Introduction

Although we did not use the term Long-Term Ecological Research(LTER) explicitly, many long-term ecosystem studies have been made for years by forest researchers (e.g. Japanese version of a newsletter "Hyoshiki" meaning a milepost) and limnologis ts studying lake eutrophication processes. The term LTER became familiar to Japanese researchers after the 1st Regional Conference on International LTER held in 1995. The 2nd regional conference will be held in Japan in 1997. In this report I briefly give overview of the Japanese LTER activities.

List of Japanese LTER sites or projects

The 1st Regional Conference on International LTER: The East Asia and Pacific Regions was held in April 1995 in Taipei. Upon the invitation to this conference, we (Tamiji Inoue, Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University and TI) compiled a list of p otential LTER sites in Japan. For this purpose, we asked Japanese researchers to present the information on their own or other researcher's LTER activities, if any. About 60 potential LTER sites or projects were listed at that time. The list has been rev ised and will later on appear on the home page of the Center for Ecological Research, "http://ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp". (At the time of writing, the page is still under construction.)

Potential LTER sites or projects in Japan

There are currently 63 potential LTER sites or projects consisting mainly of forest and lake sites, i.e. 33 forest sites and 11 lake sites. The rest consists of 4 mire sites, 2 grasslands, 2 river sites, 1 lagoon and 2 marine or estuarine sites and 7 anim al populations and 1 plant community projects.

Duration of research

Durations of research are mostly <10 years for forest sites (20 out of 33) whereas mostly >10 years for lake sites (7 out of 11) (Table 1).

Table 1. Duration of research for potential LTER in Japan.

Type (no. of sites or projects)	Duration of research (years)
	<5	5-9	10-19	20<
Forest-Japan (26)	5	10	7	4
Forest-Overseas (7)	3	2	2
Grassland-Japan (2)	1	1
Lake-Japan (11)	2	2	6	1
Mire-Japan (4)		1	2	1
River-Japan (2)		1	1
Lagoon-Japan (1)			1
Marine-Overseas (2)	1		1
Animal population-Japan (6)		2	4
Animal population-Overseas (1)		1
Plant community-Japan (1)			1

Research staff and facilities in LTER sites

Half the projects are small (<5 research staff) but 15 projects are large (>10 research staff). These large projects are conducted using good field stations such as allied hydrobiological stations, university forests and research stations in foreign countries managed by the counterpart institutions. Projects on lakes deal with almost all the components of ecosystems but most projects on terrestrial ecosystems lack data on plant-animal relationships. Ecosystem approach or studies on plant-animal relationships are rather rare in the potential LTER site s. Some big terrestrial projects conducted at university forests or forests overseas (e.g. tropical forest ecosystem projects at Pasoh forest reserves and Lambir Hills) cover both plant and animal communities.

Projects that have been continued for 20 years will not necessarily survive for the next 10 years. Retirement or position change may occur for principal investigators and will be terminated incidentally. Therefore the education at the LTER sites are neede d not only for the promotion of the projects but for the training of potential investigators who will be recruited in the near future

Source of fund for LTER

The main sources of research fund are the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for university staffs. That for governmental institutions are their mother organizations, i.e., the Environment Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and others. Additional fund for international collaboration are provided by and the Science and Technology Agency (STA). Contribution of funding from private foundations seems to be small. The te rms for these funds are mostly 2-3 years. Researchers have to be reviewed for the continuation of research.

Other potential LTER sites or projects

National parks are potential sites for LTER activities. There are visitor centers or wildlife centers managed by the Environment Agency in each of the national parks. Although these visitor centers are not designed for research work, wildlife centers faci litate research activities. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has some experimental projects outside Japan. The projects are not designed for long-term or for monitoring. However the possibilities of relating these JICA projects to LTER activi ties is a worth while consideration. Long-term environmental monitoring such as water pollution, air pollution and acidic precipitation have routinely been conducted by the governmental and regional authorities. Ecological research at these monitoring sit es may facilitate LTER activities.

Future activities: 2nd Regional Conference on International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER)- The East Asia and Pacific Regions

The second regional ILTER meeting will be held during 3-5 March 1997 in Tsukuba, Japan followed by a 2-day excursion. The sessions, both oral and poster, are held at conference rooms of the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba. We tentatively plan the excursion to Kansai area. On 6 and 7 March, participants joining the excursion, move by Shinkansen Train to Kansai area to visit Lake Biwa and Kasugayama Forest Reserve, and depart from Kansai Airport, a newly opened airport on 8 o r 9 March. (The alternative plan for the excursion is visiting Lakes Suwa and Kizaki in Nagano Prefecture. In the latter case, participants joining the excursion will return to Tokyo area and depart from Narita Airport on 8 March)

The goals of the meeting are:
Promoting LTER activities in Japan as well as East Asian and Pacific regions,
Promoting regional network and research cooperation, and 
Promoting biodiversity studies at the LTER sites

We will also discuss the following topics:
Global change and LTER 
LTER for environmental conservation and natural resources management
Interdisciplinary and comparative LTER
Networking and connectivity of LTER
Outreach and education in LTER
Further information will be launched by TI (Email: iwakuma@nies.go.jp)