2004 年 8 巻 2 号 p. 103-116
Modern biological invasions in Japan are having various types of serious impacts on ecosystems and human life, and appropriate countermeasures are urgently needed (Washitani, 2004). In contrast, when historically viewed on a much longer time scale, major factors responsible for the unique indigenous flora and fauna of contemporary Japan included geo-biotic exchanges with the Eurasian Continent accompanied by intermittent isolations of the Japanese Archipelago, as well as its unique environmental conditions.
In the present essay, as a preface to the second number of the special issue, ‘Biological invasion in Japan,’ I will briefly summarize the natural environmental features, including geological, climatic and biotic, and the geological-ecological histories of the Japanese Archipelago, which have also interacted with human history and are relevant to the biotic exchanges with Eurasian Continent, in order to contrast them with modern biological invasions.
