Many tiny yellow poppies are grown in the town area of Rishiri Island, Japan. Because the phenotype of this cultivated poppy is similar to that of Papaver fauriei, which is endemic to Mt. Rishiri, Rishiri Island, residents on the island call the cultivated poppy ''P. fauriei'' although the origin of the cultivated poppy is uncertain. To estimate the origin of the cultivated poppy, its internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence was compared with those found in the Far East wild poppies P. fauriei, P. alboroseum, P. miyabeanum and P. nudicaule. Although the ITS sequence of the cultivated poppy was not identical to those found in the wild species, it was most similar to that of P. miyabeanum, indicating that the cultivated poppy is not P. fauriei. However, cultivated poppy seeds have been sown several times over a period of at least 20 years in wild P. fauriei habitats on Mt. Rishiri in the hope of aiding the recovery of P. fauriei populations in wild habitats. Poppy plants in the wild habitats where such seeds have been sown showed the same ITS sequences as those of the cultivated poppy, indicating that the cultivated poppy is established in these wild habitats. This is a case of a nonindigenous species being introduced to wild habitats through human actions.
Visitor information often serves as the basis for the management plan of parks. However, there exist few scientific and fundamental surveys for parks and open spaces in Japan. We analyzed the correlation between the number of visitors and the various factors in a suburban open space in a northern Japanese city, Takino Park. To explain the fluctuations in the number of visitors in Takino Park, multiple regression analyses with the stepwise method were conducted. The analyses employed social factors and meteorological factors, such as the day of the week, school vacations, temperature and the weather. The results show that the most influential factor is the day of the week, i.e., Sundays and holidays. The weather is also influential as the number of visitors decreases on rainy and snowy days. Comparing different seasons of the year, we found that influential factors varied from one season to the other. A key distinguishing finding of our results is that the weather conditions at the departure site and the weather forecast are also determining factors. These findings will help park managers understand the current situations and examine future management strategies to maintain and enhance visitor satisfaction, and improve information services.
OPEN ACCESSForests 2012, 3 156
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