Dr. Yutaro Fujimoto of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), a member of the SATREPS VaryAla Project (Output 4), traveled to Madagascar from January to February to conduct field research.

During this trip, vegetation surveys were conducted at multiple sites with different environmental conditions in Ankarafantsika National Park to better understand the functional roles of forests in the upper catchments of rice paddy watersheds. Focusing on the dominant tree species at each site, leaf and wood samples were collected for functional trait measurements in order to evaluate the ecological characteristics of individual species. Similar vegetation surveys were also carried out at two sites within a small watershed targeted for hydrological studies, and data representing the dominant forest vegetation within the watershed were obtained.

Furthermore, to enable a comparative evaluation of the ecological characteristics of the dry forests in Ankarafantsika National Park, a framework was established for conducting vegetation surveys and functional trait measurements in the humid forests of Andasibe-Mantadia National Park.