Title:

Long-term fauna and flora records of the experimental forests of the Forest Research Station of Hokkaido University, Japan.

Authors:

Chisato Terada¹, TaeOh Kwon², Nobuko Kazahari², Osamu Kishida³, Shunsuke Utsumi²

Affiliations:

¹ Wakayama Experimental Forest, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University. Hirai 559, Kozagawa, Wakayama, 649-4563, JAPAN

² Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University. North 9, West 9, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0809, JAPAN

³ Tomakomai Experimental Forest, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University. Takaoka, Tomakomai, Hokkaido, 053-0035, JAPAN

Correspondence:

Dr. Shunsuke Utsumi

Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University. North 9, West 9, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0809, JAPAN

Tel: +81-11-706-2589

Email: utsumi@fsc.hokudai.ac.jp

Abstract

The Forest Research Station of Hokkaido University owns a vast area of experimental forests, which are composed of a large variety of ecosystems ranging from aquatic ecosystems, such as wetlands and river basins, to various types of forests, such as primary, secondary and artificial forests. Additionally, these forests are representative of numerous climatic zones, such as warm temperate, cool temperate, and subarctic. Since the initial establishment of the Forest Research Station in 1901, huge efforts have been devoted to recording the vegetation structure and vertebrate assemblages of these experimental forests. Thus, a large body of literature and long-term data on fauna and flora of these forests has been accumulated in our archives. However, most of these records have been written in Japanese and are not opened to the public or well structured. Therefore, we comprehensively reviewed these records and related scientific articles from the 1910s to the 2010s to build up the database for vascular plant and vertebrate animals that inhabited (in the past) and/or are currently inhabiting in the experimental forests. Additional site-specific information was also listed, including geological and topographical characteristics where species were found as well as the localities, survey area, and year in which species were recorded. These databases, which span a large temporal and spatial scale, are expected to provide useful data for research or educational purposes and for understanding the flora and fauna of Japan. These can also contribute to a greater understanding of the historical transition of biodiversity in Japan.

Key words: species occurrence, long-term, historical record, forest, vascular plants, vertebrate animals

Introduction

Long-term records on species occurrences are fundamentally useful for understanding changes in fauna and flora as a result of anthropogenic influence and climate change (Renjifo 1999; Walther et al. 2002; Peñuelas and Boada 2003; Turvey et al. 2015). Also, species records over a large spatial scale enable us to compare the fauna and flora of different environments (Chase & Leibold 2002; Rahbek 2005), and the knowledge of species at large temporal and spatial scales can provide insight into the dynamics of biodiversity at a macro-scale (George & Zack 2001; Chase & Leibold 2002). Despite the potential application of long-term records at a large spatial scale for conservation research, practice, and management policy, such datasets have not been sufficiently established for a wide range of taxonomic groups. Most of studies have been carried out at distinct spatial scales, making comparisons difficult. Therefore, it is worth integrating historical datasets of fauna and flora in consideration of temporal and spatial variations.

The seven experimental forests of Hokkaido University cover a vast area of 70,000 hectares and encompass a variety of ecosystems, including aquatic areas, such as wetlands and rivers, as well as old-growth and artificial forests. These forests are also representative of diverse climatic zones, i.e., warm-temperate, cool-temperate, and subarctic (Fig. 1). Since the establishment of the experimental forests in 1901 (Koshika 1982), a large number of researchers and technicians have investigated the flora and fauna of these forests as well as other ecological characteristics. However, most survey data have been written in Japanese, and reports, bulletins, and articles issued by Hokkaido University are not either open to public or well organized in a systematic manner (e.g., The College Experimental Forests of Hokkaido University 1966). These existing data are valuable but cannot be efficiently used for further analyses. For this reason, the organization and publication of the extensive amount of data contained in these records are important so that researchers and others around the world can easily and systematically access information on the fauna and flora of these forests in standard international format at distinct temporal and spatial scale (Chapman 2005).

In the present study, we comprehensively reviewed existing archives of Hokkaido University and scientific publications associated with the experimental forests that provided relevant information on vascular plant and vertebrate species. Then, we updated and organized the existing lists of vertebrate animals and vascular plants distributed in the Experimental forests of Hokkaido University. The developed database includes long-term fauna and flora in the experimental forests at a large spatial scale from the 1910s to the 2010s. As a result, 1,261 species, 55 Red list species, and 13,906 records for vascular plants, and 244 species and 2,453 records for vertebrate animals are covered.

Accordingly, the users can easily and efficiently use this information for different applications. In particular, this information can be useful those performing research or surveys in the experimental forests and nearby areas. Also, this database can serve as an educational resource in Japan and abroad (Wilson & Monroe 2005; Borges et al. 2010). Finally, we expect that this information can lay the groundwork for exploring changes in the biodiversity of the flora and fauna of Japan over the last one hundred years.

Metadata

1. TITLE

Long-term fauna and flora records of the experimental forests of the Forest Research Station of Hokkaido University, Japan.

2. CONTRIBUTORS

A. Data set owner

Field Science Center, Hokkaido University

Address: North 9, West 9, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0809, Japan

B. Contact person

Shunsuke Utsumi

E-mail: utsumi@fsc.hokudai.ac.jp

Affiliation: Field Science Center, Hokkaido University,

Address: North 9, West 9, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0809, Japan

C. Data set creators

Chisato Terada

Affiliation: Wakayama Experimental Forest, Field Science Center, Hokkaido University,

Address: Hirai 559, Kozagawa, Higashimuro, Wakayama, 649-4563, Japan

TaeOh Kwon, Nobuko Kazahari, Shunsuke Utsumi

Affiliation: Field Science Center, Hokkaido University,

Address: North 9, West 9, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0809, Japan

3. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

The data was all collected in six experimental forests (Teshio, Nakagawa, Uryu, Sapporo, Tomakomai and Hiyama) in Hokkaido and one experimental forest (Kozagawa) in Wakayama prefecture (Fig. 1), all of which belong to Hokkaido University (see https://www.hokudaiforest.jp for more information). The area, mean annual temperature, and mean annual precipitation of each experimental forest are described in the Table 1.

Fig. 1. A map of experimental forest locations.

4. TEMPORAL COVERAGE

1914-2016 (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Temporal coverage of this database: the number of records in 100 years.

5. TAXONOMIC COVERAGE

The compiled data include four phyla, 143 families, and 1261 species, subspecies or varieties of vascular plants, and three classes, 68 families and 244 species or subspecies of vertebrate animals (see Flora_list.csv and Fauna_list.csv for more details). Additionally, 34 plants and 10 vertebrates are unidentified at the species level but included.

6. METHODS

A. Literature collection

First, we searched for papers listed at "Papers related to researches performed in the experimental forests" in the annuals issued by Forest Research Station of Hokkaido University. We selected papers that presumably contained information on species occurrences of vascular plants and vertebrate animals. We mainly considered papers containing more than about 20 species records. We also searched for papers via the internet using Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/), CiNii (http://ci.nii.ac.jp/en), and HUSCUP (https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/index.jsp) with the key words "Hokkaido University," "vegetation(s)," "plant(s)," or "animal(s)". The searches were conducted from June 2016 to April 2018 and yielded a total of 188 papers.

For vascular plants, we included 47 papers from Teshio, 38 papers from Nakagawa, 18 papers from Uryu, four papers from Sapporo, 29 papers from Tomakomai, four papers from Hiyama, and nine papers from Wakayama. For vertebrate animals, we included five papers from Teshio, 29 papers from Nakagawa, four papers from Uryu, 16 papers from Tomakomai, one paper from Hiyama, and three papers from Wakayama. In the database, we listed the Japanese names and the scientific names at the species level and, when applicable, at the subspecies and variety level of plants and animals confirmed to inhabit the experimental forests of Hokkaido University. In the case that species could not be clarified, we only recorded the family and/or genus name. The taxonomic names and habitat traits are described in Flora_infoDL.csv and Fauna_infoDL.csv for vascular plants and vertebrate animals, respectively.

The species list and referenced papers are included in Flora_list.csv and Fauna_list.csv for vascular plants and vertebrate animals, respectively. Both files also summarize which station each species occurred in. Detailed information on the referenced papers is listed in Reference_list.csv. The latitude and longitude of habitats and/or sites where plant and animal species were observed were determined by the descriptions in the papers. The maps of the forests created by the Forest Research Station, and the corresponding web maps published by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (http://watchizu.gsi.go.jp/) and Google (http://earth.google.com/) were used.

B. Taxonomic screening

In several cases, the Japanese names or scientific names were outdated depending on published year and author(s). In these cases, we referred to Ylist (a Japanese name and scientific name index for plants, http://ylist.info/index.html) and standardized all names into the most current names. Similarly, to standardize the names of vertebrate animals, we referred to Ohdachi et al. (2015) for mammalian fauna, the Ornithological Society of Japan (2012) for avifauna, and Nakabou and Hirashima (2015) for ichthyofauna.

C. Data verification

All of the datasets (Flora_infoDL, Fauna_infoDL, Flora_list, Fauna_list, and Reference_list) were manually digitized and checked for typographical errors.

7. DATA STATUS

A. Latest update

February 14, 2019

6. ACCESSIBILITY

A. License and usage rights

This data set is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

B. Storage location

JaLTER Database

8. DATA STRUCTURE

A. Data tables

The dataset is consisted of five data tables as shown in Table 2.

B. Format type

The data tables are in UTF-8 encoded text and comma delimited. All files include Japanese characters.

C. Variable definitions

The variables are listed in the order they appear in the data files (Table 3). The variable names are included at the first row in the data file.

9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank all the researchers and technicians who investigated vertebrate animals and vascular plants in the Experimental forests of Hokkaido University and left these papers. The study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant number 16H06179, 17HP8035.

10. REFERENCES

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