PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 2: Forest Ecology
Monday, August 8, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Structure of regenerated plants in a selective cutting mixed forest in northern Japan.
ABE, Shin*,1, FUKAZAWA, Shinsaku2, TANOUCHI, Hiroyuki3, UTSUGI, Hajime1, 1 Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Sapporo, Japan2 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tokyo, Japan3 Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Tsukuba, Japan
ABSTRACT- It has been consiered that selective cutting causes fewer damages to the forest ecosystem than other forest management methods. It is a promising approach particularly in Japan, where more than half of the forested land is covered with natural forests. In this study, vegetation research was conducted at 49 plots in a river basin in a mixed forest of coniferous and broad-leaved trees where selective cutting had been applied over the past several decades. The relationship between phanerophytes and operations to promote regeneration was investigated. The result showed that biodiversity was closely related with the coverage of dwarf bamboo and that the vegetation structure of a forest stand depended on the types of operation. For instance, in a forest stand where hoeing was applied, trees of small diameters predominated and pioneer species were numerous. In a forest stand where saplings had been planted, the species structure was similar to that in a forest stand which had shown favorable regeneration, and the planted forest stand showed high biodiversity. In that stand, the species diversity and predominance changed over time, with diversity of woody species appearing to increase. Thus, in a forest where selective cutting is applied, operations to promote regeneration result in increased diversity of vegetation. It is expected that records of forest operations can be used to judge the diversity of each forest stand, and that the biodiversity of a forest can be artificially controlled.
Key words: forest management, species diversity, dwarf bamboo (Sasa), Hokkaido