Hiking's so fun!
Mywaterbottle!
Ah. I'mnotsurprised.
Huh?
Cool!That'sgoodfor thedeer!
Notreallykids.
What! Why?
Oh.
Well, becausethere are toomanyJapanesedeer, theyare causingproblems.
What doyou mean"not surprised"?
Deer numbersare increasingall over Japan.
Woah!It's adeer!
Phew.Are wethereyet?
Stop! Stop!
Roll, roll
Wow!
The number of plantsthat deer like to feedon decreases
The deer eat toomuch of the barkoff trees, whichmakes the trees die
Oh no! I wanted toeat that too...
I wonder whythere are somany deer?
One reasonis becausewolves areextinct.
Wolves were hunted toextinctionin Japan in theearly 20th centurybecause they preyedon livestock.
Now that there areno more wolves toeat deer, thebalance of livinghings in forestsaround Japanhas broken down.
From microbes thatcannot be seen withthe naked eye togigantic whales,there are a greatvariety of livingthings in the naturalworld.
These living thingsmaintain thebalance of the earthby all performingtheir own roles.
Wolves?!
Crops get eatenin the fields
Aw. Where doI make my nest now?
What do you think happens when there are too many deer?
So doesthismushroomhave arole too?
If thatmushroomgoes extinct,it mightdamagethe forest in a big way, just likethe extinctionof the wolf has.
So alllivingthings areimportant,aren't they!
In the naturalworld,all kinds ofliving thingshave aninfluenceon eachothers' lives.
These wonderfulrelationshipsbetween livingthings is called
biodiversity.
Wow! Eventhoughthey're sosmall.
I alwayswonderedwho cleanedup all thefallen leavesin the forest.
Mushrooms do animportant job bybreakingdown fallenleaves tomake soil.
Of course.
If the number ofliving thingsdecreases becausepeople havechanged naturetoo much orpolluted it...
....therelationshipsbetweenthem willget put outof balance.
That'sright Hiroto!
Why don't youput that knowledgeinto action,by picking upyour water bottle!!!
Oops! Now ifyouunderstandall that...
