DIWPA: DIVERSITAS in the Western Pacific and Asia

DIWPA News Letter
Office: Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, JapanNo. 51

Message from the Secretary

Message from the chairperson

GeneralShin-ichi Nakano

Atsushi Ishida

Currently, COVID-19 infections have not completely
subsided in Japan, but daily life and our research
activities have returned to normal. However, masks arestill typically required in clinics and hospitals. On page 2
to 4 of this volume, there is a report from Mt. Fuji, oneof Japan's World Cultural Heritage sites. Mt. Fuji has aunique landscape and valuable terrestrial ecosystems.
Ecologists and related administrative agencies are thus
making significant efforts to conserve these ecosystems.

Thank you very much for your valuable support to ourDIWPA activities. I would like to take this opportunity toinform you about international conferences related toDIWPA.
1.

July
2024

The International Symposium for River and Lake
Ecosystems (ISRLE), a joint conference of theJapanese, Chinese, and Korean land and water
societies, will be held in Wuhan, China, fromNovember 4 to 8, 2024.(https://isrle2024.casconf.cn/ )This international conference has been held
approximately every two years since 1983 on arotating basis by Chinese, Korean and JapaneseSocieties of Limnology. This year’s conference
will be the 19th. Since China is currently showing
great interest in environmental issues andbiodiversity conservation, many presentations on
research in limnology and aquatic ecology will
focus on these topics.
2.

In this volume, we have good news about the DIWPAIFBC for this year. The 2024 DIWPA International Field
Biology Course (IFBC) will be held on the terrestrial
ecosystems of the Ogasawara Islands, Japan, fromDecember 9 to 15, 2024. The Ogasawara Islands, locatedapproximately 1000 km south of Tokyo, are one ofJapan's five World Natural Heritage sites. At the 2024
DIWPA IFBC, we will conduct practical training on theecophysiology of terrestrial plants, including methods formeasuring photosynthesis, water relations, and tree
growth. We will also introduce conservation efforts forthe terrestrial ecosystems in the Ogasawara Islands.
More detailed information about the 2024 DIWPA IFBC
can be found on page 5 and 6. We look forward to yourenthusiastic participation.

The East Asian Federation for Ecological Societies(EAFES), an international conference jointly
organized by Ecological Societies of China, Korea
and Japan is scheduled to be held in Tokyo in midJuly 2025. The first Executive Committee
Meeting was held on June 5. Details will be
provided as soon as possible. The last EAFES,
held in Jeju, Korea, was a great success with 800
participants. As many of you know, many highquality papers by Chinese and Korean ecologists
have been published during the last 10 years, andthe numbers of the publications have beenremarkably increasing, especially from China.
These factors provided strong academic stimulus
for the participants of the Jeju EAFES.

These international conferences are highly informativeand stimulating for researchers in ecology andbiodiversity science. They offer many advantages, suchas easier participation for those not fluent in English, andopportunity to make international connection.
Do not miss them!

Photos at the Ogasawara Islands

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DIWPA News Letter No.51

Rertop

Infrastructure for ecosystem conservationin sika deer management
Taisuke Yasuda and Keita Nakamura
Mount Fuji Research Institute, Yamanashi Prefectural Government (Japan)
Mount Fuji

winter (Fig. 2a). In contrast, the birch (Betula ermanii)
forests are mainly found in valleys with think snowy
areas, such as in windswept puddles (Fig. 2b). The
environmental differences in growing sites result indifferences of tree shapes. The larch trees growing on
ridge sites usually lack the branches on the windwardside of their stems due to exposure of strong winds,called as flag-shaped trees. In contrast, the birch trees
growing on heavy snowfall sites tend to grow withoblique angles due to heavy snow. Both larch and birch
trees grow in harsh environments, but it is predicted thatthe forest upper limit on Mt. Fuji is gradually shifting tohigher elevations due to the expansion of theirdistributions.

Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan, with a peakelevation of 3,776 m above sea level, located in thecentral part of the country. Mt. Fuji is a relatively young
volcanic mountain. The area of elevation above 2,300 m
is classified as the alpine zone, where volcanic scoria
wastelands spread (Fig. 1). Two herbaceous perennials,Aconogonon weyrichii var. alpinume and Stellaria
nipponica are predominant plants in the alpine zone. The
number of alpine plant species is extremely small, andthey grow sparsely and form small vegetation patches.
These alpine plants have not had the chance to expand
their distribution due to the severe environments, such asa short growing season and cold winter.

Fig. 2. (a) Larix kaempferi growing at the forest upper limit zone and (b) Betula ermanii
growing in a valley in Mount Fuji

Avalanches in Mount Fuji
Slash avalanches frequently occur on the mountainslopes of Mt. Fuji in the late winter and early spring,when there is still snow cover, but warm rainfall
happens. A slush avalanche contains a large amount ofwater and flows down over a long distance, similar to a
mudslide. Slash avalanches frequently destroy Larix
kaempferi and Betula ermanii forests in the subalpine
zone (Fig. 3), creating open habitats that are firstly
invaded by sunny herbaceous species such as
Aconogonon weyrichii var. alpinume. The herbaceousperennial is an endemic plant in Japan, distributing in thesubalpine zone of Daisetsu Mountains in Hokkaido andthe alpine zones in the central and northern mountains in
Honshu in Japan. On Mt. Fuji, such disturbances byFig. 1. The view of Mount Fuji from the shore of Lake Kawaguchi

Forest upper limits in Mount Fuji
The forest upper limit, marking the boundary between
the alpine and the subalpine zones, is primarily
composed of Larix kaempferi and Betula ermanii trees.
These two woody plants are pioneer tree species, and theextensive natural forests of larch (Larix kaempferi) are
unique to Mt. Fuji in the subalpine zone. The larchforests are mainly found on ridges, where are exposed tostrong winds, resulting in little snow cover even in2

DIWPA News Letter No.51

avalanches result in the destruction of Larix kaempferi
and Betula ermanii forests, playing a role in resetting
succession and contributing to the maintenance of highβdiversity of plant species in this area.

Fig. 4. (a) Cervus nippon (sika deer)and (b) Aconogonon weyrichii var.
alpinume (a herbaceous perennial)
grazed by sika deer in Mount Fuji.

lowlands, where deer expansion originates. To improvedeer capture efficiency at the low elevation areas, wehave constructed an observation network, using sensor
camera systems with image transmission, called"ecological observation network". Now, we haveinstalled approximately 50 camera systems at theintervals of about 2 km over an area of 448 ㎢ at theFig. 3. The site disturbed by slash avalanche in Mount Fuji. The soil
consisting of scoria has also been washed away and deeply eroded.

Increasing the number of sika deer and its
impactnorthern foot of Mt. Fuji. By using the network camera
system and deep learning, we obtain the information ofreal-time distribution of deer.

On Mt. Fuji, sika deer (Cervus nippon) were observed
only in mountainous areas on the 1970s (Furuya andKuroda 1971). However, by the 2000's, their habitat
range had expanded into the subalpine zone probably
due to global warming, and then the disturbance of deer
foraging on the bark stripping in plantation trees wasconspicuous, beginning afforestation (Ueda 2003). In
recent years, sika deer have further expanded into thealpine zone, where they have been observed foraging on
the endemic plants (Aconogonon weyrichii var.
alpinume), leading to spreading volcanic wastelands(Yasuda, unpublished data). Additionally, competition
for food resources with Japanese serow (Capricorniscrispus) has been occurred in the alpine zone (Takadaand Nakamura 2023). Capricornis crispus is an endemic
serow and a natural monument in Japan. Currently, there
is no effective means to control the invasion of sika deer
into the high elevations, which may lead to the local
extinction of these endemic species, Aconogonon
weyrichii var. alpinume and Capricornis crispus in thenear future (Fig. 4).

Elevational migration of sika deer in Mount Fuji
Using the ecological observation network, we examined
the seasonally elevational migration of deer (Fig. 5).
Until December 2022, sika deer were distributed up to
the subalpine zone (approximately 1,600 - 1,800 m).
After that, during the harsh winter season from January
to March 2023, they moved to lower elevations (under1,600 m in February). From April onwards, theirdistribution area rapidly expanded back to the elevatedsubalpine zone. These data indicate that sika deer inhabit
areas above the subalpine zone and constantly exert
foraging pressure on the vegetation, except winterseason when the environmental conditions are harsh forthe deer.

Development of an ecological observation
network
In recent years, the increase in deer populations has
become a problem in afforestation across various regionsof Japan. The most important issue is controlling thepopulation size of sika deer. To reduce the impact onplants and to mitigate competition with other species
caused by deer foraging in the alpine zone, we haveinvestigated the spatial distribution of deer since 2022.
However, direct capture of sika deer in the alpine zones
is difficult due to geographical and staffing constraints.
Thus, it is important to enhance deer capture inFig. 5. The seasonal variations of elevational distribution of sika deer in MountFuji. The maximum (green), average (orange) and minimum (blue) elevationsof sika deer distribution are shown from November of 2022 to June of 2023.

3DIWPA News Letter No.51

be utilized more widely as versatile tools and socialinfrastructure. The establishment of such information
infrastructure is essential for biodiversity conservationand is expected to be more critical in the future.

The impacts of deep learning on ecology andsocio-economics
The ecological observation network is capable ofautomatically determining whether the animal in thetransferred images is deer or non-deer. Currently, in theprocess of accumulating teacher data, the results oftraining for YOLO ver. 8 (Jocher et al. 2023) show arelatively high score of mAP50 = 0.877, indicating that
there is a high possibility for accurate deer detection
without over- or under-detection. As a result, we canexpect a reduction in the workload required to check
images, with the potential for automatic detection of deer
from the obtained images. Previous studies using deeplearning (Norouzzadeh et al. 2018) have successfully
identified and counted wildlife in images, suggestingthat the network system contributes not only to practicalapplications but also to ecological studies, aimed atunderstanding deer population dynamics.

References
Furuya Y. and Kuroda N. 1971. Large and medium mammals of MountFuji. Mount Fuji: Report of the Mt. Fuji General Scienti c Survey.
(National Park Association of Japan and FUJIKYUKO. CO., LTD.
Eds.) 807-816. FUJIKYUKO. CO., LTD., Tokyo. in Japanese
Jocher G., Chaurasia A. and Qiu J. 2023. Ultralytics YOLO (Version 8.0.0)[Computer software]. https://github.com/ultralytics/ultralytics
Norouzzadeh M. S. et al. 2018. Automatically identifying, counting, anddescribing wild animals in camera-trap images with deeplearning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
115(25): E5716-E5725.
Takada H. and Nakamura K. 2023. Overlap in habitat use and activity
patterns between sika deer (Cervus nippon) and Japaneseserows (Capricornis crispus) in subalpine habitats: exploitativecompetition rather than direct interference? Canadian Journal of
Zoology 101: 981-990.

The use of deep learning is also expected to yield
economical advantage. Automating deer detection
through deep learning will reduce the workload forimage verification. Except for the budgetary constraints,
the number of transferred images and cameras can beincreased as much as possible without becoming
constraints on data processing. This fact means that theobservation network acts effectively as an infrastructure
for biodiversity conservation. While using for thecontrolling wildlife damage and ecological research, theuse of camera systems with deep learning is expected toUeda H. 2003. Large and medium mammals. Report of Regional
Biodiversity Survey (Mt. Fuji North Area). (Yamanashi Institute ofEnvironmental Sciences, Mt. Fuji North Area Ecosystem ResearchGroup Ed.) 55-58. Biodiversity Center of Japan, Nature
Conservation Bureau, Ministry of the Environment, Fujiyoshida.
in Japanese

About the Authors

Mail Us!
Taisuke Yasuda
Senior Chief Researcher
Plant ecologyWe welcome your articles,
news or any information related tobiodiversity.

Keita Nakamura
Researcher
Animal ecology

Please send them todiwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Mount Fuji Research Institute, Yamanashi Prefectural Government
https://www.mfri.pref.yamanashi.jp/index.html

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DIWPA News Letter No.51

2024 DIWPA International Field Biology Coursein the Ogasawara Islands will be held!!

YLP
AP !!
NOW

DIWPA Office is pleased to announce that we will have DIWPA International Field
Biology Course (IFBC) in December, 2024.
DIVERSITAS in the Western Pacific and Asia (DIWPA) is an international network for the promotion ofcooperative studies and information exchange on biodiversity in the Western Pacific and Asia whichaims to connect existing networks of people working on biodiversity and research projects in Asia andthe Western Pacific. One of the main functions of DIWPA is “capacity building of scientists in particularyoung scientists from developing countries”. In the winter of 2024, the International Field Biology
Course will take place in the Ogasawara Islands, a World Natural Heritage site, in Japan.
DIWPA accepts an application for a scholarship to attend the International Field Biology Course.
Details
1.

Date and schedule:
December 9-16, 2024 (8 days trip)
・At Narita or Haneda Airport on December 9, 2024
・At Takeshiba ferry terminal in Hamamatsu-cho at 10:00 a.m. on December 10 for boarding
・IFBC will break up in Takeshiba ferry terminal at approximately 15:30 on December 15.

(There is a possibility that the arrival time of ship in Tokyo delays due to sea conditions.)
2.

Accommodation and Station :Chichi-jima island (Research station of Tokyo Metropolitan University)
Hotel in Tokyo on Dec.9 and 15 night.

3.

Site:
The islands are in Pacific Ocean, 1,000 km south of Tokyo. The climate is subtropical and thearea of Chichi-jima island is 24 km2.

4.

Financial support:
DIWPA provides a scholarship to cover the expenses for accommodations and travel fromyour country/region.

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DIWPA News Letter No.51

5.

Application:
Applicants should be talented researchers/graduate students who belong to DIWPA or whose
supervisor is the DIWPA member.
Applicants should prepare the following documents.
(1) CV(2) A statement of their interests in the field of ecology
In 2024 DIWPA IFBC, we will conduct practical training on the ecophysiology of terrestrial
plants, including methods for measuring photosynthesis, water relations, and tree growth.
(3) A recommendation letter written by the supervisor

6.

Application submission and deadline:
Submit applications to DIWPA office by e-mail before August 31, 2024.
DIWPA Office : diwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp

7.

Report submission:
Successful candidates will be asked to submit a report for DIWPA News Letter.

8.

Others:
It takes 24 hours in one way between Tokyo and Chichi-jima island by ship. There is a
restaurant in the ship, but you need to pay some money when you use it. Some researchersand students will use the accommodation together. A shower room and a kitchen are sharedby the accommodation members. We are unable to guarantee 100% for sure to correspondhis/her food restrictions or other matters for the religious reasons, though we would positively
work on these matters as much as possible. Please be aware that this IFBC may besuddenly cancelled due to a typhoon or sea conditions. And your cancellation fee for a ferry
will be charged if you call off your attendance at the IFBC at your convenience afterNovember 20, 2024.

Only successful candidate(s) will receive the details by September 20, 2024
by e-mail.
If you have any question, please feel free to contact us.
DIWPA Office : diwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp

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DIWPA News Letter No.51

CALL FOR NEW MEMBER
We are now calling for membership of DIWPA. Membership fee is no charge. When
you become a member, you can;
1. Receive the DIWPA News Letter
You can receive DIWPA News Letter by e-mail. The News Letter contains various
information of biodiversity research in Asia Pacific area.
2. Apply for the Field Biology Course
You can apply for the Field Biology Course sponsored by DIWPA. The successful
candidate would participate the Field Biology Course which is organized by Kyoto
University. There are few international initiatives which conduct educational
activities such as DIWPA even though some of the initiatives carry out biodiversity
research.
3. Run your articles regarding your biodiversity activities in DIWPA News Letter
DIWPA introduces our member’s various activities in DIWPA News Letter. Your
activities would spread throughout the world, and you may receive more
information about biodiversity conservation as well as the supports.
4. Build up a circle of friends within biodiversity research
Ask DIWPA when you want some information of foreign countries regarding yourbiodiversity research. DIWPA can introduce people who have information youwant. More than 400 members in 37 countries/regions belong to DIWPA network.
If you would like to join DIWPA, please contact to "diwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp".

Center for Ecological Research
Kyoto University

DIWPA OFFICEChairperson

Shin-ichi Nakano

Secretary General

Atsushi IshidaSecretary

Keisuke Koba Hiroshi Kudo
Shigeo Yachi

509-3, 2-chome, Hirano, Otsu, Shiga 520-2113, JAPANTel : +81-77-549-8238
E-mail : diwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Hiroyuki Tanaka

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

Assistant Secretary Akiko Seki

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DIWPA News Letter No.51