Distribution and life histories of tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) in Tottori Sand Dunes (Tottori City, Honshu, Japan) with remarks on the extinction of Calomera angulata.

2013年から2014年にかけて鳥取砂丘の全域でハンミョウ類の生息調査をおこない，カワラハンミョウの幼虫の巣穴が砂丘のほぼ全域にみられるのに対し，エリザハンミョウのそれはオアシス周辺の湿り気のある砂泥地表に限定されていることを確認した。1990年代までオアシス周辺で生息が確認されていたハラビロハンミョウは確認できず，鳥取砂丘からは絶滅したと判断される。当地は環境省国立公園の特別保護地区であり，採集は厳密に規制されているのでこの絶滅は1994年からはじまった除草に影響された可能性が強く疑われる。本種の鳥取砂丘内での最終確認は1997年である。カワラハンミョウとエリザハンミョウについてはコドラート調査により，カワラハンミョウは基本的に年1化で1 ～ 2齢の幼虫で越冬，エリザハンミョウも年1化だがすべての齢で越冬していると推定された。巣穴は1年をとおして集中分布でとくに若齢幼虫の多い秋季にはその傾向がめだった。We surveyed distributions and life histories of cicindelid beetles in Tottori Sand Dunes, Tottori Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. Larval nests of Chaetodera laetescripta were widely found in the bare arenaceous ground around vegetation of sandy shore plants in the dunes, while those of Cilindela elisae were limited to the bare silt-mingling arenaceous ground along the stream flowing into the pool called “Oasis”. No adults and nests of Calomera angulata (Fabricius, 1798) that had been found up to 1990s around “Oasis”were found. Absence of the records of Calomera angulata from Tottori Sand Dunes after the last observation in 1997 strongly suggests extinction of the species in the area. It is highly suggested that weeding activities that started in 1994 in Tottori Sand Dunes influenced negatively for the occurrence of the species, because Tottori Sand Dunes has been designated as a special protection area of the national parks by the Japan Ministry of Environment and collecting animals and plants and other activities that may influence conservation of the environment are strictly regulated. Chaetodera laetescripta and Cilindela elisae were univoltine and adults appeared from July. Analyses of dispersion pattern of larval nests for the two species showed contagious distribution

Temperature effect on nitrogen removal performance and bacterial community in culture of marine anammox bacteria derived from sea-based waste disposal site

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria have been detected in variety ofmarine environment in recent years, however, there have been only a few studies on theircharacteristics in the culture. The aim of this study is to reveal the effect of temperature on nitrogen removal ability and bacterial community in a culture of marine anammox bacteria (MAAOB). The MAAOB was cultured from the sediment of a sea-based waste disposal site at the North Port of Osaka Bay in Japan. The maximum nitrogen removal rate (NRR) was observed at 25°C in the MAAOB culture, and it decreased both at below 20°C and over 33°C. The activation energy of the MAAOB culture was calculated to be 54.6 kJ mol-1 in the 5 to 30°C range. No significant change in bacterial community according with temperature (5-37°C) was confirmed in the results of polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). A number of sulfur-metabolizing bacteria were confirmed in the MAAOB culture, thus some kind of relationship between MAAOB and sulfur-metabolizing bacteria was speculated