Landscape and Ecological Engineering

, Volume 9, Issue 1, pp 77–87 | Cite as

Effects of thinning and excluding deer browsing on sapling establishment and growth in larch plantations

Original Paper
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Abstract

Monoculture plantations with rapidly growing trees are often used for reforestation schemes on abandoned land. There is evidence that in some cases, reforestation facilitates forest succession toward natural species composition. However, the success of a scheme varies according to site conditions, and systematic investigations are required for adaptive management. Monoculture plantations were used to reforest abandoned pastures at the study site in Hokkaido, northern Japan. At the study site—a 40-year-old nonnative larch (Larix kaempferi) plantation—the effects of thinning and deer-browsing exclusion treatments on the demography of understory saplings were analyzed to achieve appropriate management planning for reforestation. After deer-browsing exclusion, saplings of various species became established, and species composition corresponded closely to that of a natural conifer–broadleaved mixed stand. Saplings of shade-tolerant species, such as Abies sachalinensis and Acer mono, were abundant. Thinning influenced the demography of saplings over an 8-year period and significantly affected the height growth rate of A. sachalinensis saplings, which show strong variations in response to varying light conditions. There were also negative effects of thinning, such as increased mortality and decreased height growth rate of broadleaved saplings, the growth of which was suppressed by facilitated growth of A. sachalinensis. Thus, treatments used for reforestation must take into account differences in demographic traits of tree species by including long-term monitoring.

Keywords

Reforestation Adaptive management Larch plantation Conifer–broadleaved mixed forest Abies sachalinensis Species demography 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

I sincerely thank Prof. Kohyama and Prof. Ishikawa for their suggestions throughout this study and two anonymous reviewers for comments on the earlier version of manuscript. I am grateful to the staff of the Shiretoko Nature Foundation and the Municipal Government of Shari for their permission and for contributing their field survey data. Data analysis discussions with Dr. Kubo and field assistance by Ms. Inaba and Mr. Kaiyo were very helpful. This study was partly supported by the Twenty-first Century Center of Excellence Program ‘‘Prediction and avoidance of an abrupt change in the biogeosphere system’’ of Hokkaido University and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Hokkaido University. I declare that all experiments complied with current Japanese laws.

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Copyright information

© International Consortium of Landscape and Ecological Engineering and Springer 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Hokkaido UniversitySapporoJapan
  2. 2.National Institute for Environmental StudiesTsukubaJapan

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