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The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

Introduction to Grant Projects

Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University Associate Professor Akira Mori

Quantitative research into wildfire disturbances; ecosystem management within the Rocky Mountain range

Research grant

Project Description

Forest fires are beginning to occur with increasing frequency within landscapes along the Rocky Mountain range (North America). Is this recent incidence attributable to anthropogenic ally induced global warming, to the consequences of past fire suppression efforts, or to natural disturbances? In this research, we attempt to find out by assessing wildfire disturbance systems necessary to support ecosystems and biodiversity. We then propose ecosystem management policies for future application.

Fields
Climate changePreservation of surface soil and forestsPreservation of biodiversity and ecosystem
Grant year
FY2009 Research Grants
Grant term
3 years
April 2010 - March 2013
Grant amount
4,850,000 yen
Activity region
Canada, United States
Rocky Mountains, wildfires

Overview of the Organization

Associate Professor Akira Mori
Representative
Associate Professor Akira Mori
Profile
Specialist fields
Forest ecology, ecosystem management, landscape ecology
Affiliated academic societies
The Ecological Society of Japan; the Japanese Forest Society; the International Association of Wildland Fire; Ecological Society of America
Background
In 2003 became a Research Fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Graduate School of Agricultural, Kyoto University). In 2004 completed a Ph.D. (Agriculture; Kyoto University). In 2005 took the position of Postdoctoral Fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Simon Fraser University). In 2008, became an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Environmental and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University
WEB site
http://akkym.net/research
Collaborating researcher
The University of Calgary/Biogeoscience Institute Fellow/Douglas J Hallett
Research record
  • (1) Mori AS; (2010) Considerations for risk management in ecosystems: perspectives from ecological variability and non-equilibrium dynamics. Japanese Journal of Ecology 60: In printing
  • (2) Mori AS, Niinemets & Uuml;. (2010) Plant responses to heterogeneous environments: Scaling from shoot modules and whole plant functions to ecosystem processes. Ecological Research 25: 691-692.
  • (3) Mori AS; (2010) Disturbance ecology clarifies the non-equilibrium nature of forest ecosystems. Japanese Journal of Ecology 60:19-39.
  • (4) Mori AS; (2009) Forest management for conserving biodiversity: Matrix management in Swedish forests. Japanese Journal of Conservation Ecology 14:283-291.
  • (5) Mori AS, Mizumachi E. (2009) Within-crown structural variability of dwarfed mature Abies mariesii in a snowy subalpine parkland in central Japan. Journal of Forest Research 14: 155-166.
  • (6) Mori AS, Fukasawa Y, Takeda H. (2008) Tree mortality and habitat shifts in the regeneration trajectory underneath canopy of an old-growth subalpine forest. Forest Ecology and Management 255: 3758-3767.