Common Food Sources for Macrobenthic Communities in Different Bottom Covers: Submerged Macrophytes and Benthic Cyanobacteria in a Japanese Temperate Lake.

Macrobenthic communities in a lake are affected by the type of bottom cover such as macrophytes or algae. In the southern basin of Lake Biwa, mats of the benthic cyanobacteria (BC) widely cover the lake bottom and are interspersed with submerged macrophytes (SMs). Because different macrobenthos species appear to occur at those bottoms, we investigated the composition of the communities.

Association Between Prenatal Exposure to Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances From Electronic Waste Disassembly Areas and Steroid Hormones in Human Milk Samples.

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are long-lasting environmental contaminants that are released into the environment during the e-waste disassembly process, pose a threat to human health. Human milk is a complex and dynamic mixture of endogenous and exogenous substances, including steroid hormones and PFAS. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the association between PFAS and steroid hormones in human milk from women living close to an e-waste disassembly area.

Ocean circulation contributes to genetic connectivity of limpet populations at deep-sea hydrothermal vents in a back-arc basin.

For endemic benthos inhabiting hydrothermal vent fields, larval recruitment is critical for population maintenance and colonization via migration among separated sites. The vent-endemic limpet, , is abundant at deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Okinawa Trough, a back-arc basin in the northwestern Pacific; nonetheless, it is endangered due to deep-sea mining. This species is associated with many other vent species and is an important successor in these vent ecosystems.

Contrasting population genetic structure of three semi-terrestrial brachyuran crabs on the coast of the Japanese archipelago.

Anthropogenic activities have reduced ecotones between the ocean and land, which is likely to threaten the population of brackish-water brachyuran crabs. To assess the current status of these crabs, we examine the population genetic structures of three semi-terrestrial brachyuran crabs widely distributed along the coast of the Japan and to clarify factors determining their genetic structures. We collected 184 , 252 , and 151 crabs from 36 localities of the Japanese archipelago.

Prenatal Exposure to Heavy Metals and Adverse Birth Outcomes: Evidence From an E-Waste Area in China.

Electronic waste that has not been properly treated can lead to environmental contamination including of heavy metals, which can pose risks to human health. Infants, a sensitive group, are highly susceptible to heavy metals exposure. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between prenatal heavy metal exposure and infant birth outcomes in an e-waste recycling area in China.

Diurnal and geographic variations of pollinator importance for Duchesne.

Despite growing awareness of the importance of monitoring wild crop pollinators worldwide, there are still few reports, especially in East Asia. Considering ongoing global warming may change the distribution range and diurnal activity of pollinators, it is necessary to describe current geographic and diurnal patterns. We clarified pollinators of Duchesne (Cucurbitales: Cucurbitaceae) in three geographically distinct (>350 km, minimum) areas in Japan, focusing on diurnal variation.

Phylogeography and genetic diversity of the Japanese mud shrimp (Crustacea, Decapoda, Upogebiidae): Natural or anthropogenic dispersal?

(De Haan, 1841) is known for forming huge burrows in sandy, intertidal areas that can extend to depths of over 2 m. Despite its widespread distribution in East Asia and Russia, the genetic relatedness of its regional populations remains uncertain, likely owing to difficulties in specimen collection. Therefore, to appraise the phylogeographic patterns, genetic diversity, and morphological variety of , the mitochondrial DNA of specimens collected from Japan, Korea and China were subjected to molecular phylogenetic analyses of COI genes, alongside morphological assessment.

The ontogenetic dietary shift from non-dangerous to dangerous prey in predator-eating predators under capture risk.

Evaluating the patterns and generality of ontogenetic dietary shifts (ODSs) contributes to understanding prey-predator interactions and food web dynamics. Numerous studies have focused on predators that target distinctively lower trophic-level organisms. However, the ODS of predators that routinely prey on organisms at similar trophic levels (i.

A curated DNA barcode reference library for parasitoids of northern European cyclically outbreaking geometrid moths.

Large areas of forests are annually damaged or destroyed by outbreaking insect pests. Understanding the factors that trigger and terminate such population eruptions has become crucially important, as plants, plant-feeding insects, and their natural enemies may respond differentially to the ongoing changes in the global climate. In northernmost Europe, climate-driven range expansions of the geometrid moths and have resulted in overlapping and increasingly severe outbreaks.

Estimation of breeding population size using DNA-based pedigree reconstruction in brown bears.

Robust estimates of demographic parameters are critical for effective wildlife conservation and management but are difficult to obtain for elusive species. We estimated the breeding and adult population sizes, as well as the minimum population size, in a high-density brown bear population on the Shiretoko Peninsula, in Hokkaido, Japan, using DNA-based pedigree reconstruction. A total of 1288 individuals, collected in and around the Shiretoko Peninsula between 1998 and 2020, were genotyped at 21 microsatellite loci.

Non-zero-sum neutrality test for the tropical rain forest community using long-term between-census data.

For community ecologists, "neutral or not?" is a fundamental question, and thus, rejecting neutrality is an important first step before investigating the deterministic processes underlying community dynamics. Hubbell's neutral model is an important contribution to the exploration of community dynamics, both technically and philosophically. However, the neutrality tests for this model are limited by a lack of statistical power, partly because the zero-sum assumption of the model is unrealistic.

Occurrence patterns of crop-foraging sika deer distribution in an agriculture-forest landscape revealed by nitrogen stable isotopes.

Conflicts arising from the consumption of anthropogenic foods by wildlife are increasing worldwide. Conventional tools for evaluating the spatial distribution pattern of large terrestrial mammals that consume anthropogenic foods have various limitations, despite their importance in management to mitigate conflicts. In this study, we examined the spatial distribution pattern of crop-foraging sika deer by performing nitrogen stable isotope analyses of bone collagen.

Pond chironomid communities revealed by molecular species delimitation reflect eutrophication.

Farm ponds, a valued habitat for freshwater organisms, are being negatively affected by the recent changes in the environment as well as anthropological activities. In these ponds, biodiversity researchers have tended to focus on species that prefer natural habitats and/or can be identified based on morphological characters. In contrast, this study focused on the insect family Chironomidae, which is widely distributed from clear to polluted waters of ponds, but is hard to identify morphologically as an aquatic larva.

Estimating carbon fixation of plant organs for afforestation monitoring using a process-based ecosystem model and ecophysiological parameter optimization.

Afforestation projects for mitigating CO emissions require to monitor the carbon fixation and plant growth as key indicators. We proposed a monitoring method for predicting carbon fixation in afforestation projects, combining a process-based ecosystem model and field data and addressed the uncertainty of predicted carbon fixation and ecophysiological characteristics with plant growth. Carbon pools were simulated using the Biome-BGC model tuned by parameter optimization using measured carbon density of biomass pools on an 11-year-old plantation on Loess Plateau, China.

Seasonality in spatial distribution: Climate and land use have contrasting effects on the species richness of breeding and wintering birds.

Aim: Many studies have examined large-scale distributions of various taxa and their drivers, emphasizing the importance of climate, topography, and land use. Most studies have dealt with distributions over a single season or annually without considering seasonality. However, animal distributions and their drivers can differ among seasons because many animals migrate to suitable climates and areas with abundant prey resources.

Seed germination and seedling growth of five desert plants and their relevance to vegetation restoration.

Due to significant decreases in precipitation in northern China, knowledge of the response of seed germination and plant growth characteristics to key limiting factors is essential for vegetation restoration. We examined seed germination under different temperatures and water potentials, and we examined seedling growth under different amounts of water supply. Experiments were carried out in automatic temperature-, humidity-, and light-controlled growth chambers.

Phylogeography of lethal male fighting in a social spider mite.

When males fight for access to females, such conflict rarely escalates into lethal fight because the risks and costs involved, that is, severe injury or death, are too high. The social spider mite, does exhibit lethal male fights, and this male-male aggressiveness varies among populations. To understand the evolution of lethal fighting, we investigated aggressiveness in 42 populations and phylogenetic relationships in 47 populations along the Japanese archipelago.

Biogeophysical Impacts of Land-Use Change on Climate Extremes in Low-Emission Scenarios: Results From HAPPI-Land.

The impacts of land use have been shown to have considerable influence on regional climate. With the recent international commitment to limit global warming to well below 2°C, emission reductions need to be ambitious and could involve major land-use change (LUC). Land-based mitigation efforts to curb emissions growth include increasing terrestrial carbon sequestration through reforestation, or the adoption of bioenergy crops.

Do consumer-mediated negative effects on plant establishment outweigh the positive effects of a nurse plant?

Many studies demonstrated the importance of facilitative effect by nurse plant on seedling establishment. Few studies evaluated the negative effects of consumers on plant establishment under nurse plants by dealing with them during multiple demographic processes. We investigated the balance between the facilitative effect and negative effects of consumers during multiple demographic processes in Malawi in southeastern Africa.

Detecting latitudinal and altitudinal expansion of invasive bamboo and (Poaceae) in Japan to project potential habitats under 1.5°C-4.0°C global warming.

Rapid expansion of exotic bamboos has lowered species diversity in Japan's ecosystems by hampering native plant growth. The invasive potential of bamboo, facilitated by global warming, may also affect other countries with developing bamboo industries. We examined past (1975-1980) and recent (2012) distributions of major exotic bamboos ( and ) in areas adjacent to 145 weather stations in central and northern Japan.

Enhanced effects of biotic interactions on predicting multispecies spatial distribution of submerged macrophytes after eutrophication.

Water eutrophication creates unfavorable environmental conditions for submerged macrophytes. In these situations, biotic interactions may be particularly important for explaining and predicting the submerged macrophytes occurrence. Here, we evaluate the roles of biotic interactions in predicting spatial occurrence of submerged macrophytes in 1959 and 2009 for Dianshan Lake in eastern China, which became eutrophic since the 1980s.

Phylogeographic insights into the invasion history and secondary spread of the signal crayfish in Japan.

Successful invasion by nonindigenous species is often attributed to high propagule pressure, yet some foreign species become widespread despite showing reduced genetic variation due to founder effects. The signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) is one such example, where rapid spread across Japan in recent decades is believed to be the result of only three founding populations. To infer the history and explore the success of this remarkable crayfish invasion, we combined detailed phylogeographical and morphological analyses conducted in both the introduced and native ranges.

Arsenic Exposure Induces Unscheduled Mitotic S Phase Entry Coupled with Cell Death in Mouse Cortical Astrocytes.

There is serious concern about arsenic in the natural environment, which exhibits neurotoxicity and increases the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. Adverse effects of arsenic have been demonstrated in neurons, but it is not fully understood how arsenic affects other cell types in the brain. In the current study, we examined whether sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) affects the cell cycle, viability, and apoptosis of in vitro-cultured astrocytes isolated from the cerebral cortex of mice.