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Spatial distribution of Eurya japonica in an old‐growth evergreen broad‐leaved forest, SW Japan
Author(s) -
Manabe Tohru,
Yamamoto ShinIchi
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1654-1103
pISSN - 1100-9233
DOI - 10.2307/3237020
Subject(s) - evergreen , japonica , spatial distribution , understory , biology , microsite , ridge , ecology , spatial heterogeneity , deciduous , evergreen forest , cryptomeria , spatial ecology , crown (dentistry) , botany , geography , canopy , seedling , medicine , paleontology , remote sensing , dentistry
. The spatial distribution of Eurya japonica , an evergreen understorey species, was studied on a 4‐ha permanent plot in an old‐growth, temperate, evergreen broad‐leaved forest in southwestern Japan. The pattern of spatial dispersion varied with size class, the environmental heterogeneity produced by tree‐fall gaps and microtopography and the scale of observation. Seedlings (0.05 to < 0.5 m high) had the most clumped distributions, followed by saplings (0.5 to 1.3 m high) and adults (> 1.3 m). Individuals were more clumped at the smallest grid size, 1.56m × 1.56 m, and became less clumped as grid size increased for all size classes. On grids of less than 6.25 m × 6.25 m, no spatial correlations were found between seedlings and larger size classes; positive spatial correlations were found between saplings and adults at this scale. Abundant seedlings appeared in tree‐fall gaps formed by uprooted trees, but seedlings were frequent on ridge tops and upper slopes. Saplings and adults also occurred on upper slopes, but their spatial distribution had little relation to current tree‐fall gaps. The spatial distribution of E. japonica individuals was largely attributed to the distribution of tree‐fall gaps and the differential responses to microtopographic variation by individuals at different size classes.