Natural regeneration of broad-leaved tall tree species and positive plant-plant interactions in dense understorey vegetation beneath canopy gaps created by heavy thinning

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26450212
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Forest science
• Research Institution: Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute
• Principal Investigator: Yagi Takanobu 国立研究開発法人森林総合研究所, 九州支所, 主任研究員 (90353888)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 植物間相互作用 / 樹形発達 / 高木性広葉樹 / 林冠ギャップ / 下層植生 / 混交林化 / 天然更新施業 / 列状間伐

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The competition between naturally regenerated saplings of monarch birch, a deciduous tall tree species, and the dense understory vegetation beneath canopy gaps created by line thinning was investigated in a Japanese larch plantation and related to the canopy condition above each sapling. Architectural development of the saplings was tracked for 3 years, and the pattern was analyzed allometrically. The analysis of the relationship between plant length and the trunk basal diameter of the saplings revealed that in monarch birch saplings, the growth in plant length is observed only in the saplings that have completely outgrown the neighboring understory vegetation. The analysis also revealed that the architectural development of the saplings is more oriented to extension growth than to cambial growth. These results will be related to the canopy condition of each sapling in my future analysis, which will explore the optimum conditions of canopy gap for the growth of monarch birch saplings.

Free Research Field

森林生態学