Abstract
The Ogasawara Islands are created in the process of island-arc formation due to the ongoing subduction of an oceanic plate; these islands have witnessed unique speciation histories due to their remoteness from mainland Japan and any other continental landmass. The Ogasawara Islands were inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage List as a Natural Property due to high species endemism, adaptive radiation, and low extinction rates, but the total landform–landscape–ecosystem uniqueness and value deserves to be upheld as a natural heritage. Today, these islands have become one of the premier ecotourism destinations in Japan, but at the same time, tourism has the potential to negatively affect these isolated environments. This chapter explains the outstanding universal value of this heritage and analyzes the threat of invasive species for native ecosystems and challenges for managing tourism in a way that can help preserve this highly valuable system.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
“Hot spots” are postulated as locations directly above mantle plumes that create active volcanoes when unusually hot magma pierces the Lithosphere (Morgan 1971). However, the hypothesis has courted controversy since it was first proposed to explain the formation of the Hawaiian Islands, and the a priori existence of superhot mantle plumes is an increasingly criticized concept now. For more details, see Foulger (2010).
References
Chiba S (1989) Mandarina in Anijima, Ogasawara Islands. Ogasawara Res 12:49–55
Chiba S (2004) Ecological and morphological patterns in communities of land snails of the genus Mandarina from the Bonin Islands. J Evol Biol 17:131–143
Foulger GR (2010) Plates vs plumes: a geological controversy. Wiley Blackwell, Chichester
Government of Japan (2010) Nomination of the Ogasawara Islands for inscription on the World Heritage List. http://ogasawara-info.jp/pdf/isan/recommendation_en.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2017
Horikoshi K, Itoh K, Hayama S, Murayama A, Suzuki H, Traylor-Holzer K, Ballou J, Miller P (eds) (2010) Red-headed wood pigeon population and habitat variety assessment workshop final report. Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, IUCN/SSC, Apple Valley, MN
Ishihara S, Kosaka W, Morimoto K (2010) Ogasawara Shoto no ekotsurizumu wo Meguru Chiiki Shakai no Shiko Sakugo: Nanto Ruru Kadai wo Chushin ni (Trial and error of regional society over the ecotourism of Ogasawara Islands: a matter of Nanto rule). Ogasawara Kenkyu Nenpo 33:7–25 (In Japanese).
IUCN (2015) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed 6 May 2017
Lowe S, Browne M, Boudjelas S, De Pooter M (2000) 100 of the World’s worst invasive alien species: a selection from the global invasive species database. Invasive Species Specialist Group, SSC, IUCN
Ministry of the Environment (2012) Red list of threatened species, 4th edn. http://www.biodic.go.jp/rdb/rdb_f.html. Accessed 6 May 2017 (In Japanese)
Ministry of the Environment (2015) Ogasawara Shoto Gairai Planaria rui no Shinnyu Kakudai Boshi ni Kansuru Taiohoshin (Invasive alien species of Ogasawara—flatworms). Ministry of the Environment. http://ogasawara-info.jp/pdf/isan/guideline_invasive_1.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2017 (In Japanese)
Morgan WJ (1971) Convection plumes in the lower Mantle. Nature 230:42–43
Nature Conservation Society of Japan (2002) Shizenhogo NGO Hanseiki no Ayumi (Fifty years record of nature conservation NGO). Heibonsha, Tokyo (In Japanese)
Ogasawara World Heritage Area Regional Liason Committee (2013) Ogasawara Shoto Anijima ni okeru Green Anole Tanki Bojo Keikaku (Short term eradication plan of Green Anole at Anijima). http://ogasawara-info.jp/pdf/chiiki2501/2501_shiryou1-2.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2017 (In Japanese)
Sasaki T (2014) Ogasawara Shoto no Neko Taisaku- Genzai no Stage (Cat control in Ogasawara Islands—current stage). Toju J 564:18–19. http://tvma.or.jp/news/items/img-516134839.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2017 (In Japanese)
Schluter D (2000) The ecology of adaptive radiation. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Song D, Kuwahara A (2016) Ecotourism and World heritage: its influence on islands in Japan. J Mar Island Cult 5:36–46
Suzuki K (2010) Poritikusu to shite no Sekai Isan (World heritage as politics). Kanko Kagaku Kenkyu 3:57–69 (In Japanese)
Uchida S, Mori H, Kojima T, Hayama K, Sakairi Y, Chiba S (2016) Population decrease of land snails by introduction of Big-headed ant (Pheidole megacephala) into Ogasawara Islands. ESJ63 P1-389. Ecological Society of Japan
Working Group on Prevention of Introduction of New Alien Species (2016) Sekai Isan Chiiki Ogasawara Shoto Aratana Giraishu no Shinnyu Boshi ni Kansuru Kento no Seika to Kongo no Kadai no Seiri (Strategy to prevent introduction and expansion of alien species in Ogasawara Islands World natural heritage area). http://ogasawara-info.jp/pdf/isan/challenge_invasive%20alien%20species_3.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2017 (In Japanese)
World Heritage Committee (2011) Decision 35 COM 8B.11 Ogasawara Islands (Japan). http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/4282. Accessed 6 May 2017
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yoshida, M. (2018). Ogasawara Islands World Heritage Area: An Outstanding Ecological Heritage. In: Chakraborty, A., Mokudai, K., Cooper, M., Watanabe, M., Chakraborty, S. (eds) Natural Heritage of Japan. Geoheritage, Geoparks and Geotourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61896-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61896-8_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61895-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61896-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)