Long‐term climate monitoring by universities provides fundamental data for various disciplines in the natural sciences. Kyoto University once managed 10 university forest stations and is currently managing five. At these stations, climate data have been monitored almost since the establishment of each station until today, with the exception of the stations in foreign countries. We compiled and report the monthly climate data at these forest stations from the start of monitoring until December 2018. These data are important for investigating environmental changes in East Asia, including China (Taiwan), South Korea (Chosen) and Russia (Sakhalin, Karafuto) over the last 100 years. Long‐term monitoring often involves minor and major changes in the monitoring procedures, devices and even monitoring sites due to unavoidable circumstances, such as technological advances, changes in standard methods and climatic and anthropogenic disasters. Therefore, associated metadata on the monitoring methods are also important. We also compiled metadata on changes in monitoring methods. In addition, to examine the effects of changes in the methods on the observed climate data, we compared the values recorded before and after the change for each climate variable at each monitoring site. Methodological changes affected only a few variables, with the exception of humidity. Careful interpretation may be required when a researcher uses humidity data in any analysis. The complete data set for this abstract published in the Data Paper section of the journal is available in electronic format in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP-2020-03.1/jalter-en.

Beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) powders and ceramics doped with vanadate (VO 4 3-) ions were prepared, and the substitution mode of VO 4 3-ions for the β-TCP structure and the mechanical properties were investigated. The synthesized powders consisted of a single β-TCP (0-80 mol%) or Ca 3 (VO 4 ) 2 (100 mol%) phase, and the a and c lattice constants increased linearly up to 100 mol%. These results indicate that the VO 4 3-ions were homogeneously doped at all PO 4 sites in β-TCP. The bending strength increased with the VO 4 3-ion content up to 2.0 mol% because of the improvement in sinterability. However, when the VO 4 3-ion content was above 2.0 mol%, the bending strength decreased because of crack formation and porosity due to excess grain growth. The bending strength of β-TCP ceramics was higher when doped with VO 4 3-ions than with other metal ions; thus, β-TCP ceramics with excellent mechanical properties can be fabricated by substituting a small amount of VO 4 3-ions.

High-density β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) ceramics with a small amount of tri-and pentavalent vanadium ions addition (≦1.0 mol%) were successfully prepared by hot pressing. Tri-and pentavalent vanadium ions were substituted for a Ca ion at the Ca(5) site located in β-TCP crystal structure and for a P ion in the PO 4 group, respectively. The sinterability and mechanical properties of β-TCP doped with vanadium ions (V-β-TCPV) were improved with increasing vanadium ion content. The bending and compressive strengths of V-β-TCPVs were comparable to those of the hard tissue of a living body.

Egg loss from ovigerous females has hampered larval culture experiments for life history studies of the coconut crab Birgus latro. We conducted two preliminary experiments to develop a method to artificially incubate and hatch embryos separated from the mother: 1) manipulation of incubation duration in a pseudo-terrestrial environment and 2) manipulation of incubation temperature. In experiment 1, we incubated embryos on medical gauze moistened with seawater for 7 or 17 days at 27-28°C before incubation by immersion in seawater (27-28°C), or we continuously incubated them in seawater only. In experiment 2, we similarly incubated embryos on medical gauze until 1-2 days before hatching at 21-22°C, 24.5-25.5°C, or 27-28°C before incubation in seawater (27-28°C). Successful hatching occurred, but embryos did not hatch synchronously, and hatching continued for approximately a week. Incubating embryos in seawater continuously led to the highest hatching rates of morphologically normal zoeae; however, hatching rates of normal zoeae did not exceed 50%. Increased incubation temperature reduced the incubation duration until hatching. Zoeae could metamorphose into megalopae, but survival rates were generally low. Further studies are required to improve the hatching rate of viable larvae under artificial conditions.

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