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Period9th（Term: from Oct. 2018）
グローバル型 -
Research InterestsEcology
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Research TopicAutomated monitoring of ecosystem dynamics for ecological forecasting
Understanding and forecasting natural ecosystem dynamics, for example ecological community dynamics and nutrient cycling, is crucial, not only for ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation, but also for understanding human society-natural ecosystem interactions. For instance, forecasting community dynamics of microbial pathogens, which may have direct, negative influences on humans and agriculture crops, will benefit the human society. I have been working on the developments and applications of novel research techniques including environmental DNA analysis and nonlinear time series analysis in order to understand natural ecosystem dynamics. My studies have shown that, if high-quality (i.e., multispecies, fine-resolution and long-term) ecological time series are taken, it is possible to accurately forecast natural ecosystem dynamics. However, taking such time series is cost-, time- and labor-intensive work. In the Hakubi project, I am planning to improve ecosystem-monitoring methodologies. More specifically, automated, flexible, cheap and high-throughput ecosystem monitoring systems (e.g., water sampling and image processing system) will be constructed for more accurate forecasting of natural ecosystem dynamics.