Abstract
Lianas (woody vines) are important components of forest ecosystems and are often found to proliferate in young forests that have experienced large-scale disturbances. However, little is known regarding the mechanisms of the spatial assembly patterns of co-occurring lianas and trees in the temperate secondary forest stands. In this study, we examined the woody plants (lianas and trees) with a stem diameter > 1 cm within a one-hectare plot on a steep mountain slope (32° average slope angle) in a temperate secondary forest in central Japan. We investigated the impact of the host trees, topography, and canopy gaps on the distribution of liana. We aimed to determine the factors that influence the spatial distribution differences between the co-occurring lianas and trees. The results were validated using the 10 m × 10 m quadrats (N = 40) distributed across 23 ha within the study site. We recorded 123 liana stems on 1536 trees belonging to 57 woody species in the one-hectare plot. The findings revealed that lianas are more abundant on larger host trees and less common in high tree density areas. Small and large lianas preferred steep and moderate slopes, respectively, whereas larger trees were primarily found on steep slopes. These variations in liana and tree distribution patterns on steep slopes, which we observed throughout their life history, may be attributed to the combined effects of varied historical anthropogenic disturbances and grazing impacts. This highlights the need to consider the diverse environmental responses of lianas and trees at the different life history stages to accurately understand liana colonization and proliferation in forests.
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The data that support the findings of this study will be submitted and openly available in Forest Research and Management Organization Repository (https://repository.ffpri.go.jp).
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Acknowledgements
We wish to express our gratitude to Dr. Megumi Tanaka and Mr. Yu Hirano for their invaluable advice throughout this study. We also extend our appreciation to the students from the Laboratory of Silviculture, along with the other members of the Department of Forest Science at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, and Mr. and Mrs. Murao, who were the staff of the Okutama research forest, for their indispensable assistance during the field survey. We would like to thank Dr. Takashi Masaki (FFPRI) for his valuable advice on this study. In this study, we utilized the supercomputer of AFFRIT, MAFF, Japan. This study was partly supported by the JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (21K14882).
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This study was partly supported by the JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (21K14882).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by IN and HM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HM and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Nakada, I., Uehara, I. & Mori, H. More lianas on larger host trees on steep slopes in a secondary temperate forest, Japan. Plant Ecol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-024-01409-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-024-01409-6