Life History: How an Oargnism Lives and Dies

Organisms experience various events during their life, starting from birth, going through growth and reproduction, and ending up with death. "Life history" refers to the schedule of such events over the whole lifespan. Plant life history greatly differs within and among species in many aspects, such as longevity, the speed of maturation, and reproductive schedule (e.g., semelparity/iteroparity). Our laboratory studies ecology and evolution of the diverse plant life history in farmlands, forests, grasslands, parks, and other green spaces.

Understanding Biodiversity through the Lens of Life History

Human activities including land development and environmental pollution are threatening biodiversity. These human-induced environmental changes affect various processes of life history, such as increasing mortality in the young juvenile stages and decreasing seed production in flowering stages, which will combine and cascade up to population- and community-level vulnerability.
Our laboratory is trying to elucidate the mechanisms of human impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems by examining the life histories of wildlife under anthropogenic disturbances. Life history survey is a demanding approach, requiring the monitoring of survival and reproduction of individuals over their lifespan, but provides information necessary for predicting population size, genetic diversity, and species diversity. Based on the life history information obtained through our surveys, we are challenging long-term population and community projections and effective conservation management.

For Sustainable Agro-ecosystems and Green Spaces

While humans threaten biodiversity and ecosystems, they also enjoy economic and cultural benefits from ecosystems: human society utilizes plants for a variety of purposes, including landscape design, indoor ornaments, and specialty products. Focusing on NCP (Nature's Contibution to People) and ecosystem services provided by plants, our laboratory studies how human society perceive and appreciate the value of biodiversity. By examinig the bidirectional relationship between humans and plants, we are exploring the ways toward sustainable socio-ecosystems.