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Integrative Ecology Lab
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A lab that seeks an integrated understanding of the diversity and complexity of ecosystems.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering the common principles behind ecosystem complexity.
The Integrative Ecology Lab aims to gain an integrated understanding of the diversity, complexity, and adaptive evolution that characterize ecosystems.
Ecosystems are enormous complex systems driven by diverse organisms interacting with one another.
The lab uses a wide range of tools: analytical methods such as mathematical and statistical models, ecological monitoring data obtained from underwater visual surveys by diving, environmental DNA, and acoustic observation in the sea, and artificial ecosystem experiments using bacteria and insects.
Professor Kaori Fujita (concurrent appointment) studies biodiversity and natural capital in business, the relationship between natural capital disclosure and finance, sustainable procurement that takes the environment and society into account, and the SDGs and regional revitalization. Assistant Professor Kota Ishikawa studies behavioral ecology and community ecology. Assistant Professor Chisato Kobayashi (project appointment) studies plant-processing behavior of herbivorous insects, interspecific interactions surrounding herbivorous insects, the evolution of predator-avoidance behavior, and the relationship between humans and nature.
In the graduate school, the lab corresponds to the Integrative Ecology group of the Department of Ecological Developmental Adaptability Life Sciences, Graduate School of Life Sciences.
Key terms
- environmental DNA (eDNA)
- DNA of organisms contained in water. Seawater is collected and analyzed, and the method is used to track changes in fish ecosystems over time and space.
- complex system
- A huge system that operates through the interaction of countless elements. The lab views ecosystems, in which biotic and abiotic elements interact, in this way.
NewsLab news
A paper by Prof. Kondoh and colleagues was published in METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
A paper by Prof. Kondoh and colleagues was published in OIKOS
A paper by Prof. Kondoh and colleagues was published in JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
A paper by Prof. Kondoh and colleagues was published in Ecology and Evolution
A paper by Prof. Kondoh and colleagues was published in Environmental DNA
ResearchResearch themes
The lab combines field and laboratory surveys and experiments, mathematical and statistical models, and data analysis such as Empirical Dynamic Modeling, aiming to capture the essence of ecological phenomena and uncover the common principles hidden behind them.
*Illustrative imageStructure and dynamics of complex ecosystems
The lab studies the structure and dynamics of complex ecosystems. It asks how the harmony and functions, the regularity and irregularity, and the robustness and fragility seen in populations, communities, and ecosystems arise.
*Illustrative imageUnderstanding ecosystems through large-scale data such as environmental DNA
The lab works on establishing data-driven ecology based on large-scale ecosystem data such as environmental DNA surveys and trait databases. It also takes part in ANEMONE, a network that monitors environmental DNA in coastal waters, lakes, and rivers across Japan, and in an Earthwatch project that examines fish environmental DNA in seawater collected by citizens.
*Illustrative imageEvolution of plant reproductive strategies
The lab studies adaptive evolution related to plant reproductive strategies, such as strategies for investing resources in each floral organ, for attracting flower-visiting insects, and for seed production.
*Illustrative imageTechnologies to predict, control, and design ecosystems
The lab develops technologies to predict, control, and design ecosystem changes. At the Hub for Realizing a Nature-Positive Society, it helps solve biodiversity problems by developing observation technologies that capture the state of nature with high accuracy and assessment methods that make the value of nature visible.
MembersFaculty
In addition to faculty and researchers, the Integrative Ecology Lab has 8 doctoral students, 8 master's students, 2 fourth-year undergraduate students, and 1 research student (according to the lab's website).
- ProfessorMichio Kondoh
- Professor (Concurrent)Kaori Fujita
- Professor (Specially Appointed Research)Seiko Fukushima
- Professor (Specially Appointed Administration)Mayu Suzuki
- Assistant ProfessorAiko Iwasaki
- Assistant ProfessorAkifumi Tanabe
- Assistant ProfessorSIOUD IMANE
- Assistant ProfessorMinoru Osada
- Assistant ProfessorEmmanuel Jesuyon Dansu
- Assistant ProfessorYang Jiwei
- Assistant Professor (Center for Higher Education)Hiroshi Ota
- Assistant ProfessorKota Ishikawa
- Assistant Professor (Specially Appointed, Administration)Yosuke Ueda
- Assistant Professor (Specially Appointed, Research)Mitsuho Katoh
- Assistant Professor (Specially Appointed, Research)Chisato Kobayashi
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Coral reef colonies at Howland Island NWR ( )” USFWS Pacific / Public domain (cropped)
- Structure and dynamics of complex ecosystems: “Food web of the Venice lagoon” Heymans, J.J., Coll, M., Libralato, S., Morissette, L. and Christensen, V. / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Understanding ecosystems through large-scale data such as environmental DNA: “EDNA Water Sampling ( )” Monica Blaser, photographer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Midwest Region. USFWSmidwest / Public domain (cropped)
- Evolution of plant reproductive strategies: “Bee pollinating a rose” Debivort / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Technologies to predict, control, and design ecosystems: “Extracting total DNA from environmental DNA water filter samples collected in the field. ( )” Yellowstone National Park / Public domain (cropped)
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