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Effects of deer browsing on the early stage of pyrogenic succession on Miyajima Island, southwestern Japan
Author(s) -
Okuda Toshinori,
Nakane Kaneyuki
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/bf02347010
Subject(s) - ecological succession , biomass (ecology) , regeneration (biology) , biology , ecology , stage (stratigraphy) , microbiology and biotechnology , paleontology
The early stage of forest regeneration on Miyajima Island, southewstern Japan, was studied for three years after a fire in 1984, with respect to the effects of deer browsing. The regeneration patterns of woody species, in terms of the biomass increment and browsing damage to plants, were classified into the following three groups: non‐ or rarely browsed species with little increment of biomass, heavily browsed with little increment, and heavily browsed with large increment. The aboveground biomass increased from 0.4 kg to 2.7 kg per 100 m 2 during three years, and was less than half of the biomass obtained in other burnt pine forests on the adjacent deer‐free islands. About 28% of the plant biomass was consumed by deer. The effects of browsing on forest regeneration were heavier at lower than that at the higher altitudes. On this island, deer browsing seems to have an important effect on vegetational succession in the burnt areas.