- Coppices under active management can support more plant species diversity on the forest floor compared to abandoned forests. A shifting mosaic of stands under different stages of coppice rotation appears best for maintaining stable plant species abundance over time. - Mass mortality of oak trees caused by fungi and beetles has expanded in Japan since the 1980s. This is indirectly linked to abandonment of traditional Satoyama woodland management. Regeneration of tree species is limited by dense undergrowth in gaps created by oak mortality. - Deer browsing threatens regeneration, even within deer-proof fences, and adds costs to coppice woodland management.

1. Satoyama woodland
management and mass
mortality of oak trees
ITÔ, Hiroki
Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute
2014-10-23

2. Satoyama as
• Woodlands
• Landscapes
• Systems

3. Satoyama woodlands

4. 19c. Kyôto
Ogura (2011)

5. Overuse
Underuse

6. Satoyama landscapes
Takeuchi (2003)

7. Satoyama systems
Fukamachi and Oku (2011)

8. Satoyama woodlands
• Satoyama woodlands had been maintained to obtain
charcoal woods, fuel woods, green manure and other
materials.
• Most of them were managed as pine forests or as
coppices that were consisted of oaks.
• Most of them have been abandoned from 1960–70s
because fossil fuel replaced charcoal and fuel woods.
• After 1990s, mass mortality of oak trees has expanded
in Japan.

9. Some Satoyama
woodlands are still
managed as coppices

13. Charcoal

14. Bed logs for mushroom cultivation

15. Coppices in England
Rackham (1986)

16. Coppice management
and species abundance
in floor vegetation

17. Inagawa Town
Study site

18. Coppice still managed

19. Coppice still managed

20. Stump

21. Pollard

22. Abandoned broadleaved forest

23. Abandoned pine forest

24. 1 2 3 4 5
Cleared
in 2001
Stand type
No. species
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
year
2006
2007
2008
Cleared
in 2007
Cleared
in 2005
Broad-leaved
Pine
Coppices
Abandoned
forests
Stand type
Coppice had more plant species in floor vegetation
than abandoned forests (Itô et al. 2010)

25. Light-demanding
herbaceous species can
survive on coppice floor

26. Siphonostegia laeta
オオヒキヨモギ, Red-listed (VU)

27. Monochasma sheareri
クチナシグサ

28. Tricyrtis affinis
ヤマジノホトトギス

29. Simulation
• Itô et al. (2012) constructed a simple simulation model to estimate
fluctuations of floor species abundance with 6 conditions:
• A: 1 of 10 stands were cleared each year
• B: 10 of 10 stands were simultaneously cleared every decade
• C: 5 of 10 stands were cleared every 5 years
• D: 10 of 10 stands were cleared each year
• E: abandoned broadleaved forest left unmanaged
• F: abandoned pine forest left unmanaged

30. 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
10 10 10 10 10
10 10 10 10 10
1 1 1 1 1
6 6 6 6 6
1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1
A: 1 of 10 stands were cleared
each year
B: 10 of 10 stands were
simultaneously cleared every
decade
C: 5 of 10 stands were cleared
every 5 years
D: 10 of 10 stands were cleared
each year

31. Year
100
80
60
100
80
60
Result of the simulation suggested that shifting
mosaic (A and C) would keep richer species in
floor (Itô et al., 2012).
Expected number of species
40
40
A
D
5 10 15 20
B
E
5 10 15 20
C
F
5 10 15 20

32. Summary
• Coppices under management can hold more floor
species than abandoned forests.
• Shifting mosaic can keep stable floor species
abundance.

33. Mass mortality of oak
trees

34. ～1980 ～2007
Expansion of the mortality
(Kuroda, 2008)

35. Damaged volume of oak trees
40
Stem volume (×104 m3) Year
30
20
10
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
(Forestry agency of Japan, 2014)

36. Cause
• The mortality is caused by a species of fungi
(Raffaelea quercivora), which is dispersed by a
species of beetle (Platypus quercivorus).
• Abandonment of Satoyama woodlands would affect
it indirectly.

37. Platypus quercivorus
https://www.ffpri.affrc.go.jp/labs/seibut/bcg/bcg00039.html

43. Mortality of oak species
>
Quercus crispula Quercus serrata
Evergreen Quercus (eg. Q. glauca) and
Castanopsis are also influenced.
Fagus is not vulnerable.

44. Case studies in Kansai area
• We studied 3 sites.
• Regeneration?
• What species are regenerating after the mass
mortality?

45. Kutuki
Keihoku
Miyazu

46. Kutuki
Kutuki
Keihoku
Miyazu

48. 樹高(m)
30
25
20
15
10
30
25
20
15
10
30
25
20
15
10
30
25
20
15
10
幹数(本)
0 5
0 5
0 5
0 5
30
25
20
15
10
0 5
30
25
20
15
10
0 5
30
25
20
15
10
0 5
30
25
20
15
10
0 5
plot 1
5 10 15 20
plot 2
5 10 15 20
plot 3
5 10 15 20
アカマツアカマツ(枯) ミズナラミズナラ(枯) コナラコナラ(枯) ソヨゴ他
Pinus densiflora
Pinus densiflora (dead)
Quercus crispula
Quercus crispula (dead)
Quercus serrata
Quercus serrata (dead)
Ilex pedunculosa
Other species
Height (m)
Number of stems

49. 樹高(m)
12
10
12
10
幹数(本)
6 8
4
0 2
6 8
4
0 2
12
10
6 8
4
0 2
12
10
6 8
4
0 2
plot 1
5 10 15 20
plot 2
5 10 15 20
plot 3
5 10 15 20
ミズナラミズナラ(枯) コナラコナラ(枯)
Quercus crispula
Quercus crispula (dead)
Quercus serrata
Quercus serrata (dead)
Height (m)
Number of stems

50. Species in the gaps

51. Magnolia salicifolia
canopy species

52. Magnolia obovata
canopy species

53. Ilex pedunculosa
sub-canopy species

54. • Regenerating trees
• Dense sub-canopy and shrub layer may suppress
regeneration of tree species.

55. Keihoku
Kutuki
Keihoku
Miyazu

58. 樹高(m)
150
100
150
100
150
100
150
幹数(本)
50
0
50
0
50
0
100
50
0
150
100
50
0
150
100
50
0
150
100
50
0
5 10 15
ミズナラミズナラ(枯) コナライヌブナソヨゴコバノミツバツツジ他
Quercus crispula
Quercus serrata
Ilex pedunculosa
Other species
Height (m)
Number of stems
Quercus crispula (dead)
Fagus japonica
Rhododendron reticulatum

59. 樹高(m)
14
12
10
14
12
10
幹数(本)
8
6
4
2
0
8
6
4
2
0
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
5 10 15
ミズナラミズナラ(枯) コナラ
Height (m)
Number of stems
Quercus crispula
Quercus crispula
(dead)
Quercus serrata

60. Species in the gaps

61. Fagus japonica
canopy species

62. Rhododendron reticulatum
shrub species

63. Pieris japonica
shrub species, deer unpalatable

64. • Regenerating trees
• Fagus japonica
• Effects of deer?
• Unpalatable species (eg. Pieris japonica) in the
shrub layer

65. Miyazu
Kutuki
Keihoku
Miyazu

70. 胸高直径(cm)
50
40
30
20
10
50
40
30
20
10
50
40
30
20
10
50
40
幹数(本)
0
0
0
30
20
10
0
50
40
30
20
10
0
50
40
30
20
10
0
50
40
30
20
10
0
plot 1
0 10 20 30 40 50
plot 2
0 10 20 30 40 50
plot 3
0 10 20 30 40 50
plot 4
0 10 20 30 40 50
ミズナラミズナラ(枯) リョウブオオカメノキハイイヌガヤクロモジ他
Quercus crispula
Clethra barbinervis
Cephalotaxus harringtonia
var. nana
Other species
Diameter at breast height (cm)
Number of stems
Quercus crispula (dead)
Viburnum furcatum
Lindera umbellata

71. 胸高直径(cm)
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
幹数(本)
0.0
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
plot 1
0 10 20 30 40 50
plot 2
0 10 20 30 40 50
plot 3
0 10 20 30 40 50
plot 4
ミズナラミズナラ(枯)
0 10 20 30 40 50
Quercus crispula
Diameter at breast height (cm)
Number of stems
Quercus crispula
(dead)

72. Species in the gaps

73. Viburnum furcatum
sub-canopy species

74. Clethra barbinervis
sub-canopy species

75. Cephalotaxus harringtonia var. nana
sub-canopy species

76. Dense Sasa undergrowth
suppresses seedling regeneration

77. Cephalotaxus
harringtonia
var. nana
There were some seedlings
under Sasa.

78. • Sasa covered most part of the forest floor.
• Few tree species regenerated in the gaps created
by the mass mortality of oak trees.

79. Under threat of deer

80. Sika deer
Cervus nippon

81. Deer browsing
damages sprouting (Quercus glauca)

82. Deer-proof fence
more costs for wood production

83. Summary
• Coppices under management can maintain rich
floor plant species.
• Mass mortality of oak trees may change woodland
composition.
• Deer may impact managed coppices.