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The central mountainous area of Japan is affected by air pollutant emissions from nearby countries such as China and Korea. Sharp increases in the consumption of fossil fuels in the early 21st century, associated with rapid industrialization in China, resulted in long-range transport of pollutants from East Asia and increases in the harmful effects of pollution. However, the air pollutants emissions have decreased since 2006, when air pollution countermeasures were implemented in China. Furthermore, climatic patterns during 2008-2013 reduced tropospheric ozone concentrations around Japan. Such major changes in the social and climatic environment may have had a significant impact on forests. To investigate this, long-term forest monitoring data obtained at Buna-daira (1190 m a.s.l.), Buna-zaka (1090 m a.s.l.) and Arimine (1350 m a.s.l.) were analyzed. Buna-daira and Buna-zaka forests face the continental side of Mt. Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture. In both stands, the girth growth rate of Fagus crenata was found to have increased after 2008; however, such a tendency was not detected at Arimine, which is surrounded by mountains. The growth rates of Cryptomeria japonica, a conifer resistant to air pollution, were found to remain unchanged or decrease. Here, regional long-range transport of air pollution (including ozone and sulfur oxide) has been demonstrated to influence mountain forests in Japan. In particular, recent decreases in regional air pollution may be an important factor controlling increases in F. crenata, likely through changes in interspecific relationships between species sensitive to and tolerant of air pollution., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Dicyemids are parasites found in the renal sac of cephalopods. The first species of dicyemid was found from kidneys of the Korean common octopus Callistoctopus minor ., Objectives: This study aimed to identify the dicyemid and investigate the effect on renal sac of host., Methods: In this study, we compared the morphological characteristics of isolate to dicyemids ( Dicyema sphyrocephalum , Dicyema clavatum , and Dicyema dolichocephalum ) reported from C. minor in Japan. We compared the 18S ribosomal RNA (rDNA) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of isolate to the sequences of D. shyrocephalum and D. clavatum . The infected octopuses renal tissues were histologically compared with the tissues of uninfected individuals., Results: The morphological characteristic of this isolated species corresponds to D. sphyrocephalum . The sequences similarities of 18S rDNA and COI gene of isolate are 99.7% and 98.1% with D. sphyrocephalum . We observed morphological changes in the epithelia folds of kidney at the dicyemids attached areas., Conclusions: The present study identified the isolate as D. sphyrocephalum and this is the first report of dicyemid species from Republic of Korea. Further studies on the effects of dicyemids on growth and health status of cephalopods will be needed., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2020 The Korean Society of Veterinary Science.)