Abstract
For the purpose of obtaining a preliminary knowledge for the recovery of disturbed area with endemic plant species stored in a forest seed-bank, a 3-5cm layer of the topsoil collected from a young Chamaecyparis obtusa forest was applied with different levels of thickness on an experimental plot made of heavy clay soil of a Osaka group. The live-and-die and the growth of every emerged plants under watered and non-watered conditions were investigated in 1996. Several experimental treatments such as mixing of charcoal particles, mulching with rice straws, or additional seeding of Rhododendron reticulata seeds were also applied. The 2225 plants of 59 species, including 852 seedlings of seeded Rhododendron, emerged from watered plots, while 658 plants of 37 species from non-watered plots. The total estimated coverage was maximum in 5cm plot of watered condition, while the coverage of all plots in non-watered condition was very small with an exception of charcoal mixed condition in which the coverage matched to those of watered conditioned plots. Watering or mixing of charcoal with forest topsoil seemed very useful for the germination of buried seeds andlater growth.
