2019 Volume 45 Issue 1 Pages 91-96
To investigate the effects of feeding damage caused by the folivorous insects on the xylem of current-year shoots of field grown 10-year-old middle-size Japanese beech trees, we clipped leaves from beech trees at different intensities and seasons. At clipping treatment in May, the xylem vessel mean inner diameter decreased, while vessel density increased as clipping intensity increased. On the other hand, there was no effect at clipping treatment in June. Based on these results, defoliations soon after the leaf flushing by the folivorous insects affect the xylem structure of Japanese beech and these influences extend over the next year.
