Commemorating the start of a new collaborative journal : Plankton and Benthos Research

The Japaneseand English-language journal Benthos Research was founded in 1970 and continued on the foundation of the Japanese Association of Benthology in 1990. Through the 1990s, Benthos Research published many excellent articles by Japanese scientists dealing mainly with ecology-related fields such as autoecology, population ecology, community ecology, and palaeoecology. But it was decided that the large number of Japanese-language articles tended to discourage non-Japanese-speaking readers and limit the circulation and impact of the journal, so, in 1999, the journal was separated into two journals according to language, Benthos Research being reserved for English-language articles, while the Nippon Benthos Gakkaishi (the Japanese Journal of Benthology) dealt with Japanese-language articles, concentrating on providing Japanese scientists with information about benthos and about the association in their native language. Though this was, I believe, a correct decision, it also had a disadvantage, dividing the efforts of the limited number of benthos scientists in Japan. In view of this situation, the editorial committees of the Japanese Association of Benthology and the Plankton Society of Japan have been holding discussions for some time now on the possibility of publishing a journal collaboratively, and I am delighted that these have come to fruition this year with a new scientific journal, Plankton and Benthos Research. This new journal will serve to eliminate obstacles to reaching a total understanding of the life history of aquatic organisms and of aquatic community ecology, and provide a venue for research of aquatic organisms from a wider range of fields and perspectives. We believe that this will better meet the needs of those conducting current benthos research. Over the past decades benthos ecology has experienced rapid progress and has expanded to, for instance, applied ecology, conservation ecology, ecosystem ecology, modeling ecology, and macroecology, and Benthos Research has failed to fully reflect this evolution. Though the narrow focus was in a sense in accord with the general trend towards specialization in the development of science, in our field a holistic perspective is of great importance. I have high expectations of the new journal and believe that it will continue the Benthos Research tradition while contributing to deeper understanding of plankton and benthos research, including pelagic and benthic coupling, total life history of aquatic organisms, evolution of life history, and so on.