Dendroecological techniques were used to study the dynamics and species recruitment patterns, spanning nearly four centuries, for a mesic, montane, old-growth forest in Hokkaido, northern Japan. The forest is dominated by Abies sachalinensis (Masters), Acer palmatum (Thunb.),Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata (Rehd.), and Cercidiphyllum japonicum (Sieb.). From 1620 to 1750 and 1820 to 1840, Q. mongolica exhibited continuous recruitment into the overstory. A lack of recruitment for all tree species from 1750 to 1820 followed a 1739 volcanic eruption 200 km from the study area. Release events for individual trees occurred almost every decade of the stand history, indicating that frequent small-scale disturbances coupled with infrequent large-scale disturbances, impact tree growth and species recruitment. From 1870 to 1950, canopy recruitment of Abies and Acer dominated the forest, while recruitment of Quercus ceased. These later successional species appeared to be replacing Quercus, suggesting that the syndrome of declining oak dominance is an increasingly global phenomenon. However, successional patterns in the forest are difficult to predict because intensive deer browsing has recently prevented canopy recruitment of all tree species and the possibility of future large-scale disturbances, such as fire and volcanic eruption.
The seed and seedling mortality of Fagus crenata Blume after a mast year (1993) was examined in relation to density and distance from the nearest conspecific adult tree in a mixed conifer‐hardwood forest in Ohdaigahara, western Japan. The mortality of fallen seeds during winter amounted to 93.7%, and 79.2% of the current‐year seedlings died in the first growing season. The most important factor of death for both seeds and seedlings was predation by vertebrates. The mortality of seeds during winter was positively correlated with sound seed density. The mortality of seedlings was positively correlated with density but not significantly related to the distance from the nearest crown edge of a conspecific adult tree. Mortality patterns varied with stages and spatial scales due to the behavior of predators; it is thus important to investigate the spatial pattern of seeds and seedling mortality at various temporal and spatial scales. After the first growing season, the difference in seedling density between distance classes was not significant at <4m from the nearest adult trees due to density‐dependent mortality. However, seedling density was significantly lower in the ≥4 m class than in the <4 m classes.
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