

I know that South Korea has beensuccessfully taking appropriate measures forenvironmental and biodiversity conservation during thelast generation. At the forum, I have found that thosestudents are highly interested in and motivated inenvironmental issues especially for endangered species
and habitat conservation. I was so much impressed with
their diligence and passion for ecology and biodiversity.
I strongly hope future collaboration for environmental
and biodiversity conservation by the next generations,believing in their great success.

waste are common factors worldwide that limit thesustainability of islands. In order to maintain their highbiodiversity and beautiful nature, we should makeplanning for the mitigation and adaptation measures toglobal warming from a more transdisciplinary standpoint,
integrating natural and human sciences. This is achallenge shared not only by islands but also bycontinents. DIWPA welcomes such transdisciplinary
papers as well as those in the natural sciences.
I know that many of us are now heartbroken by
the recent world situation. We are acutely aware of ourprivileged position, and we believe that DIWPA must
support all people and researchers as a global platform
for the exchange of information related to biodiversity
and ecology. DIWPA accepts papers from not only
Ukrainian but also Russian researchers. Some DIWPA
members may not agree with this opinion, but DIWPA
is independent on any governmental policy and should
not be influenced by the nationality, ethnicity, politicalbeliefs, race, gender, or religion of the authors. I do notwant to create any barriers between us in DIWPA. We
may also accept Russian researchers participating
DIWPA International Field Biology Course (IFBC) inaccordance with the above policy. However, because of
the global infection of COVID-19, we have not yet
determined whether we will be able to hold DIWPAIFBC in this year. We will announce the information of
DIWPA IFBC on our website at a later date.

Messagefrom the Secretary General

Atsushi Ishida

In Japan, we are experiencing the 6th wave of
COVID-19 infections driven by Omicron variant. I
wonder how you maintain your activities, such as
lectures, meetings and conservation programs in yourcounties. However, since the internet is not affected by
COVID-19, we can exchange information on our
activities in our respective country. We hope to enhance
the activity of DIWPA as a platform for informationexchange. In this volume of the DIWPA Newsletter, we
can inform good news. Amami-Oshima Islands, Tokuno
Island, Iriomote Island and the north part of Okinawa
Island in the Ryukyu Archipelago have been registeredby UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage sites inJuly, 2021. This is the 5th World Natural Heritage sitein Japan. These islands have a high biodiversity,
including many endemic species. This high level of
biodiversity was recognized by UNESCO as a valuethat should be protected in the world, and these areas
were registered as a World Natural Heritage site. In
Japan, we have two World Natural Heritage sites on
islands; the other is the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands. We
have more than 300 oceanic islands in Japan. Theseoceanic islands provide rich ecological services tohumanity through their unique and beautiful nature.
However, such islands are vulnerable to climate change
and globalization, such as COVID-19. As a result,environmental issues are more likely to become
apparent in the islands. Water resources and excessive

Mail Us!
We welcome your articles,
news or any information related tobiodiversity.
Please send them todiwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp

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DIWPA News Letter No.46

ReportWorld Natural Heritage as Seen
by Iriomote Islander
Shin Watanabe
Iriomote Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center,
University of the Ryukyus (Japan)

Fig. 1. Todomari-beach means a place where gods gather. It is also a beach of
singing sand where sea turtles spawn.

Fig. 2. Funaura Bay, surrounded by mangrove trees, is rich in organic matter, andmany creatures inhabit the tidal ats.

Amami/Okinawa area was registered as theJapanese 5th World Natural Heritage Site in
2021

Iriomote. This area is separated from the continent, andthe geological history causes unique biological evolution
in establishing small islands. Also, it is an irreplaceable
habitat for some unique terrestrial species, including
many endemic and globally threatened species. This
property contains essential and significant habitats toconserve this exceptional and rich biodiversity(UNESCO World heritage centre https://whc.unesco.org/
en/list/1574/). Although Amami / Okinawa site is lessthan 0.5% of the Japanese land area, the animal andplant species occupy a considerable proportion of thenumber of species in Japan, such as 1,819 species ofvascular plants, 21 terrestrial mammals, 394 birds, 36
terrestrial reptiles, and 21 amphibians inhabit. Overall,about 57% of the terrestrial vertebrates of "the terrestrial
biodiversity hotspot Japan" live in the site, including
44% of Japanese endangered vertebrates and 36% ofinternational endangered species inhabiting Japan. In
addition, the number and proportion of endangered
species are high on this site, including 95 international
endangered species（Recommendation letter to"World Natural Heritage" is defined as a common
heritage of humankind that must be passed down to the
future. They are recognized by the World Heritage
Committee (IUCN: International Union for Conservationof Nature) as important areas with the only value in theworld. (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2009 UNESCO
Framework for Cultural Statistics and UNESCO,
Convention Concerning the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972.) To be registered asa World Natural Heritage, the property must meet one ormore of the four evaluation criteria: natural beauty;
topography/geology; ecosystem; and biodiversity. In
Japan, Shiretoko, Shirakami Mountains, Yakushima, andOgasawara Islands have already been registered as
World Natural Heritage Sites. Last year, the Amami /Okinawa area was certificated as Japan's World Natural
Heritage Site for the first time in 10 years.
Amami / Okinawa world natural heritage site
consists of four different islands, Amami-Oshima,
Tokunoshima, the Northern part of Okinawa, and

UNESCO submitted in February 2019).

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DIWPA News Letter No.46

(c) The eroded soil flowed into the sea

Natural treasure island, Iriomote

How to protect and manage?

Iriomote Island is one of the islands forming Taketomi
town of Okinawa prefecture. Only 2400 islanders live on
Japan's 16th-largest island (289.62 square kilometers).
72% of the entire island is registered as a World Natural
Heritage Site, accounting for 48% of the Amami /Okinawa World Natural Heritage Sites. Dense semitropical forests cover most terrestrial areas, andmangrove and coral reefs fringe the island. About 70%
of Japanese mangrove forests are distributed on Iriomote
Island, and it enhances the biodiversity of fish, crustacea,
and shellfish living in brackish water. Many endemic andendangered species live in the various
semi-tropical ecosystem, such as the Iriomote wild cat.
The small population is caused by difficulties ofdevelopment geographically, which is mountainous andcovered by deep forests. Because an airport has not been
built on the island, visitors need to fly to the next island
Ishigaki and then sail to Iriomote. Moreover, malaria had
afflicted residents' livelihood until 1961. After the
Reversion of Okinawa to Japan (Japaneseadministration) in 1972, tourists visiting Iriomote Island
increased gradually due to the increment in thetransportation capability of planes or ferries. In the 21st
century, as the specific and beautiful nature became
known widely, annual tourists visiting Iriomote reachedmore than 300,000 until a new Coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic occurred. On Iriomote Island, tourism making
the best use of the natural environmental property isprosperous. Tour-type sightseeing visiting several
popular spots by bus, boat, or cow car, and eco-tour
going around nature with a guide using kayak or SUP isheld actively.

UNESCO requires compliance for a World Heritage
Site; Invasive alien species and roadkill, especially thepotentially critical impact of traffic on endangered
species, including the Iriomote wild cat, need to be kept
at an absolute minimum and strictly monitored andillegal collection of wild rare and threatened species
prevented.
Prior to being registered as a World Natural
Heritage, administrative organs greatly expanded thenational park area of Iriomote Island since the World
Natural Heritage registration system has no legal
restrictions to protect nature. As a result, almost theentire island was designated as the Iriomote Ishigaki
National Park. Moreover, some areas are designated asSpecial Protection Zones or Class I Special Zones by the
Ministry of the Environment and/or Preservation Zones
of Forest Ecosystem Reserves by the Forestry Agency. In
addition, some buffer zones were established between
the residential and protection zones, and activities in thebuffer zones also require continued vigilance and arestrictly limited and monitored. Last November, Okinawa
Prefecture, Taketomi Town, the Ministry of theEnvironment, the Forestry Agency, local tourism
associations, and local community center staff
established a general incorporated association named
Iriomote Foundation. "To meet the passion and
expectations of many people who support us, our basic
philosophy is to "protect the rich nature of Iriomote
Island and the traditional culture and livelihood of theisland and contribute to the sustainable development of
the region." We will work towards solving various
problems. We hope that people will continue to watch
over the "Iriomote Foundation" so that our small steps
will be helpful for the future of Iriomote Island, theworld's treasure," the director-general, Masanori Kawai,
said.

Most Iriomote Islanders might not hope tobe registered as a World Natural Heritage
Site
According to a townspeople survey/questionnaire
conducted by Okinawa Prefectural Government (final
response rate was 20%, https://www.facebook.com/
okinawa.sekaishizenisan March 1st of 2018), mostIriomote islanders regard nature as fundamentallyindispensable for their livelihood and the wild creatures.
Then, the degradation of the natural environment, land,and sea is recognized as the most critical issue.
Regarding the registration as a World Natural Heritage,
while there is some expectation that the local economy

Fig. 3. On Iriomote Island, Ruddy King sher (Halcyon coromanda) ies in the
middle of spring and stays until late summer until child-rearing ends.

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DIWPA News Letter No.46

will be enriched mainly in the tourism industry, it is notrecognized that the registration will lead to theconservation of the natural environment, and viceversa. In addition, there are many concerns; thedeterioration of nature due to the increase in tourism
use, lack of infrastructure, impact on people's
livelihood, and low support rating for heritage
registration of 41% negatively versus 28% positively.
27% of the residents answered neither agree nor
disagree.
UNESCO was also concerned about the potential
impact of tourism, and establishing a continuous
assessment and surveillance system to maintainsustainable tourism levels was a prerequisite for World
Natural Heritage registration. Iriomote local
preparatory committee struggled to establish tourism
rules that would not constrain the islanders' lives.
However, the islanders have not fully understood how
the World Natural Heritage registration and theaccompanying legal restrictions affect their lives. Someislanders are still concerned that new regulations may
restrict islanders' activities such as nature walks, edible
wild plant picking, and wild boar hunting in theconservation area. So, one issue is to inform allislanders that some activities by islanders' in the bufferzone are allowed as before. In addition, in theconservation area, both ecosystem deterioration due torapid increment of escaped livestock goats and broad
area collapsing in mangrove forests that began to beconspicuous are also urgent issues.
From a long-term perspective, World Natural
Heritage registration may have limited the developmentof non-tourism industries and increased the islanders'reliance on the tourism industry because of its vastconservation area covering almost the whole island.
Under the COVID-19 pandemic, as in other regions, thenumber of tourists dropped sharply, and the tourism
industry on Iriomote Island was severely damaged.
Therefore, it is crucial to consider the long-term growthstrategy of Iriomote Island to achieve the economic
stability of the islanders while maintaining a balancewith precious nature without being overly dependent on
the tourism industry.

Fig. 4. Seven mangrove species grow on Iriomote Island, where 70% of thedomestic mangroves are distributed.

Fig. 5. Kandelia obovata produce viviparous seeds in spring.

Fig. 6. In early summer, the owers of Barringtonia racemosa bloom at night.
Then in the morning, they fall and oat on the river surface.

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DIWPA News Letter No.46

Fig. 8. Sekisei Lagoon, which stretches between Iriomote Island and Ishigaki
Island, is one of the world's leading coral reef areas.

Fig. 7. In 2020, the NEOWISE comet (C/2020 F3) was observed in Yaeyama
area.

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DIWPA News Letter No.46

Satoshi Kakishima
Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research,
National Museum of Nature and Science (Japan)

Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, the northernpart of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island in the Ryukyu
Islands were registered as World Natural Heritage sites in
2021, in recognition of their high biodiversity and a highpercent of endemic species. These islands are covered withsubtropical rainforest and are inhabited by a variety ofendemic plants and animals, making them an ideal region
for evolutionary research. I have previously introduced in a
DIWPA News Letter the research sites of a 6-year
periodical mass flowering plant, Strobilanthes flexicaulis(Acanthaceae), which blooms simultaneously every six
years on Okinawa Island (Kakishima 2016). In this text, I
would like to introduce a study on the evolutionary processof the 6-year periodical mass flowering in Japan andTaiwan (Kakishima et al. 2019).
Periodical mass flowering is well known inbamboos (Poaceae) and Strobilanthes (Acanthaceae)(Janzen 1976), where most of the individuals in a
population flower, fruit and die simultaneously in a given
year with a fixed cycle of more than two years (Kakishima
et al. 2019). Thereafter, seeds germinate en masse and mostindividuals grow without flowering until the next mass
flowering year. The mass flowering cycle varies dependingon the species, with the longest cycle in bamboos having
ca. 120 years (Kawamura 1927; Janzen 1976). I previously
found that S. flexicaulis have a 6-year cycle on Okinawa
Island (Kakishima et al. 2011; Fig. 1A, B). S. tashiroi
closely related to S. flexicualis is a polycarpic perennial
plant that blooms every year (Kakishima et al. 2011; Fig.
1C). What kind of process did the 6-year periodical mass
flowering evolve through? S. flexicaulis is distributed not
only on Okinawa Island but also on Taiwan Island and the
Yaeyama Islands including Ishigaki Island and Iriomote
Island (Fig. 2). By surveying the life histories of S.
flexicaulis on Taiwan Island and the Yaeyama Islands, aswell as two closely related species S. lanyusensis and S.
rankanensis in Taiwan (Fig. 1D, E), and estimating theirevolutionary relationships by molecular phylogenetic
analyses, I investigated the life history evolution in the S.
flexicaulis group.

We set up two study sites on Ishigaki Island, one
on Iriomote Island, and three on Taiwan Island toinvestigate the annual variation of the flowering individualsof S. flexicaulis (Fig. 2). At all these study sites, flowering
individuals were observed almost every year, i.e., no mass
flowering was observed (Kakishima et al. 2019; Fig. 3).
This indicates that mass flowering of S. flexicaulis occurs
only on Okinawa Island. We labeled the flowering
individuals and observed them again the following year. On
Okinawa Island, 98.3% of the labeled individuals died,while in Yaeyama Islands, 95.6% of the labeled individuals
also died (Kakishima et al. 2019; Fig. 4). On the other
hand, only 37.1% of the labeled individuals died on Taiwan
Island, and about half of the surviving individuals flowered
for two years. This result indicates that S. flexicaulis on
Okinawa Island and Yaeyama Islands are basicallymonocarpic perennials, while that on Taiwan Island is apolycarpic perennial. My observation also revealed that S.

Fig. 1. Mass owering of S. exicaulis and the morphology of owers in the S.
exicaulis group(A) Mass owering of S. exicaulis on Okinawa Island. The owers of (B) S.
exicaulis on Okinawa Island, (C) S. tashiroi on Okinawa Island, (D) S. rankanensis
on Taiwan Island and (E) S. lanyuensis on Lanyu Island. Modi ed from Kakishima etal. (2019).

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ReportEvolutionary process of a 6-year periodical
mass flowering plant, Strobilanthes flexicaulis,
in the Ryukyu Islands (Japan) and Taiwan

DIWPA News Letter No.46

Yaeyama Islands
YA-2

0
1.0

TA3

S. rankanensis
RA

fl

fl

fi

fl

fl

fl

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N = 161

N = 57

13
20
14
20
15
20
16
20
17
20
18

20
13
20
14
20
15
20
16
20
17

Year

Year

N = 156
9

10
20
11
20
12
20
13
20
14
20
15
20
16
20
17

Year

Temporal dynamics of the ration of owering individuals calculated from thenumber of owering individuals divided by the maximum number of owering
individuals during the surveyed period. OK1, OK2 and OK3 are Okinawa
populations of S. exicaulis. YA1, YA2, and YA3 are Yaeyama populations of S.
exicaulis. TA1, TA2 and TA3 are Taiwan populations of S. exicaulis. LA is S.
lanyuensis. RA is S. rankanensis. N: the total number of examined individuals ineach population. Modi ed from Kakishima et al. (2019).

evolution of the elongation of life cycles in bamboos(Veller et al. 2015). The life history multiplication
hypothesis is the evolution from an ancestral annual toprolonged life time by an integer multiple of the cycle
resulted in the simultaneous fruiting of more seeds,
increased survival from seed predators, and making
evolution of long mass flowering cycles by repeatedinteger multiples of the cycle. Future research is needed toclarify whether the evolutionary mechanism differs among
the plant groups.
This year, 2022, the mass flowering started
again on Okinawa Island (Fig. 6). I plan to clarify why
periodical mass flowering evolved only on Okinawa
Island and what genes are involved in flowering in thesixth year of germination.

Proportion of individuals

N = 420
1.0

0

Dead
No flowering
435
251

Flowering
21
139

Okinawa Yaeyama Taiwan
S. flexicaulisS. lanyuensis S. tashiroi

Fig. 4. The number of owering individuals in the S. exicaulis group
Consequences of the owered individuals in the following year. Red, green, and blue
show dead, survived with no owers, and survived with owers, respectively. The
numbers above the bar indicate total sample sizes. Modi ed from Kakishima et al.
(2019).

8fl

YA3

N = 3149

Fig. 3. Temporal dynamics of the owering individuals ratio in the S. exicaulis
group

lanyusensis, endemic to Lanyu Island in Taiwan, flowered
every year and was a polycarpic perennial (Kakishima etal. 2019; Figs. 3, 4). Because S. rankanensis, an endemic
species on Taiwan Island, is a creeping plant, theirindividual identification was difficult, making it difficult
to elucidate the reproductive mode. At one site, a small
number of individuals flowered each year, suggesting that
S. rankanensis is a not mass flowering plant (Kakishima etal. 2019; Fig. 3). These results show that periodical mass
flowering is found only in S. flexicaulis in this group.
We determined the nucleotide sequences forthree regions of chloroplast DNA and one region of
nuclear DNA, and inferred the phylogenetic relationshipwithin the S. flexicaulis group based on these sequences(Kakishima et al. 2019). In this group, S. tashiroi wasfound to have diverged the earliest (Fig. 5). Although thephylogenetic relationship among the remaining three
species was not clear, S. lanyuensis and S. rankanensis
had their own unique haplotypes and allele types. The
major haplotype and allele type of S. flexicaulis wasshared among populations on Okinawa Island, Yaeyama
Islands, and Taiwan Island, indicating little genetic
differentiation among their regional populations. The
ancestral life history of this group is suggested as apolycarpic perennial because S. tashiroi, which was asister clade to that of the other species, was a polycarpic
perennial (Figs. 4, 5). Because the Yaeyama Islands arelocated between Taiwan Island and Okinawa Island, we
could reasonably infer that S. flexicaulis evolved from a
polycarpic perennial to a monocarpic perennial and thenacquired periodicity (6-year cycle) and synchronicity(mass flowering). This hypothesis is quite different fromthe life history multiplication hypothesis proposed for theflN = 26

N = 510

N = 68
OK3

09
20
10
20
11
20
12
20
13
20
14
20
15
20
16
20
17

Okinawa Island

Red, light blue, orange, and yellow lines show distribution of S. tashiroi, S.
exicaulis, S. rankanensis and S. lanyuensis, respectively. Blue, purple, green,orange and yellow solid circles show the locations of surveyed populations of S.
exicaulis on Okinawa Island, S. exicaulis in the Yaeyama Islands, S. exicaulis
on Taiwan Island, S. rankanensis and S. lanyuensis, respectively. Modi ed from
Kakishima et al. (2019).

fl

TA2

Year

20

OK2

Fig. 2. Distribution and study sites of the S. exicaulis groupflN = 844

N = 283

0

LA

fi

YA2

Year

OK3

fl

N = 1190

S. lanyuensis
LA

20

OK1
TA2

fl

OK2

S. flexicaulis in Taiwan
TA1

YA-1

YA3

TA3

fl

YA1

20

TA1

N = 2417

200Taiwan Island

RA

0
1.0

S. flexicaulis in Yaeyama

OK1

20
12
20
13
20
14
20
15

Ratio of flowering individuals

Okinawa Island

fl

fl

fl

fl

S. flexicaulis in Okinawa
1.0

S. tashiroi
S. flexicaulis
S. rankanensis
S. lanyuensis

DIWPA News Letter No.46

B

S. formosana SK16014

1.00/100

S. dimorphotricha SK17147
S. tashiroi NGT01 (Okinawa)
1.00/99

S. tashiroi SYT01 (Okinawa)I

S. tashiroi NST07 (Okinawa)S. tashiroi TKT10 (Okinawa)
1.00/98
S. lanyuensis SDI301 (Lanyu)

1.00/100

C

S. rankanensis SDI049 (Taiwan)

0.72/99

S. flexicaulis C524 (OK1)
S. flexicaulis NGG02 (OK2)
S. flexicaulis KTG03 (OK3)
S. flexicaulis IYG04 (Okinawa)S. flexicaulis AWG03 (Okinawa)S. flexicaulis OPH01 (Okinawa)S. flexicaulis OTY01 (YA1)
S. flexicaulis OYY01 (YA2)
S. flexicaulis YTY01 (YA3)II

S. flexicaulis FKF01 (TA1)
S. flexicaulis FKF02 (TA1)1.00/100
0.002

1.00/100

S. flexicaulis (Okinawa)S. flexicaulis FDF01 (TA2)

S. flexicaulis (Yaeyama)S. flexicaulis FDF02 (TA2)

S. flexicaulis (Taiwan)

S. flexicaulis FDF04 (TA2)

S. tashiroi

S. flexicaulis FAF01 (TA3)

S. lanyuensis

S. flexicaulis FAF14 (TA3)

S. rankanensis

S. flexicaulis FAF13 (TA3)Fig. 5. Bayesian molecular phylogenetic tree and haplotype networks(A) A Bayesian molecular phylogenetic tree is based on combined sequences (cpDNA and nDNA). Bayesian posterior probabilities and ML
bootstrap proportions are shown in each clade. Parsimonious networks are based on (B) cpDNA and (C) nDNA sequences. Modi ed from
Kakishima et al. (2019).

References
Janzen DH. 1976. Why bamboos wait so long to ower. Annual Review of
Ecology and Systematics 7: 347-391.
Kakishima S. 2016. Long-term eld research of a 6-year periodical mass
owering of Strobilanthes in Okinawa Island, Japan. DIWPA News Letter
35: 6-8.
Kakishima S. et al. 2019. Evolutionary origin of a periodical mass- owering
plant. Ecology and Evolution 9: 4373-4381.
Kakishima S., Yoshimura J., Murata H. and Murata J. 2011. 6-year periodicity
and variable synchronicity in a mass- owering plant. PLoS ONE 6:e28140.
Kawamura S. 1927. On the periodical owering of the bamboo. Japanese
Journal of Botany 3: 335-342.
Veller C., Nowak MA. and Davis CC. 2015. Extended owering intervals ofbamboos evolved by discrete multiplication. Ecology Letters 18: 653-659.

Fig. 6. Mass owering of S. exicaulis on Okinawa Island in 2022
S. exicaulis was
campanulata).

owering together with planted Cherry trees (Prunus

DIWPA News Letter No.46
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from DIWPA Of ce
Due to the COVID-19 situation, we are unsure whether we will be able to hold
DIWPA International Field Biology Course in 2022. The information will beplaced on our website.

For a free subscription to this news letter, please e-mail to the DIWPA OFFICE.

diwpa@ecology kyoto-u.ac.jp
DIWPA New Letter is published in PDF format only on our website to promote
paperless. Thank you very much for your understanding.

DIWPA OFFICE
Chairperson

Shin-ichi Nakano

Secretary General

Atsushi Ishida

Secretary

Hiroshi Kudo

Center for Ecological Research
Kyoto University509-3, 2-chome, Hirano, Otsu, Shiga 520-2113, JAPANTel : +81-77-549-8238
E-mail : diwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Shoko Sakai

http://diwpa.ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp/

Shigeo Yachi
Assistant Secretary Akiko Seki

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DIWPA News Letter No.46