The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Tokyo Office periodically receives and disseminates reports on research developments in Japan that are related to the Foundation's mission. NSF-sponsored researchers currently working in Japan prepare many of these reports. These reports present information for use by NSF program managers and policy makers; they are not statements of NSF policy. .
Ms. Melissa Ann Haltuch, a Ph.D. student in the Environmental Science Graduate Program at the Ohio State University, prepared the following report. Ms. Haltuch is a participant in the 1999 Summer Institute sponsored in the United States by NSF/NIH/USDA and the Science and Technology Agency and Japan Science and Technology Corporation in Japan. Dr. Masumi Yamamuro of the Marine Geology Department at the Geological Survey of Japan in Tsukuba, Japan, hosted Ms. Haltuch. Ms. Haltuch can be reached via email at: haltuch.1@osu.edu
Coastal oceans are subject to anthropogenic impacts such as eutrophication, pollution, overfishing, loss of habitat, and sedimentation. Further more, coastal marine environments are essential to human populations as they provide a multitude of marine resources. Coupled with global climate change human impacts will likely result in coastal ocean change during the coming millennium. Concern about the status of coastal ocean areas such as coral reef ecosystems has resulted in intensive research. While much work in coral reef ecosystems has focused on coral populations themselves, a holistic approach including seagrass and seaweed populations is necessary.
Basic information about community distributions can help provide more comprehensive ecological studies. Remote sensing, in this case aerial photography, is an efficient method for obtaining continuous community distribution information within the reef ecosystem. Classification of reef communities using aerial photos makes identifying community change easy; however, remotely sensed data must be ground-truthed for accuracy.
By utilizing ground-truthed aerial photos within a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework spatial and information analysis are time efficient. A GIS can store any data associated with real world coordinates and subsequently be utilized as a map. Ease of spatial data analysis and modeling within a GIS make implementing a GIS in the Shiraho reef study useful.
My first day of work at the Geological Survey of Japan I attended lectures given by international sea grass researchers. These lectures provided me with pertinent background information for my area of study during the summer program. The objective of my research was to develop a GIS of Shiraho Reef, Ishigaki Island, Okinawa for future modeling use and to ground truth the distribution of reef communities as assessed from aerial photography using field data in the GIS. The aerial photo had been classified into the different communities composing the coral reef ecosystem, corals, seagrasses, seaweeds, and sandy areas prior to development of the GIS.
During the course of my stay I was able to visit the University of Tokyo Geography Department and their research lab on Ishigaki Island to observe the different communities present at Shiraho Reef and other sites around the island. Thus, in addition to mapping data that had been previously collected I was able to have first hand experience with the study area, learning about each community type and the zonation at Shiraho Reef. We also conducted comparative sea grass studies at different reefs around the island. Additionally, I participated in primary productivity experiments in the seagrass beds at Shiraho Reef, learning new methods for measuring productivity of sea grasses. While conducting the productivity experiments I also learned to identify the eight species of tropical sea grasses present around Ishigaki Island.
We will be using statistics to compare the results from the classified aerial photo to the actual field observations. Therefore, we can evaluate the effectiveness of using this remotely sensed data to assess distribution of communities within Shiraho Reef. Data collected for ground truthing of community structure can further be used to estimate the percent cover of various communities within Shiraho Reef.
The summer program was a great research experience that allowed me to meet Japanese researchers and gain exposure to Japanese research methods. My Japanese colleagues introduced me to a new field of study, the tropical coastal ocean, that I have had an interest in for quite some time. Not only have they shared ideas, information, and the field with me, but our work together has broadened the scope of my general research interests. The research I completed in Japan enabled me to gain better perspective on what I will study during my doctoral work. In the future, I hope to do international cooperative work on coral reef ecosystems, specifically seagrass bed ecology.
This work was sponsored by the 1998 Summer Institute in Japan. I am grateful to the researchers and graduate students who took the time to work with me. I would especially like to thank my host at the Geological Survey of Japan, Dr. Masumi Yamamuro. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Hajime Kayanne and students for hosting me in the field at Ishigaki Island and at the University of Tokyo.