DIWPA: DIVERSITAS in the Western Pacific and Asia

September, 2015

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

No.33

Message from the Chairperson

A

P-BON Book3 is aiming to be
published by fiscal year 2015,
for which, I apologize for the delayof its publishing. The book contained
most of the papers presented atthe “International Workshop on
Shin-ichi Nakano Freshwater Biodiversity Conservationin Asia” at Kyushu University, Japan, in November
2012. Unfortunately, we DIWPA Office had trouble
collecting the manuscripts, and hence the unexpected
delay. Nonetheless, our review process went smoothly,
and we are appreciative of the authors whom
appropriately revised their manuscripts.
There are a number of books on biodiversity thatare already available. However, those books examinedbiodiversity and related issues in highly developed
countries such as the United States of America (USA)and European countries. On the other hand, we still
have limited information about the biodiversity indeveloping countries. Asian countries are well known
for its rich biodiversity, and this is especially thecase for Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia
and Thailand that has gained recognition as “Megabiodiversity countries”. In addition, only a few
publications had been reported on the biodiversity
status in China, even though she is a large country
with the world’s largest population and rapid economic
expansion.
The Book3, together with our previous two books,
gives precious knowledge of the status quo of Asianbiodiversity towards the biodiversity research where
information is lacking from developing countries.
We are very grateful to Japan’s Ministry of theEnvironment for their support. Also, we would like tothank the authors for submitting their manuscripts, andthe publisher, Springer, for their patience in receiving
for our work.

Message from the Secretary GeneralW

e are making a plan forInternational Field Biology
Course (IFBC) in 2015. We willconduct it in the subject area ofphysiological ecology in terrestrial
plants. In the current plan, we
will make a training course of theAtsushi Ishida measurements of leaf gas exchange
in the top canopy leaves of tropical trees in Thailand.
However, in late August, a lot of people were injured or
killed by successive bomb attacks in Bangkok. We havethus anxiety for conducting IFBC in Thailand now. We

will announce the details of the plan on homepage of
DIWPA as soon as possible. If you are interested in the
IFBC, please see our homepage. Motivated students
who belong to DIWPA or whose supervisors are the
DIWPA members are highly welcome for applying.
Please note that we cannot decide yet whether to
conduct IFBC in this year at the present time.
We will make possible efforts for enhancing theactivity of DIWPA, as a platform for exchanging
information related to biodiversity. To keep our activity,
please send your reports for DIWPA Newsletter. We
always receive your papers.

A Tentative Plan ofInternational Field Biology Course (IFBC) in 2015

In November 2015, we will conduct IFBC in Thailand. The subject area is physiological ecology of woody plants. The
day period of the training course will be approximately one week. In the IFBC, we do not go to the risky areas, suchas the center of Bangkok and the southern part of Thailand. We will pick you up at the Suvarnabhumi or Don Muang
Airport in Bangkok, when you arrive. However, we cannot support the finance between the airport and your home.
Note that we can support your ﬁnance during your stay in Thailand. Furthermore, according to the current aspect inBangkok, there is a possibility that we change this plan or cancel the IFBC. Please check our homepage for the details(diwpa@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp).

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

Report 1

The Initiative in Supporting freshwater Sustainable
Development in Indonesia
Luki Subehi

Research Center for Limnology
Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Secretary General of MLI(Indonesia)
Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 28 July in 2005.
In align with its mission, the Indonesian Society of
Limnology – Masyarakat Limnologi Indonesia (MLI),
is initiating a discussion forum on lakes between
Indonesian and other ASEAN members. This forum
will gather the views of many scientific researchers,
and is expected to contribute positively to efforts
of preserving lakes and responding to freshwater
ecosystem disaster. Interesting topics like functional
biodiversity for the tropical lakes will be raised. On
top of that, it hopes to gather valuable views in the saidarea, so as to prepare for the World Lake Conference(WLC) to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in November
2016 with the theme: Lake ecosystem health and its
resilience: local diversity and the risks of extinction.

Fig. 1. Group photo at Annual Scientific Meeting MLI 2013T

he field of limnology has been evolving with the
integration of the ecosystem, which now comprises
lakes catchment area, reservoir, rivers and wetlands.
As such, all-encompassing studies to understand thestructure and the function of inland ecosystem inIndonesia have been encouraged. Also, there is anincreasing obligation towards the needs to conceive
and to maintain the ecological balance of inland water
ecosystem which was subjected to massive pressure in
recent times.
The Indonesian Society of Limnology – Masyarakat
Limnologi Indonesia (MLI) was recognized as thenational organization to carry out strategic rolein limnology researches. We conducted Annual
Scientific Meeting MLI 2013 as a great moment ofscientific gathering and discussion (Figs 1 and 2).
The topics raised were lake ecosystem and catchment
area, restoration and lake conservation, sustainable
management of fisheries, mitigation against lakedisaster, social and institutional aspect on lake
conservation and the effect of public policies.
Due to the occurrence of natural catastrophes, theten countries of Association South East Asian Nations(ASEAN) founded The ASEAN Committee on Disaster
Management (ACDM) in 2003. Subsequently, The
ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management andEmergency Response (AADMER) was signed by

Fig. 2. Highly attentive participants at the meeting

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

Report 2
The activities of the Tadami Beech Center and Tadami Biosphere Reserve
Satoko Kawarasaki

Tadami Beech Center(Japan)Tadami Beech Center is a place to begin your visit
to Tadami Biosphere Reserve. Here visitors willfind information on how to visit the forests and what
to see in the forests. Tours guided by our staffs areavailable for visitors. Tadami Beech Center has been
established since 2007 for people to coexist with nature
forests. The main aims of the center are 1) to conserve
the rich biodiversity and beautiful nature, 2) to research
the life and culture of people associated with thenatural forests and wildlife, 3) to manage “Museum of
Beech and River”, 4) to provide a place for learning of
nature and culture and 5) to disclose the accumulated
knowledge to public. The number of visitors has been
increasing over the year, reaching thousands visitors
in each year. Here I report the information supplied forour visitors and our various activities to accomplish theaims.

Landscape and Nature
Tadami Town locates on the western end of
Fukushima Prefecture and borders on Niigata
Prefecture. Many mountains with peaks over 1000
meters, such as Mt. Asakusa-dake, Mt. Aizu Asahidake and Mt. Maruyama-dake, surround the town.
This region is well known for its heavy snow, reachingapproximately 3 m depth in average in winter. The
steep mountains and heavy snow periodically cause
avalanches, and as a result, bedrocks are frequently
exposed (Fig. 1). Vegetation on mountain slopes varies,
according to the difference in elevation. At the uppermost part, evergreen conifer, Japanese white pine
(Pinus parviflora var. pentaphylla) trees predominate
on the ridges. At the middle part, Japanese dwarf oak(Quercus mongolica var. undulatifolia) trees makedense bushes on the avalanched slopes. At the lower
part, Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) trees makewinter-deciduous broad-leaved small forests in stablesoil sites relatively. These different forests form mosaic
vegetation in this area. Moreover, there are vast native

Fig. 1. Steep mountains and mosaic vegetation in late autumn.
Blackish conifers on the ridge are Japanese white pine andwhitish forests in the rear of the middle are dominated by
Japanese beech.

beech forests on the northern foot of Mt. Asakusa-dake,
the foot of Mt. Aizu Asahi-dake, and Mt. Shionomata,and there are riparian forests consist of Japanese horsechestnut (Aesculus turbinata), Japanese wing nut(Pterocarya rhoifolia), and several willows (Salix spp.)
trees along streams and rivers. In herbaceous plants,
spring ephemerals, such as Erythronium japonica andAdonis ramosa, are conspicuous on forest floor in low
elevation areas, because they produce beautiful flowers
in spring just after snow melting. They bloom along
many footpath roads, and their beautiful flowers give asign that spring has come for the local people living in
town with heavy snow (Fig. 2). These plants are thus

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

Report 2
must achieve three following activities: 1) conservationof natural environment and biodiversity, 2) sustainable
use of environments and natural resources and local
socio-economic development and 3) academic studies
and research, education and instruction and personnel
training.
Coexistence of society with nature
Mountain forests are still usually used for local
people. They enter the mountains to collect edible
plants and mushroom. Fiddlehead ferns and brackens
are most popular edible plants in the early spring, andmushrooms are most popular food resource in autumn.
This area is covered with snow for the half period ofa year. They make baskets and other necessities fromvine of Akebia trifoloata and plant fibers of Carex
dolichostachya as an indoor work in winter covered
with heavy snow. They have been traditionally usedwood and charcoal, as the fuel for stoves and cooking.
Their life style is well adjusted to surrounding naturalenvironments. Such traditional life can reduce fossilfuel consumption, serving as a model of low-carbon
society.
Understanding and spreading such sustainable useof natural resources are the main target of Biosphere
Reserve Project. To keep the traditional life for a longtime, we need to make more effort to educate andenhance the global significance of such sustainable life.

Fig. 2. Adonis ramosa come into bloom soon after melting snow.
We can see spring ephemerals all over Tadami Town.

lovely for many Japanese people.
The topmost predators of the fauna in Tadami area
are the mountain hawk-eagle (Spizaetus nipalensis
orientalis), the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos
japonica) and the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus
japonicas). They are big wildlife and their existence
will be dependent on rich fauna in natural forests withmosaic vegetation, indicating that a high biodiversity iswell maintained. In fact, we can sometimes find small
mammals, many birds and rare frogs in the forests.
Tadami Biosphere Reserve
In June 2014, all area of Tadami town and a partof Hinoemata village are added in the World Network
of Biosphere Reserves. Because of the accession,
the area is called Tadami Biosphere Reserve andTadami Beech Center acts as the main base of Tadami
Biosphere Reserve Project. Biosphere Reserves
are in the Man and Biosphere (MAB) program of
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization). In 1970s, the threat of soundbiosphere, the reduction of biodiversity, the escalationof environment pollution and the destruction of healthy
human life became conspicuous in the world, becauseof the excessive development of natural environments.
Therefore, in 1974, this program has been started
to maintain and progress well-balanced mutual
relationships between human and biosphere. Today,
there are 651 biosphere reserves in 120 countries in theworld. Out of them, 7 biosphere reserves exist in Japan.
As the philosophy of MAB program in UNESCO, we

Fig. 3. We hold natural observation tours. The staff is explaining
about bud form of beech.

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

Report 2
Activities of Tadami Beech Center as a learning place
In this fiscal year (until March in 2016), we have
many plans to conduct seminars and field observation
tours for our visitors (Fig. 3 and Table 1). In addition,
we hold five special exhibitions related to nature andhuman life; the titles are 1) Seasonal change of wild
avian fauna and their ecological characteristics in
Tadami (Fig. 4), 2) Beech forests in Tadami and its
ecology and use, 3) The old photos revive something,4) Biodiversity in Tadami Town and 5) Life history of
spring ephemeral herbs. In the past, we have had many
special exhibitions; for example 1) The memory of
Tagokura hamlet, sunk into the dam, 2) The ecology of
Lilium rubellum, a regional endemic endanger species,and 3) Riparian forests: ecology, function, and roll.
We have invited forefront researchers as the lecturersof seminars and field tours. We hope to promote more
Tadami Biosphere Reserve Project, and to progressunderstanding of the significance of great nature in
Tadami through our activities.

Fig. 4. Special exhibition: Seasonal change of wild avian fauna
and their ecological characteristics in Tadami.

Table 1. Education Schedule of Tadami Beech Center in Fiscal Year 2015
Events

Lecturer, Site and Exhibition

17-Jan-15 ~07-Jun-15

Special exhibition: Seasonal change of wild avian fauna and their ecologicalcharacteristics in Tadami

Title: Some birds live in Tadami even in winter with heavy snow-cover

02-May-15

Natural Observation Tours: Enjoy spring ephemeral flowers

Site: Kuratani river

02-May-15

Natural Observation Tours: Let’s walk a fresh green beech forest withremaining snow

Site: Iyashi-no-mori beech forest

20-Jun-15

Lecture: Formation of Japan archipelago and the geology in Oku-Aizu

Lecturer: Dr. Takahiro Yamamoto (geologist and volcanist)

21-Jun-15

Natural Observation Tours: Let’s observe the geology in Tadami

Lecturer: Dr. Takahiro Yamamoto
Site: Shionomata

27-Jun-15 ~27-Sep-15

Special exhibition: Beech forests in Tadami and its ecology and use

Title: Beech is the most dominant woody plant in Tadami

25-Jul-15

Natural Observation Tours: Let’s take photos of Fuzawa hamlet with whitelilies

Lecturer: Ms. Kajiko Inomata (photographer)Site: Fuzawa

01-Aug-15

Lecture: How will the forests in snowy regions change under global climatechange?

Lecturer: Dr. Toru Nakashizuka (forest dynamics ecologist)

02-Aug-15

Natural Observation Tours: Let’s walk summer riparian and beech forests
with remaining snow

Lecturer: Dr. Toru Nakashizuka
Site: Tadamisawa, a mountain path to Mt. Asakusa-dake

24-Oct-15

Lecture: Ecology and management of an invaded riparian tree, Robinia
pseudoacacia

Lecturer: Dr. Hitoshi Sakio (riparian vegetation ecologist)

25-Oct-15

Natural Observation Tours: Let’s walk along Ina River with observation
riparian vegetation

Lecturer: Dr. Hitoshi Sakio
Site: Ina River

Oct-15 ~Dec-15Special exhibition: The old photos revive something

Title: Remember the events of the era of Showa

Dec-15 ~Feb-16

Special exhibition: Biodiversity in Tadami

Titel: What is ‘biodiversity’? Why is it important?

19-Dec-15

Lecture: The wisdom of use of natural resources before becoming UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve and from now

Lecturer: Dr. Hiroyuki Matsuda (mathematical ecologist)

Mar-16 ~May-16

Special exhibition: Life history of spring ephemeral herbs

Title: In Tadami, a variety of flowers begin to bloom at snow thawing

13-Mar-16

Lecture: Plant life strategy in leaves and flowers and the preservation ofendangered plant species

Lecturer: Dr. Izumi Washitani (plant ecologist)

WinterNatural Observation Tours: Let’s walk a winter beech forest with heavy snow

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

Report 3

What activities is IPBES promoting now?
- Case of deliverable 3(c) Shigeo Yachi

Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University(Japan)I

would like to report what kinds of activities
I P B E S 1) i s n o w p r o m o t i n g b y e x p l a i n i n g
IPBES deliverable 3(c) on scenario and models2) asa case, which I have been involved in as a lead author.
IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services) was founded in 2012 (1stphase of activities: 2014~2018) after CBD-COP10
in Nagoya adopted the Aichi biodiversity targets(2011~2020). The main objective of IPBES is tostrengthen the science–policy interface on biodiversity
and ecosystem services. It includes scientificallyevaluating the current situation and possible changes
in biodiversity and ecosystem services from local to
global scale and making policy recommendations basedon the outcome. Its role is just like IPCC in global
warming issue. Its specific activities are aggregated tocreate 18 deliverables (scientific evaluation reports)
classified to four categories of objectives. One ofthem is the deliverable 3(c): policy support tools andmethodologies for scenario analysis and modeling of
biodiversity and ecosystem services. In the following,
I report my experience as a lead author of thisdeliverable from its start to goal.

an email in June from the IPBES secretary that I could
be a member of about 80 experts. Then in August,two co-chairs of deliverable 3(c), Dr. Simon Ferrierand Dr. Karachepone Ninan informed us the chapter
configuration draft and the list of chapter lead authors(CLA), lead authors (LA) and review editors (RE)of eight chapters3). At this time, I knew the specificcontents of the deliverable and began to understandwhat activities we are going to do. I found I was
involved in chapter 8 team. As to the nationality, CLAs,
LAs and REs of Chapter 8 team consists of elevenexperts: three from Europe (Portugal, France, Britain),
one from Africa (Senegal), three from Asia (Turkey,
Japan), three from Central and South America (Mexico,
Argentina) and one from Australia. I knew none ofthem personally except Dr. Akira Mori from Japan.
Soon after that, by the initiatives of two CLAs of ourchapter, Dr. Reşit Akçakaya and Dr. Henrique Pereira,
we began to discuss by email and had skype meeting
to prepare 0th order draft for the 1st author meetingin Netherlands. At this stage, CLAs seemed to haverough vision of the goal and the process to be taken
but most of the LAs including me, I suppose, still did
not have the overall picture nor clear image of our own
roles in each responsible chapter. In my case, I did nothave clear image of what kind of content I would be
responsible for and had been in uneasy feeling till the
1st meeting.

1) From the public offering period to the 1st author
meeting: February ~ September 2014
Deliverable 3(c) is one of the earliest starter of the
18 deliverables and is scheduled to complete its mission
in two years (fast track assessment: 2014~2016). The
mission is to overview the current situation of models
and scenarios and facilitate their use and development
as common and basic tools for policy-science interface.
As I am a mathematical ecologist and have beeninterested in ecosystem and biodiversity management,
I was interested in this deliverable and applied for the
public offering in Japan. After public offering of leadauthors and review editors in February 2014, I received2) 1st author meeting in Netherlands: 27-31 October 2014

The 1st lead author meeting was a nice opportunityand held in a good atmosphere! Almost all the CLAs
and LAs gathered and identified each other who are
who! There, we were warmly welcomed by nicesecretaries (Rob Alkemade, Thelma van den Brink,
Tanya Lazarova, and Eefje den Belder) of TSU(Technical Support Unit: hosted by PBL Netherlands

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

Report 3

Fig. 1. Group photo at the 2nd author meeting in Ushuaia, Argentina: 9-13 March 2015 (by courtesy of Mr. Grygoriy Kolomytsev
and TSU)

Environmental Assessment Agency) and found thatwide range of deliverable 3(c) activities had been
supported and facilitated by them. They have beenclosely working together with the two co-chairs andhelp us in many ways. We spent five days by being
canned in a comfortable hotel in a small resort town
near the beach with refreshing air.
On the opening plenary session of the first day, we
understood that the eight chapters of the deliverable
3(c) were organized according to the conceptual
framework of IPBES and they are designed closely
linked and interact. Then altering discussion of eachchapter group in a small room (chapter breakout
session) and plenary meeting in a hall continued till
the last day of the meeting. With the clear policy of
two co-chairs and cautious lead of CLAs, we struggled
to decide the configuration of each chapter, own
responsibility parts (section) to write as well as achieve

entire unity of the deliverable.
3) From 1 st draft writing to 1 st review period:
November 2014 ~ February 2015
After the meeting in Netherlands, we began towrite each responsible part of each chapter for about amonth then the two CLAs prepared the whole chapter.
Each chapter of the manuscript was then aggregatedto the 1st draft and was subjected to peer review of thereviewers. Although each part responsible for a leadauthor is not so long, the writing period is short andstrictly determined; we were sometimes disturbed andfelt stressed by the overlap with the peak of domestic
works, such as academic affairs. The comments from
reviewers arrived just before the 2nd author meeting inArgentina.

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

Report 34) 2nd author meeting in Argentina: 9-13 March 2015
The 2nd author meeting was a joint meeting with thereview editors (RE) held in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina(Fig. 1). It was an extremely long journey from Japanto Fuego island, but the scenery was splendid and thehospitality of Argentina colleagues was very warm andcomfortable, which I will never forget (Fig. 2)! There,
as in the 1st meeting in Netherlands, we repeated theplenary and chapter breakout sessions to revise the 1stdraft according to the reviewers’ comments. This time,cross-chapter sessions to discuss cross-cutting themes
for the whole coordination were added and the REs
joined and advised us toward the right direction. We
soon found that cross chapter coordination seemed totake time because the styles, definitions of key words
such as models, scenario, stakeholders were not yet
fully unified till then and the progress of the chapterswere not the same.

Fig. 2. Ushuaia is regarded as the southernmost city in the world.
The Beagle Channel which Charles Darwin passed throughduring the famous voyage of the Beagle is very near.

So far, I introduced an example of IPBES activities
according to the deliverable 3(c) case from myexperience. It is true, its activity was sometimes hardand uneasy, but at the same time it gave us a valuable
experience to broaden the way of thinking which wecannot obtain other than IPBES. As for me, it wasvery impressive to experience and feel with reality thatmany colleagues from different regions (Asia, Europe,
Africa, America, and Australia) with different cultures
can work collaboratively for the same purpose. In fact,
I was helped by the colleagues many times in many
ways! The activities of deliverable 3(c) will soon finish,
however, the main IPBES activities including regional
to global assessments of Asia and Pacific regions
have just started or are just beginning! I wish manycolleagues of DIWPA, especially young researchers areinterested in IPBES activities and join to promote withus!

5) From 2nd draft revision to the IPBES 4th Plenary
meeting (goal): March 2015 ~ February 2016
After coming back from the 2nd meeting, we soon
began to work on revising the draft. This time, it wasvery hard for me because the late March is the endof 2014 fiscal year in Japan and the annual meetingsof ecology-related societies were held in Japan. The
deadline of the chapter revision and the peak of otherworks of mine overlapped in many layers. Anyway, as
almost in the same process of the earlier revision, eachchapter draft was finally integrated to 2nd draft and all
the replies to reviewers’ comments were sent back in
May for the second review of the draft.
Since then, three months have passed, and I am
writing this DIWPA report in middle August. 3rd author
meeting after the second review in Beijing was overin late July. This meeting was the last meeting for thedeliverable 3(c) and only the CLAs of eight chaptersand the REs joined for discussing the final draft policy.
We received the summary of the 3 rd meeting, thecomments from the reviewers and the revision policy
from the co-chairs. We are now working on the revision
toward the final draft to be finished by 6th November.
The goal of the deliverable 3(c) is the approval of the
final draft at the IPBES 4th meeting in February 2016.
Then the deliverable 3(c) report is to be published on
the net and printed as a book. Till then, our activities
continue for several more months.

References
1) http://ipbes.net/index.php2) http://ipbes.net/index.php/3-c-scenarios-andmodelling3) http://ipbes.net/index.php/40-work-programme/
experts/526-deliverable-3c

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

New Site 1

Role of mangroves in Japan yet to be explored(Important yet ignored!)1

A.T.M. Rafiqul Hoque1,2, Mori Shigeta3

Department of Mechanical and Environmental Informatics, Tokyo Institute of Technology(Japan)2Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Chittagong University(Bangladesh)3
Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University(Japan)The interface between sea and land is not much
hospitable for the growth and survival of terrestrial
plants. On the other hand, mangroves have developed
the adaptive features to survive in such harshborderline. As a result, they are the most productive
forests. With the exceptional adaptive features, they
are considered as one of the most important andremarkable ecosystems which provide considerable
services to human societies.
Dr. Miyawaki is one of the pioneers who studied
mangroves in Japan. His work in 1986 revealed few(only five) mangrove forest spots were found in
Okinawa’s main island (Fig. 1).

Fig. 2. Aerial views of Manko wetland in different times

With the progress of time several other patches ofmangroves developed in the southern part of Okinawa’s
main island especially in Naha, Sashiki and Gushikawa
areas. According to a statistics of Ministry of theEnvironmenta, Government of Japan, the developmentof mangrove areas in the Manko Wetland in Naha is asfollows (Fig. 2 and Table 1):

Table 1. Historical development of mangroves in Manko Wetland

Fig. 1. Principal locations of mangroves in the Ryukyu Islands,
Southern Japan as shown in 1986 (Miyawaki, 1986) [Red box
shows area around Naha]

9

Year

Mangrove area
(ha)

1977

0.47

1977-1989

0.72

1990-1992

1.38

1993-1997

6.18

1998-2003

8.30

2004-2008

8.69

DIWPA News Letter No.33

New Site 1
The graph shows that mangroves developed very
slowly at the beginning and spreaded rapidly from1990 onwards. However, due to spatial constraint andsuitable soil edaphic conditions for establishment ofmangroves, the increment rate seems to reach a plateauby 2008.
Nontheless, the new mangrove patches in Nahadeveloped at the Manko Wetland (26º11'N and 127°40'E), Okinawa’s main island, Japan, offered us an
opportunity to initiate some mangrove related researchworks which would be fundamental to understand theecology and function of mangroves from the initialdevelopment stage. The Manko Wetland area covered
58 ha area extending from the upstream between thebridge of Manda-banshi and Ishihiya-banshi to theend at the downstream at the Naha-Ohashi bridge. It
is a brackish tidal flat, covering an extensive area at
low tide. The Manko tidal flats are an important transit
point for shorebirds whose migration route brings themalong the Nansei Islands. The tidal flat is registeredby Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, as one of
the 12 important shorebirds visiting sites nationwide.
Owing to its importance, it was registered as Ramsar
Convention site in 1999. The total area of the mangroves
within the wetland is around 10 ha. Beside the Manko
Waterbird & Wetland Center, the biggest portion of thiswetland is dominated by Kandelia obovata Sheue, Liu
and Yong. Available literature supports that K. obovata
is the pioneer species in this mangrove succession.
However other species have also started appearing
as a fate of succession and they were found to growin patches instead of growing in scattered form.
Nowadays, four mangrove species Kandelia obovata,
Rhizophora stylosa Griff., Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.)
Lamk. and Excoecaria agallocha L. are availablein
the wetland, but only monospecific K. obovata standFig. 5. Dense closed canopy forest from land side part before
clearing

has a homogenous canopy. Rhizophora stylosa patches
dominated on the north-eastern bank of the Kokuba
river. During a recent visit to Okinawa it was observedthat the part where Excoecaria agallocha was available
is completely deforested probably due to an intentionof exposing mud flat to flying birds and to get rid ofhuge wastes anchored through the mangrove vegetation
throughout the period of mangrove succession.
Since 1998, a group of researchers started Plant
Ecology related research under the kind initiative of Dr.
Akio Hagihara (currently retired), Faculty of Science inthe University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa (Fig.4). Once
his disciples we are still continuing with the research
work as we would like to see the ecological processes
in mangroves, their fate and finally the relation of theseecosystems with the society. Our research started withthe self-thinning process investigation in mono-specificstand. Following which, we have gradually investigated
the above and belowground carbon storage ofMangrove Kandelia ovobata, night-time abovegroundrespiration behavior of the same plant, and long-term
phenological behavior of three major tree species
growing in this mangrove forest. Currently we are now
investigating the role of these mangroves towards thesociety.
To study the self-thinning process and long term
litterfall pattern a 125 m long belt-transect (5 m wide)
was established in the K. obovata forest, whose canopy
has been completely closed (Fig. 5), perpendicularly
to river current and divided into 25 subplots (5 x 5m2). Trees within a subplot were uniform in age. All
individuals in the subplots were numbered. Tree heightFig.4. Dr. Hagihara with his team members in different time
filed data collection

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

New Site 1
m=0.0341 (D 2 0.1H H) 1.03 . Aboveground night-time
respiration rate (r) of mangrove K. obovata increased
with increasing mass (m). This tendency was describedby means of the power function r = fmh, where f is themultiplying coefficient and h is the scaling exponent.
The exponent values ranged from 0.723 to 1.085. In
the cool winter (dormant season), the exponent h wasclose to 1.0, while in the warm summer (growing
season) the exponent was closer to 3/4. Respiration
varied more between seasons in small-sized trees thanin large-sized trees. The relative increase in respirationfrom the winter dormant season to the summer growing
season was large in the small-sized trees comparedwith that in the large-sized trees. The variation in
respiration between the two seasons was explainedon the basis of theories about resource harvesting andtransport. Separatiing summer respiration into growthand maintenance components is suggested to better
understand the dependence of respiration on size andtemperature.
During 2008 authorities Manko Waterbird &Wetland Center found that the number of flying birds
in Manko Wetland is reducing gradually and themangrove area is increasing every year (Ministry of theEnvironment, Government of Japan).
Considering mangrove area extension as a factorof the reduction in the number of flying birds, theMinistry of the Environment has taken a mangrove
cutting program over 50 m x 50 m area, so thatthey can monitor the impact of mangrove area on
bird. This cutting program created an opportunity
to investigate the above and belowground carbon
acquisition of K. obovata stand in this wetland. Within
the selected area (2500 m2) chosen by the Ministryof the Environment, 1700 m2 pure K. obovata closed
canopy stand was marked. The stand was subjected toself-thinning. The area was divided into 68 uniform
plots of 5 m x 5 m each. The tree density, stand age,mean tree height and mean D 0.1H were 13588 ha -1,
14 yr, 4.18 m and 6.13 cm, respectively. Five sample
plants were selected to measure the aboveground andbelowground mass separately which were then used toestimate belowground carbon acquisition following therelationship between aboveground and belowgroundmass. Aboveground carbon was calculated as 48.47
Mg C ha -1; belowground carbon was calculated as
22.70 Mg C ha-1 and the mean T/R ratio was foundH (m) and stem diameter at H/10 D 0.1H (cm) were
measured in different years. These data were arranged
by subplot. Aboveground phytomass w T (kg) was
estimated using the allometric relationship establishedby the same research group obtained earlier. The selfthinning exponent was found to be 1.46 (Analuddin
et al. 2008). The same plot was kept for the long term
phonological behavior study of K. obovata.
Among many other objectives, two of them were
to confirm the size dependence of respiration inmangroves, i.e. the power-functional relationshipbetween respiration and mass of K. obovata underfield conditions, and to examine the monthly change
in the exponent of the power-functional relationshipthroughout a year, i.e. investigate the seasonal variationof the exponent. Based on the size class distributionof K. obovata trees in this mangrove forest six K.
obovata sample trees were selected to represent thetree size class distribution for the measurement ofnight-time aboveground respiration from the stand,
whose canopy is completely closed. The respiration
was non-destructively measured monthly throughout
a year (from May 2007 to April 2008) with a modified
enclosed standing tree method (Fig. 6). CO2 increment
and the temperature inside the chamber were measured
using an infrared gas analyser (Carbon Dioxide Probe
GMP343) that was installed inside the chamber. At
the end of the study year, 13 sample trees (including 6
trees whose respiration were measured) representing
different size classes available in the whole Manko
Wetland were harvested to measure the individual
aboveground mass m (kg dry weight [dw]) per tree.
The resultant allometric relationship was given as

Fig. 6. Aboveground night-time respiration measurement works
using closed chamber

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

New Site 1
as 1.87. Based on the study we concluded that carbon
acquisition potential of mangrove K. obovata is higher
than many other terrestrial tree species.
Our phenological study showed that peaks of leaf
recruitment and death occurred in July and June,
respectively, for B. gymnorrhiza and K. obovata butboth occurred in July for R. stylosa. Leaf recruitment
for all the species was lowest in January; leaf death
was minimum in December for R. stylosa and B.
gymnorrhiza, and in January for K. obovata. Leaf
recruitment for the three species was found to be related
to monthly mean air temperature and monthly hours ofsunshine. The leaf death of K. obovata and R. stylosa
was correlated with monthly mean air temperature,monthly hours of sunshine, monthly mean air vapor
pressure deficit, and monthly rainfall; B. gymnorrhiza
leaf death was not correlated with any environmental
factors. Specific leaf area was found for each species;
45.4 ± 1.0 cm2 g−1 for R. stylosa, 48.6 ± 0.8 cm2 g−1 forK. obovata and 71.0 ± 2.8 cm2 g−1 for B. gymnorrhiza.
Mean leaf longevity was found to be 13.9 months for
R. stylosa, 17.2 months for B. gymnorrhiza and 12.1
months for K. obovata. B. gymnorrhiza was found tobe shade-tolerant and K. obovata was found to be lightdemanded according to our observation. Besides, K.
obovata is seen to have different growth form such as
some of the K. obovata in soft and muddy part of thewetland formed were very dwarf and bushy to support
its survival and growth. Besides that, forming smallcrown perhaps could be another strategy of this tree to
avoid strong wind. However, mean leaf longevity wasincreased with increasing mean annual air temperature.
We have studied the litterfall events for all threemajor species in this wetland area over 3 years. All
three species showed the highest litterfall of leaves andstipules in summer and the lowest litterfall in winter.
Litterfall of flowers and fruits peaked in July for R.
stylosa, and in August and again in October–November
for K. obovata. Litterfall of flower buds, flowers,
and propagules occurred throughout the year for B.
gymnorrhiza, but was highest in summer. Litterfall of
propagules was highest in September and May for R.
stylosa and K. obovata, respectively. The conversion
rate of flowers to propagules was 2.3% in R. stylosa,
5.9% in K. obovata and 10.3% in B. gymnorrhiza. Totalannual litterfall in R. stylosa was significantly different
from K. obovata and B. gymnorrhiza; however, thelatter two species showed no significant differences.
Leaves contributed the most to the total litterfall of all
three species, and represented 58.4, 54.0 and 50.4%of the total litterfall for R. stylosa, K. obovata andB. gymnorrhiza, respectively. Except for branches
and flower bud primordia, all other components oflitterfall had clear annual cycles for all three species.
Rhizophora stylosa and K. obovata showed a negative
correlation between leaf production and reproductive
organ production, but B. gymnorrhiza tended toincrease leaf production with increasing reproductive
organ production.
Socio-economic aspects and ecosystem service issues
Mangrove ecosystems are restricted to tropicaland subtropical coastlines. Usually their existence
is limited to a steep environmental gradient between
inland and marine system which offers very uniqueand selective environment. As a result they are
special morphological, physiological and behavioral
adaptations. In Japan, mangroves are at the northern
limit of their distribution in the Indo-Pacific region.
Unlike other developing nations the functions andservices of mangroves towards the society need toFig. 7. The numbers of tourists used the facility of Manko
Wetland Center

Fig. 8. The numbers of birds spotted in different years

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DIWPA News Letter No.33

New Site 1
be explored in different point of view. Here in Japan,
the protection of shorelines or coastal areas is not amajor concern as they are in almost all part of their
existence. Researchers have never put emphasis on
the social and economic benefits from these forests
but the attraction of tourists to the mangroves in the
Ryukyu Islands which form an unusual landscape wasgreatly acknowledged for some specific areas (Fig. 7).
To sustain fishery practices as a source of food for
local people was also remarkable. At the same timethe educational value of ecological studies which
may help to improve the productivity of this type offorest were emphasized when scientists called for theirconservation. We believe that diversified ecological andsocio-economic benefits of mangroves in Japan are yet
to be explored. The following information from newly
formed mangrove patches or areas where mangroves
are associated could form a preliminary study for future
potential of mangrove study and existence in Japan:
Despite its potential importance studies onmangroves have got little attention. In some cases they
are under threat due to ignorance or wrong information.
In some part of Manko wetland mangroves have been
reduced to expose mud flat for the wetland migratory
birds, but the trends of last ten years hardly support
the increase in bird population after clearing the forest
area (Fig. 8). Instead other factors like increased trafficload on the bridges and other anthropogenic stresses
need to be considered in the next intensive research.
Sometimes, mangroves of Manko wetlands are blamedfor accumulating house waste materials especiallyplastics, scrapped electricals and household products.
But the responsible agents behind such wastes should
not be pointed to be on mangrove rather it is the lackof awareness of the local residents. In Japan, there aresome reports and incidents to harness/cut mangrove
forests for construction materials and firewood(mainly in the past). Activities like building river-banklevees, road construction, and reclamation for urban
and industrial areas were main factors for mangrove
destruction in Japan. We hope the mangroves in Manko
wetland will be considered as an important part of theecosystem which in practical gives shelter to the birds
to hide from the huge traffic disturbances on the bridges
and roadways. In our recent visit we noticed thatthe exposed mudflat did not have birds instead birds
preferred to find their food and shelter hiding beside

the remnant mangrove patches. So, we hope for the
initiation of an intensive research on the coexistenceof mangroves and shore-birds will be initiated with theproper support of the Government.
References:
Analuddin K., Suwa R. and Hagihara A. 2009. The
self-thinning process in mangrove Kandelia obovata
stands, Journal of Plant Research, 122: 53–59.
Hoque, A.T,M.R., Sharma, S. and Hagihara, A.
2011. Above and belowground carbon
acquisition of mangrove Kandelia obovata
t r e e s i n M a n k o We t l a n d , O k i n a w a , J a p a n .
International Journal of Environment, 1: 7-13.
Hoque, A.T.M.R., Sharma, S, Suwa, R, Mori, S,
Hagihara, A. 2010. Seasonal variation in the sizedependent respiration of mangroves Kandelia
obovata, Marine Ecology Progress Series 404: 31-37
Miyawaki A. 1986. Socioeconomic aspects ofmangrove vegetation in Japan. In: Man in the
Mangroves: The Socioeconomic Situation of Human
Settlements in Mangrove Forests (Kundtadter,
P. and Bird, E. C.F. and S. Sabhasri. Eds.). The
United Nations University, Tokyo., pp (115 pages)

13

DIWPA News Letter No.33

New Site 2

Two Rainbow Fushes From Lake Sentani and Lake Ayamaru,
Papua, Indonesia
Gadis Sri Haryani

Research Center for Limnology
Indonesian Institute of Sciences(Indonesia)

Fig. 2. Malr of Glossolepis incisus (red rainbow fishes)©Hectonichus

Fig.1. Lake Sentani©Kiko Turteliny

3of another endemic species: Melanotaenia boesemani(Fig. 3). It is a karst lake of maximum depth of 6m.
Its surface area is about 924 ha in the dry seasons, ofwhich, 27% is occupied by aquatic plant nymphaea(KLH, 2012). Its water temperature ranges from 24
to 31 °C and the its pH ranges from 7.7 to 8.9. M.
boesemani can also be found in small streams near lake,especially smaller tributaries. M. boesemani males areblue green in color from their head to the upper partof the its body, while its lower parts are found to be ingold silver color. Females are silver to grey in color.
Both Lake Sentani and Lake Ayamaru are suitedfor rainbow fishes to thrive in. At the same time, these
two lakes are heavily utilized by the communities
living around the lake for their daily commuting,fisheries, and source of food and water. As a result of
these anthropogenic activities, the existence of fishes
is under threat; the rainbow fish Glossolepis incisus
has been listed in the IUCN Redlist as fish species
with vulnerable status. Based on various reports, thenumber of endemic or native species found in the lakes
began to decrease and the number ofexotic species(fish introduction) is increasing. Predation, competition
for food and habitat between the exotic species and

75 freshwater fishes inhabit in Papua island inIndonesia, forming a very fascinating and highly
unique community (Allen et al., 2000). Out of which,rainbow fishes are one of ornamental freshwater fishes
that live there. These fishes are a schooling species
that live in clear and shallow waters among aquaticvegetation, such as Lake Sentani and Lake Ayamaru.
Lake Sentani (2.61°S 140.56°E) (Fig. 1), locatedin Jayapura District of Papua, has the a surface area of9630 ha, and its a maximum depth is approximately
50 m. One of the endemic spesies of the ornamental
fishes, Glossolepis incisus (red rainbow fishes), is anelongated, laterally compressed fish that develops anarched back with age. This fish species has two a pairof dorsal fins, with its second is fin longer than the its
first one. The caudal fin is forked. The head is as small
as its mouth. Males are of bright red to copper in color,
occasionally have with silver upper parts (Fig. 2). Its
fins are also red. Females are of silver to yellow-brownin color. Although this omnivorous fish can grow to a
maximum size of 15 cm, it is rare to encounter fishes ofthis size in nature.
Lake Ayamaru (1°16′S 132°12′E), located in
Maybrat District of West Papua, is the habitat origin

14

DIWPA News Letter No.33

New Site 2
native species, and intensive fishing effort may cause
a decrease of in native fish populations. Beside, thecoupling effect of pollution from domestic activities aswell as settlements (deforestation) results in reduced
forest cover, reduced water catchment area and poorer
water quality.
In August 2014, to solve the problem of declining
population, about 600 captive-bred individus werereleased into Lake ayamaru by the Ministry ofEnvironment, Republic of Indonesia, Indonesian
Institute of Sciences, and Ministry of Marine &Fisheries, together with the locals, just to show that
protection of the endemic species is an important issue
on top of preserving the lakes itself.

Fig. 3. Melanotaenia boesemani ©Rufus46

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15

AP-BON Book3 is coming soon

A

P-BON (Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation
Network) Book3 will be published in fiscal
year 2015. Till present, we have published twovolumes of the book series “The Biodiversity
Observation Network in Asia-Pacific Region”:“Toward Further Development of Monitoring” and“Integrative Observations and Assessments”.
In the previous two books, we have mainly
introduced the status quo of biodiversity
monitoring in Asia, together with advanced
concept/methods for biodiversity and ecosystemservice. In the third volume, most of the papers
involved are the one presented at “International
Wo r k s h o p o n F r e s h w a t e r B i o d i v e r s i t yConservation in Asia” in Kyushu University,
Japan, held in 2012.
In November 2012, we held the workshop to
discuss about the ways to identify biodiversity
hotspots, appropriate methods to identify thedrivers on biodiversity loss of particular freshwater
systems and data sharing among Asian countries.
Some of the speakers at the workshop kindly
contributed their papers to the Book3. In addition,
we have also invited the submission of papers
on a marine system and ecosystem service/socio-economic aspects with special reference tobiodiversity, because of its analogy to freshwater
ecosystems. For those contributions will be ofimportance towards effective conservation andsustainable use of aquatic biodiversity in thisregion.
The Book3, together with our previous
books, introduces the status quo of Asianbiodiversity into the biodiversity researches
which is lacking in the information of developing
countries. In addition, we included contributions,provided reviews on advances in concept andmethod of biodiversity observation, and linked
the challenges to study spatial variability of
biodiversity and ecosystems by monitoring
various ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific region.
We hope the Book3 would be informative for all
the stakeholders interested in biodiversity issues:
researchers, policy (decision) makers, NPO, NGO,and industries related to environmental issues.

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Assistant SecretaryShin-ichi Nakano
Atsushi Ishida
Shigeo Yachi
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