Spatial Distribution and Composition of Trees in an Aging Coppice Forest in Japan

Abstract

The importance of studying the ecology of coppice forests in Japan has risen recently amid growing demands to reestablish utilization of their tangible resources. The objective of the paper is to assess whether the spatial distribution of trees at an undisturbed agingcoppice follows some common pattern and how its composition changes with time. Coppice forests in Japan usually grow on steep lands and conventionally used forest inventory methods and methods used in ecological studies are time-consuming. Therefore, a rapid sampling approach based on measurements of angles and distances was used to achieve the objectives of this study. The field survey was conducted at coppice stands harvested 48, 60 and 77 years ago. Results suggest that distribution of the trees at aging-coppices shifts toward a regular spatial pattern. However, the process toward this regularity is slow and the distributions of individual trees were still not significantly different from a random pattern. Use of the combined angle-distance methodology is rapid and the data collected can be useful for planning ecologically-friendly management of coppice forests. Received March 19, 2012; Accepted October 24, 2012 ∗ Kyoto University, Japan