Abstract
From November 2006 to February 2009, seasonality in occurrence of bark-stripping by sika deer (Cervus nippon), and external characters of damage traces were investigated in 31 young and middle-aged sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) plantations in Mie Prefecture, central Japan. Of 381 cases of debarking, 99.7% and 0.3% were due to bark-feeding and fraying, respectively. Most of the bark-feeding damage occurred during the tree-growing season (March–August), but damage in the non-growing season (November–February) was found in only two plantations of over 750 m above sea level. In the tree-growing season, outerbark and innerbark were taken off together and thick innerbark was eaten. The exposed surface of the xylem was usually smooth, 73.3% of damaged trees were without teeth-marks. In trees debarked in the non-growing season, the outerbark was stripped off, and many teeth-marks were found on the filmy innerbark adhering to the xylem. Bark-feeding damage in the tree-growing and non-growing seasons were definitely distinguished from each other, and the viewpoint that debarking without teeth-marks was caused by fraying was erroneous.
