A questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the demand of welfare institutions, for persons with disabilities, in Hokkaido for leisure activities in forests. This was done in order to obtain information on the demand for leisure activities in forests. Overall, the welfare institutions for persons with disabilities indicated their great interest in conducting leisure activities in forests. Many institutions chose the forest as a leisure destination. Furthermore, many requested for the improvement of facilities such as rest-rooms and pathways to allow for easy access by persons with disabilities. The result of the chi-square test indicated that institutions that did not demand for leisure activities in forests cited the difficult conditions as a reason. While institutions that catered to persons with physical and multiple disabilities requested for the improvement of facilities, those that catered to persons with mental disabilities requested for an enhanced forest experience program. With the wide acceptance of the normalization approach, the promotion of disabled persons’ social participation through leisure activities, and the spread of information with regard to the effects of forest relaxation, welfare institutions for persons with disabilities expect to see an increase in leisure activities in forests. In the future, the hardware and software required for the creation of a forest recreation space need to be improved, and people concerned with both welfare and forestry should hold constant discussions to promote forest leisure activities among persons with disabilities.

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The Pacific Ocean side of Japan is characterized as snow poor and thus should exhibit reduced beech tree regeneration compared to the snowy Japan Sea side. However, beech regeneration on the Pacific side may be relatively better if temperature is low enough to keep snow and sika deer are absent. We examined factors that influence the regeneration of beech trees on the Pacific side of Japan. Beech population data in an approximately 1 ha area was obtained from 25 sites on the Pacific side. We found that the most suitable model for predicting young (DBH<10 cm) beech density incorporated the monthly average minimum temperature and sika deer presence in 1979. Young beech density was higher at colder sites that lacked deer than at sites where deer were present. However, in warmer regions, young beech density was quite low and almost same in both deer present and lacked sites. The correlation coefficient with young beech density was higher in winter temperature variables than in summer temperature variables. However, no significant correlation between young beech density was observed for precipitation variables, maximum snow depth, adult (DBH>30 cm) beech density, or for deer density. We conclude that beech regeneration on the Pacific side of Japan benefits from cold temperatures but that it is strongly hindered by deer.

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This study examined nutrient transfer with rainfall in the canopies for Fagus crenata, F. japonica, and Tsuga sieboldii of a broad-leaved deciduous forest in Okuchichibu, Japan. For all three species, we collected year-long data on monthly wet deposition, throughfall, and stemflow deposition of the inorganic ions Na⁺, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, H⁺, NH₄⁺, and NO₃⁻. Using this data set, we derived the monthly net throughfall deposition of these ions for analysis. Seasonal patterns of net throughfall deposition of Na⁺, Cl⁻, and SO₄²⁻, for which canopy leaching and uptake are normally negligible, differed significantly between species, suggesting that the seasonal patterns of dry deposition containing these substances varied greatly between species. The sum of throughfall and stemflow deposition of K⁺ was much larger for F. crenata and F. japonica than for T. sieboldii. A filtering approach suggested that the large K⁺ deposition for F. crenata and F. japonica could be caused by canopy leaching of K⁺ during the growing season. The annual sum of throughfall and stemflow deposition of Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and NO₃⁻ for T. sieboldii, an evergreen conifer, was much larger than for the two deciduous, broad-leaved trees (F. crenata and F. japonica). The larger annual total deposition of Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and NO₃⁻ for T. sieboldii could result from increased dry deposition on the canopy during the dormant season.

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The spatial distribution of nitrate concentrations in streamwater was investigated in forested watersheds within the northeastern peripheral area of the Kanto plain to evaluate anthropogenic influences on streamwater chemistry. The study area was divided into the Yasato area, located 65-80 km from Metropolitan Tokyo, and the Shirosato area, at a distance of 100-120 km. Mean nitrate concentrations in the Yasato area were significantly higher than those in the Shirosato area, with the spatial distribution of nitrate concentrations showing a decreasing tendency with increasing distance from Metropolitan Tokyo. Although the atmospheric input of inorganic nitrogen by precipitation at open sites in the Yasato area was similar to that in the Shirosato area, the input by throughfall in the Yasato area was double that in the Shirosato area. This data suggests the difference in input is due to different atmospheric dry deposition in the two areas, resulting in the variation in nitrate concentration in streamwater in forested watersheds.

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Falcataria moluccana (Miq.) Barneby & J. W. Grimes is an important forest resource in tropical Asia. Ten polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellite markers were isolated using a ligation-mediated suppression PCR technique. The polymorphism of these markers was investigated in 33 individuals from natural populations. The number of alleles ranged from nine to 16 with an average of 12.4 alleles per marker, and the expected heterozygosities of the 10 markers ranged from 0.752 to 0.924. These polymorphic markers will be powerful tools for use in population genetics, conservation genetics, and molecular ecology studies to evaluate and conserve genetic resources and biodiversity in F. moluccana.

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We estimated the frequency of field harvests of wild mushrooms and wild vegetables, and clarified the locality of harvest frequencies based on Internet search results. The harvests were divided into private and organization-based. The Internet search was done for 133 cities, towns, and villages across the country with predetermined keywords. We constructed multiple regression models, to explain the relationships between the harvest frequencies and local traits such as population, forest area, temperature, snow cover days (SCD), and so on. The harvest frequency of both mushrooms and wild vegetables were positively correlated with SCD and were negatively correlated with temperature. This suggests that cool climates and frequent harvests of mushrooms and vegetables are closely related. Another trend identified was that private collectors preferred natural forests and that the collectors belonging to organizations utilized various forest types. It was hypothesized that private collectors enjoyed harvesting for leisure while collectors belonging to organizations were likely to work in areas where reliable harvesting was expected.

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