2021 Volume 47 Issue 2 Pages 263-272
We investigated the growth of cherry trees in the coastal pine forest near the Sendai Bay 10 years after the tsunami disaster. In the summer of 2020, for a total of 90 trees, we recorded tree vigor in the tree crowns and sprouting from 5 m below part of the trunks. Many of the trees showed progressive top-dieback of their crowns and an overall decline in vigor. Conversely, many of the trees showed sprouting from their lower trunk with a range of 1－103 sprouts and an average of 23.5 sprouts per trunk. Half (50.2%) of the sprouts were thin (2－4 mm in diameter), and there was no significant difference in the number of sprouts between species. Principal component analysis was performed based on the sprout position, and cluster analysis was performed with the principal component values, resulting in six clusters. Cerasus jamasakura was characterized by a relatively large number of trunks (36.7% of 71 trunks) belonging to the clusters with a higher number of sprouts in the upper parts of the trunk. The majority (71.4% of 14 trunks) of C. leveilleana belonged to the cluster with a small number of sprouts in all positions. In Padus grayana, 80.0% of 5 trunks belonged to the clusters with few or no sprouts in the upper parts. The cherry trees were able to avoid dying at the individual level by diverting their energy input toward new sprouts. These sprouts potentially contribute to the re-formation of the coastal forest in the future.
