Projects in this domain trace human impact on the global cycles of nutrients and water that create and define the biosphere. As these cycles are characterized by great complexity and dynamism, research projects in this domain typically entail several data surveys designed to indicate cause-and-effect linkages across spatial scales.

Human Activities in North-eastern Asia and Their Impact on the Biological Productivity in North Pacific Ocean (SHIRAIWA Takayuki)

	Human Impacts on Urban Subsurface Environments (TANIGUCHI Makoto)
	Effects of Environmental Changes on the Interactions between Pathogens and Humans (KAWABATA Zen'ichiro)
	Global Warming and the Human-Nature Dimension in Siberia (INOUE Gen)
	Megacities and the Global Environment (MURAMATSU Shin)

Projects in this domain address global environmental problems arising from or associated with the loss of diversity, whether biological (including genetic diversity and availability of niches or habitats), or cultural (including diversity of languages, social structures, religions and world-views).

	A New Cultural and Historical Exploration into Human-Nature Relationships in the Japanese Archipelago (YUMOTO Takakazu)
	Human Life, Aging, and Disease in High-Altitude Environments (OKUMIYA Kiyohito)
	Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks with Human Activity (YAMAMURA Norio)

Projects in this domain investigate the features of the planet that humankind finds to be of immediate utility: those plants, animals, and materials that humankind uses to satisfy its material and cultural needs, and whose use in turn forms the cultural landscapes of a time and place.

	Historical Interactions between the Multi-Cultural Societies and the Natural Environment in a Semi-Arid Region in Central Eurasia (KUBOTA Junpei)
	Environmental Changes and Infectious Diseases in Tropical Asia (MOJI Kazuhiko)
	A Study of Human Subsistence Ecosystems in Arab Societies (NAWATA Hiroshi)

Projects in this domain take a historical approach to circulation, diversity, or resource questions. There is particular emphasis on using new technologies to examine ecological dynamics involved in past civilizational rise and decline, and so to advance empirical and theoretical understanding of human-environmental dynamics throughout human history.

	Agriculture and Environment Interactions in Eurasia: Past, Present and Future (SATO Yo-Ichiro)
	Environmental Change and the Indus Civilization (OSADA Toshiki)
	Neolithisation and Modernisation: Landscape History on East Asian Inland Seas (UCHIYAMA Junzo)

Projects in this domain examine the manner in which contemporary environmental problems both contribute to and result from global phenomena and processes. Description is focused on the specific social and environmental contexts in which environmental problems are found, their linkages to social and material phenomena in other places, and the conceptual models used to describe such interconnection.

	Interaction between Environmental Quality of the Watershed and Environmental Consciousness (SEKINO Tatsuki)
	Interactions between Natural Environment and Human Social Systems in Subtropical Islands (TAKASO Tokushiro)

Vulnerability and Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems (UMETSU Chieko)

Managing Environmental Risks to Food and Health Security in Asian Watersheds (KADA Ryohei)

	The Effect of Local Governance on Incentive Programs for Forest Ecosystem Service Conservation (OKUDA Toshinori)
	The Hydrological Cycle and Water Problems in the Changjiang River Basin: Human-Nature Interaction in a Transforming China (TANAKA Hiroki)
	Coastal Area Capability in Southeast Asia (ISHIKAWA Satoshi)
	Desertifi cation, Local Husbandry and Livelihoods in Sub-Sahara Africa (TANAKA Ueru)
	Green Earth: Plant, Human and Earth Interactions (FUKUI Kiichi)
	Atmospheric Methane and Agriculture in Monsoon Asia (HAYASHIDA Sachiko)