A dwarf bamboo (Pleioblastus chino) and winter browsing by Japanese hare (Lepus brachyurus) combine to limit establishment of transplanted native tree seedlings in an abandoned agricultural field

Published Date
December 2016, Volume 27, Issue 6, pp 1287–1294

Short Communication

First Online: 

07 May 2016

DOI: 10.1007/s11676-016-0257-7

Cite this article as: 

Tokuoka, Y., Ohigashi, K., Watanabe, K. et al. J. For. Res. (2016) 27: 1287. doi:10.1007/s11676-016-0257-7

Author

• Yoshinori TokuokaEmail author
• Kentaro Ohigashi
• Koji Watanabe
• Hiroshi Yamaguchi
• Takahiro Ara
• Nobukazu Nakagoshi

Abstract

Natural forest recovery on abandoned farmland is hindered by a variety of factors and active restoration plays an important role when quick afforestation is desired. We investigated seedling survival of four transplanted native tree species (Quercus myrsinifolia, Quercus serrata, Aphananthe aspera, and Rhus sylvestris) by experimentally manipulating the vegetation cover, which was mainly dominated by dwarf bamboo (Pleioblastus chino), and herbivore access to the planting sites on farmland that had been abandoned for 15 years at the start of the study. Few transplanted seedlings of any species survived under intact vegetation cover, irrespective of herbivore presence. In gaps in the vegetation cover, winter browsing by Japanese hare (Lepus brachyurus) damaged all species. However, lower browsing frequency and higher resprouting ability after grazing of the seedlings enabled both Quercus species to survive better than the other species. These results indicate that dwarf bamboo and the hare jointly limit the establishment of native trees in old fields. If active afforestation by transplanting seedlings at sites dominated by dwarf bamboo is planned, a combination of vegetation removal, selection of suitable species, and temporary seedling protection will be most effective.

References 

1. Cadenasso ML, Pickett STA, Morin PJ (2002) Experimental test of the role of mammalian herbivores on old field succession: community structure and seedling survival. J. Torrey Botanical Soc 129:228–237CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Davidson DW (1993) The effects of herbivory and granivory on terrestrial plant succession. Oikos 68:23–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. De Steven D (1991) Experiments on mechanisms of tree establishment in old-field succession: seedling emergence. Ecology 72:1066–1075CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Hara K (1988) Repellent effects of asphalt emulsion on feeding damages on the Japanese cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa, caused by the Japanese hare, Lepus timidus. Forest Pests 37:145–149 (in Japanese)Google Scholar
5. Hasegawa M (1991) The growth and damage of keyaki (Zelkova serrata Makino) afforestation for 6 growing periods after planting. J Toyama For For Prod Res Cent 5:9–12 (in Japanese)Google Scholar
6. Hjältén J, Danell K, Ericson L (2004) Hare and vole browsing preferences during winter. Acta Theriol 49:53–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. Hobbs RJ, Cramer VA (2007) Old field dynamics: regional and local differences, and lessons for ecology and restoration. Old Fields 309–318
8. Hoshizaki K, Miguchi H (2005) 1 5 Influence of forest composition on tree seed predation and rodent responses: a comparison of monodominant and mixed temperate forests in Japan. Seed Fate 253
9. Ida H, Nakagoshi N (1996) Gnawing damage by rodents to the seedlings of Fagus crenataand Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata in a temperate Sasa grassland–deciduous forest series in southwestern Japan. Ecol Res 11:97–103CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Itô H, Hino T (2007) Dwarf bamboo as an ecological filter for forest regeneration. Ecol Res 22:706–711CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Legendre P, Legendre L (1998) Numerical ecology, 2nd edn. Elsevier, AmsterdamGoogle Scholar
12. Meiners SJ, Pickett ST, Cadenasso ML (2001) Effects of plant invasions on the species richness of abandoned agricultural land. Ecography 24:633–644CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13. Ohdachi SD, Ishibashi Y, Iwasa MA, Saitoh T (2009) The wild mammals of Japan. Shoukadoh, KyotoGoogle Scholar
14. R Development Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, ViennaGoogle Scholar
15. Saito M, Koike F (2013) Distribution of wild mammal assemblages along an urban–rural–forest landscape gradient in warm-temperate East Asia. PLoS One 8(5):e65464CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
16. Shimizu R, Shimano K (2010) Food and habitat selection of Lepus brachyurus lyoni Kishida, a near-threatened species on Sado Island, Japan. Mamm Study 35:169–177CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17. Sitzia T, Semenzato P, Trentanovi G (2010) Natural reforestation is changing spatial patterns of rural mountain and hill landscapes: a global overview. For Ecol Manage 259:1354–1362CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Sonoda Y, Kuramoto N (2008) Effect of forest fragmentation on species composition of non-flying mammals in the Tama hill and Kanto mountain region. Ecol Civil Eng 11:41–49CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Taniguchi S, Komatsu T (2003) Damage mitigation effects and directions of feeding-damage prevention materials on Japanese hare (Lepus brachyurus) built with the bio-degradable poly lactic acid non-woven. J Jpn Soc Reveg Technol 28:501–506 (in Japanese)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20. Tokuoka Y, Ohigashi K, Nakagoshi N (2011) Limitations on tree seedling establishment across ecotones between abandoned fields and adjacent broad-leaved forests in eastern Japan. Plant Ecol 212:923–944CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21. Torii H (1984) Hare damages to Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and growth and recovery of damaged trees. Bull Shizuoka Prefect For Exp Stn 12:15–25 (in Japanese with English summary)Google Scholar
22. Yamamoto Y, Shindo K, Hagino K, Koyama N, Otaki N (2001) Recovery of Pleioblastus variegatus after flowering in Aso region. J Jpn Soc Grassl Sci 47:520–523 (in Japanese)Google Scholar
23. Zhang K, Dang H, Tan S, Wang Z, Zhang Q (2010) Vegetation community and soil characteristics of abandoned agricultural land and pine plantation in the Qinling Mountains, China. For Ecol Manage 259:2036–2047CrossRefGoogle Scholar

For further details log on website :
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11676-016-0260-z