Distribution of and Environmental Factors Influencing Giant Japanese Horse Chestnut Tree Stands in Common Village Land in Shiga Prefecture, Central Japan

Abstract

Giant Japanese horse chestnut (Aesculus turbinata Blume) stands formed in the mountain forests in Japan, and the environmental and social factors influencing the formation of such stands on common land were investigated in this study, which examined the interactions between physical conditions and local forest use. Additionally, this study aimed to identify the similarities and differences in the factors influencing giant A. turbinata forest formation between the common land area examined in this study and private land areas reported in previous studies in the Kutsuki region, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. In terms of the natural environment, this study revealed that the forest tended to grow in the uppermost reaches of the valley and at higher elevations than at the bottom of the valley. This observation indicates that the forest studied here was similar to that in previous studies in terms of the frequency and scale of disturbance, such as landslides and other landform changes, which potentially occur once every several hundred years, even in different valleys. Moreover, the findings revealed the importance of A. turbinata nuts as a local food resource and social factor because the stands of giant A. turbinata trees on common land have been protected from logging pressure and thus have persisted. A common characteristic of the “loose” management of A. turbinata trees was identified in this case study of common land and the other cases of private lands in previous studies.