◆A research paper by a group led by Mai Gotoda, Faculty of Science and Technology, has received the "Society of Vegetation Science Paper Award" from the Society of Vegetation Science
Release Date:
Faculty of Science and TechnologyA paper by graduate student Mai Gotoda ( Kuroshio Science ProgramDoctoral Course ), former student Yoshifumi Seto, and a research group led by Associate Professor Motonori Higa of the Department of Natural Sciences ( Faculty of Science and Technology) has received the “Vegetation Science Paper Award” from the Vegetation Science Society of Japan.
Grasslands that have been maintained through human activities such as mowing and controlled burning are referred to as “semi-natural grasslands.” These semi-natural grasslands were once used as thatch fields and were indispensable to human life. However, due to recent changes in social structures, many have been abandoned or converted into artificial forests, resulting in a rapid decline in the area of semi-natural grasslands.
Semi-natural grasslands are home to numerous "grassland plants" that have relied on human disturbance to sustain their populations, and from spring through fall, these plants bloom with beautiful, delicate flowers. However, as the area of semi-natural grasslands shrinks, the habitats of these grassland plants are diminishing or disappearing, putting many of them at risk of extinction.
Focusing on the fact that the ecological characteristics of plants—such as growth rate and seed dispersal methods—vary from species to species, the research group led by Dr. Gotoda identified the ecological characteristics of grassland plants whose populations disappear more rapidly when semi-natural grasslands are left unmanaged. The findings of this study are expected to play a crucial role in the development of conservation plans for grassland plants. This award was presented in recognition of the high quality of this research.
Details about our research are available on the Plant Ecology Laboratory’s website at Faculty of Science and Technology Department of Biological Sciences . Please feel free to take a look.
Title: Ecological Characteristics of Grassland Plants Declining Due to the Abandonment of Nezasa-Type Grasslands
Authors: Mai Got oda1, Yoshifumi Seto2, Motonori Higa1, Shingo Ishikawa3
Affiliation: 1 Kochi UniversityFaculty of Science and Technology; 2 Kochi UniversityGraduate SchoolGraduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences ; 3 Formerly Kochi University, Faculty of Science Faculty
