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Changes in precipitation distribution associated with a surface temperature rise in the late 1980s, which accompanied a climatic regime shift, are investigated using Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System (AMeDAS) data of the Japan Meteorological Agency, and their relations with the variability of surface pressure patterns are revealed. After the temperature rise, the frequency of winter monsoon pressure patterns did not decrease. According to the classification of pressure patterns, long-term variations of surface pressure pattern frequencies showed negative relations between the winter monsoon and high-pressure patterns before 1992, which subsequently changed to the negative relations between the winter monsoon and traveling low-pressure systems. After the temperature rise, in years when low-pressure patterns prevailed, precipitation increases were observed in western Japan due to low-pressure systems traveling over the Pacific coast, and in wider areas from central Japan to Kyusyu areas due to low-pressure systems traveling over the Sea of Japan. Recently, the frequency of stationary front patterns has been increasing with precipitation increasing in the Setouchi area of western Japan. In years with a warm winter, precipitation increased in wider areas of the Pacific coast to inland areas of central Japan. In cold winters, low-pressure systems traveling over the Pacific coast decreased precipitation in central to western Japan. However, after a temperature rise, low-pressure systems traveling over the Sea of Japan decreased precipitation at the coast of the sea of Japan from central Japan to Hokkaido.

Timing of breeding in terrestrial birds has been progressed with the global warming trend during recent decades. This paper reviewed the inter-annual trends of the timing of breeding in seabirds and potential mechanisms driving these changes. Their timing of breeding was progressed in 3 of 4 cases in the Arctic at the rates of 0.3-1.5 d/year, but it was delayed in 6 of 10 cases in the Antarctic at slower rates (

地球温暖化の海洋生態系へ与える影響を理解する手段のひとつとして、歴史的資料を用いた気候変動と海洋構造の変化、それに伴う生物群集の応答についての長期モニタリングと解析が世界の様々な海域で現在行われている。北海道西部の日本海に面した石狩湾南西部に位置する忍路湾では、1947年から2004年まで長期にわたって定期的な海洋観測と植物プランクトン採集が行なわれ、その一部はすでに報告されている。本研究ではこれらの長期連続採集試料のうち、1984-2004年（21年間）の試料を用いて、植物プランクトンの種査定と細胞数密度の算出を行い、現存量（細胞数密度）と群集構造の長期変動と同湾の環境要因との関係を明らかにすることを目的とした。, Phytoplankton samplings with 0.1 mm mesh nets were made bi-weekly or monthly at Oshoro-Bay, western Hokkaido, during 1984 through 2004 (21 years). Sea surface temperature (SST), specific gravity (SG) and transparency (TRANS) were also determined at each sampling. Daylight length (DAYLIGHT) was available from Homepage of Meteological Agency. Throughout the study period, the abundance of phytoplankton ranged from 5.2 to 179,682 cells L^- 1 (grand mean: 3,037) in which centric diatoms were most abundant (mean: 79.5% of the total), followed by pennate diatoms (17.0%) and dinoflagellates (3.5%). The total number of species identified was 99 for centric diatoms, 35 for pennate diatoms and 23 for dinoflagellates. From a cluster analysis based on Bray-Curtis similarity index, phytoplankton communities were classified into five groups. With regards to long-term patterns, the regime shift (cool to warm) that occurred in 1989/1990 in the broader Northern Hemisphere was detected in the anomalies of SST and the total phytoplankton abundance, but was not reflected in the data for SG, TRANS or phytoplankton community structure. Rather, partial autocorrelation analysis for environmental factors (SST, SG, TRANS and DAYLIGHT) and phytoplankton abundance, and a cluster analysis for phytoplankton community structure revealed that the most predominant pattern was seasonal, reflecting local climate events with 12-month cycles.