National Institute of Polar Research

Responses of polar ecosystems to environmental change

Ecological processes of organisms in response to the environmental change in polar regions

Principal Investigator  Satoshi Imura

Intensive field-based research on polar ecosystems

In polar regions, limited numbers of flora and fauna such as mosses, lichens, and tardigrades, live in the harsh terrestrial environment, and some marine animals including seals and penguins breed on land. These simple but unique ecosystems are home to organisms adapted to the extreme environment of the regions with low temperature, desiccation, intense ultraviolet rays, etc. The aim of this project is to understand how the organisms in these regions respond to the changing environment and thus how the ecosystems will be altered. The biodiversity and material cycle in the terrestrial ecosystem, and behavior ecology of marine animals are the principal targets of this project.