2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Native or invasive? Biodiversity, distribution and systematics of Ostracoda (Crustacea) in Japanese rice fields
| Project/Area Number |
20K06807
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| Research Institution | Lake Biwa Museum |
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Principal Investigator |
Smith Robin 滋賀県立琵琶湖博物館, 研究部, 専門学芸員 (70416204)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
神谷 隆宏 金沢大学, 地球社会基盤学系, 教授 (80194976)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | Ostracoda / new species / alien species / rice fields |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
A manuscript was published about a probable alien species collected from Japanese pet shops, which we consider to be a potential invasive threat to rice field ecosystems. Further samples collected from rice fields yielded a new species of ostracod from Kanagawa Prefecture. This species is very likely to be invasive, as it belongs to a genus that is mostly found in the Afrotropical zoogeographical region, and its closest congener is native to Botswana. This species is currently being described to aid in its identification in other rice fields. A further seven species, previously unknown in Japan, have been recovered in pet shops. At least two of these species are known as invasive species in rice fields outside of Japan, and so are considered to be invasive risks in Japan.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The taxonomic and lab based aspects of the project are progressing very well.
But once again, Covid-19 has delayed some aspects of the project, such as field work in different areas and meetings between the PI and Co-I. However, due to the large amount of data already collected, and the samples taken before the commencement of the project, together with new samples taken in other areas, these delays are not expected to be a serious hindrance. Covid-19 has, however, greatly impacted the attendance of scientific conferences at which we were planning to report our results.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The project is now in the final year, and the main aim is to collate data for publications. We suspect that the pet trade and contaminating ostracod taxa are a significant route of potential alien species into Japan. These taxa could potentially spill over into surrounding habitats including rice fields.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Due to Covid-19, I was unable to travel.
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