Altitudinal Vegetation Belts of Japan with Special Reference to Climatic Conditions

Foot morphology and distribution of Sika deer in relation to snow depth in Japan

“…Figure 2 illustrates the present distributions of Sika deer on the Japanese islands and three areas of different snow depths (Yoshino 1978): 'less snow area (<50 cm of mean annual maximum snow)', 'intermediate area (50-100 cm)', and 'snowy area (>100 cm)'. It is dear from this map that Sika deer are confined to the 'less snow area' at least on the southern three islands although their distribution is irregular as a result of hea W hunting pressure, intensive land use for agriculture, and urbanization in recent years.…”

“…An anonymous referee suggested using the three areas of different snow depth to explain the Sika deer distribution. (Yoshino 1978) on the Japanese islands.…”

“…The Japanese islands receive winter monsoons from the east Asian mainland, which become moist as they cross the Japan Sea and bring a considerable amount of snow to the Japan Sea side (Yoshino 1978). From these facts, the biased distribution of Sika deer is explained by snow depth and the duration of snow accumulation (Tokida et al 1980;Maruyama 1981).…”

Changes with altitude of the stand structure of temperate forests on Mount Norikura, central Japan

“…For example, in central Japan,, forest vegetation changes from evergreen broad-leaved forests at low altitude to deciduous broad-leaved forests at middle altitude, and to evergreen coniferous forests at high altitude (Yoshino 1978). Takahashi et al (2003Takahashi et al ( , 2005 showed that theTakahashi et al (2003,2005) showed that growth of Betula ermanii differently respondeded to climatic conditions at its upper and lower distribution limits in a subalpine forest on Mount Norikura, central Japan.…”

Classification and ecological characterization of coniferous forest phytogeocoenoses of Hokkaido, Japan

“…And yet, occurrences of the Sasa kurilensis type seem to be associated with habitats where a large amount of snow accumulates locally. Indeed, Sasa kurilensis is known to be associated with the snow belt of the Japanese Archipelago and with habitats with relatively deep snow (Suzuki 1978;Yoshino 1978;Toyooka et al 1981Toyooka et al , 1983. Viburnumfurcatum which is one of the characteristic species of this type is also associated with regions of heavy snow fall.…”