Ms Ayse Haruka Oshima Acikbas1, Mr. Timothy Ravasi1, Mr. James Reimer2, Mr. Nori Satoh1, Ms Haruhi Narisoko1
1Okinawa Institute Of Science And Technology, Onna Village, Japan, 2University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Japan
The oceanic Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands are found in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,000 km south of Tokyo, Japan. Though not as rich in species composition compared to the closest continental land masses, the islands have high levels of both terrestrial and marine endemicity and are known as the “Galapagos of Asia”, resulting in their UNESCO World Natural Heritage status. Since their colonization by humans, the nature of Ogasawara Islands has been drastically transformed by waves of development and many of the indigenous species with origins from Polynesia, Southeast Asia and southwestern Japan, are threatened with extinction. Historically, conservation efforts and research have been mainly focused on terrestrial species, and charismatic marine species with ecotouristic values such as whales and sea turtles. However, there is a lack of comprehensive surveys and research on the overall marine fauna biodiversity of the Ogasawara Islands. In this study, we conducted the first ever environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding investigation of the archipelago to characterize the overall marine biodiversity of Ogasawara Islands and assess the impacts of anthropogenic activities. We will perform analyses of fish and coral community composition on seawater samples from sites ranging from highly pristine to more anthropogenically impacted areas, while incorporating environmental physicochemical variables such as water temperature and pH. We expect our results will unveil novel patterns of marine biodiversity change due to anthropogenic impacts, and hope that this study will serve as a template for similar future work in other oceanic and isolated marine regions.
Biography:
‘Biographies to come’