DIWPA: DIVERSITAS in the Western Pacific and Asia

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

Message from DIWPA Chair

Shin-ichi Nakano

1. Global Ecology Cooperation Academy at NIE
The National Institute of Ecology (NIE), South Korea,
held the “Global Ecology Cooperation Academy(GECA)” from 29 October to 30 November 2018,
for young researchers (postdoctoral fellows anddoctoral students) interested in the international
cooperation and globally collaborative research inareas of environment and ecology. The academy
aims to broaden the participants’ understandingof current issues and major trends in environment
and ecology-related international agreements andorganizations such as CBD, Ramsar and IPBES;
to foster the younger researchers, fellows andstudents by providing them a wide range of special
lectures from research institutes, international
experts and academia.
From DIWPA, Prof. Hiromi Uno and I joinedand cooperated in GECA on 29 and 30 November.
On the first day, we gave two-hour talks: My topic
is about the history of DIWPA and AP-BON, andHiromi’s is about international collaboration
research and capacity building for stream ecology.
On the second day, we evaluated presentations
by young researchers. There were some groupsof young researchers, and each group prepared aresearch/project plan which includes organization,materials & methods, budget and so on, and gave

A commemorative photo after Global Ecology Cooperation
Academy at NIE.

March
2019

No.

40

a presentation using PPT. After listening thepresentations, we were impressed very much withthose young researchers’ high standard.
GECA in 2018 was a tentative one. However,it will be held every year, and NIE wants tocollaborate with CER and DIWPA for sustainable
development of GECA.

2. IFBC 2019 will be held in Indonesia

DIWPA has chosen Bogor, Indonesia as the venue
for International Field Biology Course (IFBC ) in
2019. This is proposed by Dr. Luki Subehi who
is a member of DIWPA at Research Center for
Limnology (RCL), Indonesia Institute of Sciences(LIPI) .
Int er nat iona l Con fer ence on Tr opic a l
Limnology ( TROPLIMNO 2019 ) is going to beheld from 27 to 30 August 2019 at International
Conference Centre, Bogor University of Agriculture,
Indonesia. More information can be found on theirwebsite: https://www.troplimno2019.or.id/
RCL, LIPI is responsible for the organizationof the conference. Dr. Subehi has been expressing
strong interest in hosting IFBC in Indonesia foryears and successfully garnered consensus to hold
IFBC during TROPLIMNO 2019 after deep andserious discussions with RCL members and othercolleagues of TROPLIMNO.
Dr. Subehi and I have discussed via/throughe-mails and in person at World Lake Conference,
Tsukuba in mid-October 2018. We scheduled
DIWPA IFBC to be held in Bogor on 27 August 2019,the first day of TROPLIMNO 2019. Prof. Hiromi
Uno, a stream ecologist at Center for EcologicalResearch (CER), Kyoto University, will attend theconference as an expert from DIWPA, and she willlead IFBC 2019. TROPLIMNO hopes to invite DIWPA
members. For more details, please visit the websiteof TROPLIMNO above.
Thank you for your understanding and wehope to have many participants for IFBC andTROPLIMNO 2019.
DIWPA News Letter No.40

1

ReportCapacity building and network strengthening among
young scientists in Pacific and Asian regions
Muzzalifah Abd Hamid

School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malaysia)

different techniques/methods provided by Japanese
academia, and subsequently to disseminate the
newly learned methods to the future generation.
As a young scientist, it will always be my passion towork in the field and enhance my knowledge andskills related to my research interest.

Although my background is more focusing

on the lake (lentic) studies, I have no limitation

Fig. 1. Participants of IFBC 2018 in front of Kiso Biological
Station

I attended the 2018 International Field Biology
Course (IFBC) on the invitation of DIVERSITAS in
the Western Pacific and Asia (DIWPA) as a young
researcher (Fig. 1) . Working on the limnology,
par ticularly water qualit y monitoring andfreshwater fish communities, I have always wanted
to study the lake ecology in other tropical andtemperate countries. The IFBC that was held in
Kiso-Fukushima, Nagano, Japan from 9-15 August
2018 had offered me this opportunity to be one ofthe participants. Based at Kiso Biological Station,

the participants learned about the fundamental
ecological studies on periphytic algae, benthic
invertebrates, freshwater fish as well as data

to any other types of ecosystems, especially instream (lotic), as it is also connected to the lakewater system. In Malaysia, I have been involved in a
number of research projects related to ecology andbiodiversity. Moreover, I was also involved in somevoluntary projects in environmental conservation.
I enjoy doing intensive field works and working
with researchers, conservationists and local
communities. As the incumbent secretary ofSoutheast Asian Limnological Network (SEALNet),
it is my aim to continually promote and develop
research collaboration, training and knowledge
exchanges on tropical limnology within the scope ofSouthern Asian region.
When I reached Seta on 9 August, the Directorof CER (Center for Ecological Research), Kyoto

analyses. The knowledge I have gained here isvery interesting and beneficial that should beapplied in academic and scientific research either
practically or theoretically. The course comprised

field work and discussion among young scientists
and professors. The main objective of this training
is to build capacity and strengthen network
among young scientists from diverse academic

2

backgrounds and disciplines. In addition, thistraining is aimed to help participants to learn
DIWPA News Letter No.40

Fig. 2. The laboratory at Centre for Ecological Research(CER), Kyoto UniversityReport
University, Prof. Shin-ichi Nakano; who is an expert
in limnetic environments, welcomed me and Ms.

Tuah Nanda Merlia Wulandar, a participant fromIndonesia. He personally showed both of us several

laboratories and facilities at CER. The labs are fully
equipped with sophisticated machinery (Fig. 2). He
also introduced us to Associate Prof. Hiromi Uno;
who is specialized in species interactions in naturallandscape, Prof. Keisuke Koba; who is specializedin ecosystems and isotope ecology, and otherresearchers and employees at CER.

On the following day, several participants
were gathered in front of the hotel. There were
six participants including four students and twoteachers (senseis). We departed to Kiso-Fukushima
after self-introductions. The journey from Seta

took approximately five hours by car. We passed
through several bridges and tunnels. It should be
noted that these constructions showed the efforts
made to conserve the surrounding forest areas. I
was excited to see the natural environment and thepanoramic landscape along the journey. Although
it was my third visit to Japan, I had mostly seen the'concrete jungle' with outstanding skyscrapers in
my previous ventures at Osaka and Saga cities.
We reached Kiso Biological Station around 2:30
p.m.. Located approximately 800 meters above sea
level (a.s.l.), this station is furnished with dormitory,small laboratory, discussion room, dining room,

kitchen, bathroom, washroom and washingmachine. Before we started our research works
at Kiso River, Prof. Nakano requested permission

from the authorities to conduct research andcollect samples from the river. With a length of
229km, Kiso River consists of stream and riparianIndonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam which I haveexperienced. Then, we had a good rest while

listening to the sound of flowing river.
The next morning, we went to Kiso River after
packing our lunch. Although I am familiarized withstream ecology and biodiversity, the techniques/
methods of the samples collection here wereslightly different than that I have been using back in
Malaysia. At first, Uno-sensei briefed us how to takephysical parameter readings such as temperature,
dissolved oxygen and pH by using different
probes. She also taught us the measurement ofriver flow. It was my first time to measure theriver flow. Subsequently, we hiked up to Akashiosawa waterfall. The water from this waterfall is
flowing into Kiso River. Afterward, Uno-sensei

taught us how to use densitometer; the instrument
to estimate forest canopy density. As an expert inaquatic invertebrate studies, she also taught us how
to collect aquatic insects. The collection of aquatic
insects was a new subject for me as I have nevertaken a course on the terrestrial and aquatic insects
during my undergraduate studies. I was excited tolearn the new technique to collect larval and adultaquatic insects from the river by using emergence
trap and Surber net. In the laboratory, we learned
to identify the aquatic insect species by referring to
the identification book with the help by Uno-sensei(Fig. 3).
For the fish sampling, the specimens werecaught by using fish rods. Mr. Kazuho Funakawa

forest ecosystems. Associate Prof. Yoshikuni

Hodoki; who is an expert on microbial ecology
and phycology, joined us that night. After a shortbriefing about our itinerary by Prof. Nakano, I was

asked to give a presentation about my university
and my research projects. I enjoyed sharing myknowledge and exposure regarding my project andsome information on the biodiversity of Malaysia,

Fig. 3. Sorting aquatic insect samples for stable isotope
analysis

DIWPA News Letter No.40

3

Reportand Mr. Naoki Yui helped to catch the f ish
specimens from upstream. The species caught wereIwana (white-spotted char Salvelinus leucomaenis),Amago (cherry salmon Oncorhynchus masou) and
Aburahaya (amur minnow Rhynchocypris lagowskii).
We learned to take out the gut content without
dissecting the fish. This technique was carried out
by using water pump. The fish were then released

into their original habitat.
Hodoki-sensei instructed the methods for algae

sampling. We sampled the epiphytic algae from therock surface by using 6cm x 6cm quadrate (Fig. 4).
In the laboratory, Prof. Nakano taught us how tomeasure the concentration of chlorophyll a in thewater. He showed us step by step to carry out thedilution method and the calculation of chlorophyll aconcentration in 36cm2 quadrate area (Fig. 5).
We also were given hands on experience as
we had to conduct our own research project at

Fig. 4. Collecting epiphytic algae from the rock surface at
Akashio-sawa waterfall

Kiso River. We presented our proposals to Nakano,
Uno and Hodoko-senseis and they provided somecomments and suggestions. We were given twodays to complete the sampling and laboratory
analyses before presenting our findings on thefollowing day. For this task, I was grouped withthe other participants from Indonesia and Japan as

we had a similar interest. We decided to conduct
the study on the river flow and its correlation
with physical parameters and algal density. Afterthe proposal presentation, I joined the othertwo members; Uno-sensei and Ms. Christmas deGuzman who wanted to look for salamanders.
Christmas is a Filipino scientist and working as a
Programme officer for Asia-Pacific Network (APN)in Kobe, Japan. This was my first time hiking acrossthe waterfall during the night to catch salamanders.
While hiking, we had a chance to catch fish by usingnet. We managed to get almost 10 individual fishes
and one salamander that night.
The nex t morning , af ter preparing theequipment for our sampling, we went to Kiso River
at 10:00 a.m. and started our research immediately.
The sampling was challenging, especially when we
had to take the measurements in the middle of theriver that have speed currents and cold water, and
we also carried the bulky probes from one station

to another. However, it never turned down ourcourage to carry out the research. After completed
two stations, we had to stop due to heavy rain.
Then we had our packed lunch and continued

the sampling. The research took two days to becompleted including laboratory analysis for themeasurement of chlorophyll a concentration.
At night, I keyed-in the data and conducted
several statistical analyses before preparing thepresentation slides (Fig. 6).

On the seventh day, we presented our findings.
It was a really good discussion among us especiallyFig. 5. Explanation by Prof. Nakano on chlorophyll a analysis

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DIWPA News Letter No.40

when we had teachers who are experts in eachfield. I was amazed by others’ presentations. Even
though some of them are just undergraduate
students, they managed to carry out the two-dayReportproject and present the findings successfully. Afterthe presentation, we had leisure time at night.
It was a fascinating experience as we joined the
traditional dance, Bon-Odori, with the local people.
The dance was membered by old folks. The lyricof the song was based on the beauty of nature,

showing that they really appreciate the nature they
have (Fig. 7). Kiso is indeed one of the most beautiful
villages in Japan. On our back to the research center,
we passed by a mini hot spring and soaked our feetto feel fresh. It was really relief after the long andtiring days of field and laboratory works.
I am very grateful to be involved in this course

alongside experts and young scientists from
Kyoto University and other institutions who work
on diverse fields and disciplines. Collaboratingwith them, and being part of this training reallygive me a memorable experience. Their way ofworking and thinking are just different. They
worked until midnight and started very early inthe morning. Indeed, this is a good Japanese work
ethic that should be emulated. During the training,
I appreciated the teachers (Nakano, Uno, Hodoki
and Koba-senseis) for their countless support andinvaluable suggestions, from the beginning until
the end of the training. I also thanked the otherparticipants who are very supportive; Naoki,
Nanda, Seniya, Chris, Urara, Hanaka and Kazuho.
From this training, I have gained a plenty of
new knowledge on the biodiversity, basic ecologicallaboratory techniques and analyses. My experiencein Kiso River made me more passionate and excited
to explore my interest in conducting researchin this field. In addition, I managed to learn the
differences in sampling and laboratory techniques
between Japanese and Malaysian academia. I wish
to introduce these new techniques to several of mylecturers and colleagues who are working in thisfield.
For the time being, I have just finished my Ph.D.

study at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) under thesupervision of Emeritus Professor Mashhor Mansor,

and I am looking forward to collaborating andcontributing more to the lake research especially inmanagement and conservation. Hereby, I would liketo take this opportunity to thank all the staff andparticipants who were involved in this training.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude
to DIWPA for the sponsorship.

Fig. 7. Japanese traditional dance, Bon-Odori

sampling procedures as well as full guidance on

Mail Us!
We welcome your articles,
news or any information related tobiodiversity.
Please send them todiwpa@ ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Fig. 6. Compiling data from Akashio-sawa waterfall

DIWPA News Letter No.40

5

New Site

The Experimental nursery of Sapporo experimental
forests in Hokkaido University
Yoko Watanabe

Woody Plant Biology, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University

Introduction
In the southwestern part of Hokkaido University
Campus, there is a Sapporo experimental nursery(43˚06´N, 141˚20´E) near Forest Research Stationof Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere andFaculty of Agriculture. The area of this nursery

is approximately 3.4 ha and this is situatedin the center of Sapporo city. Total amount ofprecipitation is about 1,003 mm per year, andaverage temperature is 8.5 °C. Snow-free period
is from mid-April to mid-November. Many plants
including softwoods, hardwoods, shrubs and manyhorticultural plants are planted in this area and we
enjoy the seasonal change of the phenology in theseplants.
This nursery plays important roles not only forvarious forest researches but also for educational
programs for students including high schools inJapan and overseas ( http://www.fsc.hokudai.
ac.jp/home_en/station_en/sapporo-experimentalforest/ ) (Koike et al. 2019) . In particular, thisto induce not only global warming but also changes
in forest dynamics. Therefore it is necessary to
clarify the response of forest trees under global
environmental change using filed manipulation
experiments.

The Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) system

was established in 2003 to clarify the effects ofelevated CO 2 on tree physiology and biomass(Project leader: Prof. T. Koike) (Fig. 1). This system

included three control sites and three FACE sites.
Each site was a circular plot, 6.5 m in diameterand 5.0 m in height. Fertile brown forest soil
was provided in half of each site, and infertile
immature volcanic ash soil was provided in theother half (Eguchi et al. 2005a, b, 2008a, b). The CO2
concentration inside the FACE sites was maintained
at a round 500 µ mol mol -1 ( predic ted CO 2
concentration in 2040), corresponding to ambientplus 1,300 µmol mol-1 (Takagi et al. 2004).

nursery is an important stronghold for filed
manipulation experiments using forest tree
seedlings, because this nursery is located in thetransition zone between a cool temperate forest
and a boreal forest, sensitive to environmental
changes (e.g. Sakhalin fir; Pretzsch et al. 2017). HereI introduce some major experiments using thisnursery.

A Free Air CO2 Enrichment ( FACE ) ProjectBecause trees are long-lived organisms, they areaffected by environmental change. Greenhouse
6

gases such as carbon dioxide and ozone are possible
DIWPA News Letter No.40

Fig. 1. The overall view of a FACE system. CO 2 gas was
supplied from a special tubing system (Eguchi et al. 2005b).

In the first term ( 2003-2008 ) , 2 year-old
seedlings of 12 deciduous tree species wereplanted in each site and all saplings except

beech were harvested after five years. In thisproject, we revealed the effect of elevated CO2
on photosynthetic traits and wood formation inNew Sitesaplings (Eguchi et al. 2005a, b, 2008a, b, Koike etal. 2015, 2018, Watanabe et al. 2014 and Watanabe
et al. 2010, 2016). We predicted change in vessel

size associated with changes in transpiration underelevated CO2, but our results showed no changes
in vessel size under elevated CO2 (Watanabe et al.
2010, 2016).
In the second term (2008-2013), hybrid larch F1(Larix gmelinii var. japonica × L. kaempferi) seedlings

and seedlings of three kinds of birch species (Betula
platyphylla var. japonica, B. maximowicziana, B.
ermanii) were planted and the changes in tree growth,
physiological traits and Leaf Area Index (LAI) wereanalyzed (Watanabe et al. 2013 and Hara et al. 2014).
These studies revealed that elevated CO2 enhances
growth of hybrid larch F1 and LAI of birch seedlings
and suggest the possibility that elevated CO2 affects
forest dynamics. For beech, we dug out whole plants
and found an essential role of fine root in relation toedaphic condition (Agathokleous et al. 2016).
This system has been used as a free aircontrolled ozone enrichment (O3-FACE ) systemfrom 2014. Together with the open-top chamber,field manipulation experiments has been done toclarify the effect of elevated CO2 and/or elevatedozone on photosynthetic traits, tree growth,
symbiotic micro-organisms and defensive traits ofleaves (Hoshika et al. 2012 and Wang et al. 2015).

Defoliation treatment
Recently, the insect defoliation has frequently
occurred in Hokkaido. The defoliation during
growing season would affect the growth of forest
trees. To clarify the response of forest trees toFig. 2. About 400 potted seedlings for defoliation experiments.

Furthermore, hybrid larch F1 saplings werealso defoliated artificially assuming the larch

sawfly feeding and change in tree growth under
defoliation has become clear.

Biotic environments in the nursery
Although this nursery is located in the center of
Sapporo city, we can see various kinds of insects,
birds and animals in this area. During the first
FACE experiments, we found some nests when
we harvested tree saplings. In the second FACE

experiment, we prevented the birds from making
the nests.
Many herbivorous insect s, such as leaf
beetles, feed the leaves of saplings grown in
the FACE system (Fig. 3) . We have observed thedefensive traits of tree leaves under elevated CO2

concentration and elevated ozone concentration
using the leaf beetles (Sakikawa et al. 2016 andAgathokleous et al. 2019).

defoliation, the defoliation treatments have been
done. About 400 pots (Larix kaempferi seedlings& Betula maximowicziana seedlings) wereplaced in the nursery and these seedlings wereartificially defoliated in summer (Fig. 2). Now theeffect of defoliation on the growth of forest trees,
physiological traits and xylem formation has
gradually become clear.

Fig. 3. Leaf beetles (Agelastica
coerulea) feeding on Japanesewhite birch leaves.

Fig. 4. Walnut seedling grownin larch pot.

DIWPA News Letter No.40

7

New Site
Furthermore, some Hokkaido squirrels (Sciurusvulgaris orientis) live in this nursery. They harvested

walnuts grown in the nursery and buried themin our pots in autumn. As the result, some walnut
seedlings appeared in some larch pots in the next
spring (Fig. 4)!

Conclusion
We can access easily to this nursery from Sapporo
City and we can use this nursery for a long term.
We can carry out various kinds of experiments
about forest trees in this nursery. When you havea chance to come to Hokkaido University campus,
please visit the Sapporo experimental nursery.

References

Agathokleous E., Watanabe M., Eguchi N., Nakaji T., Satoh F. andKoike T. (2016) Root production of Fagus crenata Blume saplings
grown in two soils and exposed to elevated CO2 concentration: an
11-year free-air-CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment in northern
Japan. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 227: 187.
Agathokleous E. et al. (2019) Effects of ozone and ammonium sulfate
on cauliflower: emphasis on the interaction between plants andinsect herbivores. Science of the Total Environment 659: 995-1007.
Eguchi N. et al. (2005a) Soil moisture condition and growth of
deciduous tree seedlings native to northern Japan grown underelevated CO2 with FACE system. Phyton 45: 133–138.
Eguchi N., Koike T. and Ueda T. (2005b) Free air CO2 enrichment
experiment in northern Japan. Vaisala News 169: 15–16.
Eguchi N. et al. (2008a) Changes in petiole hydraulic properties
and leaf water flow in birch and oak saplings in a CO2-enrichedatmosphere. Tree Physiology 28: 287–295.
Eguchi N. et al. (2008b) Photosynthetic responses of birch and aldersaplings grown in a free air CO2 enrichment system in northern
Japan. Trees 22: 437–447.
Hara Y., Watanabe M., Takagi K., Satoh F., Mao Q. and Koike T. (2014)of CO2 exposure for 4 years-. Boreal Forest Research 62: 57-58 (InJapanese).
Hoshika Y., Watanabe M., Inada N. and Koike T. (2012) Growth andleaf gas exchange in three birch species exposed to elevatedozone and CO2 in summer. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 223: 50175025.
Koike T. et al. (2015) Ecophysiology of deciduous trees native to
Northeast Asia grown under FACE (Free Air CO2 Enrichment).
Journal of Agricultural Meteorology 71: 174-184.
Koike T. et al. (2018) Photosynthetic and Photosynthesis-Related
Responses of Japanese Native Trees to CO 2: Results from
Phytotrons, Open-Top Chambers, Natural CO2 Springs, and FreeAir CO2 Enrichment. In: Adams W.W. and Terashima I. eds. The
Leaf: A Platform for Performing Photosynthesis and Feeding thePlant, Chapter 15, Springer-V., 425-449.
Koike T. et al. (2019) Offer the chance of internships from internationalcourse students based on bilateral agreement at Experimental
Forests and Experimental Farm of FSC. Technical Report for
Boreal Forest Conservation 36, in press (in Japanese).
Pretzsch H. et al. (2017) Climate change accelerates growth of urban
trees in metropolises worldwide. Scientific Reports 7, Article
number: 15403. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14831-w
Sakikawa T. et al. (2016) Leaf phenology and insect grazing ofJapanese white birch saplings grown under free-air ozone
exposure. Journal of Agricultural Meteorology 72: 80-84.
Takagi K., Eguchi N., Ueda T., Sasa K. and Koike T. (2004) CO 2
control in a FACE system for tree saplings. Journal of Agricultural
Meteorology, Hokkaido 56: 9–16 (In Japanese).
Wang X.N. et al. (2015) Ectomycorrhizal colonization and growth of
the hybrid larch F1 under elevated CO2 and O3. Environmental
Pollution 197: 116-126.
Watanabe M. et al. (2013) Elevated CO2 enhances the growth of hybrid
larch F1 (Larix gmelinii var. japonica × L. kaempferi) seedlings andchanges its biomass allocation. Trees 27: 1647-1655.
Watanabe M. et al. (2014) Photosynthetic traits and growth of Quercus
mongolica var. crispula sprouts attacked by powdery mildew underfree air CO2 enrichment. European Journal of Forest Research 133:
725-733.
Watanabe Y., Satomura T., Sasa K., Funada R. and Koike T. (2010)
Differential anatomical responses to elevated CO2 in saplings offour hardwood species. Plant, Cell and Environment 33: 1101-1111.
Watanabe Y. et al. (2016) Response of tree growth and wood structureof Larix kaempferi, Kalopanax septemlobus and Betula platyphylla
saplings to elevated CO2 concentration for 5 years exposure in a
FACE system. Trees 30: 1569-1579.

Dynamics of Leaf Area Index of 3 kinds of birch species grownunder a free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) system -Temporal changes

DIWPA

Chairperson
Secretary General
Secretary

OFFICE
Assistant SecretaryShin-ichi Nakano
Atsushi Ishida
Shigeo Yachi
Shoko Sakai
Yoshikuni Hodoki
Akiko Seki

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

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