The research group of Professor Hiroshi Yamashita (currently a specially appointed professor) of the Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, in collaboration with the Graduate School of Fisheries Science, Hokkaido University and the National Institute for Environmental Studies, said, "Protecting forests is the biodiversity of the sea. For the first time, we have scientifically demonstrated that it leads to the protection of sexuality based on wide-area data.
Japan's coastal fisheries catch has been declining for a long time since the mid-1980s, and it can be said that major changes have occurred in the ecosystem.At the Center for Field Science Education and Research, Kyoto University, we have continued research on "Mori-sato Kairenkangaku," in which a healthy connection between the forest and the sea is essential for the conservation of the coastal ecosystem. Due to the complexity of the factors that act during the period and the difficulty of studying the organisms that live in the water, the case study focused on a small number of rivers.
On the other hand, in recent years, with the development of the "environmental DNA metabarcoding method" that comprehensively investigates DNA that is derived from the excrement and skin of living organisms and exists in water, it is possible to conduct biodiversity research that spans all over Japan. It became.Using this, in this research, by integrating and analyzing big data such as environmental factors, social factors, land use factors and the analysis results of environmental DNA, the relationship between the forest and the sea will be analyzed over a wide area for the first time in the world. Examined.
As a result, in 22 first-class rivers in Japan, there is a statistically significant positive between the forest area ratio of the basin and the number of endangered fish species (species listed on the Ministry of the Environment Red List 2017/2019) distributed in the estuary. It is said that the relationship was recognized.This indicates that more Red List species inhabit the estuary of rivers with high forest rates, and the forest area ratio of the basin is useful for the conservation of endangered fish species in the estuary. It was suggested that it is the most important factor.
This result is scientific evidence that rich forests nurture rich seas, and provides extremely important findings in the evaluation of forest protection effects.
Paper information:[Conservation Biology] Effects of forest cover on richness of threatened fish species in Japan
