Current status of Fagus crenata dominated forests and their understory vegetation in Kyushu

UEMORI Kazushige, OYAMADA Mimori, ICHIHASHI Ryuji, HISHI Takuo, KATAYAMA Ayumi

doi:10.15017/7172220

Kyushu is the western and southern limits of beech (Fagus crenata) distribution in Japan, where Pacific-type beech forests are found in the mountains. Recently, overgrazing by deer has caused a decline in the forest understory, particularly the dwarf bamboo (Sasa spp.), causing concerns about forest degradation of the environment and ecosystems in Kyushu. However, few vegetation surveys of beech forests in Kyushu have been conducted since the early 2000s, when deer grazing became a prominent issue. This study aims to understand the present condition of beech forests in Kyushu by conducting vegetation surveys at 7 sites, and visually recording vegetation at 5 sites. We established five plots, each with a radius of 5 meters and centered around a selected beech tree, on each site, and measured basal area, the proportion of beech in basal area, tree density, sasa height, and sasa stem density within each plot. We found that sasa has disappeared from understory vegetation in some sites (Mt. Furusobo-san, Mt. Mukouzaka-yama, and Mt. Sanpou-dake) and that there is a large variation in sasa stem density in sites where sasa remained, indicating that the impact of deer grazing in beech forests was highly site-specific. Vegetation surveys including forest understory are important for monitoring the rapid changes occurring in forest environments in recent years.

Current status of Fagus crenata dominated forests and their understory vegetation in Kyushu

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