Study species

​

Brown Shrike, Stejneger's Stonechat, Shrike, Narcissus Flycatchher, Eastern Crowned Leaf-Warbler, Common Cuckoo, and other Japanese birds

Why are migratory routes so diverse?

 

Every fall, billions of animals migrate thousands of kilometers from north to south, conducting "seasonal migration". They migrate south to avoid the extremely cold winters of the north, which are difficult for survival and growth and return to the north to breed in the next spring. Traveling over thousands of kilometers is fraught with danger. Therefore, each migratory species use its own "safe routes," called migratory routes. Migratory routes exist all over the earth in a variety of forms. For example, arctic terns migrate between the North and South poles every year. Kamchatka cuckoos migrate all the way from the eastern end of Eurasia to Africa.

 

How did the diverse migratory routes end up with covering the world?

​

 

East Asia

​

East Asia and Australasian Flyway (EAAF), to which Japan belongs, is made up of a variety of islands and the continent, haboring a variety of migratory routes (Figure 1). This is probably in contrast to the American and European flyways, where many species migrate along similar routes across the continent.

 

While uncovering unknown migratory routes in East Asia, I am working to understand whether and how different migratory routes have evolved.

​

 

Nation-wide Comprehensive Migratory Bird Tracking Project

 

Understanding the diversity of East Asian migratory routes requires large-scale tracking across the countries. Of course, there are limits to what one person can do.

 

I am recruiting co-researchers and research collaborators from all over the country (+ globe!), and am trying to establish research groups in each region that can track migratory birds.​

 

For more information see This Page

​

 

The relationship between the biogeographic history of the Brown Shrike and its migratory route

 

This research incorporated tracking of migratory routes into phylogeography, which investigated historical changes in the organismal distribution.

 

​Contents in preparation

​

Aoki et al. 2021 Migration-tracking integrated phylogeography supports long-distance dispersal-driven divergence for a migratory bird species in the Japanese archipelago. Ecology & Evolution

​