Monitoring records of plant species in the Hakone region of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, Japan, 2001-2010

Takeshi Osawa1, Takeshi Osawa2

1 National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences / Hakone Park Volunteer, , Japan; 2 National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences / Hakone Park Volunteer, , Japan

Corresponding author(s): Takeshi Osawa (arosawa@gmail.com)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11284-013-1049-6 DOI: 10.1007/s11284-013-1049-6

Abstract

The monitoring of species occurrences is a crucial aspect of biodiversity conservation, and regional volunteerism can serve as a powerful tool in such endeavors. The Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park in the Hakone region of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, boasts a volunteer association of approximately 100 members. These volunteers have monitored plant species occurrences from 2001 to the present along several hiking trails in the region. In this paper, I present the annual observation records of plant occurrences in Hakone from 2001 to 2010. This data set includes 1071 species of plants from 151 families. Scientific names follow the Y List. And this data set includes several threatened plant species. Data files are formatted based on the Darwin Core and Darwin Core Archives, which are defined by the Biodiversity Information Standards (BIS) or Biodiversity Information Standards Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG). Data files filled on required and some additional item on Darwin Core. The data set can download from author’s personal Web site as of July 2012. These data will soon be published for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) through GBIF Japan. All users can then access the data from the GBIF portal site.

Keywords: Occurrence, Observation

Data published through GBIF: http://www.gbif.jp/ipt/resource.do?r=niaes_hpv1

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Hakone town is located within Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
Coordinates: 35°11'24''N and 35°16'12''N Latitude; 138°58'48''E and 139°5'60''E Longitude 

Natural collections description

Parent collection identifier: HPV
Collection name: HPV_observation
Collection identifier: observation

Methods

Method step description: Monitoring with only observation
Study extent description: Hakone town is located within Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. The town was divided into six regions (Fig. 1b) by the Flora-Kanagawa Association to research local flora (Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History 2001). This monitoring program was conducted along eight hiking trails in regions "Hakone-1, 2, and 4," which are located west of Hakone (Fig. 1b). Each trail is composed of a main pathway and several side paths. "Hakone-1" has three trails: 1) the Mt. Kintokiyama trail, which ascends to Mt. Kintoki and is dominated by forest edge and understory habitats; 2) the Kojiri-touge, which climbs Mt. Kojiri-touge and Mt. Kurotake and is also dominated by forest edge and understory habitats; and 3) the Sengokuhara hiking trail around the Sengokuhara wetland and along the Hayakawa River area, which is dominated by grassland habitats (Fig. 1c). "Hakone-2" has one trail, which comprises the western portion of the Ashinoko Lake trail that follows Ashinoko Lake and is dominated by forest edge and understory habitats (Fig. 1c). "Hakone 4" has four trails: 1) around the Hakone Visitor Center within a picnic area at Kojiri that is dominated by grassland habitats; 2) the Mt. Kamiyama and Mt. Komagatake trails, which climb Mt. Kamiyama and Mt. Komagatake, respectively, and are dominated by forest edge and understory habitats; 3) the Mt. Owakudani trail that ascends the Mt. Owakudani volcanic fume through a forest and is dominated by forest edge and understory habitats; and 4) the Yusakamichi hiking trail, which connects to the east side of Hakone along both forest edge and grassland habitats (Fig. 1c). Thus, the monitoring areas include several types of environments, such as mountainous areas, forest, wetland, river and lake riparian zones, and grassland areas. The approximate positions of the hiking trails are shown in Fig. 1.
Sampling description: Species occurrences were observed along eight hiking trails within the regions "Hakone-1," "Hakone-2," and "Hakone-4" in the town of Hakone (Fig. 1b). Observers walked along the hiking trails and recorded the plant species that they found, with particular focus on flowering species. Thus, not all plant species were always recorded. Observations were conducted at each hiking trail once or twice per month every year by at least two individual volunteers. Observations occasionally did not occur due to the lack of participants or to closure of the hiking trails. Typically, several volunteers were in charge of each hiking trail, and these members rarely changed.
Quality control description: All raw data were recorded using only Japanese names. Family and scientific names were ascertained as described using the Y List (http://bean.bio.chiba-u.jp/bgplants/ylist_main.html; accessed 15 February 2013). If the Japanese standard name could not be found in the Y List, the data were removed from the analysis. Family names were according to the Engler family described in the Y list. All species were identified using references based on morphological forms by members of the Hakone Park Volunteer Association.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Monitoring records of plant species in the Hakone region of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, Japan, 2001-2010
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://www.gbif.jp/ipt/archive.do?r=niaes_hpv1
Publication date of data: 2016-05-25
Language: English
Licenses of use: This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2013-06-03
Hierarchy level: Dataset