Promoting LTER in the East Asia-Pacific Region

International Workshop

The East Asia – Pacific LTER Network

Friday Afternoon

September 19, 2003

Renaissance Madison Hotel (State Room)

Seattle, Washington, USA

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Agenda

 

Introduction

Promoting LTER in East Asia-Pacific Region/Hen-biau King

 

Abstracts

CERN: Annual Progress Report of CERN/OUYANG Zhu and ZHAO Shidong

JERN & JaLTER: Networking Japanese Long-Term Research Sites/Kohsuke Homma, Naoko Tokuchi and Hideaki Shibata  

K-LTER Network: Activities in Korean LTER Sites/Joon Hwan Shin, Jong-hwan Lim, Jeong Soo Oh1, Dowon Lee, Do-Soon Cho, Byung-Sun Ihm4 and Eun-Shik Kim

M-LTER Network: Hovsgol LTER/J. Tsogtbaatar and Clyde Goulden

Philippines LTER Network: Accomplishments for the last 3 years of Mindanao Long Term Ecological and Biodiversity Research: Status and Conservation Initiatives/Victor B. Amoroso

TERN: Recent activities in Taiwan LTER sites/Yau-Lun Kuo

Thailand LTER Network: Long Term Ecological Research in Thailand/ Yongyut Trisurat

Australia LTER Network:

Vietnam: Nguyen Hoang Nghia

 

Special Reports

Pacific Rim Application and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA)/ Peter Arzberger and Philip Papadopoulos

The VIII Seoul INTECOL International Congress of Ecology and Subsequent Progresses in LTER and the National Basic Ecological Research in Korea/ Eun-Shik Kim, Byung-Sun Ihm, Dowon Lee, Yowhan Son, and Sun-Kee Hong

 

Abstracts for Submitted Posters

Study canopy arthropod responses to storm disturbances at the U.S. and Taiwan LTER sites/Jung-Tai Chao

Database Management System for LTER Sites in Taiwan/Chaur-Tzuhn Chen

Relationships between nutrient content of dominant tree species and environmental factors in Nanjenshan subtropical rain forest of Taiwan/Zueng-Sang Chen, Cha-Chee Wu, Chun-Chih Tsui, and Chang-Fu Hseih

Web Services for Computational EcologyTony Fountain and Longjiang Ding

Soil macro-fauna increases mite density in a subtropical lowland rain forest of Taiwan/Ping-Chun Lucy Hou and Ching-Yu Huang

Experimental assessment of toads as predators of detrial food webs in a subtropical monsoon forest, Taiwan/Ping-Chun Lucy Hou, Ching-Yu Huang, Jao-Jinn Jong, and Hsin-Lin Wei

25-ha Forest Dynamics Plot in Fushan LTER Site/Hsieh Chang-Fu and Wen-Liang Chiou

Growth Strategies of Four salt marsh plants on Mankyung Estuary, Korea/Byung-Sun, Ihm and Jeom-Sook, Lee

Parameterizing threshold values when leaf area indices are estimated from hemispheric digital images/Kyounghee Kim, Taehee Hwang, Jiyeon Kim, and Dowon Lee

Impact of frugivores on plant regeneration and forest structure/Ling-ling Lee

Long-term ecological research on the coral reefs at Kenting National Park/Kwang-Tsao Shao and Hsing-Juh Lin

 


Agenda

 

Organizers: Hen-biau King and Eun-Shik Kim

 

Title: International Workshop on Promoting LTER in the East Asia-Pacific Region

 

Keywords: International networks, East Asia-Pacific region, LTER

 

 

1:30 - 1:40   Welcome and Introduction

 

1:40 - 3:10      Country Site Reports (10 8-min presentations, total 8 formally established Networks: Chair (Hen-biau King), Australia, China, China-Taipei, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand LTER sites, and 1 LTER Network is coming: Vietnam LTER site)

 

3:10 - 4:00      Cross Country Collaboration Examples (Case Studies): 6-min each

Peter Arzberger

David Coleman

Alan Covich

                        Steve Hamberg

Eun-Shik Kim

Hen-biau King

Frances Li

Pang-Fang Lin

Others

 

4:00 - 4:25   Discussion 

 

4:25 - 4:30   Conclusions

 

4: 30 - 5:00   Break

 

5:00 – 6:00   Business Meeting & Social Gathering

 

Promoting LTER in East Asia-Pacific Region

 

Hen-biau King

Chair, The East Asia-Pacific Regional LTER Network

 

Recent demographic, political, economic, and environmental trends in Asia make clear the need for LTER and related studies in the region. The East Asia-Pacific (EAP) LTER network was then formally established in 1995. This network encompasses a diverse range of ecosystems, from larch forests to mangrove estuaries.

Under the ILTER framework, two members have officially established the LTER sites in the region since the last ILTER ASM in August 2000. These are Korea LTER Network with 4 sites and Mongolia LTER Network with 2 sites. There are additional countries, including Thailand and Vietnam, that are interested in and towards establishing LTER Networks. Since last ILTER ASM was held, Korea has held an International LTER Joint Seminar with CERN in November 20-25, 2000. Mongolia LTER Network hosted the biannual 2001 LTER Conference for the region and concurrently hosted a Data Management Training Workshop. Thailand hosted a Regional Conference on LTER in East Asia on July 2002. That conference gave birth to the Thailand LTER Network. Korea LTER Network, led by Eun-Shik Kim, organized an LTER Symposium during the VIII International Congress of Ecology ( INTECOL) on August 13, 2002.

There is a cross regional site comparison study currently undergoing entitled “organic matter decomposition experiment (OMDE),” which involves 10 sites ranging from Lake Hosgvol site in Mongolia to semidry ecosystems in Australia. An OMDE workshop, jointly sponsored by the ILTER Network Office and local host TERN Network, was held at the Fu-shan TERN site in November, 2001 to discuss the research on decomposition and protocols for conducting this ambitious broad spatial scale collaborative study. The organic matter decomposition experiment is planned to be carried out as a five-year study.

This workshop of promoting LTER in the East Asia-Pacific region will begin with a review of past and current LTER studies within the region and then focus on promoting more collaborative projects within the region and beyond. Emphasis will be placed on the design of and effectively conducting regional ecological studies. A discussion of future proposed regional activities, funding sources, and priorities for the EAP will be held.


Recent activities in Taiwan Ecological Research Network

 

Yau-Lun Kuo

Department of Forestry, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung

 

The Taiwan Long Term Ecological Research Network (TERN) was established in 1992 with main sponsorship from Taiwan National Science Council (NSC).  A research site was set up at Fu-shan Forest.  As the program met with great enthusiasm from ecologists in Taiwan, the NSC subsequently extended the TERN program to another three forest sites, namely Guan-dau-shi Forest (1994), Nan-jen-shan Forest (1995), and Ta-ta-chia Forest (1996).  In addition to those NSC funded sites, the Yuan-yang Lake site was established in 1992, which was sponsored by the Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica of Taiwan.  In 2001, the first LTER project in Taiwan focusing on a marine ecosystem was launched at Kenting.  This new project consisted of studies covering temporal and spatial variations in hydrography, nutrients, zooplankton, coral, decapod crustaceans, algae, periphyton, and larval and adult fishes.  Currently more than 20 scientists from 7 universities are working on this project.  In 2002 and 2003, TERN and National Center for High-Performance Computing had successfully established ecology-grid systems at Fu-shan and at Nan-jen-shan sites.  Adopting wireless communication technology, high-resolution cameras had been installed at both sites to collect real-time ecological data, such that the eco-grid system can carry out long-term ecological research without making difficult journeys to research sites.  Two cross regional site comparison studies are currently undergoing, entitled “organic matter decomposition experiment”, coordinated by Dr. K.C. Lin, and “canopy arthropod responses to storm disturbances”, coordinated by Dr. J.T. Chao.  Another significant achievement of TERN was setting up a 25-ha forest dynamics plot in Fu-shan Forest by Prof. C.F. Hsieh.  Plot survey was initiated in July 2002 and completed in June 2003.  A preliminary inventory enumerated at least 261 species consisting of 75 tree species, 37 shrubs, 30 climbers and 119 herbs.  Presently we are promoting an agricultural LTER program emphasizing on the relationship among soil ecology, crop production, and environmental impacts.

 

 

JERN & JaLTER

- Networking Japanese Long-Term Research Sites-

 

Kohsuke Homma (Field Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Niigata University), Naoko Tokuchi (Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University) and Hideaki Shibata (Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University)

 

             Long-term researches in Japan have been conducted by many researchers from all aspects of ecology in these 15 years. A lot of long-term studies have been made on forest ecology, limnology and hydrology, and some cross-site studies have also been made (Homma et al. 1999, Shibata et al 2001, Nakashizuka et al. 2002 etc.). However, most study sites in Japan have been maintained by a few researchers individually and networks among sites are very weak, though the number of study sites is more than 200.

             In 1997, some scientists launched a technical committee for LTER in the Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ) and started to examine domestic LTER network. In 1997 and 1999, young scientists were dispatched to US-LTER sites to study LTER systems. After that, moved by the efficient system of US, the young scientists published reports on some journals (Homma 2001, Tanaka 2001 etc.) and hold some symposia in the annual meeting of ESJ and Japanese Forestry Society (JFS) to spread the LTER recognition. As a consequence of those movements, Japan Ecosystem Research Network (JERN) was founded in June 2003, and the program ‘JaLTER’ started for promoting Japanese LTER network.

             JaLTER is going to launch the inter-site networks with a virtual network office till the end of 2004. At first, JaLTER networks 5 to 10 university forests and governmental forest reserves as a ‘core research site network’, and will connect other research sites successively for inter-site studies. Study sites for limnology and marine biology are going to be networked later.

             Core research subjects of JaLTER are; 1) plant community dynamics, 2) matter flow, 3) microclimate, 4) hydrological dynamics, 5) plant-animal interaction, 6) informatics, 7) inventories of biodiversity and 8) educations. Every core research theme is planned considering inter-site studies and international networking in Asia-Pacific region.

 

 

Activities in Korean LTER Sites

 

Joon Hwan Shin1, Jong-hwan Lim1, Jeong Soo Oh1, Dowon Lee2, Do-Soon Cho3, Byung-Sun Ihm4, and Eun-Shik Kim5

1Department of Forest Environment, Korea Forest Research Institute; 2Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University; 3School of Life Sciences, The Catholic University of Korea; 4Department of Biology, Mokpo National University ; 5Department of Forest Resources, Kookmin University

 

Currently, three sites have been registered in ILTER, and an additional one is in the process of registration. Korea Forest Research Institute (KFRI) is in charge of all the sites. The Gwangneung Experiment Forest (GEF) represents the oldest natural forest in the central sub-zone of the cool temperate forest zone. Mt. Gyebangsan forest (GBF) is located in the northern sub-zone of cool temperate forest zone. Mt. Geumsan forest (GSF) is in warm temperate forest zone. A new LTER site, Samcheok site (SCF) is located in the east coastal region of cool temperate forest zone. Permanent plots of about 4,000 ha were designed considering fire pattern, forest ownership, geology, etc. in a forest area burned in 2000. Major research programs in the Korean LTER sites are those of ecosystem studies including monitoring the change of the forest ecosystems in energy fluxes, water and nutrient cycling, forest stand structure, biological diversity, quantifying nutrient budgets and fluxes among forest ecosystem compartments, and integrating ecological data with GIS-assisted model. At a flux tower in GEF, environmental changes including fluxes of energy, carbon dioxide, water vapor pressure and soil heat are monitored. This site was registered as a KoFlux site in 2002, and we are pursuing synergy effects of the two ecological study networks in this site. Other activities and data including soil properties, stream water quality, nutrient cycling, air pollution, and biological diversity have been investigated and plant phenology as an indicator of climate change is presented. At the SCF site, some researches are additionally conducting following researches such as; fire damages, firebreaks, forest stand density control to increase tolerance to fire, etc.

KFRI is considering the establishment of the fifth LTER site in Jeju-do island that is located at the southernmost of the Korean peninsula. The Ecological Society of Korea will launch four additional LTER programs at the Nakdong River, salt marsh of southwestern coast, and Mt. Jumbong forest, and for Korean species of magpie in September 2003 with financial support from the Ministry of Environment, Korea. There are also other long-term ecological studies at individual sites with no official support of finance.

Remarks: We have modified the old site names of Kwangneung, Kyebangsan, and Keumsan, as new site names of Gwangneung, Gyebangsan and Geumsan, respectively.


Mindanao Long Term Ecological and Biodiversity Research: Status and Conservation Initiatives

 

Victor B. Amoroso

Central Mindanao University, Musuan, Bukidnon, Philippines

 

This paper presents the Long Term Ecological and Biodiversity Research in Mindanao Island, Philippines. It highlights the issues and threats to Mindanao biodiversity and ecology and LTER conservation measures and initiatives. It would further discuss the LTER initiatives, viz., Mindanao LTER and Biodiversity Research Consortium, Mt. Musuan Zoological and Botanical Garden, two 1-ha plots, capability building for natural resource management, training of indigenous peoples as research partners, production of instructional and communication materials and establishment of the Natural Science Museum in two institutions in Mindanao.


LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THAILAND

 

Yongyut Trisurat

Faculty of Forestry, Kasestsart University, Bangkok

                                                                      

 

The Kingdom of Thailand is situated within two major biogeographical regions, the Indochinese region in the North and the Sundaic region in the south. In addition, some elements of Thailand’s flora and fauna are also influenced by biogeographical characteristics of the Indian and Palaeoarctic regions. Therefore, the Kingdom is one of the rich countries in biological resources in this region. However, with the rapid industrialization and economic development in the last three decades, the natural resources have been over exploited. Forest cover was declined from 53% in 1961 to 25% in 1998. The degradation of natural resources poses major challenges to decision making regarding sustainable utilization of natural resources. In order to solve this problem in smarter way, Thailand has launched the first long-term ecological research (LTER) in 1963 for forest hydrology research. Basically the main objectives of LTER in Thailand is to inventory precise baseline information on biodiversity, to monitor ecosystem function, and to study forest community ecology and population dynamic, in addition to conserve the genetic resources of various forest ecosystems for on going and future studies/uses. Nowadays, there are a number of institute implement LTER and collaborative among these agencies are initiated. The objectives of this paper are to present the progress of LTER in Thailand, to assess the needs of Thai’s scientists in LTER, and to present draft strategies to promote LTER in Thailand. 

 

Pacific Rim Application and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA)


Peter Arzberger and Philip Papadopoulos


   The Pacific Rim Application and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA) was initiated in 2002 involving more than a dozen institutions along the Pacific Rim, with a dual mission to build sustainable collaborations and to advance the use of grid technologies via applications. Activities include conducting joint projects that develop grid software driven by application needs, sharing resources across institutional and international boundaries, developing training and exchange programs, and communicating and disseminating the results of these efforts. PRAGMA works with regional and international bodies that set standards (such as the Global Grid Forum (GGF)) and enhance the overall infrastructure such as Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN), the Asia Pacific Grid (ApGrid)). We will review the trends that led to PRAGMA and outline some future directions. In particular we will focus on activities in the area of eco-informatics, where we are developing a testbed of climate data, working with colleagues in Japan and China and with ILTER sites in Taiwan.


The VIII Seoul INTECOL International Congress of Ecology and Subsequent Progresses in LTER and the National Basic Ecological Research in Korea

 

1Eun-Shik Kim, 2Byung-Sun Ihm, 3Dowon Lee, 4Yowhan Son, and 3Sun-Kee Hong

1Kookmin University, 2Mokpo National University; 3Seoul National University; 4Korea University

 

The VIII INTECOL International Congress of Ecology was held during the period of August 11-18, 2002, in Seoul, Korea. This paper was prepared to report the outcomes of the INTECOL Congress, a world academic festival for the scientists in ecology and environment and the subsequent progresses in LTER and the National Basic Ecological Research in Korea.  While the Congress provided the ecologists with opportunities for establishing and enhancing the foundation for the development of ecological research in the world, it contributed in promoting interdisciplinary research, technology transfer, and public awareness related to the general theme of the Congress, ‘Ecology in a Changing World.’ During the Congress, 1,965 international ecologists from 57 countries registered, more than 2,000 Korean people including general public attended, and 1,267 papers in oral and poster were presented. Among the 23 plenary speakers, Hen-biau King, the Vice Chair of the ILTER Network, gave a plenary lecture to the Congress participants. At the Closing Ceremony, “World Ecologists' Declaration for the Harmonious Living of Human Beings and Biosphere in the 21st Century” was announced and the congress participants unanimously urged the world community to enhance such research as LTER for the next generations to come. In addition, the East Asian Federation of Ecological Societies (EAFES) was formulated with initial endeavors among the national ecological societies of China, Japan, and Korea. As the fruit of the Congress, another Korea LTER program, the National Basic Ecological Research, was officially initiated with the sponsorship from the Ministry of Environment, Korea. Ecologists in Korea are facing with challenges for the promotion of ecology in a changing world.

 

 

Study canopy arthropod responses to storm disturbances at the U.S. and Taiwan LTER sites

 

Dr. Jung-Tai Chao

Division of Forest Protection, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei

 

The current study attempts to compare arthropod fauna among Taiwan, Puerto Rico, and Oregon, and provides data on recovery rates of arthropod communities under contrasting disturbance frequencies. We expect to find distinct arthropod assemblages among different host plant species and disturbance levels. Besides, early successional stage at each site could show an arthropod dominance hierarchy that is distinct from that of late successional stage at each site, e.g., dominance by sap-sucking arthropods on early successional stage vs. dominance by folivores on late successional stage. Collected insects belong to order Thysanura, Collembola, Orthoptera, Thysanoptera, Dermoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Hymenoptera, Homoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera. Homoptera is the highest in species richness and abundance. About 60 % of total specimens were Homoptera. This result indicates that canopy of Fushan forest should have been disturbed. In litter layers, mites and springtails were dominant in arthropod fauna, and make up 60.5 % and 34.9 % of total collections, respectively.

 

Database Management System for LTER Sites in Taiwan

 

Chaur-Tzuhn Chen

Department of Forestry, National Ping-tung University of Science and Technology, Ping-tung

 

The focus of remote sensing and GIS activities within LTER is for data acquisition and encouraging cross-site, large-scale collaborations. More important is the aim to link technically oriented scientists specializing in these data with other ecological researchers. Our ongoing three-year study was conducted to establish a landscape database and land-use change for Taiwan’s ecosystems, and use GIS as a tool to develop an Ecological Database Management System.  During the first year of the project, the structure of the Management System was developed.  Selected environment factors, such as elevation, slope, aspect, moisture gradient, and potential solar radiation were digitized using a Digital Elevation Model. The network database for 4 experimental sites (Fu-shan, Guan-dau-shi, Ta-ta-chia and Nanjenshan) was established for the Taiwan Long-Term Ecological Research Network Information System (Taiwan LTER NIS; URL:http://lter.npust.edu.tw/). This has resulted in a cooperative  database system for communication and data sharing among sites. By collecting data set documentation forms from other international research networks, dividing the ecological data into spatial and non-spatial types, we established the preliminary explanatory comment format. We also held cross-site conferences with research scientists to identify variables of scientific interest.

In the future, this program will continue to grow to include internet infrastructure, geographic spatial information and a relational database approach to maintain and develop the Taiwan LTER NIS. We will use questionnaires and organize workshops in our approach to establish intercomparable data for storage and access from a central location. We also will use existing data to filter and retrieve the data for various scientific communities. During the third year, we will begin to interpret the information to apply our ecological data to broader communities.  The development of Taiwan LTER NIS can achieve the goals of communications and data sharing among research sites and will incorporate the growing availability of internet tools. This project has had a significant role in catalyzing the vision of an expanded, more integrated network-level information system, and the process of providing information and knowledge within our immediate scientific community and to the broader community is an important aspect of Taiwan’s LTER and the regional LTER program development.

 


Relationships between nutrient content of dominant tree species and environmental factors in Nanjenshan subtropical rain forest of Taiwan

 

Zueng-Sang Chen, Cha-Chee Wu, Chun-Chih Tsui, and Chang-Fu Hseih

 

About one hectare of permanent long landscape site located in the northeastern of Nanjenshan long-term ecology research (LTER) site has been established since 1994 and the detail soil characteristics and vegetation species are also surveyed. The vegetation types of the site were divided into three groups and the landscape was divided into four positions including summit, upper backslope, lower backslope, and footslope. The objectives of this study is to establish the relations between nutrient concentration (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) of leaves and perennial parts of 20 dominant tree species and environmental factors (landscape position and soil properties) by redundancy analysis. The results indicated that the concentration of the macroelement including N, P, K, Ca, and Mg are significantly accumulated in the leaves of dominant tree species growing in the footslope position (p< 0.05), but the concentration of Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn of leaves are not significantly different for vegetations located in different landscapes. The first axis of Redundancy analysis (RDA) biplots can explain 56% of total variants and the first two axes of RDA can explain 85% of total variants. It indicated that environmental factors including topographic variables and soil properties could control the distribution and variation of elements in the vegetation. The nutrient concentration in leaves of vegetations are significantly affected by the environmental factors including landscape position, elevation, slope and the available content of N, P, K in surface 5cm soil, but the nutrient concentration of perennial parts of vegetations are not significantly affected by the environmental factors. This research indicated that the nutrient concentration of dominant tree species were interactively affected by species characteristics and the environmental factors including landscape position, vegetation species and soil properties.

 


Web Services for Computational Ecology

Tony Fountain and Longjiang Ding


    The maturation of web services technology has provided new opportunities for building information management and analysis infrastructure and tools for ecologists.  We have explored the web services technology through the I2G (International Information Grid for Ecology and the Environment) project which demonstrates a web services prototype for federating LTER Network climate data collections and PRAGMA international partner weather data collections.
    The developed services are standard SOAP-based message type services and relay on an open source software stack including Apache Tomcat and AXIS. They are integrated with EML and wrapped in a simple application portal that provides a testbed for exploring a variety of issues in web service development and deployment.  In addition to these development activities we have initiated a technology transfer initiative to move these developments out to the LTER Network sites and PRAGMA partners.  The I2G project originally focused on ClimDB and came out of the discussions with LTER Information Managers Executive on Feb. 2002. Climate data was one of the two key types of data to be collected by all LTER Network sites. In this presentation we will review the issues encountered during this project, both system development and technology transfer, and highlight future directions and opportunities.


 

Soil macro-fauna increases mite density in a subtropical lowland

 rain forest of Taiwan

 

Ping-Chun Lucy Hou and Ching-Yu Huang

Department of Biology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan

 

   Soil macro-fauna include invertebrate predators, which prey on micro-arthropods (collembolans and mites), and detritivores that break up leaf litter.  While the predators can potentially decrease the abundance of soil micro-arthropods, the fragmenters may enhance the growth of soil micro-arthropods by making their food available.  This study investigated the relationship between soil macro-invertebrate and micro-arthropods by using litterbags of different mesh size (0.1 mm - 1.0 mm - 3.5 mm) in Nanjenshan forest, Taiwan.  Litterbags of each mesh size were left in the field for 124 days and three litterbags were collected at an interval of 20 days in August-December, 2000.  Invertebrates in the litterbags were extracted by Tullgren funnels and remaining mass of the litter was determined.  Mean densities of mites were 127.7, 41.9, and 23.3 individuals per gram dry litter in the coarse-, medium-, and fine-mesh litterbags, respectively, and were significantly different between different mesh sizes.  Mean densities of collembolans were 59.1, 27.8, and 32.3 individuals per gram dry litter in the coarse-, medium-, and fine-mesh litterbags, respectively, however, they did not differ significantly between different mesh sizes.  Mean densities of mites and collembolans correlated positively with the decay rates. These results suggest that exclusion of soil macro-invertebrates in the fine mesh litterbags decreases the density of mites and may indirectly reduce the rates of decomposition.


Experimental assessment of toads as predators of detrial food webs in a subtropical monsoon forest, Taiwan

 

Ping-Chun Lucy Hou, Ching-Yu Huang, Jao-Jinn Jong, and Hsin-Lin Wei

Department of Biology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan

 

Ground-dwelling amphibians in forests are predators of many litter invertebrates, which are members of detrital food webs.  Recent studies have shown that forest amphibians can decrease the density of their preys, slow down the rate of litter decomposition, and increase the amount of nutrients available for microbes and plants.  The toad, Bufo bankorensis, is an active forager and one of the dominant litter amphibians in Nanjenshan subtropical monsoon forest, an LTER site in Taiwan.  Diet of 180 toads by stomach flushing method consists of prey items from 97 taxonomic families.  Each stomach contains 18 items on average.  The toads eat predominantly ants and termites in the non-monsoon season.  The major preys of the toads involve members of detrital food webs.  We also setup 10 enclosures in an attempt to evaluate the predatory effects of the toad on the processes of litter decomposition.  Mean density and composition of the litter invertebrates in the amphibian-excluded enclosures was similar to those in the control ones.  In addition, mean decay rate in the excluded enclosures was similar to that in the control ones.  Although these results suggest the toad has little effects on the litter invertebrates and the rate of decomposition, our results from tracking the toads in the forest showed that their home range is much larger than the size of the enclosure.  The small size of the enclosures might interfere the toad’s foraging behavior and further studies are needed to confirm their effects on the processes of litter decomposition.

 


25-ha Forest Dynamics Plot in Fushan LTER Site

Hsieh Chang-Fu1 and Wen-Liang Chiou2

1 National Taiwan University; 2 Taiwan Forestry Research Institute

 

The Fushan 25-ha long-term plot is being established in a subtropical rain forest in Fushan LTER site in northern Taiwan, as a collaborative project involving Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taiwan Forestry Bureau, National Taiwan University and the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The first year of the project has been supported financially by Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and Taiwan Forestry Bureau. Plot survey was initiated in July 2002 and completed in June 2003. One team of 18 students from universities and 6 staff from the above mentioned forestry agencies is currently conducting the first census of the trees in the plot. This plot will be a unique addition to the CTFS Network of Forest Dynamics Plots, as it is the first large plot in subtropical bioclimatic zone. It is also the fourth LTER site within the CTFS network. A unifying research tool shared by all CTFS research sites is the Forest Dynamics Plot. These are large, permanent forest demographic plots situated in natural forests. All trees with dbh1 cm are mapped, identified and monitored. An initial census and periodic recensused yield long-term information on species growth, mortality, regeneration, distribution, and productivity in relation to topography, soils, climate, hydrology, and biotic factors.

The Fushan plot (24ş45'40''N, 121ş33'31'') is located on an uplifted ancient riverbed and is within a lowland evergreen wet forest which receives an average annual rainfall of 4225 mm (1993-2000) with no dry months. The mean annual temperature is 18.2˚C, with relative humidity of 95%. The plot measures 500 m north-south by 500 m east-west, and was divided into 625 20 m × 20 m quadrats. The elevation in the plot ranges from 650 m to 733 m above sea level. The plot is surrounded by a continuous primary or old-growth broad-leaved forest that is over 150,000 ha in extent. A preliminary inventory enumerated at least 261 species consisting of 75 tree species, 37 shrubs, 30 climbers and 119 herbs. The most species-rich families are Rubiaceae, Lauraceae, Fagaceae, and Myrsinaceae. The plot is very characteristic of dense understory and abundant ferns and orchids.  The first census is estimated to take two years. Other field work carried out this year includes study of seed and seedling dynamics. Following the methodology developed for the seed-trap study within the BCI and Pasoh plots, a total of 80 traps were placed inside the Fushan plot. In addition, 120 small seedling plots were established. The traps and plots cover the hill and flat riverbed, the two major habitats inside the plot. The traps are emptied every week. The material was dried, separated and stored for further analysis.


Growth Strategies of Four salt marsh plants on Mankyung Estuary, Korea

 

Byung-Sun, Ihm (Department of Biology, Mokpo National University) and Jeom-Sook, Lee (Department of Biology, Kunsan National University)

 

   The emergence of seedling , the length of root and shoot, and the biomass of four dominant species were measured as well as shore height to investigate their growth strategy on the salt marsh of Mankyung river Estuary in Korea. Four salt marsh plants manifested a distinguished zonation, such as Suaeda japonica dominantly spread around the low salt marsh, Atriplex gmelini and Aster tripolium, in the middle, and Suaeda asparagoides, in the upper part of the marsh. In terms of emergence of seedlings, Suaeda japonica appeared first followed by Atriplex gmelini, Suaeda asparagoides, and Aster tripolium. The growth strategies of halophytes are as follows: Suaeda japonica germinated earlier than the other plants so that its root grew rapidly and extensively at the beginning of growth. This species adopted the continuous germination strategy, allowing growth whenever a favorable condition is provided. Atripex gmelini germinated later than Suaeda japonica, as a quasi-simultaneous germination type, it showed the highest germination rate within the shortest time. Aster tripolium was germinated later than any other halophyte. Since this species exhibited characteristics between the continuous germination type and the quasi-simultaneous germination type, it did not show very high germination rate. Instead, it showed continuous germination and consistent growth of both above-ground and underground parts. Suaeda asparagoides showed especially high emergence rate at the beginning of its growth. However, the high density retarded its growth until the middle stage. Its root extended longer than other halophytes, allowing it to grow well in dry condition of upper marsh.


Parameterizing threshold values when leaf area indices are estimated from hemispheric digital images

 

Kyounghee Kim, Taehee Hwang, Jiyeon Kim, and Dowon Lee

Environmental Planning Institute, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul

 

Leaf area index is a promising parameter that may show comparative characteristics of ILTER sites on the global scale. When LAI is measured at a forest ecosystem, LI-COR LAI-2000 is frequently used but relatively expensive and requires open space to measure reference solar radiation. Alternatively, some forest scientists prefer a multi-purposes, consumer-grade digital camera that provides an upward-looking view of forest canopy. Unlike LAI-2000, it is cheap, handy and captures digital images directly. However, little is known about their processing with HemiView software (Canopy analysis software ver.2.1, Delta-T Ltd.) that is necessary to analyze digital canopy images. HemiView software adopts a threshold method in distinguishing canopy opening from foliage. The method is concerned with a problem as LAI estimates depend on threshold values, which are inputted based on researcher's experience. Hence, we examined an approach to solve the problem. First, we obtained hemispheric digital images (Nikon Coolpix 900 with LC-ER1 fisheye) and LAI values using LAI-2000 at a KLTER site (Gwangneung Experimental Forest) for a year. Second, similar data were collected at a same site in the daytime, while bright was varied. Then, we tuned thresholds so that fisheye LAI values were consistent with LAI-2000 ones, and related the consequences to the field condition when the images were acquired. In the first experiment, thresholds were mainly varied with weather conditions such as cloud cover fraction and solar radiation. Thresholds were lower in a coniferous forest than in a deciduous forest except for winter season. In the second experiment, thresholds were positively correlated with interior brightness of canopy at the time of image capture. Finally, we propose a method to set reliable thresholds for data collected from different types of forests and under various light conditions. The result will be instrumental in comparing ground truths and remote sensing data of LAI over ILTER sites.

 


Impact of frugivores on plant regeneration and forest structure

 

Ling-ling Lee

Department of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei

 

Impact of animal seed dispersal on plant regeneration and forest structure has been a major research topic in recent studies of plant-animal interaction. Results of such studies may have important implication in answering questions such as why tropical rainforest are so diverse, and how animals may contribute to regeneration in logged or fragmented forests. Different animal species may have different impact on seed dispersal, depending on their foraging and ranging behavior, methods of handling seeds, feeding and dispersal efficiency, time and stability of presence and abundance, etc. Our studies at Fushan LTER site confirmed that, although birds may play an important role in dispersing small seeds of certain plant species, the Formosan macaques (Macaca cyclopis) are more important in affecting dispersal of large seeds of most dominant tree species due to its diverse diet, large body size, greater volume of fruit consumption, and abundance. They are able to carry large quantities of seeds away from the mother plants to anywhere in their home range with their cheek pouches and guts. Most of the seeds they spat out or in their faeces have better germination rates than intact seeds. However, it is unclear whether the locations, spatial distribution and densities of seeds dispersed by the macaques will affect the survival and germination of seeds and the growth of seedlings. Furthermore, it is unclear whether secondary dispersal by secondary seed dispersers, such as rodents and dung beetles is significant enough in affecting the locations, spatial distribution and densities of seeds, thus the survival and germination of seeds and the growth of seedlings. Comparative studies in other types of forests with different dominant frugivore species and better linkage with vegetation studies are needed to fully evaluate the role of animal frugivory in affecting forest structure and regeneration.

 

 

Long-term ecological research on the coral reefs at Kenting National Park

 

Kwang-Tsao Shao1 and Hsing-Juh Lin2

1Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, Taipei; 2Department of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung

 

Coral reef ecosystem is one of the most diverse systems on Earth. The coral reefs at Kenting National Park in southern Taiwan are well known by the abundant and diverse marine biota. However, the coral reef ecosystem is degrading in the past decade. The LTER at Kenting (Long-Term Ecological Research at Kenting National Park) was first initiated in 2001 and formally launched as an integrated project in 2003 under the support of the National Science Council (NSC), R. O. C. This integrated project is the first LTER study site in marine systems in Taiwan. In addition to field surveys on each major biota in the coral reefs, the mesocosm experiments will be combined with the construction of coral reef ecosystem model to determine the effects as well as to predict global changes, both natural and anthropogenic, short- and long-term, or regional and global scales, on a coral reef system. The first year’s study from 2001 to 2002 emphasized the influences of anthropogenic factors on coral reefs. Our results clearly revealed the severe impacts of fishery activity, habitat destruction caused by sedimentation, sewage discharge, and marine recreational activities on coral reef ecosystem at Kenting National Park. These anthropogenic factors were likely the causes of the degrading of the coral reef ecosystem at Kenting. Therefore, we recommend the Headquarter of Kenting National Park to take the following actions in the future for the sustainability of coral reefs at Kenting: 1. Strengthening education and propaganda of conservation of coral reef ecosystems, especially suggestion of tourists not eating coral reef fishes and shellfishes, 2. Actively promoting the assessment and construction of marine protected areas in the park as well as strengthening the law enforcement, 3. Strengthening the ability to control the exploitation and development of the coastal zones, and finally 4. Managing snorkeling, SCUBA, and boat diving activities in coral reefs properly.

 


Participants List


 

China

 

Tieqing Huang

Office of Leading Group of CERN

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Tel: +86-10-68597540

Fax: +86-10-68597583

Email: tqhuang@cashq.ac.cn

 

Zhu Ouyang

Chinese Ecosystem Research Network

Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resources Research

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Tel: +86-10-64856514

Fax: +86-10-64856514

Email: ouz@igsnrr.ac.cn

 

Guirui Yu

Synthesis Center of CERN

Institute of Geographic Science

and Natural Resources Research

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Tel: +86 10 64889432

Fax: +86 10 64889399

Email: yuguirui@cern.ac.cn

 

Shidong Zhao

Scientific Committee of CERN

Institute of Geographic Science

and Natural Resources Research

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Tel: +86 10 64889812

 

 

Fax: +86 10 64889399

Email: zhaosd@cern.ac.cn

   

China-Taipei

 

Jung-Tai Chao

Division of Forest Protection

Taiwan Forestry Research Institute

Tel:886-2-2303-9978 ext. 2509

Fax: 886-2-2309-1846

jtchao@serv.tfri.gov.tw

 

Chaur-Tzuhn Chen

College of Agriculture

National Ping-tung University

of Science & Technology

Tel: 886-8-774-0301

Fax: 886-8-774-0134

cct@gisfore.npust.edu.tw

 

Zueng-Sang Chen

Department of Agricultural Chemistry

National Taiwan University

Tel: 886-2-2236-0231 ext 2495

Fax: 886-2-2392-4335

soilchen@ccms.ntu.edu.tw

 

Wen-Liang Chiou

Division of Forest biology

Taiwan Forestry Research Institute

Tel: 886-2-2303-9978 ext. 2509

Fax: 886-2-2307-6220

chiou@serv.tfri.gov.tw

Ping-Chun Lucy Hou

Department of Biology

National Cheng Kung University

Tel:886-6-2757575 ext 65546

Fax: 886-6-208-2391

pchou@mail.ncku.edu.tw

 

Hen-biau King

Taiwan Forestry Research Institute

53 Nan-hai Road, Taipei 1000, Taiwan

Tel: 886-2 2303-9978 x1205

Fax: 886 2 2375-2164

hbking@serv.tfri.gov.tw

 

Yau-Lun Kuo

Department of Forestry

National Pingtung University

 of Science and Technology

Pingtung, Taiwan

Tel: 08-7740282
Fax: 08-7740346
E-mail: ylkuo@mail.npust.edu.tw

 

Ling-Ling Lee

Department of Zoology

National Taiwan University

Tel: 886-2-2363-2031 ext 2125

Fax: 886-2-2363-4606

Leell@ccms.ntu.edu.tw

 

Fang-Pang Lin
Manager of Grid Computing
Division
National Center
for High-

Performance Computing
Emial: d00swh00@nchc.org.tw
Tel: +886-3-5776085 ext. 370
Fax: +886-3-5773538

Hsing-Juh Lin

The College of Life Science

National Chung Hsing University

Tel: 886-4-22840416 ext 602

Fax: 886-4-22874740

hjlin@dragon.nchu.edu.tw

 

Kuo-chuan Lin

Division of Silviculture

Taiwan Forestry Research Institute

Tel: 886-2-2303-9978 ext 1504

Fax: 886-2389-5531

kuolin@serv.tfri.gov.tw

 

 

Japan

 

Kohsuke Honma

Niigata University
homma-k@f2.dion.ne.jp


Hiromitsu Kamauchi

Hokkaido University

kamacho@ees.hokudai.ac.jp


Akiko Ogawa

Research Institute for Nature

and Humanity
akogawa@chikyu.ac.jp

 

Yoshinobu Sato

Kyusyu University
sato@forest.kyushu-u.ac.jp


Hideaki Shibata

Hokkaido University
shiba@exfor.agr.hokudai.ac.jp

Naoko Tokuchi

Kyoto University
tokuchi@kais.kyoto-u.ac.jp



Korea

 

Do-Soon Cho

Visiting Scientist

Email: dscho@catholic.ac.kr or

dosoon@ualberta.ca

Phone: +1 (780) 492-3739 (day),

 +1 (780) 430-1049 (night)

Fax: +1 (780) 492-4323

Department of Renewable Resources

University of Alberta

 

Byung-Sun Ihm

Email: ihmbs@mokpo.ac.kr

Phone: +82-61-450 2343

Fax : +82 61 454 0267

Department of Biology

Mokpo National University

 

Eun-Shik Kim

Email: kimeuns@kookmin.ac.kr

Phone: +82 2 910 4814

Fax : +82 2 910 4809

Department of Forest Resources

Kookmin University

 

Dowon Lee

Email: leedw@snu.ac.kr

Phone: +82 2 880 5650

Fax: +82 2 871 8847

Graduate School of Environmental Studies

Seoul National University

 

Jong-Hwan Lim

Email: limjh@foa.go.kr

Phone: +82-2-961-2542

Fax: +82-2-961-2543

Division of Forest Ecology

Department of Forest Environment

Korea Forest Research Institute

 

Joon Hwan Shin

Email: kecology@chol.com

Phone number: +82-2-961-2541

Fax number: +82-2-961-2543

Director of Division of Forest Ecology

Department of Forest Environment

Korea Forest Research Institute

 

 

Mongolia

 

J. Tsogtbaatar

GeoEcology Institute,

Mongolian Academy of Sciences

Email: geoeco@magicnet.mn  

Phone: + 976-99118203

  + 976-11-321862

 

 

Thailand

 

Yongyut Trisurat

Faculty of Forestry

Kasestsart University

Bangkok 10900

Email: fforyyt@ku.ac.th                                

 

 

Philippines

 

Victor Amoroso

Central Mindanao University

Musuan, Bukidnon

 

USA

 

Peter Arzberger

University of California, San Diego

Email: parzberg@ucsd.edu

Tel: +1 858-822-1079

Fax: +1 858-822-4767

 

Alan Covich

University of Georgia

Email: alanc@uga.edu

 

Steve Hamburg

Brown University

Email: Steven_Hamburg@Brown.EDU