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The International Joint Workshop for Studies on BIODIVERSITY
Program and Abstracts of The International Joint Workshop
for Studies on BIODIVERSITY
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— 2nd International Workshop of Species 2000,
CODATA '99 DSAO Workshop, 14th "Global Environment Tsukuba" — |
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Poster Presentation : Abstract |
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| Medicinal plant information on some international databases |
| Kazuhiko Horiguchi |
| School of Health Sciences & Nursing, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan |
| Medicinal plant is one of the most valuable natural rescues. It is said that more than 10,000 plant species are used for medicinal purposes mainly as traditional medicines and at least 25 percent of drugs used in modern pharmacopoeia are derived from plants. |
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As strong interest in natural-healing and alternative medicine grows, more and more people are turning to traditional herbal treatment. In order to develop new drugs for helpless diseases and to obtain scientific research result for safety and efficacy, to organize usable and reliable medicinal plants information is great concern by researchers and clinicians. |
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One of the issues to provide reliable medicinal plant information is that it is not always possible to identify some species. This may be due to the fact that same plant might be known by different local names, or widely differing species are known by the same name in different cultures. In this paper the author does not attempt to reach a solution, rather the aim is to present the issues associated with medicinal plant information on some international databases. |
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| Phylogenetic status of the Lidth's Jay Garrulus lidthi among the genus Garrulus, Aves |
| *Manabu Kajita 1, Noritomo Kawaji 2, Yasuhiro Yamaguchi 2 and Aleem Ahmed Khan 3 |
1Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, Kohnoyama 115, Abiko, 270-1145, Japan,
2Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, P. O. Box 16,
Tsukuba Norin, Tsukuba, 305-8687, Japan,
3Ornithological Society of Pakistan, 109-Block D,
Dera Ghazi Khan, 32200, Pakistan |
| The Lidth's Jay Garrulus lidthi is one of the endemic bird species whose distribution is confined to Amami-oshima Island and its associated islets in southern Japan.The ideas for phylogenetic status of the species have changed with the times.The former research has mainly used comparisons of external characters, not genetic data.We collected DNA samples of all of three Garrulus species worldwide, glandarius, lanceolatus and lidthi, and estimated the relationships by using the cytochrome b region of mtDNA. From external characters, we confirmed the highest similarities of lidthi with lanceolatus, not with glandarius. Consistent with the external characters, lidthi sequence data indicated higher homology (84%) with lanceolatus than glandarius (74%) from the DNA analysis.These results suggest that lidthi is more closely related to lanceolatus than to glandarius and support the hypothesis that these two species show the relict distribution. |
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| Max - A species editing program for Windows 95/98/NT |
| Paul Gioia, *Nicholas Lander and Ben Richardson |
| Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Conservation & Land Management, PO Box104, Bentley DC 6983, Australia |
| Monitoring and analysis of environmental data necessarily rely on efficient management of taxon-based data. Without standardised nomenclatural systems enshrined in our database activities we cannot hope to manage broad-scale biodiversity projects. Where corporate systems are in place that provide ongoing nomenclatural data, Max can utilise those data to enable field biologists and taxonomists to validate the nomenclatural component of databases, to enable integration of data from a wide range of sources and maintain their value. |
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Max is a computer program for use by field biologists, naturalists, herbaria and museums. Max maintains the currency of taxon nomenclature with reference either to the Census of the Vascular plants of Western Australia that come with Max or with any other taxon master list. Max ensures that taxon codes are used consistently across workgroups. It prints specimen labels, translates locality information into a geocode, and converts coordinates between latitude/longitude and Australian Map Grid. |
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Max allows the user to readily generate queries and reports, while at the same time promoting correct relational database methodology. |
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Max can read and write a variety of database formats including dBASE, Microsoft Access, Borland Paradox, ODBC data sources and SQL servers including Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. Max complies with the HISPID standard for the interchange of herbarium specimen data. |
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As an example of the use of Max in an institutional context, a number of customised forms have been built, eg an electronic collecting book for the Western Australian Herbarium. |
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Max is readily generalisable to regions other than Western Australia. |
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| TaxonBank, a new online database for taxonomic research |
| Fabio Moretzsohn |
| Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii, 2538 The Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA |
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| Many online taxonomic databases are already available, and more yet to come. However, most are simply online versions of their collection catalog, usually with scant data, insufficient for taxonomic research; currently, few databases have data on type specimens. I am proposing the creation of a web-based database to contain detailed information on primary type specimens housed in museums, herbaria and academic institutions. The goal of the TaxonBank is to be a central depository of taxonomic data on type specimens, patterned after the successful GenBank database for DNA sequences. This new database would help taxonomists to: locate literature and type specimens for study, confirm identifications, and even help make some taxonomic decisions. |
| Two very important items, which currently are not usually available, should be images of the actual types (in JPEG format), and a facsimile of the original description (in PDF format), besides other basic taxonomic data (e.g. species name, author, original citation, host collection and catalog number, etc). Links would connect this database with others (e.g. through the Species 2000 databases). In the case of recent publications, there would be a link to the copyright-holder so that the original description could be obtained. Most data may already be available (even if not online yet); images and facsimiles could be added, and new submissions would be sent via Internet. I will discuss some ideas on how the TaxonBank can be started and implemented. |
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| Metadata and metadata standards in biodiversity |
| *Shubha Nagarkar 1 and Geoffrey Bowker 2 |
1 Bioinformatics Center, University of Pune, Pune 411007
2 Graduate School of Library and Information Science,
University of Illinois,Urbabna-Champaign, Il,USA |
| Heterogeneous data sets in the field of biodiversity are a significant obstacle in retrieving relevant information. Often, when a paper is published, the original datasets are mislaid or badly filed and scientists cannot reuse them. Metadata, data about data, enables long term data reuse. It is a tool that helps scientists acquire specific data from massive, geographically scattered data sets on the Internet. With the help of metadata, multiple datasets can be queried with a single search engine. Geospatial metadata standards have been developed and widely accepted (Michener, 1997). |
| However, there are no metadata standards for retrieving non-geospatial data in the field of biodiversity. Metadata standards help store data uniformly from heterogeneous data sets (numeric, alphanumeric, textual, image, etc.). Because of the semantic heterogeneity of data, it is difficult to develop metadata standards. This paper discusses the metadata concept and its importance in the field of biodiversity. It also discusses recent work on metadata standards. The results of a short survey of biodiversity database producers are given. The paper concludes with a discussion of strategies that would enable the development of robust and practical metadata models. |
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| Linkage of data on chemicals, life and environment |
Tsuguchika Kaminuma 1, Tatsuya Nakano 1, Takako Takai-Igarashi 1,
Kotoko Nakata 1, Chiyoto Ohtake 1, Noriko Kabuyama 1 and *Kazuki Shimura 2 |
1National Institute of Health Sciences, 1-18-1 Kamiyoga, Setagaya-ku,
Tokyo 158-8501, Japan
2Japan Science and Technology Corporation, 5-3, Yonbancho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0081, Japan |
| The Internet WWW technology has enabled us to link data and information contents which had existed independently. Such linkages are particularly important for environment and related data such as chemical pollutants, wild life, environmental factors, for they must be consider in various causal relations. We have developed such linkage techniques for chemical databases. We assumed that the chemical databases to be linked must have at least one common entry, the identification information such as CA number, and that they have WWW and database linkage interface written by some CGI (Common Gateway Interface) language. Simultaneously we are developing various geographical maps on which one can map wide range of environment fact data. These systems would be used for mapping wild life data too. Parts of our products have already been on the Internet. |
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| A small database on cultural characters of tropical wood-decay fungi |
| *Y. Abe1, T. Hattori1, S. S. Lee2 and M. Zakaria2 |
1 Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Japan
2 Forest Research Institute, Malaysia |
| Cultural characters of tropical wood-decay fungi, collected from the forests of the low-lands in Peninsular Malaysia, were studied. Most of the fungi belong to Aphyllophorales in Basidiomycota or Xylariales in Ascomycota. Macroscopic and microscopic characters of the cultures and chemical reactions were studied and recorded in a data sheet of each isolate. The characters studied were: colony color, colony shape, growth rate, pigmentation in medium, enzymatic reactions to laccase, tyrosinase and peroxidase, tolerance to benomyl, shape of generative hyphae, presence of special hyphae, type of spores and so on. Photographs of the fungal colony and microscopic features such as special hyphae and spores are placed in each data sheet. Data were recorded for more than 200 isolates. This database is useful for identification of cultures of tropical wood-decay fungi, especially those isolated from decayed wood. |
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Species information database KONCHU on Japanese,
ast Asian and Pacific insects on INTERNET |
| *Osamu Tadauchi1, Hitoshi Inoue2 and Yoko Takematsu3 |
1 Entomological Laboratory, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 812-8581 Japan
2Computation Center, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 812-8581 Japan
3Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 812-8581 Japan |
| A publically available entomology database KONCHU is a general database name which includes various files of bibliographical and image databases. The former is a taxon-based entomology database based on main Japanese entomological journals (12 journals (= files) at present). Therefore it includes many East Asian and Pacific insects as well as Japanese ones. It has a taxonomical feature as well as a bibliographical one because it treats one taxon, e.g. species, genus, family, as one record. The records of KONCHU are written mainly in English, and in Japanese with katakana and kanji characters. In this paper we present an outline of the bibliographical database. Each record of the database is composed of 13 items, such as bibliographical (author, title, journal, volume, page and year), taxonomical (order, family, synonymy), distributional data, key words (taxonomy, morphology, ecology, biology, etc) and notes including usuful information such as type locality, type depository of new species, host record ohttp://konchudb. agr.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp/. Outline, usage and examples of use of the KONCHU are presented. |
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| Evolution of genes, genomes and species |
| *Hideaki Sugawara and Satoru Miyazaki |
WFCC-MIRCEN World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM),
National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan |
| It has been well known that different genes provide us with different phylogenetic trees. Therefore it has been a question how we integrate various trees to understand species evolution. We are now equipped with a new type of information for the study of species evolution, that is, complete genome sequences. You can search and compare genome sequences and ORFs of 23 microbial species (as of June 26th, 1999) at the Genome Information Broker (http://mol.genes.nig.ac.jp/gib/). Comparison of members and rearrangement of orthologous genes of 23 genomes will give us a picture of genome evolution. Then we will be able to restructure the process the species evolution. The result of restructure will further effect nomenclature. We will introduce the impact of complete genome sequences to the phylogenetic analysis and further to nomenclature. |
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| The functions of Biodiversity Center of Japan |
| *Yoshikazu Ikeda 1, Tatsuo Sasaoka 1, Mariko Higa 2 |
1 Biodiversity Center of Japan,
2 Japan Wildlife Research Center |
| Seeking to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable use of the natural environment on a global scale, the Convention on Biological Diversity came into effect in 1993. After becoming a signatory, Japan adopted the National Biodiversity Strategy in 1995, outlining a basic plan for reaching the goals laid out in the convention. |
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Following this national strategy, Biodiversity Center of Japan was established to encourage the conservation of biodiversity in Japan and also to contribute to international efforts toward conserving biodiversity. |
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Biodiversity Center of Japan carries out activities in four areas: surveys; information gathering; specimen collection and documentation; and publicity. Through this work, the center is building up a network of resources related to the conservation of biodiversity. It also releases information in a variety of forms on Japan's natural ecosystems and biodiversity. This information supports the development of nature conservation policies and the implementation of environmental assessments by central and local authorities, etc. In this way, it contributes to the conservation of biodiversity in Japan as a whole. |
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| The National Survey on the Natural Environment in Japan |
| *Yuzo Ito1, Masashi Tanabe1, Mariko Higa2, Tomoko Mori2 |
1 Biodiversity Center of Japan,
2 Japan Wildlife Research Center |
| Since 1973, the Environment Agency has carried out The National Survey of the Natural Environment every five years. These surveys are specified in the Nature Conservation Law. |
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Popularly known as the Green Census, this nationwide survey is designed to clarify the current state of Japan's natural environment and monitor any changes. It covers land, surface water, and coastal areas. The survey is subdivided into such categories as animals, plants, rivers/lakes/marshes, and tidal flats/seaweed beds/coral reefs. |
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The survey is implemented by local governments with the cooperation of researchers, experts, and volunteers across the nation. Over the years, a huge volume of valuable data has been compiled, and the Biodiversity Center -- which now has responsibility for it -- plans to expand the survey network and continue monitoring the nation's ecosystems. |
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Survey results are released to the public in the form of reports and maps. The reports provide fundamental data for nature conservation policies (the designation and planning of natural parks, etc.) and environmental assessments. |
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| The Japan Integrated Biodiversity Information System (J-IBIS) |
| *Kousei Otoi1, Koji Otsuka1, Katsuyuki Kashiwakura2 |
1 Biodiversity Center of Japan,
2 Japan Wildlife Research Center |
| Biodiversity Center has developed the Japan Integrated Biodiversity Information System (J-IBIS) to hold an extensive database of biodiversity information. It includes the Green Census results, information on the center's animal and plant collection, and other relevant documents. The database is accessible through the Internet as well as by other means. Computer networks are also used to monitor the natural environment and to gather information from animal and plant experts. The geographic information system (GIS) and digital mapping techniques are employed to analyze and utilize the stored information as basic data for projects to conserve biodiversity. |
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Biodiversity Center is Japan's center for biodiversity information, and it also serves as the national focal point of the clearing-house mechanism as prescribed by Convention on Biological Diversity. |
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| Database system of the herbarium moss specimens from polar regions |
| *Hiroshi Kanda and Satoshi Imura |
National Institute of Polar Research, 9-10, Kaga 1-chome
Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8515, Japan |
| Since 1979, the herbarium specimens which were collected from the Antarctic and the Arctic were treated and processed by the computer system of the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR). This herbarium focussing to the polar regions is partially referred to the systems of the herbaria of the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge (AAS) and Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Edinburgh, which were probably the first to process moss data by computer (Greene 1972, Greene and Greene, 1975). The NIPR collection mainly consists of specimens brought back from the Syowa Station area (67-70S, 38-46E) in which activities of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) have been undertaken. |
| Together with Continental Antarctic specimens, the herbarium houses the collections brought back from maritime Antarctica, Subantarctica, Arctic regions and even temperate regions. The specific and generic names are arranged in alphabetical order in each family, basically following the format in Brotherus (1924-1925) and Muller (1954-57). The floral regions are classified with consideration to distributional characteristics of mosses on a global scale. They are subdivided into subsections following by Index Muscorum (Van der Wijk et al., 1959). This database system is getting ready for an Internet. Approximately 30,000 specimens were processed so far. |
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Archive’s renewable value: Electronic insights in the past record.
The biological memory of the ecosystem for the information society |
| Enrique Wulff-Barreiro |
Marine Sciences Institute from Andalusia,
Spanish Council for Scientific Research. ICMAN (CSIC) Polígono Río San Pedro,
s/n 11510 Puerto Real (Cádiz). Spain. |
| The information recorded for the archival collection of fishes marries innovation and regional interest. The south-west atlantic from the then Portuguese Guinea to the south of Portugal has been the research scenario of the Andalusian Marine Sciences Station of the Spanish Scientific Research Council from 1955. The marine fishes of West Africa are considered, in the archive, under the possibility of envisage the bottom fauna in the area as representing the transition between the Atlantico-Mediterranean and the Tropical faunas. The experimental parameters to check involve analysis of DNA, and molecular phylogenetic relationships between species could be established in the case of Lophius budegassa and Lophius piscatorius. |
| Determining the extent of the effects on wild populations of the introduction of new species could be learned after the Fundulus heteroclitus. Because the capture date is known, an age can be estimated to the fishes. In particular, to accurately age Neoharriotta pinnata, the holotype for this animal. The specimens of Nezumia aequalis, Schedophilus ovalis, and Tachysurus gambensis are enough rare for the application of the entire spectrum of temporal techniques. The discrimination of populations in mixed stock fisheries seems to be regarded with particular authority when examining material without description in the area of the strait of Gibraltar like it is the case of Ptheirichthys linneatus. Determining temporal trends in genetic diversity of managed fish populations and examining the regulatory role of pathogens on historic ecosystems could be offered after a closer analysis of the museum. |
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| Development of a database of bryophytes in Okunikko area |
| *Koji Sugimura1, Hideyuki Shimizu1 and Masanobu Higuchi2, Zennosuke Iwatsuki3 |
1 Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies,
16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, 305-0053, Japan
2 Department of Botany, National Science Museum, 4-1-1 Amakubo,
Tsukuba, 305-0005, Japan
3 Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Okazaki Branch, 1-3 Mutsuna-shin-machi,
Okazaki,Aichi 444-0846, Japan |
| Okunikko Area belongs to the montane zone with variations of landform and soil type and a complicated climate condition. Flora and Fauna have been surveyed by many researchers. About Bryophytes Flora, however, only a few studies have been conducted. National institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) constructed "Okunikko field Station" in Nov. 1987. Since then, researches and monitorings on flora, fauna and environments have been conducting in and around the field station. For example, the relationship between the vegetation succeeded on the fallen trees and the microenvironment in the forest area has been analyzed. Survey of Flora is still in progress. Part of the results gathered until 1991 are reported by NIES. Effort has been concentrated to make a database of Bryophytes in this area using the survey data gathered from 1987 to 1993. |
| This database is improved with adding some data-sets such as Herbarium Specimen, Type Specimen, Synonym, Basionym, Red Data, Morphology, Distribution, Ecology, Physiology, Chromosome number as well. The software "FileMaker Pro Ver.4.0" was used in this excise. At present, we are adding similar information to other families than Mniaceae to improve the performance of the database. Moreover, a data-control-system, up-to-dated and the effective use of the data etc. has been developed. In the near future, we are going to link this database to the Bryophytes database in Japan which has been developing in CGER. |
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Has bryophyte diversity affected by atmospheric environment?
-Some field and laboratory researches conducted in Japan - |
*Hideyuki Shimizu1, Kuniko Suga2, Takeshi Ohashi2,
Hiroshi Taoda3 and Zennosuke Iwatsuki4 |
1 Center for Global Environmental Research,
National Institute for Environmental Studies,16-2 Onogawa,
Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0053, Japan
2 The Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute for Environmental Protection,
1-7-5 Shinsuna, Koto, Tokyo 136 Japan
3 Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato,
Kukizaki, Inashiki, Ibaraki 305-8687 Japan
4 Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Okazaki Branch, 10-3 Mutsuna-shin-machi,
Okazaki, Aichi 444-0846 Japan |
| Bryophyte diversity has been studied in the field of Japan extensively. In the case of Tokyo Metropolis at 1970’s, no epiphytic bryophyte could be observed in the central part, so-called "epiphyte desert", where SO2 concentration was high. The number of bryophyte species increased with the distance from the center. Twenty years later in Tokyo, bryophyte diversity has increased, especially in the central part. This was related to the decrease in the concentration of SO2 to one fourth or one fifth of the level of 20 years before. In Miyazaki City, a local city in Kyushu Island, the bryophyte diversity increased with the distance from city center. The decrease in number of bryophyte species related to the amount of traffic cars and/or air pollution (NO2 concentration is shown). |
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As other environmental factors are changed in the field, exposure experiments in laboratory should be needed to confirm the air pollution effects on the decrease in bryophyte diversity. Several epiphytic bryophytes were exposed to 0.4 and 0.8 ppm SO2 for short hours and it was found that the resistance of bryophyte species was closely related to the existence of the species in the industrial area. More precise experiments using a good phytotron should be carried out on the effects of low concentrations (0.025-0.1 ppm) of SO2, NO2 and/or O3 on bryophytes. Several Plagiomnium species were so sensitive and easily damaged by air pollutants, especially SO2. Therefore, terrestrial bryophyte diversity, similar as epiphytic one, should decline by air pollution of all over the world. |
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The flora and vegetation of Okino-shima and Orono-shima Islands,
northern Kyushu, Japan |
| *Ryuichi Suda1, Atsuko Sasao1, and Hideyuki Shimizu2 |
1Fukuoka Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences,
39 Mukaizano, Dazaifu, Fukuoka 818-0135, Japan
2Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies,
16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-0053, Japan |
| In order to reconfirm the flora and vegetation conditions, we conducted a survey in Okino-shima (0.94 km2) and Orono-shima (0.43 km2) Islands, Fukuoka prefecture, northern Kyushu, Japan, from 1997 to 1998. In Okino-shima Isl., Asplenium antiquum (Aspleniaceae) and Livistona chinensis var. subglobosa (Palmae) as the northern limit of the range were recorded again, while Wasabia tenuis var. okinosimensis (Cruciferae), the endemic species to this island. could not be found in the present survey. Juniperus chinensis var. procumbens (Cupressaceae) and Echinops setifer (Compositae), the continental element just distributed in this island. within Fukuoka prefecture could not be recorded. |
| In Orono-shima Isl., several naturalized plants, such as Paspalum urvillei (Poaceae) and Erigeron canadensis (Compositae), which were not recorded in the survey data of 1985, invaded at the roadside or the edge of field. The evergreen broad-leaved forest, which was the mature natural forest, covered just small ares in this island. The forest was dominanted by Elaeocarpus sylvestris var. ellipticus (Elaeocarpaceae) accompanies with Osmanthus insularis (Oleaceae), Castanopsis sieboldii (Fagaceae), etc. This forest should be designated for the conservation area similar to that of Okino-shima Isl. We intend to construct a data base of the flora and vegetation information in order to monitor biodiversity of these islands. |
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| Methods in monitoring biodiversity of tropical marine fungi in Malaysia |
| Siti Aisyah Alias |
| Institute Biological Sciences, University Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Measuring and monitoring biodiversity of microorganism is a focal point in understanding global biodiversity. “Why fungi matter” is an important argument as this mycota presently utilized in biotechnological processes or in pharmaceutical and health-care company. Considering the coastal habitat is very fragile and more exposed to pollution and other physical changes, it is pertinent to gather information for cataloging purposes and to form a gene bank as a culture source. Unlike the terrestrial part less research has been done in determining the measuring of biodiversity assessments of marine fungal groups. |
| Thus, a study has been conducted along the coastal of the Peninsular of Malaysia on marine fungi and the objectives include: to measure the index relative of species richness, to identify species or families level and their interaction that is vital in ecological community studies and to get a preliminary inventory of species and habitats. Various techniques have been adopted and these include direct and indirect observation. More than 150 taxa have been recorded and these mycota belong to different division as well as ecological group. The species diversity were measured using different indices and mathematical model. Problems in assessing the right technique for biodiversity assesment are discussed. |
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| State of the biological plant life diversity of Togo and preservation measures |
| Dantsey Koffi Edinam |
Point Local National de la biodiversite
Ministere de L`Environment et de la Production Forestiere |
| Togo is divided into five main ecological zones subdivided in subzone corresponding to particular ecosystems. |
| The ecosystems include protected areas which cover 14 of the national land surface area and form the sanctuary of a biological diversity. |
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At present, the stocklist of the flora has made if possible to distinguish the spontaneous flora which form the natural forest. The number of spontaneous species recorded is estimated at 2584. Among these, the Pteridophytes amount to 99 and the Cymnosperms are represented by only one species. The number of Angiosperms is 2484 of which there are 1761 Dicotyledons and 73 Monocotyledons. |
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The species that have been introduced are 501 that is : 1 Pteridophyte, 17 Gymnosperms and 483 Angiosperms. The latter is made up of 319 Dicotyledons and 164 Monocolyledons. |
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Some life plant species have already disappeared and others are being threatened of disappearance. Therefore, measures and actions have been proposed for a better preservation of the biological life plant diversity. |
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| Taxonomy background in Senegal |
| Abdoulaye Gaye |
| ICSU/CODATA P.O.Box 1857 Dakar-Senegal |
| Senegal, the most westerly country in Africa, has had opportunities for centuries to be visited by the very first phytogeography specialists from France and England : e.g. Adamsonia digitata, Guiera senegalensis, Combretum senegalensis and thousands others rom fugies to angiosperms, abeing at the cross-roads of Europe, the Americas and on the marine junction to the Indian peninsula and Asia, it has experienced several introductions of both animal and vegetal species and varieties. Research on these fields began almost 350 years ago with the beginnig of colonization and much of laboratories and institutions began their works in Senegal , long before doing so elsewhere in Africa. |
| This geopolitical situation and position must be used by the Species 2000 Project in order to fulfill one of its aim and get the numerous local or international research institutions, centres, laboratories and sponsors in the process of verifying the existence, spelling and current status of the names used for each species, and the classification of that species and participate in creating an index made easily accessible through a Common Access System of Databases on the World Wide Web. In the case of african countries, still traditional means of information dissemination will continue to be used at least for the next ten years. As mentioned previously by experts, capital technologies with biological effects serve as strong substitutes for land for the future. |
| Currently, we are setting a new task group entitled “Reliable Scientific Data Sources in West Africa” expandable to the whole continent. CODATA members will begin by a survey of the Scientific and Technical Potential of Senegal namely PST (Potentiel Scientifique et Technique au Senegal) in order to obtain information on senegalese factual and numerical data collections with directories and summaries of current research projects, centers of expertise and individual scientific qualifications and experiences.). OMVS is considering some ecological problems related to the new dams (Diama and Manantaly) on the Senegal River, natural boundary of 4 countries ( Mauritania, Mali, Guinea and Senegal ): estimation of biodiversity and health-related consequences on human health and on ecosystems (geobiocenoze). |
| This problem-oriented database will include soon a thesaurus of terms and key words. By the end of year 2000 formats for the data and the general structure of the ‘CO-SCIENCES” integrated multidisciplinary database will be developed. This database is assumed to satisfy the following minimum requirements for working as effective research-support tool: step-by-step development of small-sized single discipline databases before their integration, clarification of data sources, reliability of systematically covered data within a specific area, and user-friendliness in search, analysis, estimation, simulation, presentation and visualization interfaces. Several CODATA members are database modeling specialists who are willing to develop a practical multidisciplinary database prototype that will help us to move to a short to long time-scale advanced database with functions for data analysis and estimation as well as for data validation, presentation and visualization. |
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Measuring and monitoring biodiversity changes in a tropical forest
primarily managed for timber production |
*Daniel A. Lagunzad1, Juan Antonio Revilla Jr.2, Emiliano D. Sotalbo3,
Leonardo Co4 and Edwino S. Fernando5 |
1 Institute of Biology, The University of the Philippines,
Diliman Quezon City Philippines 1101
2Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, and Forestry Development Center,
The University of the Philippines-Los Banos College 4031 Laguna Philippines
3 Campus Landscaping and Arboretum Office, University of the Philippines,
Diliman Quezon City
4Conservation International Philippines
5Makiling Center for Montain Ecosystems, College of Forestry and Natural Resources,
The University of the Philippines-Los Banos College 4031 Laguna Philippines |
| This study attempts to incorporate biodiversity conservation strategies in tropical rainforest managed primarily for Timber Production. The study site is in the logging concession of Surigao Development Corporation (SUDECOR) located at the foot of the Diwata Mountains in Surigao del Sur, Philippines. Data on floristic composition, stand inventory and biodiversity indices of different aged plots (referred to herewith subsequently as strata) were generated to assess the effects of previous forest management regimes on biodiversity while with due consideration for the improvement and subsequent adoption of recommended conservation measures. |
| To achieve this goal, a manual of Biodiversity Survey Design and Field Procedures (1997) was developed. Data obtained using the Manual was entered in a form using Fox Pro as prescribed in the Biodiversity Database Manual (March 1998). The manual strives to combine standard forest inventory and biodiversity survey procedures. Traditional approaches in measuring diversity were employed. These include Shannon's Index, Simpson's Index and simple species richness. The use of Fisher's method has been re-evaluated recently and an attempt to apply these findings on the data available is presented. |
| Other methods (SHE Analysis, Species- accumulation method, rarefaction approaches and ordination techniques) were used to analyze the data from 9 strata designated for study in the logging concession. The strata are differentiated on the basis of number of years elapsed after logging (YEAL). One hectare plots for each stratum and 60 meter buffer zones along waterways are presently being configured and laid down for monitoring purposes. |
| The preliminary results of the study were used in the formulation of recommendations intended to ensure that conservation of biodiversity is addressed within the context of the primary function of the concession. |
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| Monitoring of bird biodiversity changes in Uzbekistan (Central Asia) |
| Yevgenija Lanovenko |
| Institute of Zoology, Tashkent, Uzbekistan |
| Uzbekistan is situated in the arid zone of Central Asia. Most of territory of this country is occupied by the Kyzyl Kum Desert. In the 20th century, significant anthropogenic changes have taken place in the plain part of Uzbekistan. Of 29 rare bird species of Uzbekistan, 20% are included with the Red List of IUCN (Pelecanus crispus, Cignus olor, Anas angustirostris, Aegypius monachus, Chlamidotis undulata, Falco naumanni) and 72% with the Appendix I of the CITES, which indicates their high vulnerability. |
| As a result of the Aral Sea drying up, the areas suitable for the nesting of such species as Pelecanus crispus, Phalacrocorax pigmaeus, Egretta garzetta, Platalea leucorodia, Cignus olor, Anas angustirostris, Pandion haliaetus, Larus ichthyaetus have dramatically reduced in size. |
| The development of the collector-drainage network and emergence of the waste water lakes have resultet in the distribution of Circaetos gallicus, Aquila heliaca, Chlamidotis undulata, Pterocles alchata in desert waterbodies. The number of Bubo bubo is much higher now than in other regions, since this bird has got adapted to feeding on waterfowl. |
| The development of the communication network has influenced the distribution of Falco cherrug and Aquilla chrisaetos across the sand desert, which make their nests on the electric power transmission pylons. |
| As result of the Zeravshan Valley development and clearing of the waterside forests, an endemic subspecies of Phasianus colchicus zeravshanicus has almost vanished, the remaining individuals getting adapted to inhabiting man-made landscapes. |
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| Biodiversity of insects at Ton-Nga-Chang Wildlife Sanctuary Southern Thailand |
| *Chutamas Pholpunthin 1, Suparoek Watanasit 1 and Surakai Permkam 2 |
1 Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University,
Hat-Yai 90112, Thailand
2 Department of Pest Management, Faculty of Natural Resources,
Prince of Songkla University, Hat-Yai 90112, Thailand |
| Ton-Nga-Chang Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the most mature of Thailand’s tropical rain forests situated in Bantad Mountain Range. It is comprised of a diverse range of plants and animals species. The purpose of this project is to study diversity and fluctuation of insects at Ton-Nga-Chang Wildlife Sanctuary. The study involves the selection of the primary rain forest area and establishment of the permanent site of 100x100 m. The area has been divided into small quadrats of 10x10 m for long-term ecological study. Light traps were set up to collect insects for three consecutive nights. |
| Insects were handpicked from 6.00 p.m. until midnight. Malaise traps, flight intercept traps, pitfall traps and yellow pan traps were left for five days whereas litters samples were taken at one time. Insects monitoring during dry and wet seasons for two years period at the permanent plot revealed a total 113 families in 14 orders. Although the same five orders (Collembola, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera) comprised the majority of the insects caught (~90%) for both seasons, there were a seasonal change in their abundance. Detailed study was carried out on the dominant groups which accounted for insect indicators of the forest i.e. the ants (Formicidae: Hymenoptera) and the loopers (Geometridae: Lepidoptera). |
| A total of 59 species in 31 genera of the 7 subfamilies are listed for ants. Seven species of the geometrids in the genera Achrosis, Biston, Ourapteryx and Xeropteryx are confirmed to be new to science. The results from this study will form an important addition database to be used for purposes of rain forest conservation and mangement in the future. |
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Biodiversity of freshwater hyphomycetes at Ton-Nga-Chang
Wildlife Sanctuary, Southern Thailand |
| *Souwalak Phongpaichit1, Jariya Sakayaroj1, Nigel Hywel-Jones2 and Gareth Jones2 |
1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University,
Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand
2 Taxonomic and Molecular Mycology Unit, National Centre for Genetic Engineering
and Biotechnology, Bangkok, Thailand |
| A survey of freshwater hyphomycetes was conducted at Ton-Nga-Chang Wildlife Sanctuary, Songkhla, Thailand. The objective was to study fungal diversity in the stream of tropical rain forest, Southern Thailand. Samples were collected from foams that persistently accumulated below the waterfall. The foam samples were examined under a compound microscope and identified to fungal genera based on the shapes of conidia. Sixty-two genera of fungi (mainly hyphomycetes) were found. The common genera were Anguillospora, Articulospora, Beltrania, Brachiosphaera, Campylospora, Clavariopsis, Condylospora, Diplocladiella, Dwayaangam, Flabellospora, Helicomyces, Helicosporium, Isthmotricladia, Laridospora, Phalangispora, Tricladium, Triscelophorus and Varicosporium. |
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The viability of the fungal conidia trapped in foam was estimated with tetrazolium bromide. In fresh foam, 44-77 % of all conidia had at least one viable cell; in the older foam, the values reduced to 42-69%. The numbers of conidia in foams estimated by total plate count were 2.7x103 to 1.4x105 cfu/ml. Sixty-five strains were isolated from the fresh foams. Forty-four percent of these can sporulate on cornmeal agar. |
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| The Aral Sea crisis and avian biodiversity |
| E. Shernazarov |
| Institute of Zoology, Tashkent, Uzbekistan |
| Due to a continuing drying up of the Aral Sea, the environments in this region have been completely disturbed. The adverse situation has affected the state of the art of the avian biodiversity.The process of desertification has led, first and foremost, to the shrinking of the habitats of hydrophilous birds.Many birds are deprived of their original nesting grounds and concentration sites.The territorial redistribution of birds has also taken place. |
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However, man-made lakes in the basin of the Rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya enabled the conservation of the avian biodiversity and its maintenance. Some bird species (Phalacrocorax carbo and Ardea cinerea) have been growing in numbers. In the past 20 years, Pelecanus crispus, Phalacrocorax carbo, P.pygmaeus, Ardea purpurea, Egretta alba, E.garzetta, Platalea leucorodia, Larus argentatus, Hydroprogne caspia and other birds expanded their range within the Aral region and adapted to new conditions of the transformed landscape. This gave rise to the rehabilitation of the migratory routes and wintering of Phalacrocorax pygmaeus along the River Syr Darya in the current century. |
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Birds in different ways react to the changing environments. Regrettably, Pelecanus onocrotalus, Plegadis falcinellus, Cygnus olor and Larus ichthyaetus do not use the waterbodies for nesting. |
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| Host specificity of wood decay basidiomycetes in a tropical rainforest of Malaysia |
| Ryuhei Ueno |
1 Forestry and For. Prod. Res. Inst.,
2 Forest Res. Inst. Malaysia |
| Tree flora is an important factor affecting the species composition of wood decay fungi in temperate regions, but the host ranges of most wood decay fungi in the tropics are still largely unknown. Here, we present the results of a study on the host ranges of frequently occurring wood decay basidiomycetes in Pasoh Forest Reserve, a lowland rainforest in West Malaysia. |
| Wood decay fungi occurring on fallen trees of known identity were recorded. Wood blocks carrying some basidiocarps of the wood decay fungi were collected from these fallen trees, and the tree genera or families were confirmed by examining the samples under the microscope. In total 680 wood decay fungi occurring on 318 substrata belonging to 35 families and 84 genera were recorded. Among the frequently occurring species, the following species are suggested to be generalists whose occurrence was not restricted to trees belonging to specific tree families: Amauroderma parasiticum, Coriolopsis. retropicta, Ganoderma australe, Nigroporus vinosus, Phellinus noxius, Rigidoporus hypobrunneus, R. microporus, Schizopora cf. flavipora, Stecchericium seriatum, Tinctoporellus epimiltinus, and Trichaptum durum. |
| The following species were restricted on Dipterocarpaceae trees only, and are suggested to be specialists on members of the Dipterocarpaceae: Daedalea aurora, Erythromyces crocicreas, Fomitopsis carnea, F. dochmia, Perenniporia dipterocarpicola, and Phellinus cf. fastuosus. Some other species such as Nigrofomes melanopus, Phellinus lamaensis and Pyrofomes albomarginatus which occurred on several different tree species, also showed a preference for Dipterocarpaceae trees. |
| Perenniporia hexagonoides always occurred on living trees of Scaphium macropodum, and some species such as Earliella scabrosa, Daedalea sp. No. 1 and Loweporus fuscopurpureus preferred trees in the family Euphorbiaceae. We suggest that as in temperate regions, tree flora may affect the species composition and diversity of wood decay fungi occurring in the forests in tropical Asiatic areas. |
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| Molecular phylogeny of Drosophilidae based on the Adh gene sequences |
*Toru Katoh1, Masanori J. Toda2, Hide-aki Watabe3,
Koichiro Tamura4, and Tadashi Aotsuka4 |
1 International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
2 Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
3 Sapporo College, Hokkaido University of Education, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
4 Department of Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. |
| The family Drosophilidae is one of the most popular materials in biology. Nevertheless, the phylogenetic relationship of Drosophilidae, which should provide a basis for the various studies using drosophilids, has not yet been established. In this workshop, we mainly present our phylogenetic study for Drosophilidae based on the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene sequences. |
| Our phylogenetic study on the whole supports Throckmorton's (1975) classical study rather than Grimaldi's (1990) recent study, although additional findings, which are also different from Throckmorton's study, are obtained for several taxa. Furthermore, we are now developing a database for compiling the comprehensive biological information of East to Southeast Asian drosophilid species, which have the highest level of biodiversity of drosophilid flies in the world. Our database is attempting to help taxonomically untrained researchers and/or students in species identification with the aid of matrix-style key system using plentiful image information, and further to facilitate the comprehensive inventory of Asian drosophilids, which are still far from well known especially in tropical countries. |
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| DWNP Scientific vertebrate reference collection |
| Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim |
| Dept. Wildlife and National Parks, Malaysia |
| The Department of Wildlife and National Parks in 1987 started a research laboratory for the study small vertebrate fauna (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians) in Peninsular Malaysia. Collection of this different taxa were made from different ecotype forest habitats throughout the country for a scientific vertebrate reference collection for the DWNP museum established in the sixth Malaysian Plan (1991 – 1995). To date about 5000 specimens comprising of about 400 species of the various taxa of vertebrate animals were curated as reference materials. The importance of these reference materials in relation to education, research, in addition to collaborative network between institutions and museum within and without will be discussed. |
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Within-species diversity in a Japanese damselfly:
life history differences in the two male forms of Mnais costalis |
| Yoshitaka Tsubaki |
National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa,
Tsukuba, 305-0053, Japan |
| Mnais costalis is a Japanese calopterygid damselfly, which shows two morphologically and behaviourally distinct male morphs: orange- and clear-winged males. Orange males usually show territorial reproductive behaviour defending patchily distributed pieces of wet dead wood into which female oviposit. In contrast, clear males usually do not defend oviposition sites but secure“sneak” matings at sites defended by orange males. Orange males were larger than clear males and more aggressive. The purposes of this study is to determine how the smaller, less aggressive and non-territorial, clear males are maintained in this system, despite have a lower mating rate than orange males. |
| The two most plausible explanations for the maintenance of alternative reproductive phenotypes within a species are (i) a genetic polymorphism determining alternative STRATEGIES with equal fitness; (ii) a condition dependent strategy resulting in alternative mating TACTICS with unequal fitness. |
| I suggest that in M. costalis a“genetic polymorphism”is the most likely explanation for the co-existence of orange and clear male morphs since the lifetime fitness of the two strategies is more or less equal. This is because although orange males have higher mating rate, they have shorter reproductive life than clear males. |
| I discuss possible mechanisms for the maintenance of the two forms, and possible effects of environmental changes on the maintenance of within-species diversity. |
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Dipterocarpaceae in Gunung Berui, West Kalimantan, Indonesia:
Species diversity, and its growth |
| *Herwint Simbolon1, Eizi Suzuki2 and Takashi Kohyama3 |
1 Research and Development Center for Biology, Bogor-Indonesia
2 Faculty of Science,Kagoshima University, Kagoshima-Japan
3 Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo-Japan |
| Species diversity of Dipterocarpaceae family and its growth have been studied in a 1-ha plot of mixed dipterocarps forest in Gunung Berui, Ngabang, West Kalimantan-Indonesia. The study plot was established in 1992, and re-measured again in 1994, 1995, and 1998 for their growth and mortality analysis. The trees with the girth at breast height of more than 15 cm within the study plot were consist of 323 species, density was 1430 trees per ha; and total basal areas were 44.7 sqm per ha. Among them the Dipterocarpaceae were 19 species, included Anisoptera (1 sp), Dipterocarpus (2 sp), Dryobalanops (1 sp), Hopea (1 sp), Shorea (12 sp), and Vatica (2 sp). The dominant species was Dryobalanops beccarii, with total basal areas of the species was 24.6% of the total plot. The history of those Dipterocarpaceae species within the study periods, such as: the distribution, growth, and mortality were also discussed. |
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Museum specimens play a leading role in the animal taxonomy in Japan
- a case of Döderlein Collection in Europe - |
| *Shunsuke. F. Mawatari1 and Teruaki Nishikawa2 |
1 Graduate School of Sciences, Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan
2 Graduate School of Human Informatics, Nagoya Univ., Nagoya, 464-8601 Japan |
| A German naturalist Ludwig. H. P. Döderlein collected many specimens of marine animals, mainly from Sagami Bay during his stay in Japan from 1879 to 1881. Our recent examination of his specimens deposited in several European museums revealed that the redescriptions of these specimens using modern methods are indispensable to make the Japanese marine fauna clear. Other collections of Japanese animals in foreign museums must be examined before constructing any data bases in Japan. |
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Exploration of plant biodiversity in Iriomote Island, Okinawa,
with a natural subtropical forest in Japan - current status and prospect - |
| *Tokushiro Takaso1 and Hiroshi Tobe2 |
1 Iriomote Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus,
870 Uehara, Taketomi-cho, Okinawa 907-1541, Japan
2 Department of Natural Environment Sciences, Faculty of Integrated Human Studies,
Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan |
| Iriomote Island is situated near the southern end of the Ryukyu Archipelago. Most part of the island is covered by a major subtropical forest which is important environmentally, since only two major subtropical forests develop in Japan (the other is in northern part of the Okinawa Island or Yanbaru). Extended mangrove forests also develops in estuaries of the island (11 mangrove species by Tomlinson's criteria, 1986). Plant species occur in Iriomote island are: Pteridophyta - 22 families - 172 species; Gymnospermae - 3 families - 4species; and Angiospermae - 143 families- 958 species (Hatsushima and Amano, 1994). These figures mean that about one-fifth of Japanese vascular plants occur in Iriomote Island. There are 6 endemic species in the island (Shimabuku, 1989). |
| In floral and taxonomic studies, the amount of specimens often delimits the quality of the studies, and this can be applied to the floral study in Iriomote Island. The collection of specimens and related information must be urgently collected during the course of the floral and taxonomic studies. Industrial development appears to bring environmental concerns in the island. In order to protect important ecosystems and endangered species, it is important to reveal the current status of Iriomote flora urgently. |
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Taxonomic information of chironomids in Japan and related data in ecology,
limnology and medical zoology |
| Ryuhei Ueno |
| National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, 305-0053, Japan |
| Chironomids, Family Chironomidae is one of the most diverse and the most ubiquitous group among freshwater invertebrates. Thus, they have been drawing attention in the context of biotic indices. Clearly, these taxonomic information and faunal data should be connected with the habitat descriptions which contains data matrices of the water quality when the database of chironomids will be compiled. |
| In Japan, taxonomy of Chironomidae very much advanced in these two decades. Recently, current checklists of Japanese species (more than 800 species) and keys to the species were published. Recently, ecological or medical reports concerns with chironomids and limnological reports of habitats in Japan have increased as well as taxonomic reports. However, the attempt to connect the taxonomic data with ecological, limnological or medical data have not been recognized. |
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Here, I try to enumerate the data sources of chironomid database from various fields and the keywords giving relations among them, and try to discuss the merit of integrating the information of chironomids. |
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| Bacterial diversity in an Antarctic soil as analysed by 16S rDNA cloning |
| *Weiduo Si and A. G. O’Donnell |
| The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK |
| Prokaryotes perform a key function in Antarctic ecosystems. It is important to the diversity of prokaryotes as its gene pool may refer to unique microbial groups. Molecular methods were applied to analyse the bacterial diversity in soil sampled from Margery Bay in Antarctic and during the decomposition of Deschampsia antarctica grass in the soil. Followed direct DNA extraction, Bacterial 16S DNA was amplified by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using eubacteria universal primers. |
| After screen the cloning libraries by restriction digestion, the selected clones were sequenced and phylogenetic trees were constructed. Denaturing gradient gel electrphoresis (DGGE) was employed to analyse the bacteria community shifting in soil following grass decomposition. The preliminary results of sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of 16S rDNA showed that the bacterial diversity in Antarctic soil was similar to those found in other regions. Similar sequences of the newly proposed divisions Acidobater and Verrucomicrobia, which are mainly based on cloning data that found in many other regions, were also found in Antactic soil in this investigation. DGGE analyses revealed that there was a bacterial community shifting during the decomposition. |
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Relationships between ozone resistance and climate
in European populations of Plantago major L. |
| *Tom Lyons, Jeremy Barnes and Alan Davison |
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science,
The University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK |
| The relative ozone resistance of 20 European and two American populations of Plantago major was determined and relationships with climatic factors at the source of the plant material examined using data provided by participants in the ICP-Crops initiative. Plants grown from seed were exposed to either charcoal/purafil filtered air (CFA <5 nmol mol-1 O3) or CFA+ozone (70 nmol mol-1 O3 7h d-1) over a two week period in controlled environment chambers and effects on mean plant relative growth rate (R) and allometric root/shoot growth (K) determined. Ozone resistance (R%) was calculated from (RO3/RCF)*100. |
| Populations exhibited contrasting sensitivities to ozone, without the development of typical visible symptoms of injury. A positive relationship was found between relative ozone resistance and descriptors of the ozone-climate at the site of seed collection for the year of, and the two years prior to, seed collection. The best predictors of inherent ozone resistance were shown to be cumulative ozone exposure indices calculated according to current UN-ECE critical level guidelines for the pollutant (i.e. AOT40 or AOT30). No relationships were found between ozone resistance and climatic factors (temperature, precipitation, sunshine hours, humidity) or the concentrations of other air pollutants (SO2, NO2, NO). |
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These findings support the view that current ambient levels of ozone in many regions of Europe are high enough to promote evolution of resistance to the pollutant in native plant populations. The significance of these findings to the debate over the establishment of separate critical levels for the protection of natural and semi-natural vegetation is discussed. |
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