Journal of Forest Planning

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The area of bamboo groves in southwest Japan, comprised mainly of Phyllostachys pubescens, has recently increased. An alternative to these abandoned bamboo groves is their transition to broad-leaved forests. The vegetation transition to broad-leaved forests observed several years after clear-cutting are very important. We investigated the change in species composition after repeating P. pubescens culm cutting. We established four quadrate plots (10 × 10 m): clear-cutting bamboo culms, thinning bamboo culms, and two control sites. Regenerated bamboo culms appeared the next spring after clear-cutting. We concluded that in absence of continuous culm cutting, bamboo recovers after 3 years. We then cut the recovered bamboo culms; this clear-cutting site began to change into a broad-leaved forest. We suggest that a P. pubescens grove can be transitioned to a broad-leaved forest, using continuous selective cutting of the revived bamboo culms over several years.

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