Change of the forest floor vegetation grown in the urban wild habitat garden “Inochi-no-mori” in the last decade

Abstract

In this study, plant species composition in the reclaimed urban wildlife habitat “Inochi-no-mori” was investigated to verify the cause of the latest decline in plant species diversity using the ordination technique DCA. DCA results indicated that the relative illuminance ratio and the soil water content declined in this site in 2013 compared with that in 2003. It was estimated that such environmental changes were caused by canopy closing because of the succession and evapotranspiration increase caused by the growth of trees. Correspondingly, the number of pteridophytes and ruderal plants decreased, whereas that of shade-tolerant species or drought-tolerant species increased.