Evaluation of ecosystem function of coastal areas based on biodiversity of tropical seagrass beds
| Project/Area Number |
16405007
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 海外学術 |
|---|
| Research Field |
Ecology/Environment
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Chiba University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
NAKAOKA Masahiko Chiba University, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Associate Professor (90260520)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KONDOH Akihiko Chiba University, Professor (30201495)
KOMATSU Teruhisa University of Tokyo, Ocean Research Institute, Associate Professor (60215390)
MIYAJIMA Toshihiro University of Tokyo, Ocean Research Institute, Research Associate (20311631)
MATSUMASA Masatoshi Iwate Medical University, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Associate Professor (50219474)
SUZUKI Takao Tohoku University, Graduate School of Life Science, Research Associate (10124588)
向井 宏 北海道大学, 北方生物圏フィールド科学センター, 教授 (00013590)
野島 哲 九州大学, 大学院理学研究院, 助教授 (30112288)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
|
| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2006)
|
| Budget Amount *help |
¥13,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥13,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥3,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥4,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,600,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥5,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,300,000)
|
|---|
| Keywords | Seagrass bed / Biodiversity / Ecosystem function / Physical disturbance / Environmental Stress / Thailand / Tropical ecosystem / Biogeochemistry / 生物群集 / タイ南西部 / 広域空間比較 / ベントス / 物理化学的プロセス |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
The main objective of the project is to establish evaluation methods of status and functions of tropical seagrass beds based on measurements of biodiversity. To achieve this goal, we conducted following research subjects during the period between April 2004 and March 2007. 1) Large-scale comparisons of major seagrass beds along the coast under different impacts of human activities, and 2) long-term monitoring and experimental analyses on the relationships between environmental factors, species diversity and ecosystem functioning of the seagrass beds. Based on our fieldwork, we found that major physical and chemical processes influencing biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of seagrass beds vary greatly among sites with different impacts of human activities. Especially, material input from river discharge greatly affects matter and energy flows in seagrass ecosystems. We found that biodiversity measured by various indices are correlated with variables representing functions of seagras
… More
s ecosystems, i.e., biomass, productivity, resistance to disturbance and resilience from disturbance. Based on this, we establish the evaluation methods of seagrass functional status based on observations of biochemical processes of seagrasses and biodiversity of seagrasses and associated biota.
Some of our research sites were severely affected by the tsunami that hit the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26th, 2004. The tsunami was the source of catastrophic disturbance to coastal ecosystems and human societies along southeastern Asian shores. Because we monitored abundance and biomass of seagrass and its associated animal community before the arrival of the tsunami-affected sites, this has given us a rare opportunity to quantitatively evaluate the effects of the tsunami disturbance on the biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of seagrass beds by taking the data using the same method after the tsunami. We found that the tsunami impacts on benthic organisms varied with and without seagrass vegetation, and that the degree of temporal changes in assemblage structure was not necessarily related to the magnitude of the tsunami disturbance. Less
|
Report
(4 results)
Research Products
(9 results)
