Phenological impacts of climate change on Japanese plants and animals

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K24390
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 1101:Environmental analyses and evaluation, environmental conservation measure and related fields
• Research Institution: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
• Principal Investigator: Onishi Yuko 総合地球環境学研究所, 研究基盤国際センター, 助教 (30738117)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 地球温暖化 / 気候変動 / 生物季節 / 都市化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Changes in the phenology (e.g., flowering, defoliation) of plants and animals were studied to assess the effects of global warming on plants and animals in Japan. Analysis of the relationship with climatic data such as temperature and precipitation showed that phenological changes have accelerated for many plants since 1980.
The results also showed that the relationship between phenological changes and the progress of climate change and urbanization was analyzed using population data by municipality and urbanization indices such as urbanization rate, and that the correlation between urbanization and phenological changes was high in large cities such as Tokyo. The results of the study showed that the temperature increase due to urbanization is likely to have affected the phenological changes.

Free Research Field

温暖化影響評価

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

生物の季節変化である「生物季節」は、気候の変化と強い関連があるため、その変化は温暖化の足跡とも言われ、世界的にも注目されてきた。また、日本では、桜の開花や秋の紅葉などは国民の文化や経済活動とも関連が深く、その時期の変化に関しては新聞などのメディアでもたびたび取り上げられているところ、本研究では、その原因として、温暖化と都市化による温度上昇との関連を明らかにした。