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Biogeographic Pattern of Japanese Birds: A Cluster Analysis of Faunal Similarity and a Review of Phylogenetic Evidence

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Species Diversity of Animals in Japan

Part of the book series: Diversity and Commonality in Animals ((DCA))

Abstract

The Japanese islands accommodate 102 native breeding species/subspecies of water birds (comprising 99 species belonging to 58 genera and 22 families) and 246 native breeding species/subspecies of land birds (comprising 156 species belonging to 101 genera and 40 families). The degree of endemism at the species/subspecies level is low in the former (11.8 %) and high in the latter (47.2 %). In this chapter, I investigated the geographic patterns of the community composition of land birds in detail. Using hierarchical and nonhierarchical methods, the cluster analysis of faunal similarity revealed that, despite high vagility, land birds on continental islands exhibited the same biogeographic patterns as other terrestrial vertebrates. This result suggests that the land birds and non-volant terrestrial vertebrates have evolved under the strong influence of the island geohistory, including the appearance and disappearance of land bridges. The cluster analysis also revealed that, in contrast to the non-volant terrestrial vertebrates, the Japanese land birds formed comparatively rich and distinct faunas on these oceanic islands.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, 115 Konoyama, Abiko, Chiba, 270-1145, Japan

    Takeshi Yamasaki

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  1. Takeshi Yamasaki
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Correspondence to Takeshi Yamasaki .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Masaharu Motokawa

  2. Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Hiroshi Kajihara

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Yamasaki, T. (2017). Biogeographic Pattern of Japanese Birds: A Cluster Analysis of Faunal Similarity and a Review of Phylogenetic Evidence. In: Motokawa, M., Kajihara, H. (eds) Species Diversity of Animals in Japan. Diversity and Commonality in Animals. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56432-4_4

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