2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Population decline of the Japanese Robin in southern Japan related to deer overabundance may have a disproportionately strong influence on its genetic structure.
| Project/Area Number |
26450208
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
Forest science
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Forest Research and Management Organization |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
Seki Shin-Ichi 国立研究開発法人森林研究・整備機構, 森林総合研究所, 主任研究員 等 (50343801)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2014-04-01 – 2019-03-31
|
| Keywords | コマドリ / 地域的減少 / 亜高山帯 / 下層植生 / ミトコンドリアDNA |
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The Japanese Robin is endemic to the islands around Japan, and is a summer visitor in most of its breeding range. The robin usually breeds in thick undergrowth of the cool-temperate montane forest, and such a preference limits its habitat to be a network of island-like patches. Some southern populations of the robin are now declining sharply due to the loss of forest undergrowth caused by the increase of sika deer. The population genetic structure of the robin was investigated across its range based on mitochondrial cytochrome b and control region sequence. The haplotype distribution pattern among the mainland populations was inferred to be mostly a result of contiguous range expansion, reflecting the history of both range and population expansion from the south after the last glacial period, whereas the present haplotype diversity was the lowest in Kyushu. Population decline in southern Japan may have a disproportionately strong influence on its genetic structure.
|
| Free Research Field |
森林動物学、鳥類生態学
|
| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
コマドリは日本列島周辺地域の固有繁殖種で、鳴き声の良い鳥として古来親しまれてきた種であるが、ニホンジカの増加による下層植生衰退にともなって各地で個体数の減少と生息地の縮小が認められ、西日本の各県ではレッドリストの絶滅危惧種や準絶滅危惧種に指定する例が増加している。地域的な減少が進行しつつある中でコマドリの遺伝的な集団構造を明らかにしたことは、不連続に分布する山地性の小鳥類の動態を理解する上での学術的意義が大きいだけでなく、種の保全上も重要な意義がある。また、ニホンジカの個体群管理において森林生態系への影響を反映する管理指標として、下層植生に依存した希少鳥類の生息状況が重要であることも示した。
|
