Aconitum species (Ranunculaceae)of Tien Shan High Mountains are studied based on the field and herbarium examinations. Nectaries of A. rotundifolium are peculiar in shape; spurs are cylindrical with roundish tops and strongly incurved, labia are filiform and blades are almost degenerated. The field observation revealed there was neither nectar secretion nor insect pollinators that visited flowers of this species. Hence there is a possibility that A. rotundifolium is not an insect-pollinated species although the majority of this genus are well known as typical insect-pollinated plants. Some individuals superficially resembling A. rotundifolium are preliminarily reported here as an undescribed taxon (Aconitum sp.). Aconitum zeravschanicum distributed in the Alaisky Range has a curious root system, i.e., the root is an aggregation of several cord-like tubers. The taxonomic position of A. zeravschanicum is preliminarily discussed here. Synonymy and redescription of A. rotundifolium and A. zeravschanicum are also given in this paper.

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The forest structure, and crown area development and height growth of the Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis SIEB.et Zucc.) on Mt. Changbai, northeastern China have been analyzed to clarify the regeneration manner of the pine. In contrast with the other shade intolerant pines, small individuals of Korean pine were maintained in the forest, though its number was small. The Korean pine can be regarded as being in a self-maintaining stage. The increment of the crown area in relation to the height growth of the pine was larger than that of Picea jezoensis and Abies nephrolepis, coniferous species cohabiting with the pine. The large crown area of the pine eventually provided a favorable site for the establishment of its seedlings. The height growth rate of the pine was also higher than hat of P. jezoensis. The pine has the maximum tree heigh to of ca. 30 m, and the maximum tree age of ca. 450 years, which are approximately equal to those of P. jezoensis and much larger than those of A. nephrolepis. Once an individual pine tree succeeded in establishment in a forest, it continuously grew to reach the canopy. The pine formed a dominant forest, with the aid of a continuous regeneration, owing to its large crown area, large tree height and long life span. Thus, Korean pine mixed forest can be regarded as a self-regenerating climax forest.

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In this paper, a continuation of our previous three papers, 23 taxa belonging to the genera Eunotia,Cocconeis, Achnanthes and Rhoicosphenia are reported with light and scanning electron microscope photographs. Some comments are made mostly on the taxonomy and morphology of each taxon.

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To study the occurence and distribution of urban tardigrades in Japan, mosses and lichens were collected from 99 cities over the entire country, from Hokkaido to Okinawa during the period of 1983 to 1996. Thirty-eight species of tardigrades were found in 534 moss samples out of 1369. Among them, 18 species of heterotardigrada belonging to 3 genera and 20 species of eutardigrada belonging to 7 genera were obtained. Although 9 species including Echiniscus baius, E. fischeri, E. japonicus, Pseudechiniscus facettalis, Macrobiotus harmsworthi, M. hufrlandi,M. richtersi, Minibiotus intermedius and Milnesium tardigradum are widely distributed in Japan,the other species show different localities. Especially, the distribution of 13 species are restricted respectively to one or two places: i.e. E. tesselatus and E. viridis to Okinawa, P. bartkei to Kawanoe city in the Shikoku area, M. hibernicus to Uotsu city in the Chubu area, I. eplenyensis to Wakkanai city in Hokkaido, I. reticulatus to Aomori city in the Tohoku area, D. affine to Miyazaki city in the Kyushu area, D. nobilei to Toyama city in the Chubu area; E. africanus to Choshi city in the Kanto area and Okinawa, E. elegans to Uotsu city and Okinawa, E. lapponicus to Kyoto and Kanazawa cities, Cornechiniscus lobatus to Toyama and Ooita cities and M. topali to Kyoto and Kitakyushu cities. It seems that the occurence and distribution of tardigrades depends on annual precipitation which in turn has an effect on moss growth.

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During 1994-96, studies on the home range, the habitat preference and the activity rhythm of red fox, Vulpes vulpes, using the radiotelemetry were performed at the subalpine belt in Central Japan. Three female foxes were studied, one of which was in a suckling cycle. The sizes of the home range were calculated by the use of the harmonic mean and two other methods. The sizes calculated by the 95% harmonic mean ranged from 178.0 to 2731.1 ha. The home range size remarkably varied in course of a breeding cycle. As for a studied breeding female there was observed a remarkably reduction in the home range size and also an increase in the daytime activity during her suckling period. The studied fox tended to select a certain environment for their habitat. Most of the time, they preferred grassland, while avoided Japanese larch plantation.

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The family Radulaceae (Hepaticae) consists of only a single genus Radula, which is described as having ca. 350 species from the world. Among them, at present, 22 species and 1 subspecies are known from Japan.
This paper gives illustrations and short notes for Japanese species of the genus Radula

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Moss flora of the Rashomon doline of the Atetsu caicareous area, Okayama, in southwestern Japan is studied. Among ca. 1200 specimens collected between 1946 and 1995, 128 species, 5 subspecies, 8 varieties in 88 genera and 31 families are recognized. New phytogeographical interests reside in Didymodon leskeoides, Thuidium vestitissimum, Eurynchium angustirete, and E. latifolium.

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Through the investigation based on about 750 specimens collected from Mt. Takao, west of Tokyo Metropolitan, 64 species are recorded. Taxa of phytogeographic interest include Leptolejeunea elliptica, Frullania inflata and Cololejeunea raduliloba.

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