On Nishinoshima, one of the Ogasawara Islands, where life was thought to have disappeared due to a large-scale eruption, a survey by the Ministry of the Environment found insects that lived on the island before the eruption attached to the carcasses of seabirds. .
The experts who investigated are deciding to investigate in detail assuming that there were creatures that survived after the eruption.
Nishinoshima, about 130 km west of Chichijima in the Ogasawara Islands, has been erupting since 2013. About three years ago, the entire island was covered in lava and volcanic ash, and life disappeared. However, in order to investigate the ecosystem after the eruption, the Ministry of the Environment is working with experts to conduct ecological surveys on land and in the surrounding sea using drones.
The results of a survey conducted last month were made public, according to which it is said that insects that inhabited the island before the eruption, such as "flying cutlet beetle" and "yaniirohamimushi", were confirmed among seabird carcasses found on land along the coast. As a result, the experts who accompanied the survey point out that a few survived without dying even though they were greatly affected by the eruption, and the distribution is gradually expanding.
In addition, breeding of five types of seabirds was confirmed on land.
In addition, while new creatures such as sea anemones and teppo shrimp were found in the sea area that were not found in last year's survey, large algae that were believed to have lived before the eruption were still not found. It points out that nutrients from the land are poor due to such effects.
The Ministry of the Environment will examine the organisms collected this time in detail, and will continue research and analysis in the future.