Hayato Takada, specially appointed associate professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (then at the Yamanashi Prefectural Mt. Fuji Science Research Institute), investigated the spatial behavior of Japanese serows that inhabit the alpine belt of Mt. It was the first time in the world to reveal that
The Japanese serow is a typical forest-dwelling ungulate that lives mainly in deciduous broad-leaved forests in Japan.Their home ranges are small, ranging from ten to several dozen hectares, and they are sedentary without seasonal migration, and have spatial behaviors that are adaptive to the forest environment.On the other hand, some serows inhabit open alpine zones such as Mt. Fuji, but their spatial behavior has not been investigated.
Therefore, from 2017 to 2018, two adult serows (one male and one female) living at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture were captured and fitted with GPS transmitters.We investigated their spatial behavior based on location information, and examined differences from serows that live in forests.
As a result, the home range of serows in the Mt. Fuji alpine zone was around 30 hectares, which is up to 300 times larger than that inhabiting forests.In addition, the size and distribution of the home range varied greatly with the seasons. From spring to summer, we used a wide range from the forest line to the alpine zone, where small plants grow, and in winter, we used a very small range within evergreen coniferous forests.In addition, habitat selection also changed significantly with the seasons, and they selected high-elevation near the forest limit in spring and summer, and chose evergreen coniferous forests in low-elevation in winter.This is thought to be an adaptation to the limited food conditions in the alpine zone and seasonal changes in climate.
This time, it was found that in order for serows living in the alpine zone to live, they need a vast area of land and a variety of habitat environments depending on the season.From this point of view, we point out the need to conserve habitats in the future.In the future, it will be necessary to elucidate the unknown ecology of serows and accumulate useful information for their conservation.
Paper information:[Acta Ethologica] Unique spatial behavior of the Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) in the open mountains of Mt. Fuji
