Day 1: Introduction to “Biodiversity and Japan”

2024-06-11

Instructor: Joel Nitta

• Research topic 1: Ecology and evolution of ferns

• Research topic 2: Development of software for data science

  • Reproducible data analysis, Thursdays 3rd period

• https://www.joelnitta.com

Instructor: Joel Nitta

• Born and raised in California

• Fourth generation Japanese-American

• First came to Japan as high school exchange student

Ice-breaker

• Answer the question: “Why are you interested in biodiversity?”

• Introduce yourself and discuss with your neighbor

https://climate.copernicus.eu

What is biodiversity?

• The different kinds of life that occur on our planet

• Often we talk about the number of species, but it has other definitions too

Why does biodiversity matter?

1. How would you feel if you could never visit a natural place like a forest or the mountains?

https://images.unsplash.com/

Why does biodiversity matter?

2. How would you feel if you knew that a place like the Great Barrier Reef were to disappear?

https://www.nma.gov.au/

Biodiversity has inherent value

• Biodiversity has inherent value: it is worth something just by existing

• Biodiversity has cultural value: we derive inspiration from it

Why does biodiversity matter?

1. How would you feel if you couldn’t eat any fruit because there were no bees to pollinate flowers?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/

Humans depend on biodiversity

2. How would you feel if you didn’t have access to clean drinking water because there were no wetlands to help filter it?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/

Why does biodiversity matter?

• Biodiversity provides ecosystem services: humans benefit from the natural environment

Biodiversity is in danger

We will learn about the specific risks posed to biodiversity, and actionable measures to counteract them.

• Climate change
• Population growth
• Invasive species

https://www.iema.net/articles/climate-change-to-pose-bigger-threat-to-biodiversity-than-land-use-by-2070/

Biodiversity in Japan

• Did you know that Japan is a biodiversity hotspot?

• Do you know why?

https://hanwellzoo.co.uk/

Japan as a biodiversity hotspot

Japan has a wide variation of climates in a small area

• Species are usually adapted for one particular kind of climate
• This results in many species

Goals of this class

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• understand the processes generating biodiversity
• explain how biodiversity is distributed globally and in Japan
• propose ways to effectively conserve biodiversity

Expectations of this class

• I expect you to participate in discussions

• I expect you to ask questions

Language of this class

• This class is conducted in English

• But, you can ask questions in Japanese and I will explain in Japanese if needed

• 日本語でも必要に応じて大丈夫です。

• とにかく何か分からないことがあったら、
  聞いてください！

Structure of this class

• Classic model: Introduce new ideas in class then complete homework assignments about them

• Flipped model: Introduce new ideas ahead of class in videos, and we will learn more about those topics in depth through in-class discussions

Videos

• We will watch videos from a series on biodiversity produced by the California Academy of Sciences

• Each is video is 5-10 minutes long.

• There are usually 3-4 videos per week.

Intro video

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HpDJBFflYKI

Quizzes

• There will be a short quiz (ca. 5-10 min.) on the content of the video at the start of each class.

• Bring your laptop or smartphone to take the quiz on Socrative.

Sample quiz

• Enter room name JABIOD2024 at https://gosocrative.com or scan the barcode

Schedule

• Day 1, 2024-06-11
  • Introduction: Why does biodiversity matter? (no quiz)
• Day 2, 2024-06-18
  • Global distribution of biodiversity
• Day 3, 2024-06-25
  • Levels of biodiversity
• Day 4, Media Day (on-demand, no quiz)
  • Distribution of biodiversity in Japan

Schedule (cont’d)

• Day 5, 2024-07-02
  • Midterm test, Ecosystems & ecosystem services (no quiz)
• Day 6, 2024-07-09
  • Threats to biodiversity
• Day 7, 2024-07-16
  • Protecting biodiversity
• Day 8, 2024-07-18 17:50: Final presentation
  • NOTE this is an online class at a different time and day than usual (補講日)

Grades

• Quizzes 20%
  • The single lowest scoring quiz won’t be counted
• Midterm 30%
• Final presentation 50%

No late submissions allowed

Course website and slides

• All slides (and other info) available at
  https://joelnitta.github.io/biodiv-japan/

Office hours

By appointment. Please send me an email to request:

joelnitta@chiba.u-jp

Questions?