Taiga SASAGAWA Assistant Professor (Research fellowship-PD)

Taiga SASAGAWA
Assistant Professor (Research fellowship-PD)

Researchmap

• Institute for Advanced Academic Research / Center for Environmental Remote Sensing Sciences

• Keywords

  Sasa (dwarf bamboo), Satellite Remote Sensing, In-situ Observation, Forest Ecology, Phenological Eyes Network (PEN)

• Professional Memberships

  The Ecological Society of Japan, The Japanese Forest Society, Japan Society of Forest Planning, The Society of Agricultural Meteorology of Japan, The Remote Sensing Society of Japan, Japan Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU), American Geophysical Union (AGU), European Geosciences Union (EGU), Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS)

Research Theme

[A] Investigating Long-Term and Global Changes in Plant Phenology Using Satellite Data
[B] Assessing the Impact of Sasa’s Gregarious Flowering and Die-Off on Forest Dynamics

Abstract

[A] I aim to assess the impact of climate change on seasonal vegetation changes (i.e., vegetation phenology) by employing Earth observation data observed by artificial satellites. In particular, I plan to utilize data obtained from geostationary satellites, whose analysis and management have been globally led by Chiba University in collaboration with research organizations, including JAXA and NASA. Moreover, I worked as a core member of the Phenological Eyes Network (PEN), a global in-situ observation framework that is indispensable for satellite data analysis.

[B] Sasa (dwarf bamboo), a common vegetation species found in Japanese forests, has a mysterious characteristic: “gregarious flowering and die-off,” which occurs at intervals ranging from several decades to over a century. Sasa’s gregarious flowering and die-off can occur even when individuals are geographically isolated, and it significantly impacts forest ecology in many ways. I focus on the gregarious flowering and die-off that occurred in the Hokkaido region between 2022 and 2023 and aim to identify the period of flowering and die-off, quantify their impact on forest ecosystems, and reconstruct paleoclimates in the Hokkaido region by combining (a) satellite data analysis, (b) fieldwork, (c) genetic analysis, (d) ancient records analysis, and (e) forest modeling.