| Biography | |
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 Prof. Takatoshi Ueno Institute of Biological Control, Faculty of Agriculture Kyushu University, Japan |
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| Title: Biodiversity, Farming-practice and Bio-indicator in Rice Paddies | |
| Abstract: I will present two lines of research that focuses on the relationship between functional biodiversity and farming practice in rice paddies; (1) revealing factors affecting functional biodiversity in paddy fields and (2) selecting bio-indicators reflecting both biodiversity and environmentally benign agricultural practices. Although biodiversity in cultivated land is generally poor, rice paddies in Asia sustain a relatively high level of biodiversity. Practicing environmentally friendly agriculture should enhance biodiversity. As the result, a high level of functional biodiversity, e.g., diversity of natural enemies of pest, will emerge, leading to the reduction of the pest populations or the risk of pest outbreak. By revealing factors affecting functional biodiversity in rice paddies, approaches to enhance the biodiversity will be discussed. Species diversity of natural enemies is often difficult to study because species identification is difficult and because hard work is required; by exploring index species or bio-indicators that reflect functional biodiversity, assessment of functional biodiversity can be an easies task. I will also discuss the usefulness of natural enemies like insect parasitoids and predators as bio-indicators in rice paddies and the perspectives for assessing and valuing environmentally benign practices in rice paddies. | |
| Biography: Takatoshi Ueno is an associate professor of the Institute of Biological Control, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University of Japan. He received his Master degree from Kobe University and PhD degree from Nagoya University. He has published more than 120 papers in scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. His research and teaching interests include “biology of insect parasitoids and predators” and “biological control with insect natural enemies” as well as “biodiversity in agro-ecosystems” with particular emphasis on the use of indicator organisms to assess biodiversity and environmental friendly farming practice. His current research projects also focus on invasive species. | |
