Dung beetles are useful indicators of habitat quality in tropical regions. When we evaluate habitat quality with using baited traps that attract insects for a distance, traps need to be placed to limit immigration of insects from outside the study area. To determine the minimum distance from a forest edge into grassland needed to limit immigration of forest dung beetle species, we set baited pitfall traps on transects of 100, 200, and 300 m into grassland from the edge of an Acacia mangium plantation with a small secondary forest in East Kalimantan. Additionally, to evaluate the availability of riparian reserves of trees along the margins of grasslands as habitat for forest species, we placed traps in a riparian reserve next to the grassland. Since the species found to be most abundant in the plantation were not collected in the grassland, we suggested that 100 m buffer zone should be sufficient to limit the unwanted capture of forest beetles in baited grassland traps. Moreover, since the species that were abundant in the plantation were also abundant in the riparian reserve, we argued that riparian reserves in grasslands might act as a habitat patch for forest species. Since distance from both forest edge and riparian reserve did not relate to the result of the ordination of species composition at each trapping location in the grassland, these distances did not generally affect the communities of dung beetles in the grassland.

View full abstract

To evaluate the effects of distance from human living area and topography on dung beetle assemblages in burned natural forests, we set baited pitfall traps on 3 valleys and 3 ridges in a protected but burned forest along with the transect beginning from the border of the protected forest in East Kalimantan. Species richness and the logarithm of the number of beetles collected significantly decreased as sites approached the border. The Morisita’ s indices of similarity (C_λ) between each site and the control site set in the artificially devastated forest with fire outside the border significantly increased as sites approached the border. Thsese results suggest that more severe fire near human living areas degrades dung beetle diversity more significantly. All valley sites were considered as remnants of previous fires but the similarity index to the another control site set in the large unburned natural forest was apparently low at two valley sites near the border suggesting that the dung beetle diversity separated from the large unburned forest by burned ridges was severely degraded even if the forests were unburned.

View full abstract

We aimed to determine methods to estimate African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) biomass on tropical peatlands. In this study we established a study plot in a 12-year-old African oil palm plantation in Sarawak, Malaysia. After measuring the stem diameters, heights, etc., of the palms in the plot, an average-sized palm was selected and its aboveground and belowground parts were destructively sampled to measure its biomass. Consequently, a destructive sampling method for estimating African oil palm plantation biomass on tropical peatlands was developed, based on the results of the field study. In addition, we discuss the ecological traits of African oil palms grown on tropical peatlands.

View full abstract

Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) collected 1495 heads of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) legally killed in the western Honshu (Chugoku, Kinki, Hokuriku) and the eastern Honshu (Tohoku) of Japan during 1985-2013. 696 skull specimens from the western Honshu were stocked at Kansai Research Center, and 559 skull specimens from the eastern Honshu were stocked at Tohoku Research Center. 240 skull specimens from Kyoto Prefecture were donated to the Kyoto University Museum. These specimens have been utilized for the studies primarily by researchers of FFPRI, and produced many scientific papers on conservation genetics, population management, and morphology and so on. Now, we provide the list of these specimens in order to facilitate uses of the specimens by other researchers. The list includes specimen ID, capture year and month, capture locality, sex, age-class, weight, head and body length of the bears.

View full abstract