The Creatures of SFC | Tomohiro Ichinose, Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
2024.07.23
Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) is located in the northern part of Fujisawa City, and the adjacent Endo Sasakuboya valley is said to be the area with the best-preserved natural environment in Fujisawa. SFC was established in 1990, and in 2001, the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care was newly established to the south of the Endo Sasakuboya valley. At that time, a biotope was created at the northern edge of the campus grounds. I joined the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies in 2008, so I am not familiar with the detailed circumstances of that time, but a few years after my appointment, I began conducting biota surveys and maintenance of the biotope as part of my research group's activities. Within the research group, it was named the Nursing Biotope Project. Later, as the scope of the survey expanded to the entire SFC, the name was changed to the SatoFC Project starting in fiscal year 2023. The name is a portmanteau of SFC and *satoyama* (a term for traditional Japanese rural landscapes).
The subjects of our surveys are plants, fish, crustaceans, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Although we are not able to comprehensively survey all life at SFC due to limited survey locations and methods, we confirmed a total of 474 species in fiscal year 2023. Biological surveys are generally centered around the period from spring to autumn. For birds, surveys are also conducted in winter when migratory birds come to Japan to overwinter. This means that for the research group, the busiest period is from the spring semester until around the beginning of the autumn semester. This past Tuesday (July 16, 2024) was the final meeting of the research group, where the survey results to date for each taxonomic group were reported. For example, regarding birds, we recorded 36 species in the area centered on the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies (hereafter, the Soukan Area), and 31 species in the area including the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care (hereafter, the Nursing Area) and the vicinity of Endo Sasakuboya Park. Including observations made outside of official survey times, the number rises to 43 species in the Soukan Area and 36 species in the area of the Nursing Area and Endo Sasakuboya Park. Since these are the numbers for the breeding season alone, this can be described as a remarkable richness of birdlife even within Fujisawa City.
Among birds, the northern goshawk can be observed almost every year both on and off the SFC campus. The common kingfisher, which is designated as the city bird of Fujisawa, has been frequently recorded at Gulliver Pond (Kamoike). To protect the species, I will not list individual species names here, but various endangered species have been recorded within SFC. Furthermore, a species was once recorded for the first time ever within Fujisawa City. Although not this year, a Japanese red fox was captured by an automated camera set up in the Nursing Area, marking the first record in Fujisawa City in several decades. Invasive species have also been confirmed; several raccoons, believed to be a family, are frequently photographed together.
To raise broad awareness about the creatures of SFC, we are proceeding with the creation of a field guide based on our results to date. First, we plan to introduce the organisms commonly seen at SFC. The students are working diligently to create it for this year's Open Research Forum, so please look forward to it.