Main

The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

Introduction to Grant Projects

Tohoku University, Graduate School of Biostudies, Professor Jotaro Urabe

The process of tidal flat biomass formation after the Great East Japan Earthquake: utilizing the inadvertent effects and ecological functions

Research grant

Project Description

This research will investigate ecosystem functions and biodiversity of two new tidal flats created after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Alongside this research, biology monitoring surveys will be carried out by locals on twelve tidal flats scatted across Sendai Bay's Sanriku coast. Holding these workshops for nature observation groups and children means the results will be going straight back into the community. By linking ecosystem research and social education in this way, environmental awareness and re-recognition of the provincial nature is being fostered by local residents to practically conserve Sendai's ecosystem.

Fields
Ecosystems and the Symbiotic Society
Grant year
FY14/3 Research Grants
Grant term
3 years
April 2015 - March 2018
Grant amount
15,000,000 yen
Activity region
Sendai Bay (including Matsushima Bay); Matsukawaura, Fukushima Prefecture; Minamisanriku town, Miyagi Precture, Kesennuma City; Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan
Local participants receive help whilst partaking in biology monitoring surveys

Overview of the Organization

Professor Jotaro Urabe
Representative
Professor Jotaro Urabe
Profile
  • Specialist field
    Ecology
  • Affiliated academic societies
    The Ecology Society of Japan, The Japanese Society of Limnology, Advanced Science of Limnology and Oceanography, Ecological Society of America
  • Background
    Entered a phD programme at the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at Tokyo Metropolitan University in 1987, and became a Doctor of Science in 1988. In 1989, joined the Natural History Museum and Institute in Chiba as an Arts and Science researcher. In 1993, became a Biological Sciences classroom assistant at Tokyo Metropolitan University, Department of Science. In 1995, promoted to Assistant Professor at the Research Center for Ecology. Became a Professor at Tohoko University, Graduate School for Science and Faculty of Science in 2003. Engages in research on biodiversity related to environmental change and the structural make up of biological communities in the ecosystems of lakes, rivers, and the coast. Editor in chief of Limnology, Senior staff writer for Oikos, President of the Tohoku branch of the Japanese Ecological Society.
Collaborating Organizations
Earthwatch Japan, Wetlands International Japan
Research record
  • Juntaro URABE, "The recent past of reconstruction methods of lakes and marshes", Kyoritsu Shuppan Co, Ltd, 2014
  • Urabe, J., T. Suzuki, T. Nishita, W. Makino. (2013) Immediate ecological impacts of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake tsunami on intertidal flat communities. PLoS ONE 8(5): e62779.
  • Juntaro URABE, Takao SUZUKI, "The importance of assessment of tidal wave impact and biodiversity monitoring for environmental restoration, using tidal flat ecosystems as an example", Irrigation Water and Waste Water, Vol. 54, pp 71-78, 2012
  • Hiroshi TAKEDA, Juntaro URABE, "Global Environment and the Ecosystem: Science of terrestrial ecosystem", Kyoritsu Shuppan Co. Ltd, 2006