Abstract
This study was conducted in order to obtain basic data on managing secondary forests developed on abandoned fields and used for cattle grazing. The area of the experimental site was 1.45 ha. The number of trees in a single 10 m×10 m quadrat set up in the experimental site was 205, and the mean tree height was 2.44m, with broad-leaved evergreen trees (species number=11), broad-leaved deciduous trees (25), and conifers (2) accounting for 49, 46, and 4%, respectively, to the total number of trees. The cattle tracks which developed in the secondary forest formed a complex reticulation. The inclination angle of the cattle tracks ranged from 0 to 29.1 degrees (mean value=8.1 degrees), and 43.9% of the total were less than 6 degrees and 76.6% were less than 12 degrees. The height of Ligustrum japonicum, which was the index tree used to determine the influence of defoliation, increased with the distance from cattle tracks, and this indicated that the degree of defoliation of the wood species by cattle changes with the distance from cattle tracks.
