Abstract
Stand structure and dynamics of broad-leaved secondary forests in western Japan were studied at the Hiruzen Experiment Forest of Tottori University. Within the ten plots, total 0.85 ha, forty species of eighteen families (DBH>=4cm) were found. The deciduous broad-leaved trees in the family Fagaceae were primarily dominant, with 61.2% comprising the total basal area. They were found in the upper classes in DBH and height distribution. Over half of the dominance was comprised of Quercus serrata and Q. mongolica var. grosseserrata. The sprout index (sprout/main stem) was higher for Styrax japonica, Ilex pedunculosa and Ilex macropoda, and lower for the species of Fagaceae. The DBH-height relationship was well fitted to the hyperbolic equation (1/H=1/AD^h+1/H^*). The parameter h for all trees (1.207) was lower than that for only main stems (1.345). Species diversity (H'), calculated on the basal area of each species, was dependent on the number of species and the forest development. H' was 3.432 for all trees. Almost all secondary forests in the Hiruzen Experiment Forest were assessed to the stem exclusion stage and the understory reinitiation stage of forest stand development.
