Resource supply from the foothills to the peaks: Insects blown or flown from the foothills become an important food resource for alpine birds

by Chiba University
Feb. 27, 2025

Professor Masashi Murakami of the Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, and Daichi Iijima (currently an assistant professor at the University of Tsukuba’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the first author) used Mt. Norikura (3,026m above sea level), located between Nagano and Gifu prefectures, as a model ecosystem to examine the importance of arthropods transported from the foothills of the mountain, such as the subalpine and mountainous zones, to the alpine zone (above about 2,500m) as a food resource for alpine birds. As a result, it was revealed that arthropods transported from the foothills are the main food resource used by alpine birds in the early stages of breeding. The results of this research are expected to contribute to understanding the formation of alpine ecosystems and to add a new perspective to the formulation of future conservation measures.

Keep reading (in Japanese): https://www.cn.chiba-u.jp/news/250227_1/

Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70037