DEVELOPMENT OF RESTORED FORESTS BY THE MIXED AND DENSE PLANTING METHOD

10 YEARS OF ASAHI-INOCHINO-MORI (ASAHI ECOTOPE FOR WILDLIFE) IN FUJI CITY

Abstract

We investigated the 10-year growth of the ecotope (complex nature restoration area) Asahi-inochino-mori at the Fuji office of Asahi Kasei Corporation in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The natural evergreen forest and the Satoyama forest (coppice with summer green broad-leaved trees), regenerated by the mixed and dense planting method, grew 0. 9 m per year linearly, in 2017 reaching 10 m, 10 years after planting. The canopies of these regenerated forests were closed in 3.5 years, and the incoming woody plants grew on the forest floor in 4.5 years. The number of incoming species in Satoyama forest in 2017 reached about three times that of natural forest. It is estimated that this difference in the number of species is due to the high illuminance in the forest in the Satoyama forest. Most of the constituent species of Satoyama forest are newly incoming species. The species compositions of the forests in the ecotope were similar to natural forests as each of the regeneration targets. However, many herbs of forests that appeared in natural forests were absent in the regeneration forests. Growth of those herbs will take more time. There are 21 vegetation units growing in this ecotope. Two associations and one community of wetland grassland were common with Ukishimagahara Mire in Fuji City. In addition to the two kinds of forests, this ecotope is characterized by rare communities such as the Myosotis baltica community at the waterside of the stream, fringe communities such as the Oplismenus undulatifolius community, and the Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii community around the paddy fields.