Biodiversity of Sakhalin Island

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will conduct the initial, first-year phase of detailed biotic survey and inventory of the Russian island of Sakhalin. A team of Russian, Japanese, and American scientists will conduct a survey and inventory of the plants, insects, spiders, freshwater and terrestrial mollusks, freshwater fishes, amphibians, and reptiles. This work is a logical and much needed extension to the previous seven years of similar work by the investigators in the Russian Kuril Archipelago. As one of four primary source biotas for the colonization of the Kuril Islands--the others being Hokkaido, the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Asian mainland--Sakhalin is by far the least known biologically and in the greatest danger of over exploitation. Narrowly separated from the continent for nearly 1,000 km and almost touching Hokkaido, Japan, at its southern tip, it forms a natural filter or barrier to dispersal of plants and animals from the Asian mainland to the Kurils. Although considerable information is available for wide-ranging, commercially important species, such as king crab, salmon, cod, and various marine mammals, the flora and fauna of Sakhalin as a whole are poorly known. At the same time, a steep rise in commercial exploitation of natural resources poses a serious environmental threat to the island. Using standardized survey methods, modern computer-based inventory procedures, and dissemination of information through the Internet, the results of the survey will provide important baseline data on patterns of species diversity that can be compared accurately with the Kuril Islands and other regions sampled in similar ways. Working cooperatively with universities and the national and local governments of the host country, the project will provide training for faculty, students, and government biologists. Finally, the work will provide a foundation of information that will promote long-term future research as well as conservation of the unique island biotas of the entire Sakhalin-Kuril administrative district.