2015 Volume 97 Issue 6 Pages 304-308
The effects of sika deer (Cervus nippon) on the forest dynamics after the mass mortality of oak trees in a broadleaved secondary forest in Kyôto City were investigated. The changes in the stem densities and basal areas before and after the occurrence of mass mortality and differences in woody species composition of the floor layer between the inside and outside of the gaps created by the mass mortality were examined. Though bark stripping by the deer was found, it was not evident that tree death by bark stripping enlarged the gaps. Regeneration was not completely absent in the gaps, although the number of regenerating stems was small. The regenerating species were limited to the originally abundant species, including Quercus glauca, Cleyera japonica, and Eurya japonica as well as species unpalatable to the deer, such as Symplocos prunifolia and Triadica sebifera, from the aspect of the floor layers．
