Campaigning to save wild population of Japanese red maple

Japan is a diversity centre for maple species, including three that are threatened with extinction in the wild: A. amamiense, A. miyabei and A. pycnanthum. Each is faced with different challenges, and A. pycnanthum, the Japanese red maple, is now faced with a new threat: the construction of a new railway line through one of its most important populations in Mitake, […]

Maples in the Mountains Provide Clues to Past Distribution

In a recent study published in the American Journal of Botany, researchers from the University of Tsukuba revealed that the mountainous landscape of Central Honshu, Japan, has played a role in shaping the genetic diversity of the maple species Acer miyabei. Acer miyabei is found mainly in river floodplains, from lowland to mountainous areas. The species was once […]