Study on Planchonella obovate Community around Amami-Oshima and Dune Scrub that Consists of Evergreen Broadleaf Trees on Beach

Abstract

In this study, we investigated species composition of Planchonella obovate community on beaches around Amami-Oshima, and compared the result with that community which is generally distributed as Planchonello-Litseetum japonicae on rocky seashores. The results showed that Planchonella obovate community on beaches consisted of Planchonella obovate, Litsea japonica and other component species of the lucidophyllous forests etc. and species composition was similar to that of community on rocky seashores. In addition, we investigated the distribution of four community (Pittosporo-Quercetum phillyraeoidis, Cyrtomio-Litseetum japonicae, Crepidiastro-Cinnamometum daphnoidis, and Planchonello-Litseetum japonicae) on beaches, that had reported only on rocky seashores, by the review of reference documents. Each community has a wide distribution on rocky seashores, whereas we found only a few distribution of them on beaches. It is suggested that those beaches are worth preserving as precious vegetation under conditions of highly human impacts such as tree planting or artificial structures.