Does the fragmentation of canopy in tropical forests promote the mortality of canopy trees? The mechanism of gap expansion.

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23405024
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Forest science
• Research Institution: Shizuoka University
• Principal Investigator: MIZUNAGA Hiromi 静岡大学, (連合)農学研究科(研究院), 教授 (20291552)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NARAMOTO Masaaki 静岡大学, 農学研究科, 准教授 (10507635) ; KOBAYASHI Shigeo 京都大学, アジアアフリカ地域研究研究科, 教授 (40353685) ; UCHIDA Takanori 九州大学, 応用力学研究所, 准教授 (90325481) ; YONEDA Tsuyoshi 鹿児島大学, 農学部, 教授 (40110796)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 林冠木 / 風 / 林冠分断 / 樹冠 / 熱帯

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Our primary objective is to evaluate the physical and physiological impact of canopy fragmentation on canopy trees, through predicting the change in micro environment, especially wind synopsis, around canopy trees caused by the fragmentation.
We determined 3-dimensional leaf distribution of 64 canopy trees using terrestrial laser scanning method. The leaf distribution, the combination of leaf area index and the clumping structure determined the drag relations against crown with simple equation. The wind environment on canopy related to the complexity of canopy structure created by gaps. We also clarified the property of turning moment in tropical trees to use for the evaluation of wind damage risks. We could not observe clear relationship between the decline in canopy trees and the location from canopy gaps in both a seasonal forest in Vietnam and a rain forest in Malaysia.

Free Research Field

造林