How do changes in urban forest characteristics affect plant-animal interaction in warm temperate urban forests of western Japan?

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24780154
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Forest science
• Research Institution: Kyoto Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: HIRAYAMA KIMIKO 京都府立大学, 生命環境科学研究科(系), 講師 (10514177)
• Research Collaborator: YOSHIKAWA TETSURO 日本学術振興会, 特別研究員 ; YAMADA SATOSHI 京都府立大学, 大学院生命環境科学研究科 ; KUGE AYAMI 京都府立大学, 大学院生命環境科学研究科
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 被食種子散布 / 都市近郊林 / 暖温帯林 / 遷移進行

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To clarify how changes in urban forest characteristics, such as area, fragmentation and forest stand development, affect plant-animal interaction patterns, I investigated bird assemblage, its fruit removal, soil seed banks, and seedling dynamics at several forest stands at different developmental stages in an urban forested area of western Japan. I found that increasing structural complexity during forest stand development had a positive effect and was the most important for bird assemblage, which in turn influenced fruit removal and soil seed banks in this urban forested area. Seedling dynamics also suggested that establishment of seedlings from soil seed banks was likely to occur at the time of disturbance. Hence, a positive feedback mechanism is probably a component of plant-bird interactions during the development of forest stands in urban forested area.

Free Research Field

森林生態学