Yuki Kanamori, Ph.D.
Yuki Kanamori, Ph.D.
Iwate University (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Species-Specific Distributional Shifts under Climate Change and Their Consequences for Community Structure and Ecosystem Functioning
Organisms respond to climate change in diverse ways. While many species are shifting their ranges poleward, into deeper waters, or to higher elevations, others exhibit limited spatial redistribution. For example, around Japan, the spawning grounds of chub mackerel have gradually shifted northward since 2000 (Kanamori et al. 2019), while those of the closely related species, spotted mackerel, have shown little change (Kanamori et al. 2021). Similarly, although the geographic distribution of spiny dogfish has remained relatively stable, the timing of its seasonal migration into waters around Japan has advanced (Kanamori et al. 2023). I study how such species-specific responses to climate change—across spatial and temporal dimensions—scale up to reshape community structure and ecosystem functioning (Kanamori et al. 2024).
Impacts of Ocean Warming and Marine Heatwaves on Intertidal Benthic Fisheries Resources along the Sanriku Coast
The intertidal resources along the Sanriku Coast —such as wakame seaweed, Matsumo algae, and whelks—are critical to local fishing economies, particularly supporting elderly and female fishers. Despite their socioeconomic importance, these resources are not included in the Fisheries Agency's resource assessments, and their status—including stock levels and trends of increase or decrease—is not fully understood. Furthermore, despite the evident impacts of ocean warming and marine heatwaves in the Sanriku Sea area, their effects on these intertidal resources remain scientifically unclear. Therefore, targeting intertidal resources along the Sanriku coast, we are conducting: ① assessments of resource status, including stock levels and trends of increase/decrease; and ② evaluations of the impacts of ocean warming and marine heatwaves on resource fluctuations. We then integrate the results of ① and ② to visualize the characteristics of individual intertidal resources using the “Sanriku Plot,” aiming to propose necessary adaptation measures for the future.
Thermophilization and Climatic Debt in Forest Communities: A Multi-Climatic Comparison Using National Forest Inventory Data
Under climate change, forest communities are shifting toward warmer-adapted tree species. However, this pace cannot keep up with the speed of climate change, resulting in a “climate debt” reported worldwide. Yet, the extent to which the patterns and underlying ecological processes are common across climatic zones remains poorly understood. Therefore, using over 300 species from nationwide forest inventory data collected in Japan's natural forests, we compare the time-series changes in community temperature indices, climate debt, ecological processes (regeneration, growth, mortality), and the human and non-human factors driving them across multiple climate zones.
2018.04~2020.03 Postdoctoral fellow at National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Fisheries Research Agency
2020.04~2024.03 Postdoctoral fellow at Fisheries Resources Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency
2024.04~ Associate Professor at Iwate University
y.kanamory at gmail~