Abstract
We investigated the forest damage in Kyoto prefecture caused by sika deer (hereafter, sika) focusing on the shrub-layer decline rank (hereafter, SDR) on deciduous hardwood forest. We also tried to evaluate the bark-stripping and fraying damage to plantation with simple survey, in order to produce the method for easily assessing the distribution of those damages. In Kyoto prefecture, we surveyed 130 points for SDR, 131 for dam-age in Hinoki plantation, and 131 for damage in Sugi plantation. All data were aggregated on GIS software, and each damage maps were estimated and were generated by space domain interpolation provided by GIS software. Scrutinizing the accuracy of damage maps, it was ensured that SDR and the bark-stripping damage maps were valid and accurate. The results of correlation test between MSPUE 4 (indicator of sika density) and the damages (SDR, bark-stripping of Hinoki and bark-stripping of Sugi) suggest that MSPUE 4 and SDR, MSPUE 4 and bark-stripping of Hinoki had significant positive relationships. The survey method we tried in this study seems beneficial for monitoring the bark-stripping damage of plantation in prefecture-scale.
