Vegetation Science
Online ISSN : 2189-4809
Print ISSN : 1342-2448
ISSN-L : 1342-2448
Relationship between species richness, species composition and forest area of fragmented secondary forests on the Senri Hills in Osaka Prefecture
Hiroaki ISHIDAKanako TOIYoshiaki TAKEDATamotsu HATTORI
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2002 Volume 19 Issue 2 Pages 83-94

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Abstract

Nineteen fragmented secondary forests distributed in the urban landscape of the Senri Hills in Osaka Pref. were investigated. The relationship between the number of secondary species (species showing habitat preference for secondary forest) and area of the forest was analysed using the species-log area and the log species-log area models, and in both models the correlation between the number of species and area was related by a highly significant linear regression. Compared with the fragmented secondary forests in Flower Town, Hyogo Pref., the forests in the study area were found to have fewer species. It seemed that the major causes for this were the differences between the two areas in the time and degree of previous use for secondary forest, or in the time of isolation. The secondary species were classified into three groups by the similarity of distributional pattern with respect to the decrease of area. Herbaceous species that prefered mesic habitat tended to be absent in smaller forests, probably because of the dryness of the soil and the lack of mesic microlandforms. In Flower Town, Hyogo Pref. Prunus verecunda, Styrax japonicus, Pourthiaea villosa, Rhododendron reticulatum, etc. were unaffected by the decrease of area, but in the study area they showed a tendency to be absent with decreasing area.

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© 2002 The Society of Vegetation Science
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