2006 Volume 11 Issue 2 Pages 77-83
The objective of this study was to elucidate the relationships between canopy tree and forest floor vegetation characteristics, and the fecal pellet-group distribution of a Japanese serow population, in lowland managed forests of Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. The study area was classified into five forest types: Japanese red pine (JRP), Japanese cedar (JC), other conifers (OC), a mixture of conifer and broad-leaved trees (MCB), and deciduous broad-leaved trees (DBL). Fecal pellet-groups throughout the study area were counted during November/December 2002. Between June and September 2002, the forest vegetation was surveyed using plot inventory in the largest forest block of the study area. One hundred and thirty-eight 100-m2 circular plots were established in the forest at the same time. The observed numbers of pellet-groups in the JRP and DBL forests were significantly lower than the left-tail threshold of the expected random distributions generated by a Monte Carlo simulation. In contrast, the observed numbers of pellet-groups in the JC and OC forests were significantly higher than the right-tail threshold of the expected random distributions. These results indicate that the serow used the JC forests frequently for defecation sites, and that the DBL and JRP forests were not used in proportion to their areas. We propose that serows make selective use of JC stands because of reduced forest floor vegetation in these plantations. Coverage by the major component of the forest floor vegetation, dwarf bamboo, is likely reduced in the JC forests by the removal of ground cover vegetation before thinning and by the shady conditions beneath the canopy, which result from canopy tree characteristics.
