A comprehensive phytosociological study of Kozu Island in the Izu Islands was carried out. As a result, 22 associations, 20 communities, and 1 plantation, a total of 43 vegetation units, were classified. On Kozu Island, the vegetation height of forests reduces significantly with increasing elevation. Forests with vegetation height of 10 m are not seen at elevations of 200 m or more, and only scrub vegetation height of less than 5 m is seen at elevations of 400 m or more. But on Mikura Island of the Izu Islands, forests of 25 m height have reached 500 m above sea level. A factor to be mentioned is that the mountainside near 400 m elevation at Mount Tenjosan has become a steep slope on Kozu Island. The most recent eruption of Kozu Island was 1,177 years ago, and that of Mikura Island was 6,300 years ago. For this reason also there is a difference in the successional stage of the primary succession. In Alnus sieboldiana scrub on Kozu Island, endemic species of the Fossa Magna Region accounted 49.2% of all occurrences in 17 species. On the Izu Peninsula, there were 3.6% of all occurrences in 30 species. Due to the fewer competing species on Kozu Island, it has been estimated that the environment is suitable for speciation. The vegetation system of tropical fern grassland in Japan and Malaysia, including Kozu Island, was considered. We described a new class: Blechno-Dicranopteridetea, one new order, one new alliance, and four new associations. A new association, Gleichenio-Dicranopteridetum linearis occupies a large area of the mountainside of Mount Tenjosan on Kozu Island.

In this research, the burning behavior and heat-shielding effect of trees against flame under windy conditions was studied experimentally under limited flame conditions. Combustion into continuous flame was observed, but the flames did not spread to whole trees. Some species were ignited by radiant heat, and a thermal plume followed after the flame fell from the trees. The radiation measured behind trees frequently did decline, especially behind evergreen tree species such as Aucuba japonica Thunb. and Viburnum awabuki K.Koch, which have dense tree forms with large, thick leaves. The temperature behind trees did not decreased clearly, however, and the change behind trees was probably caused mainly by flame dynamics and the thermal plume. The experimental results indicate that the heat-shielding effect of trees against flames, under windy conditions, involves decreasing the radiant heat.

To understand the relationship between vegetation types and the physical properties of trees composing the community in heavy snow areas in Japan, a vegetation investigation was conducted in snowy conditions and the trees living there were tested mechanically. Vegetation associations obtained were Hamamelido-Fagetum crenatae on gentle slopes, Nanoquercetum on steep slopes, and Ilici-Thujetum standishii on spur ridges. Fracture strength, specific gravity, and water content showed a constant value regardless of the part of the tree and the species. However, strains on branches at the fracture point decreased as branch size increased. Tall tree species had higher physical properties than shrub and subtree layer species. Mamy shrub species could not survive in the Nanoquercetum on steep slopes because of the lower dynamic ability of the shrub species. Fagus crenata showed the highest fracture strength in the examination. The plasticity and fluctuation band in the physical properties of the branches of F. crenata were low, and the water demand quantity is high for the habitat. Q. crispula var. horikawae was higher in breaking stress than Quercus crispula and showed higher flexibility in the branches. Q. crispula var. horikawae has a dry habitat and tolerance for snow pressure. Acer japonicum does not appear in the Nanoquercetum, because the quantity of water demanded by the tips of twigs and the leaves is high. The strain energy per unit volume is constant, and the value depends on species that should express the species ecology.

Land use on the Altiplano in the High Andes of Bolivia was reviewed to propose reasons why the Altiplano supports a dense population, focusing on the environmental differences between the area’s lower and upper potential tree limit. From the temperate climate review associated with the observed landscape, the boundary between the lower and upper puna was examined, and the location of the potential tree limit was determined to be situated at 4,200 m elevation. On the lower puna, cultivation, which is commercially most profitable, ensures high productivity. The potential tree limit plays a dominant role in differentiating the land use pattern on the Altiplano. It is one reason for the dense population of the Altiplano.

Heat balance components were measured at a bare land, and the xylem sap flow of a pioneer species (Schefflera morototoni) and the vessel parameters were measured at a neighboring secondary forest in a forest reserve near Manaus, AM from August to September, 2012. The downward shortwave radiation (SWd) reached 1,000 W·m^-2 in the daytime on sunny days, which increased temperatures above 40℃ , and decreased relative humidity below 30%. As a result, the saturation deficit exceeded 60 hPa. The SWd on rainy days, on the other hand, was about 200 W·m^-2, and the maximum temperature did not reach 30 ℃ , which made the saturation deficit remain close to zero. The sap flow of a tree with a height of 19 m reached 17 l·h^-1 before noon on sunny days, but it was up to 3 l·h^-1 on rainy days. While a 12 m tree had a sap flow of 24.3 l·day^-1, that of a 19 m tree was 94.7 l·day^-1, showing that the sap flow was dependent on tree size. Vessel diameter (d) in the stem cross-section increased with tree growth, such as from 75 μm at the pith to 125 μm near the cambium. The Σd⁴ , a part of hydraulic conductivity, had the same phase as the sap flow and tree height, which suggested that an individual tree copes with efficiently absorbing a large amount of water to the canopy layer by increasing the vessel diameter.

Up to now the habitats of Armadillidium nasatum Budde-Lund. 1885, were ascertained on only two plots in Yokohama city, at Sankei-en in Naka-ku and Kanazawa Natural Park in Kanazawa-ku, however a third habitat was found through our research at Nokendo Ryokuchi in Kanazawa-ku. Individual numbers increased in lighter spots on the forest floor with deciduous broad-leaved trees with vegetation cover rate over 40%, and as the ratio of evergreen broad-leaved trees went up, the lightness on the forest floor lowered and caused less or even no population in darker spots. As our previous research (Senzaki et al., 2015) indicated that A. nasatum preferred open grassland such as understory and shrubbery, this research also proved that they chose the deciduous shrub layer as their habitat, which was planted after anthropogenic influence and environmental changes helped them favorably to expand their distribution. In this sense, our research explained that the areas of Nokendo Ryokuchi and Kanazawa Natural Park that were factitiously developed in the 1970’s are now the typical habitats of A. nasatum in Yokohama city.