Asian Islands Research Articles

Molecular phylogeny and biogeography ofAstilbe(Saxifragaceae) in Asia and eastern North America

Phylogenetic analyses were conducted for Astilbe (Saxifragaceae), an Asian/eastern North American disjunct genus, using sequences of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and plastid matK, trnL-trnF and psbA-trnH regions. The monophyly of Astilbe is well supported by both ITS and plastid sequences. Topological incongruence was detected between the plastid and the ITS trees, particularly concerning the placement of the single North American species, A. biternata, which may be most probably explained by its origin involving hybridization and/or allopolyploidy with plastid capture. In Astilbe, all species with hermaphroditic flowers constitute a well-supported clade; dioecious species form a basal grade to the hermaphroditic clade. Astilbe was estimated to have split with Saxifragopsis from western North America at 20.69 Ma (95% HPD: 12.14–30.22 Ma) in the early Miocene. This intercontinental disjunction between Astilbe and Saxifragopsis most likely occurred via the Bering land bridge. The major clade of Astilbe (all species of the genus excluding A. platyphylla) was inferred to have a continental Asian origin. At least three subsequent migrations or dispersals were hypothesized to explain the expansion of Astilbe into North America, Japan and tropical Asian islands. The intercontinental disjunct lineage in Astilbe invokes a hybridization event either in eastern Asia or in North America. This disjunction in Astilbe may be explained by a Beringian migration around 3.54 Ma (95% high posterior density: 1.29–6.18 Ma) in the late Tertiary, although long-distance dispersal from eastern Asia to North America is also likely. The biogeographical connection between continental Asia, Taiwan, the Philippines and other tropical Asian islands in Astilbe provides evidence for the close floristic affinity between temperate or alpine south-western China and tropical Asia.

Biodiversity Assessment in Incomplete Inventories: Leaf Litter Ant Communities in Several Types of Bornean Rain Forest

Biodiversity assessment of tropical taxa is hampered by their tremendous richness, which leads to large numbers of singletons and incomplete inventories in survey studies. Species estimators can be used for assessment of alpha diversity, but calculation of beta diversity is hampered by pseudo-turnover of species in undersampled plots. To assess the impact of unseen species, we investigated different methods, including an unbiased estimator of Shannon beta diversity that was compared to biased calculations. We studied alpha and beta diversity of a diverse ground ant assemblage from the Southeast Asian island of Borneo in different types of tropical forest: diperocarp forest, alluvial forest, limestone forest and heath forests. Forests varied in plant composition, geology, flooding regimes and other environmental parameters. We tested whether forest types differed in species composition and if species turnover was a function of the distance between plots at different spatial scales. As pseudo-turnover may bias beta diversity we hypothesized a large effect of unseen species reducing beta diversity. We sampled 206 ant species (25% singletons) from ten subfamilies and 55 genera. Diversity partitioning among the four forest types revealed that whereas alpha species richness and alpha Shannon diversity were significantly smaller than expected, beta-diversity for both measurements was significantly higher than expected by chance. This result was confirmed when we used the unbiased estimation of Shannon diversity: while alpha diversity was much higher, beta diversity differed only slightly from biased calculations. Beta diversity as measured with the Chao-Sørensen or Morisita-Horn Index correlated with distance between transects and between sample points, indicating a distance decay of similarity between communities. We conclude that habitat heterogeneity has a high influence on ant diversity and species turnover in tropical sites and that unseen species may have only little impact on calculation of Shannon beta diversity when sampling effort has been high.

Pleistocene speciation with and without gene flow in Euphaea damselflies of subtropical and tropical East Asian islands

Climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene period could have had a profound impact on the origin of tropical species by the alternation of allopatric isolation and interpopulation gene flow cycles. However, whether tropical speciation involves strictly allopatric isolation, or proceeds in the face of homogenizing gene flow, is relatively unclear. Here, we investigated geographical modes of speciation in four closely related Euphaea damselfly species endemic to the subtropical and tropical East Asian islands using coalescent analyses of a multilocus data set. The reconstructed phylogenies demonstrated distinct species status for each of the four species and the existence of two sister species pairs, Euphaea formosa/E. yayeyamana and E. decorata/E. ornata. The species divergence time of the sibling Euphaea damselflies dates back to within the last one Mya of the Middle to Lower Pleistocene. The speciation between the populous E. formosa of Taiwan and the less numerous E. yayeyamana of the Yaeyama islands occurred despite significant bidirectional, asymmetric gene flow, which is strongly inconsistent with a strictly allopatric model. In contrast, speciation of the approximately equal-sized populations of E. decorata of the southeast Asian mainland and E. ornata of Hainan is inferred to have involved allopatric divergence without gene flow. Our findings suggest that differential selection of natural or sexual environments is a prominent driver of species divergence in subtropical E. formosa and E. yayeyamana; whereas for tropical E. decorata and E. ornata at lower latitudes, allopatric isolation may well be a pivotal promoter of species formation.

Morphometric and genetic differentiation of two sibling gossamer-wing damselflies, Euphaea formosa and E. yayeyamana, and adaptive trait divergence in subtropical East Asian islands.

Insular species frequently demonstrate different tendencies to become smaller or larger than their continental relatives. Two sibling gossamer—wing damselflies, Euphaea formosa (Odonata: Euphaeidae) from Taiwan and E. yayeyamana from the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, have no clear structural differentiation, and can only be recognized by their geographical distribution, sizes, and subtle differences in wing shape and coloration. This study combined morphometric and genetic techniques to investigate the adaptive significance of trait divergence and species status in these two Euphaea damselflies. Phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial cox2 sequences demonstrated that the two damselflies are monophyletic lineages and constitute valid phylogenetic species. The landmark—based geometric morphometrics indicated that the two damselflies are different morphological species characterized by distinctive wing shapes. The larger E. formosa exhibited broader hind wings, whereas E. yayeyamana had narrower and elongated forewings. The body size and wing shape variations among populations of the two species do not follow the expected pattern of neutral evolution, suggesting that the evolutionary divergence of these two traits is likely to be subjected to natural or sexual selection. The decreased body size, elongated forewings, and narrower hind wings of E. yayeyamana may represent insular adaptation to limited resources and reduced territorial competition on smaller islands.

Treating chronic hepatitis in Asian and Pacific Island populations: A comparison of program costs according to current treatment guidelines.

193 Background: Hepatitis B (HBV) infection is endemic in many Asian and Pacific Island countries, with 25-40% of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients developing cirrhosis or hepatocellular cancer (HCC). Increased migration from high HBV prevalence countries leads to Vietnamese-born Americans and Australians 11-13 times more likely to develop HCC than other groups. As antiviral therapy is more cost-effective than HCC screening, we developed a program of hepatitis B screening, monitoring and treatment targeting high–risk populations in Sydney aged >35 years (the median age for HBeAg sero-conversion in Asian populations). Here we compare estimated program costs using guidelines for HBV treatment in hepatitis B e antigen negative populations. Methods: Using a Markov model, we modelled CHB disease progression and management costs using guidelines published by the American, European and Asian Pacific Associations for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD, EASL and APASL) and algorithms created by US hepatology experts and our B Positive program, using different levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) for treatment initiation. We factored in costs for CHB screening and surveillance for liver damage provided by specialists and/or primary care providers, including CHB and HCC treatment, individualised by viral load and ALT levels. Costs were discounted by 5% and calculated in Australian dollars (AUD); incremental costs used AASLD guidelines as a baseline. Results: Assuming a 25% enrolment in our target population of patients with CHB in South West Sydney followed up for 50 years, total program costs would amount to 9,205,680 AUD. Using AASLD guidelines, estimated cost would amount to 6,344 AUD per patient. APASL guidelines lead to a 132% cost rise, the B Positive program costs 152% more, while the US algorithm and EASL are associated with a 221% cost increment to achieve the equivalent cost/QALY. Conclusions: While the AASLD guidelines appear to be the least costly, uncertainties about “ideal” ALT and viral load levels for treatment initiation and the extent of the benefit conferred in terms of HCC cases averted will need to be resolved to inform large-scale prevention programs.

Isolation of compound microsatellite markers in Begonia fenicis (Begoniaceae) endemic to East and Southeast Asian islands

We developed compound microsatellite markers for Begonia fenicis, a species endemic to eastern and southeastern Asian islands, to investigate geographical genetic structure. Using the compound microsatellite marker technique, 21 markers were developed and six polymorphic markers were characterized for samples from four islands in Taiwan and southern Japan. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to six (mean = 4.33). Observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.125-0.725 (0.383) and 0.498-0.719 (0.641), and polymorphic information content was 0.371-0.664 (0.567). The interspecific transferability of the 21 markers was evaluated for eight species of the section Diploclinium from the Philippines; 15 markers were successfully amplified in one to eight species. These results indicate the utility of the six microsatellite markers in B. fenicis to investigate geographical genetic structure. The transferable markers are potentially useful for other species of the section.

Lineages differentiation and population structure of the light‐vented bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis in China based on mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite analysis

The light-vented bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis is a small resident passerine that is found widely in central and south China, North Vietnam, and some East Asian islands, including Hainan, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands. Its subspecies status has been under considerable debate. A total of 10 subspecies have been proposed, but only 4 are widely recognized, including 1 continental taxon, P. s. sinensis, and 3 insular subspecies: P. s. hainanus, P. s. formosae and P. s. orii. Two mitochondrial DNA genes and 9 microsatellite loci were used to investigate the genetic divergence of this species, to identify the evolutionary status of 2 insular subspecies (P. s. hainanus and P. s. formosae) and to uncover probable historical causes that shaped them. The results reveal that P. s. formosae has diverged significantly from the other 2 subspecies because of a substantial time of isolation for populations on Taiwan Island. There was no significant genetic differentiation between P. s. sinensis and P. s. hainanus. The notable morphological difference in P. s. hainanus might be attributed to a rapid, recent adaptation to the tropical environment of Hainan Island. The low genetic divergence between P. s. sinensis and P. s. hainanus might result from a recent divergence or gene flow between them. Two insular subspecies of light-vented bulbul populations might have diverged recently from their continental relatives through a complex evolution history owing to island isolation, ecological isolation, and possibly even hybridization. Both P. s. hainanus and P. s. formosae should be considered important conservation units because of their morphological and genetic distinctiveness.

The maximal body mass-area relationship in island mammals

Aim A positive power relationship between maximal body mass and land area has previously been reported of the form Mmax ∝ Area0.5 whilst allometric scaling theory predicts either Mmax ∝ Area1.33 or Mmax ∝ Area1. We provide an analysis of the maximal mass–area relationship for four island systems, to test the hypothesis that community relaxation following isolation converges in each case to a slope of Area0.5. Location Islands of the Japanese archipelago, the western Mediterranean, the Sea of Cortes and Southeast Asia. Methods We calculated the relationship between island area and the maximal body mass of the largest mammal species on the island using linear regression models with log-transformed variables, and tested the hypothesis that the slopes were not significantly different from 0.5. Results We found a slope of 0.47 within the Japanese archipelago, 0.42 for western Mediterranean islands, 0.73 for the Sea of Cortes islands and 0.50 for Southeast Asian islands. None of these slopes were significantly different from 0.5. Main conclusions Our results provide further empirical support for previous findings of a general maximal body mass–area relationship of Mmax ∝ Area0.5, but they deviate from theoretical predictions. We hypothesize that this mass–area relationship was the ultimate end point of community relaxation initiated by the isolation of the mammal communities. Maximal body mass on each island today probably reflects the interaction between energetic constraints, home range size and island area.

Diversity and biogeography of freshwater crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Potamidae, Gecarcinucidae) from East Asia

The diversity and biogeography of the two families of freshwater crabs in East Asia (China, Taiwan, Ryukyus and mainland Japan) were studied. The richness in different areas, as well as the distributions of all 40 genera and 311 species were analysed, the patterns examined and possible mechanisms discussed. The published data of freshwater crab species and their distributions in East Asia were analysed by using clustering, diversity index and graphical methods. Six biogeographical districts were recognized for the East Asian freshwater crabs based on similarity of distribution: (I) Hengduanshan Area, including Yunnan and Tibet; (II) Karst Area of Guizhou; (III) Yangtze River Basin, extending to Yellow River basin, with three subdivisions; (IV) Wuyishan Area and Pearl River Basin in Southeast and South China; (V) Hainan Island; and (VI) East Asian Islands, with subdivisions of Taiwan, Ryukyus and mainland Japan. The most diverse genera are the potamids Sinopotamon (84 species) and Geothelphusa (54 species), as well as the gecarcinucid Somanniathelphusa (27 species). Yunnan has the highest species richness (48 species) and diversity (Shannon index 2.21) in continental China, while Taiwan has the highest species richness (42 species) of the island systems. The distribution of the species of the potamid Sinopotamon and other genera along China's longest drainage, the Yangtze River, can be subdivided into several zones corresponding to the upper, middle and lower reaches of the river basin. The freshwater crab fauna of continental China, the East Asian islands and Hainan Island were all different from each other, and this finding agreed with the findings of molecular phylogenetic studies. The distribution of freshwater crabs in the Yangtze River showed a similar pattern with other freshwater organisms in this drainage. The present biogeographical interpretation contrasts sharply with the traditional zoogeographical patterns proposed that are based on Chinese terrestrial vertebrates. The present analyses of crab distributions suggest that Yunnan is a possible centre of origin for the Potamidae of China and perhaps the whole of East Asia. The freshwater crab species richness in Yunnan is probably the result of its generally warmer climate, more diverse habitats and a long history of cladogenesis.

Phylogeny and divergence time of island tiger beetles of the genus Cylindera (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) in East Asia

To examine the diverse colonization histories in eight tiger beetle species of the genus Cylindera (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) on the East Asian islands, we conducted phylogenetic analyses and divergence time estimation using mitochondrial cytochome oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear 28S rDNA sequences. The island fauna consisted of four subgenera: Apterodela, Cicindina, Ifasina, and Cylindera. Apterodela is a flightless group with large bodies, whereas the others are fliers with small bodies. In Apterodela, the divergence among endemic species in Taiwan, Japan, and the mainland was ancient (2.1–4.7 Mya), as expected from their flightlessness. Their dispersal might have occurred across the extended landmass in East Asia during the Pliocene. In the subgenus Cicindina, Cylindera elisae has spread throughout East Asia, from which an endemic species, Cylindera bonina, was derived on the oceanic Bonin Islands during the early Pleistocene (0.9 Mya). This indicates the significance of Cylindera bonina, which is currently confined to a single island, for conservation. In the subgenus Ifasina, Cylindera kaleea is widely distributed in East Asia, and its sister species Cylindera humerula, endemic to Okinawa Island, diverged 1.0 Mya, whereas Cylindera psilica on Taiwan and the Yaeyama Islands diverged approximately 0.8 Mya. In the subgenus Cylindera, the colonization of Cylindera gracilis in Japan from the mainland occurred during the last glacial period. With the exception of C. bonina, which likely colonized new territories by flight or drifting, other dispersal events might have used land connections that occurred repeatedly during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 102, 715–727.

Mapping Taiwan from an alternative angle

Please click here to download the map associated with this article. The leitmotif of creating “Taiwan's East Asian Neighbors” lies in providing alternative perspectives of observing Taiwan that are absent in traditional maps. Instead of using a conventional Mercator projection, leading to serious distortions of territories at the mid and high latitudes, this map uses an oblique Mercator projection and tactful selection of standard lines to present a precise image of Taiwan and its surrounding countries of the East Asian island arcs. The novelty of this cartographic product has stirred debates from various corners of Taiwan society. These debates reflect the success of this map because it has achieved the aim of stimulating plural perspectives of observing and understanding Taiwan. “Taiwan's East Asian Neighbors” manifests well the potential geopolitical impacts of cartography on a society.

Discovery of the Drosophila (Drosophila) robusta species group (Diptera, Drosophilidae) from Southeast Asian tropics, with the descriptions of six new species

AbstractSix new species of the Drosophila robusta species group are described from Southeast Asian Islands. Kalimantan and Sunda Islands lie east of Bali, from which Drosophila barobusta sp.nov and D. uncinata sp.nov belong to the lacertosa subgroup, and D. sungaicola sp.nov, D. baliensis sp.nov, D. hitam sp.nov and D. subaquatica sp.nov to the okadai subgroup. The robusta group from Southeast Asian tropics exclusively inhabits streamsides in mountainous highlands with an elevation of more than 600 m from the sea level.

Diversity and distribution of fiddler crabs (Brachyura: Ocypodidae: Uca) from China, with new records from Hainan Island in the South China Sea

The fiddler crab fauna (Brachyura: Ocypodidae: Uca) of China is reviewed. Thirteen species are recognised here, viz. Uca acuta (Stimpson, 1858), U. annulipes (H. Milne Edwards, 1837), U. arcuata (De Haan, 1835), U. borealis Crane, 1975, U. coarctata (H. Milne Edwards, 1852), U. crassipes (Adams & White, 1848), U. dussumieri (H. Milne Edwards, 1852), U. lactea (De Haan, 1835), U. paradussumieri Bott, 1973, U. tetragonon (Herbst, 1790), U. triangularis (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873), U. typhoni Crane, 1975, and U. vocans (Linnaeus, 1758). Two females of U. typhoni collected from southern Hainan Island represent the first record of this species from China and East Asia. Two males of U. tetragonon collected from southern Hainan also represent a new record for China. The Uca fauna of southern Hainan is biogeographically distinct being different from those of northern Hainan and continental China, with U. annulipes, U. tetragonon, U. typhoni, and U. vocans common in Southeast Asia. In addition, continental China also lacks some insular species such as U. coarctata, U. formosensis Rathbun, 1921, U. jocelynae Shih, Naruse & Ng, 2010, U. perplexa (H. Milne Edwards, 1837), and U. tetragonon which are common in the East Asian islands of Taiwan and the Ryukyus.

Kyrgyzstan: Central Asia's Island of Instability

The violent overthrow of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, president of Kyrgyzstan, in April 2010, followed by inter-ethnic clashes in June, produced a new security problem in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan, once prais...

Types and Sources of Support Received by Family Caregivers of Older Adults from Diverse Racial and Ethnic Groups

This study examines racial and ethnic variations in the types and sources of support caregivers receive. We conducted telephone surveys of 1,643 randomly selected respondents in California who provided care to someone age 50 or over. African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, and white caregivers were compared with regard to support received from formal and informal sources. Patterns of support use were found to vary by racial/ethnic group, with Asian and Pacific Island caregivers most likely to receive help from informal sources only, white caregivers most likely to receive help from formal sources only, and African-American caregivers most likely to rely on a combination of formal and informal support. Results from this study underscore the importance of developing culturally appropriate systems of caregiver support that reflect the needs and practices of diverse caregiver groups. Further research is needed regarding the intersection of race, ethnicity, and other personal or environmental characteristics within the caregiving situation.

An ancient origin for the enigmatic flat-headed frogs (Bombinatoridae: Barbourula) from the islands of Southeast Asia.

BackgroundThe complex history of Southeast Asian islands has long been of interest to biogeographers. Dispersal and vicariance events in the Pleistocene have received the most attention, though recent studies suggest a potentially more ancient history to components of the terrestrial fauna. Among this fauna is the enigmatic archaeobatrachian frog genus Barbourula, which only occurs on the islands of Borneo and Palawan. We utilize this lineage to gain unique insight into the temporal history of lineage diversification in Southeast Asian islands.Methodology/Principal FindingsUsing mitochondrial and nuclear genetic data, multiple fossil calibration points, and likelihood and Bayesian methods, we estimate phylogenetic relationships and divergence times for Barbourula. We determine the sensitivity of focal divergence times to specific calibration points by jackknife approach in which each calibration point is excluded from analysis. We find that relevant divergence time estimates are robust to the exclusion of specific calibration points. Barbourula is recovered as a monophyletic lineage nested within a monophyletic Costata. Barbourula diverged from its sister taxon Bombina in the Paleogene and the two species of Barbourula diverged in the Late Miocene.Conclusions/SignificanceThe divergences within Barbourula and between it and Bombina are surprisingly old and represent the oldest estimates for a cladogenetic event resulting in living taxa endemic to Southeast Asian islands. Moreover, these divergence time estimates are consistent with a new biogeographic scenario: the Palawan Ark Hypothesis. We suggest that components of Palawan's terrestrial fauna might have “rafted” on emergent portions of the North Palawan Block during its migration from the Asian mainland to its present-day position near Borneo. Further, dispersal from Palawan to Borneo (rather than Borneo to Palawan) may explain the current day disjunct distribution of this ancient lineage.

Phylogeny and co‐occurrence of mammal species on Southeast Asian islands

ABSTRACTAim Islands have often been used as model systems in community ecology. The incorporation of information on phylogenetic relatedness of species in studies of island assemblage structure is still uncommon, but could provide valuable insights into the processes of island community assembly. We propose six models of island community assembly that make different predictions about the associations between co‐occurrences of species pairs on islands, phylogenetic relatedness and ecological similarity. We then test these models using data on mammals of Southeast Asian islands.Location Two hundred and forty islands of the Sundaland region of Southeast Asia.Methods We quantified the co‐occurrence of species pairs on islands, and identified pairs that co‐occur more frequently (positive co‐occurrence) or less frequently (negative co‐occurrence) than expected under null models. We then examined the distributions of these significantly deviating pairs with respect to phylogenetic relatedness and ecological differentiation, and compared these patterns with those predicted by the six community assembly models. We used permutation regression to test whether co‐occurrence patterns are predicted by relatedness, body size difference or difference in diet quality. Separate co‐occurrence matrices were analysed in this way for seven mammal families and four smaller subsets of the islands of Sundaland.Results In many matrices, average numbers of negative co‐occurrences were higher than expected under null models. This is consistent with assemblage structuring by competition, but may also result from low geographic overlap of species pairs, which contributes to negative co‐occurrences at the archipelago‐wide level. Distributions of species pairs within plots of phylogenetic distance × ecological differentiation were consistent with competition, habitat filtering or within‐island speciation models, depending on the taxon. Regressions indicated that co‐occurrence was more likely among closely related species pairs within the Viverridae and Sciuridae, but in most matrices phylogenetic distance was unrelated to co‐occurrence.Main conclusions Simple deterministic models linking co‐occurrence with phylogeny and ecology are a useful framework for interpreting distributions and assemblage structure of island species. However, island assemblages in Sundaland have probably been shaped by a complex idiosyncratic set of interacting ecological and evolutionary processes, limiting the predictive power of such models.

The physical dimension of international trade: Part 1: Direct global flows between 1962 and 2005

The physical dimension of international trade is attaining increased importance. This article describes a method to calculate complete physical trade flows for all countries which report their trade to the UN. The method is based on the UN Comtrade database and it was used to calculate world-wide physical trade flows for all reporting countries in nine selected years between 1962 and 2005. The results show increasing global trade with global direct material trade flows reaching about 10 billion tonnes in 2005, corresponding to a physical trade volume of about 20 billion tonnes (adding both total imports and total exports). The share from European countries is declining, mainly in favour of Asian countries. The dominant traded commodity in physical units was fossil fuels, mainly oil. Physical trade balances were used to identify the dominant resource suppliers and demanders. Australia was the principal resource supplier over the period with a diverse material export structure. It was followed by mainly oil-exporting countries with varying volumes. As regards to regions, Latin America, south-east Asian islands and central Asia were big resource exporters, mostly with increasing absolute amounts of net exports. The largest net importers were Japan, the United States and single European countries. Emerging countries like the ‘Asian Tigers’ with major industrial productive sectors are growing net importers, some of them to an even higher degree than European countries. Altogether, with the major exception of Australia and Canada, industrialized countries are net importers and developing countries and transition countries are net exporters, but there are important differences within these groups.

Chromosome Evolution in the Lizard Genus Gekko (Gekkonidae, Squamata, Reptilia) in the East Asian Islands

The lizard genus Gekko consists of over 30 species distributed in Asia and Oceania. From the insular region of East Asia including Japan and Taiwan, 9 species (G. hokouensis, G. japonicus, G. shibatai, G. tawaensis, G. vertebralis,G. yakuensis, and 3 undescribed species) are currently recognized. We made karyological analyses for all these species. Their karyotypes invariably consisted of 2N = 38 chromosomes, but exhibited considerable variation in fundamental number (ranging from 56–62). Substantial chromosomal variation was detected even among populations of a morphologically relatively uniform species, G. hokouensis. Populations of G. hokouensis from the central and northern Ryukyus exhibited prominent female heteromorphic (i.e., ZW type) sex chromosomes. Populations of the southern Ryukyus exclusive of Yonagunijima also had ZW sex chromosomes, whose heteromorphisms were, however, much less prominent. The other G. hokouensis populations including the topotypic continental representatives and the population from Yonagunijima of the southern Ryukyus exhibited no sex chromosome heteromorphism at all. These results strongly suggest that G. hokouensis in the current taxonomic definition actually includes more than 2 species. The process of chromosomal evolution in the East Asian Gekko is hypothesized.

Housing Satisfaction of Asian and Pacific Island Elders in the United States

This study examined housing satisfaction of Asian and Pacific Island elders, focusing on demographic, housing, and neighborhood characteristics. The research framework was based on the housing adjustment theory (Morris & Winter, 1975, 1978). The sample was Asian and Pacific Island households with a head aged 65 years and over responding to the American Housing Survey (AHS) from 1995 through 2007 (N = 1,039). Asian and Pacific Island elders included long-time U.S. residents as well as recent immigrants. Multiple statistical methods included: descriptive statistics, one-way Analysis of Variance, multiple regression, and simple regression. Overall, housing satisfaction tended to be high. Variables that influenced satisfaction included education, family income, Census region, household size, housing quality, structure size, and neighborhood rating. Those having more education or higher income were more likely to express higher satisfaction, but those having larger household sizes tended to have lower satisfaction. Those living in the Northeast had lower housing satisfaction than those living in the West. Respondents having more adequate housing and larger structure sizes were likely to express higher housing satisfaction levels. Neighborhood rating had a positive relationship with housing satisfaction. Data analyses with the secondary datasets can assist housing researchers, educators, nonprofit organizations, or policymakers in their future studies or development of policies.