Stand Dynamics and Biomass Increment in a Lucidophyllous Forest over a 28-Year Period in Central Japan

Abstract

Secondary lucidophyllous forest is one of the dominant forests in human-dominated subtropical/warm-temperate regions in East Asia. There were few direct monitoring techniques to elucidate the following hypotheses: (a) self-thinning may govern the stand development process and (b) wood production decline can be observed during secondary succession in a lucidophyllous forest. We conducted a long-term study at a permanent plot in central Japan, since 1989. The forest consists mainly of Castanopsis cuspidata in a canopy layer, Cleyera japonica, and Eurya japonica in a subtree layer. During the 28-year period, the basal area of the stand significantly increased due to the growth of C. cuspidata, from 29.18 ± 1.84 (87.8% of total) to 38.71 ± 2.22 m 2 ha −1 (91.9%), while the stem density of C. cuspidata significantly decreased from 666 ± 13 to 404 ± 10 stems ha −1 in proportion to accumulating biomass (117.8 to 166.6 ton ha −1 ). The annual woody net primary production ranged from 2.40 ± 0.13 to 3.93 ± 0.33 ton ha −1 year −1 as a nearly 70-year-old forest. There was no age-related decline of woody net primary production (NPP) was found during secondary succession, and the growth of individual tree still increased when the self-thinning process governed the stand.

Grow or die: A 49‐year growth history of a Japanese warm‐temperate tree species

“…No recruitment of C. cuspidata trees in this forest was observed in the pre-typhoon subperiod when disturbance was absent, and forest canopies were densely packed with many trees (Figure 7a); this suggests that the regeneration of this species depends on disturbance. A sudden increase in recruitment after the typhoon disturbance (Figure 7b,c Because C. cuspidata can sprout rapidly when trees are damaged, the importance of vegetative sprouting for this species during the regeneration process, including regeneration by coppices, has been recognized by various scientists (Chen et al, 2017;Hirayama et al, 2019;Yamashita et al, 2018). However, our data do not support this observation.…”

“…Because C. cuspidata can sprout rapidly when trees are damaged, the importance of vegetative sprouting for this species during the regeneration process, including regeneration by coppices, has been recognized by various scientists (Chen et al, 2017; Hirayama et al, 2019; Yamashita et al, 2018). However, our data do not support this observation.…”

Canopy Phenology and Meteorology Shape the Seasonal Dynamics in Hydrological Fluxes of Dissolved Organic Carbon in an Evergreen Broadleaved Subtropical Forest in Central Japan

“…The study forest is an evergreen broad-leaved forest located in Mountain Kinka (∼60 m a.s.l., 35 • 26 N, 136 • 47 E) in the Gifu prefecture of central Japan, which is described in detail in Chen et al (2017a) [50]. In brief, the region is subject to a subtropical monsoon climate with an annual average precipitation of 1861 mm and an annual mean air temperature of 16.2 • C, from 1991 to 2020, and mean temperatures in the coldest month (January) and hottest month (August) of 4.6 • C and 28.3 • C, respectively.…”

“…Kinka in 1989. In the studied evergreen broad-leaved forest, Castanopsis cuspidata was the most abundant overstory tree species in the basal area (87.76%), while Cleyera japonica was the most dominant understory subtree species, based on stem number, followed by Eurya japonica [50].…”