March

DIWPA: DIVERSITAS in the Western Pacific and Asia

DIWPA News Letter
Office: Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, JapanMessage
from the ChairpersonShin-ichi Nakano

Happy New Year! I hope the year

2020 will be full of success and happiness for all of2020

No.

42

context of Asia development. Hohhot, the capital of theInner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is located 140km
away from Genentala Grassland which is famous forthe natural beauty.

Please refer to http://eafes2020.csp.escience.cn.

The latter congress will be held in Gwangju, Southyou. In this year, we are going to have two importantKorea, from 23 to 28 August. The theme of congress

Ecological Societies (EAFES) and the 35th Congress of

be dominated by limnologists, and I am stronglyinternational meetings in East Asia: the 9th EAFESInternational Congress of the East Asian Federation ofthe International Society of Limnology.

The former congress will be held in Hohhot, Chinaon June 19-22. EAFES is the federation of collaboration
among ecological societies of China, Korea and Japan,and we hold an international congress every twoyears. The congress is hosted by the Ecological Societyof China (ESC) this year. The theme of the congress

is “Harmonizing People and Nature for Better Asia”,
which focuses on harmonious and sustainable
development among people, nature and society in theMessage

is "Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions: Healthy
Rivers, Lakes, and Humans". The congress would

sure we would have many ecology and biodiversity
researchers in aquatic systems. Gwangju, the capital of

the Honam region, is located in the southwestern partof South Korea. It is famous for its rich and diverse

cuisine. Gwangju is also well known as a symbol cityof democracy, Human Rights and Peace.

Please see http://sil2020.org for more details.

Those two are very important for ecology andbiodiversity research in Asia. Do not miss them!

Heritage sites in 2011 by UNESCO. According to theAtsushi Ishidaclimate record during the last 50 years in the islands,

We held 2019 DIWPA International

are found in the annual precipitation, the number

from the Secretary General

Field Biology Course (IFBC) in Indonesia last August.

Please see page 2 to 4 for details. Moreover, DIWPA
invited Dr. Jia Huan Liew from The University of HongKong to Symposium of Integrative Biology II: WorldTour, sponsored by Center for Biological Research,

Kyoto University, last November. He introduces hisreport on page 5 to 7 of this newsletter.

Now, we are making a plan of 2020 IFBC at theOgasawara (Bonin) Islands, locating in the subtropicalNorth Pacific Ocean about 1,000 km south of Tokyo,

Japan. Many endemic livings exist in the islands andthey were recognized as one of the World Natural

the temperature and vapor pressure in air aregradually increasing year by year. Although no trendsof days without rain has significantly increased
during the last 50 years. Nowadays, I feel that theevent of drought-induced tree death and the numberof working time of the seawater desalination plant

have increased, especially when the precipitation

was low. In the next IFBC, we would like not only tomake a training course of tree physiology but also to

introduce the activity of forest conservation in theoceanic islands. More details will be announced in

the near future, and we will invite young researchers
for the IFBC in 2020 through DIWPA homepage.
http://diwpa.ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp/index.html

DIWPA News Letter No.421

Report 1

2019 DIWPA International Field Biology Course (IFBC)
at The Upstream of Citarum River-Indonesia
Luki Subehi, Imroatushshoolikhah and Gunawan Pratama Yoga
Research Center for Limnology
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Indonesia)

The International Conference on TropicalOne-day workshop location :
The Cibodas Botanical Garden

Bogor, Indonesia from August 28 to

The participants could enjoy the scenery of( RCL) , Indonesia Institute of Sciences

This Botanical Garden was founded inLimnology 2019 ( Troplimno 2019) wasconducted in Salak Hotel - The Heritage,
30, 2019 ( https://www.troplimno2019.

or.id). The Research Center for Limnology(LIPI) is responsible for the organizationof the conference. To begin with, One-day
Workshop of International Field Biology
Course (DIWPA IFBC) by Kyoto University,Japan, preceded Troplimno 2019 on August

27. 2019 DIWPA IFBC in Indonesia isproposed by Dr. Luki Subehi from RCL -LIPI, as a member of DIWPA. Prof. Shinichi

Nakano, DIWPA Chairperson, and AssociateProf. Hiromi Uno, an expert instructor ofDIWPA, were also supported and guided
the workshop.

Furthermore, RCL set up the National

L a ke For u m on t he f ir s t day of t heconference, August 28 and Annual National

beautiful vegetation, since the location is in
the area of the Cibodas Botanical Garden.
1852 by J. E. Teijsmann, a Dutch botanist.

It is on the slope of twin volcanoes, Gede
Pangrango, approximately 1,300-1,425

meters above mean sea level. It is locatedabout 100 km from Jakarta, the capital

city of Indonesia, and approximately 80
km from Bandung, the capital city of West

Java. The Garden has an average annual
precipitation of 2,972 mm, where the wet

season usually occurs from September toFebruary. The Temperatures range from 16
to 28℃. The range of humidity is from 70 90%. (Fig. 1)

Scientific Meeting of the Indonesian Societyof Limnology on the last day, August 30. In

conjunction with the conference, South East

Asian Limnological Network (SEALNet)
conducted the second meeting on August29, 2019.

2

DIWPA News Letter No.42

Fig. 1. Location map of one-day workshop

Report 1
The Garden covers an area of 86 hacame from several countries includingcollections, but also are occupied by lawns,

backgrounds such as a research institute,and divided into nine sections (blocks),

which are not only planted by living treeponds, buildings, stone paths and forestedareas.

There are t wo main rivers in thethe United Kingdom, Thailand, Cambodia

a nd Indonesia , wh ich have v a r iou suniversity and ministry of government.
(Fig. 2)

garden, namely the Cibodas River and theThe Workshop

stream creates a beautiful waterfall namely

important step for studying the dynamics

Ciwalen River. The Cibodas River flows

from the south to the eastern part and theBasic method of stream ecology is anthrough the middle of the garden. Cibogo

workshop, we conducted two assessments:

Ciismun Waterfall. The Ciwalen River flows
waterfall, which was used as a samplingsite of IFBC workshop, is located in thisriver.

The Participant
A total of 23 participants joined in theworkshop. Based on the theme “Basicmethods for stream ecolog y ”, it washeld at ups t rea m of Cit a r um R iver,particularly in Ciwalen River and Cibogo
waterfall. This location is part of theCibodas Botanical Garden, Indonesian

Institute of Sciences. The participantsof the ecosystem in tropical climate. In thish a bi t a t a s s e s s ment a nd biolo g ic a lassessment. We did activities both in thefield and in the class/lab.

First, Prof. Nakano and AssociateProf. Uno gave brief introductions in the
beginning of the workshop. Prof. Nakano

explained his experiment related to themicroalgae and its roles in the ecosystem.
Then, Associate Prof. Uno introduced someaquatic insects which commonly found in
stream ecosystems, as a prologue of thefieldwork.

After they finished the introduction,

the participants were divided into threegroups. These three were doing samplingin three different types of habitat: Sunny,

Shaded and Cascade. Every group broughtsome equipment to collect the data andsamples, such as net-surber, small net, tray,

small bottle for algae, brush, densimeter,
petri dish, tweezers and papers.
Fig. 2. A group photo of the participants

The details of the fieldwork activities

are described as below: (Fig. 3)• Describing the general stream water
DIWPA News Letter No.423

Report 1
qu a l it y : w at er t emp er at u r e, pH ,17,9%. This location was the more open

measured by using Water Quality Checker.

more open than the Cascade area (16.9%).

conductivit y and dissolved oxygenconcentration. Those parameters was• Assessing habitat condition: canopy

than two others. Meanwhile, in the Shaded
area, it’s around 17.2%. The shaded area
However, based on the biologicalopenness was counted by using densimeter;

samples, the Sunny habitat shows the most• Biological sampling: benthic invertebrates

aquatic insects and one family of flatworm,

water discharge was measured by using aflow meter and roll meter.

were taken by using net-Surber; and algae
were sampled by using net-plankton.

variable of invertebrates. Eleven families
were found, which consists of ten families ofwith the total of 46 individuals. According

to the Functional Feeding Group (FFG ) ,invertebrates in the Sunny area dominatedby collector feeder and then were followed
by grazer. While, the Shaded area wasoccupied by ten families of invertebrates,

which consists of eight families aquaticinsects and two families of flatworms withthe total of 50 individuals. In this second
type habitat, most of the invertebrates areFig. 3. Fieldwork (physical habitat measurement)

found from collector feeder and shredderin the second place. Meanwhile, in the third

The Results

type habitat, the Cascade area, consists ofAfter having collected the data and theThose nine families are mostly collector

samples, ever y g roups analy zed t hephysical aspects of those three types ofhabitat, including the water discharge andseven families of aquatic insects, one familyof flatworm and one family of amphipod.
feeder and predator. (Fig. 4)

the canopy opened. Then, every group

identified the invertebrates and observed
the algae, which had collected in thestream.

The result shows that, based on thecanopy openness analysis, these threehabitats have quite similar openness

between one and another. The canopy
4

openness in the Sunny habitat was around
DIWPA News Letter No.42

Fig. 4. Lively discussionReport 2Symposium of Integrative Biology II: World TourJia Huan Liew

School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

T he A nt hropocene is def ined by

The symposium was headlined by

global human activity and its dominancefour keynote talks by Professors Kanehiro

the exponential growth of the humant alk s highlighted a recurring themein driving contemporary environmentalchange. An unfortunate by-product offootprint is the proliferation of complex

issues requiring international and interdisciplinary solutions. It was therefore very
timely that the Symposium of Integrative

Biology II: World Tour brought together

experts from over the world in various
fields of study to discuss several pressing

environmental issues. (Fig. 1) I was very

fortunate to be invited as an early career
scientist to speak at the symposium, and in

this issue of the DIWPA News Letter, I havealso been given the privilege to summarise
my thoughts about the meeting.

Kitayama, Richard Corlett, Shiro Koshima,and LeRoy Poff, respectively. The keynotet hroug hout t he s y mposium: a needfor internat ional collaborat ions andcross-border capacity building. Human

population growth and development in
the coming decades are likely to be mostintense in the developing parts of the world,
yet the scientific expertise and resourcesin these regions can sometimes be limiting.

Talk s f rom Drs. K it ayama, Koshima,a nd Pof f i l lu s t rat e how t he uneven
distribution of scientific resources canpartly be overcome if the growth of local
research infrastructures is emphasized

Fig. 1. A group photo of the participants

DIWPA News Letter No.425Report 2in international collaborations. The joint

geographically and/or taxonomicallycollection efforts initiated by these projects

Takayama presented findings which areresearch ef for t s also achieved morethan scientific publications. Often, data

continue for years, or even decades—suggesting great potential for scientificdiscovery from within communities whichwere historically under-represented inwider academia. This notion was further

reinforced by Dr. Corlett’s insights into
the growing environmental awarenessamongst the general population of a
rapidly developing Southeast Asia. Overall,

the keynote talks encouraged cautious
opt i m i sm a m id s t t he of t en-g loomy

undertones in discussions about the stateand future of our natural environment.
(Fig. 2)

During the symposium, I was impressedon many occasions by the organisers’

support of young researchers — many

focused than the keynote presentations.

Drs. Nishik awa, Ishihara, Sato, andscientifically important, yet, represent

on ly a por t ion of ongoing resea rch
undertakings. This was exciting to me
because it demonstrates great ambition andclear research directions, in spite of recent

concerns about the viability of a career inacademia as young scientists. Dr. Hobbie

added experience to the proceedings byhighlighting the value of paying attention

to the more cryptic components of ourstudy systems. In our pursuit of a wider

understanding of the natural world, I am
reminded of the need to balance scientificinquiry with a greater depth of knowledge
within specific fields of research. (Fig. 3)

members of the committee being early-career scientists themselves. Five of

the six invited talks were allotted toyoung scientists. These represented achange in pace and were generally more

Fig. 3. Prof. Ishida introduces Jia Huan Liew at theSymposium of Integrative Biology II: World TourThe symposium’s formalities ended

with a poster session involving morethan 60 presentations. The organisingcommit tee opted for a more c a sua lapproach, encouraging poster presenters

to interact with other participants in lieuof standing-by their presentations. ThisFig. 2. World map marking the participants’ research areasand countries visited

6DIWPA News Letter No.42

turned out to be a good decision as poster

presenters had the opportunity to freely
discuss their work and interact with

Report 2
their peers. It was evident that neither

that the field workshop was as much fun as

generous spread of local and international

equipment that were similarly unfamiliar

nationality nor seniority in the academy

were barriers to lively exchanges over adelicacies.

it was educational. I had the opportunity
to explore a new environment using field

to me — the lat ter being a source ofA major highlight for me, was the post-amusement to fellow participants in mysymposium proper, the post-symposium

II: World Tour did an admirable job insymposium field workshop at Ashiu Forest

Research Station. As with much of thefield workshop was well thought-out

and carefully planned. Participants weregiven the opportunity to choose researchareas/organisms of interest and eachgroup was guided through unique handson experiences. I chose to join the ‘fishgroup’ led by Drs. Nakagawa and Uno.

Having spent almost my entire career so
far working it the tropics, I found greatvalue in learning about the diversity andecology of temperate Japanese streams. It

group. (Fig. 4)

The Symposium of Integrative Biology

balancing the importance of outlining thecurrent state of science with the need tolook forward to what is to come. I am very

grateful to DIWPA and the organisers of themeeting for the opportunity to be a part ofthe meeting, and I am thankful for all theexciting potential research collaborations
as well as the many new friendships
formed.

would also be remiss of me to not remark

Mail Us!
We welcome your articles,
news or any information related tobiodiversity.
Please send them todiwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Fig. 4. Sampling with a cast net in a stream in the Ashiu
Forest Research Station

DIWPA News Letter No.42

7

Nominations Open for The MIDORI Prizefor Biodiversity 2020
The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity is established with the aim ofpromoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. The MIDORI
Prize is a biennial international prize to honor individuals who havemade outstanding contributions to the conservation and sustainable
use of biodiversity at global, regional or local levels, established by theAEON Environmental Foundation in 2010 in commemoration of the 20thanniversary of the Foundation.

Nominations from the public are accepted through the MIDORI Prizewebsite. Nominations are also invited from experts who are academics,scientists and others working on biodiversity around the world.

Nomination deadline is March 30, 2020. Please find further information
at https://www.aeon.info/ef/en/prize/.

D IW PA O FFI CE
Chairperson
Shin-ichi Nakano
Secretary General
Atsushi Ishida
Secretary	Keisuke Koba		
Shoko Sakai		Yoshikuni Hodoki
Assistant Secretary Akiko Seki

Hiroshi Kudo
Shigeo Yachi
Hiromi Uno

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

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

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