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Degradation of Abies veitchii wave-regeneration on Mt. Misen in Ohmine Mountains: effects of sika deer population

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Abstract

How has the degradation of Abies veitchii wave-regeneration occurred under the sika deer (Cervus nippon) pressure? We conducted tree census and ground vegetation survey in a 1 ha plot in Mt. Misen (Nara prefecture, Japan). We found 15 tree species (over 50 cm in height). Abies accounted for 60.0 % of all living trees, and 46.9 % of Abies were damaged (herbivory, bark stripping and/or fraying) by deer. Spatial distribution of Abies trees showed Abies-wave, although there were few saplings in the dieback zone. Estimated deer population density in 2009 was 57.3 head/km2. Number of living Abies and standing dead conifer trees, and ground vegetation cover for each quadrat (5 × 5 m) were used to assign the quadrats into 6 clusters. The hierarchical clustering-approach revealed that living Abies distributed mainly on the moss and/or Carex fernaldiana dominated quadrats, but did not on the Dennstaedtia scabra, or Brachypodium sylvaticum dominated quadrats. While standing dead conifer trees distributed mainly on the Carex dominated quadrats, they hardly occur on the moss, the Dennstaedtia or the Brachypodium dominated quadrats. Regeneration of Abies tree and thus the wave-regeneration is hindered for now owing to deer herbivory and bark-stripping. The ground vegetation under the dieback zone has changed from the moss and/or the Carex dominated one to the Carex, the Dennstaedtia or the Brachypodium covered vegetation with the canopy remained open and without Abies regeneration.

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Acknowledgments

We express our deep gratitude to Mr. M. Inose of Regional Policy Division of Tenkawa Village and Mr. M. Nishioka of Mt. Misen Hut for their supports in the field. We also thank Drs/Mr/Ms Y. Kobayashi, J. Takahashi, D. Kawase, students of Nara University of Education and members of Center for Restoration of Regional Nature for helping our field works. We also thank anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions on the manuscript. Our field work was permitted by Tenkawa-Jinja shrine, the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment. This study is financially supported by Japan Fund for Global Environment from Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency, research project D-02 of Research Institute for Humanity and Nature and the Environmental Research and Technology Development Fund (S9) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

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  1. Riyou Tsujino & Takakazu Yumoto

    Present address: Primate Research Institute Kyoto University, Kanrin Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

  2. Ryosuke Koda

    Present address: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 457-4 Motoyama Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto, 603-8047, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 457-4 Motoyama Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto, 603-8047, Japan

    Riyou Tsujino, Ryosuke Koda & Takakazu Yumoto

  2. Nara University of Education, Takabatake-cho, Nara, 630-8528, Japan

    Kiyoshi Matsui & Kohdai Yamamoto

  3. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, 2-509-3, Hirano, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan

    Ryosuke Koda

  4. Center for Restoration of Regional Nature, 28-5 Koyamahori-ike-cho, Kita-ku, Kyoto, 603-8145, Japan

    Ken-Ichi Takada

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  1. Riyou Tsujino
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Correspondence to Riyou Tsujino.

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Tsujino, R., Matsui, K., Yamamoto, K. et al. Degradation of Abies veitchii wave-regeneration on Mt. Misen in Ohmine Mountains: effects of sika deer population. J Plant Res 126, 625–634 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-013-0551-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-013-0551-9

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