Mowing of dominated Pleioblastus chino (Franch. et Sav.) Makino is effective to enhance species richness in a ground flora of abandoned Quercus serrata forests. Frequent mowing (i.e. double or more in a year) is suitable to control overgrown P. chino, even if managed for a relatively short term (<several years). However, there are few studies aiming at the recovery of floristic diversity with such a frequent- and a short-term-mowing. One-year mowing (double-, triple-, and non-mowing) was carried out to monitor the recovery of ground flora until the following year. Greater number of species was observed in both double- and triple-mown plots than an un-mown plot. Species favoring brighter ground occurred more frequently in triple- than double-mown plots, although species richness was not different significantly between them. Triple mowing, rather than double, would be effective as an intensive and relatively short-term management to enhance species particularly suitable in brighter grounds. However, relative illuminance was not enough to survive species representing well-managed forests (i.e. common to semi-natural grasslands). Worse, P. chino biomass in triple-mown plots was unsuccessful in reduction compared with double-mown plots in the next year of mowing. Triple mowing should, thus, continue at least two years to inhibit P. chino for longer time, and to enhance species richness further.
