Mature subalpine forest communities were sampled at four locations in central Honshu, Japan–Mounts Fuji and Ontake and Yatsugatake and Chichibu Mountains. Data were subjected to similarity—ordination and association analyses. There are three major groups of communities: Tsuga diversifolia/moss, Abies spp./herb, and conifer/Sasa. Tsuga/moss forest understories are depauperate in vascular plants or dominated by ericads such as Rhododendron and Menziesia and have very stony soils. Abies/herb forests have luxuriant understories in which herbs and ferns are conspicuous; they occur over a wide range of soil conditions. Conifer/Sasa forests have extremely dense layers of dwarf bamboo (Sasa spp.) 1—1.5 m in height and occur on deep, fine—textured volcanic—as soils. Composition and structure of 11 community types and phases belonging to these groups are described. Successional trends appear to favor the more shade—tolerant Abies mariesii and Abies vetichii over Tsuga diversifolia and Picea jezoensis var. hondoensis although this varies with site. Japanese forests have many similarities with those in the eastern United States, but the dwarf bamboo communities are strictly an Asian phenomenon.

Globisporangium spp. are soil-inhabiting oomycetes distributed worldwide, including in polar regions. Some species of the genus are known as important plant pathogens. This study aimed to clarify the species construction of Globisporangium spp. and their long-term isolation pattern in Sanionia moss in Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen Is., Norway. Globisporangium spp. were isolated at two-year intervals between 2006 and 2018 at a Sanionia moss colony, Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen Is., Norway. The isolates were obtained by using three agar media and were identified based on sequences of the rDNA-ITS region and cultural characteristics. Most of the Globisporangium isolates obtained during the survey were identified into six species. All six species were grown at 0 °C on an agar plate and used to infect Sanionia moss at 4 and/or 10 °C under an in vitro inoculation test. The total isolation frequency of Globisporangium gradually decreased throughout the survey period. The isolation frequency varied among the six species, and four of the species that showed a high frequency in 2006 were rarely isolated after 2016. The results suggested that Globisporangium inhabiting Sanionia moss in Ny-Ålesund has a unique composition of species and that most of the species reduced their population over the recent decade.