Damage to Taxus cuspidate Plantation by Sika Deer Cervus nippon in the region of Southern Japan Alps in Shizuoka

Abstract

Bark stripping damage to Taxus cuspidata trees (n = 179) by sika deer was examined in a plantation in the region of Southern Japan Alps in Shizuoka Pref. between 2001 and 2002. The damage was 74.9% of the trees. Diameter at breast height (DBH) of normal and damaged trees were 6.6±2.7cm (mean±SD) and 6.7±2.2cm, with no significant difference between them. DBH growth rates of normal and damaged trees for a year were 30.0±27.2% and 25.2±27.5%, with no significant difference between them. To compare the sika deer damage of Taxus cuspidata plantation to that of Cnnninghamia lanceolata in neighboring forest stand (n = 230), the damage rate and DBH of those trees were also examined. The DBHs of T. cuspidata and C. lanceolata were 6.7±4.5cm and 13.5±2.3cm in 2001, with significant difference between them. None of the damaged tree individual in C. lanceolata was observed although 44.8% (n = 103) of C. lanceolata was distributed in the same DBH classes to damaged T. cuspidata. It suggests that the occurrence of damaged tree in T. cuspidata plantation depends not on the thickness of DBH but on the difference in preference of sika deer to the tree species.