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Effects of the common cormorant, phalacrocorax carbo , on evergreen forests in two nest sites at Lake Biwa, Japan
Author(s) -
Ishida Akira
Publication year - 1996
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/bf02347685
Subject(s) - evergreen , deciduous , shrub , herb , cryptomeria , cormorant , japonica , vegetation (pathology) , biology , nest (protein structural motif) , ecology , evergreen forest , geography , botany , predation , medicinal herbs , medicine , biochemistry , pathology , traditional medicine
The effects of the habitation of the common cormorant on vegetation were evaluated in two colonies in Lake Biwa, central Japan. The state of the vegetation of each colony was classified arbitrarily into the following three types according to the appearance of the tree, shrub and herb layers; dense tree layer (Type 1), sparse tree layer and herb layer (Type 2), and sparse tree layer with dense herb layer (Type 3). The density of cormorant nesting was almost similar among the three types, except for part of Type 2. Trees, especially large ones on which cormorants nested, were found to be heavily damaged, and there were few seedlings and saplings found under the canopy trees. Chamaecyparis obtusa and Cryptomeria japonica were more heavily damaged than other evergreen and deciduous trees. In the herb layer, only a few species such as Reynoutria japonica or Phytolacca americana were abundant. These results suggest that the habitation of cormorants could simplify the structure and the species composition of forests.