Decline of Quercus crispula in abandoned coppice forests caused by secondary succession and Japanese oak wilt disease: Stand dynamics over twenty years

• Published in: Forest ecology and management Vol. 334; pp. 18 - 27
• Main Authors: Nakajima, Haruki, Ishida, Megumi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 01.12.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Abandoned; Acer; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Beech–oak stand; Biological and medical sciences; Biotic disturbance; Dynamics; Fagus crenata; Forest management. Stand types and stand dynamics. Silvicultural treatments. Tending of stands. Natural regeneration; Forestry; Forests; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gap successor; Mortality; Oak; Oak decline; Platypus; Platypus quercivorus; Quercus crispula; Quercus serrata; Stand types and stand dynamics. Silvicultural treatments. Tending of stands. Natural regeneration; Stands; Supports; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; Trees; Japan, Honshu, Toyama Prefect; Japan; Oak decline; Gap successor; Beech–oak stand; Platypus quercivorus; Fagus crenata; Biotic disturbance; Forests; Forest stand; Disease; Ecological succession; Forest ecology; Environmental factor; Perturbation; Fagaceae; Beech-oak stand; Coppice; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Forestry; Hardwood forest tree; Spermatophyta; Biotic factor
• ISSN: 0378-1127; 1872-7042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2014.08.021

[Display omitted] •We analyzed stand dynamics in 16 plots of abandoned coppice forests over 20years.•Quercus crispula declined owing to secondary succession in beech–oak stands.•Quercus crispula declined drastically because of Japanese oak wilt disease (JOW).•JOW had a small impact on Quercus serrata, and Fagus crenata increased.•Damaged oak stands will change into forests composed of various species and ages. Most coppice forests in Japan were abandoned in the 1960s for socio-economic reasons. In the last two decades, Quercus crispula and Quercus serrata, the main species in Japanese coppice forests, have suffered mortality from Japanese oak wilt disease (JOW) vectored by the ambrosia beetle Platypus quercivorus. To clarify forest changes due to secondary succession and JOW in abandoned coppice forests, stand dynamics over 23–26years in 16 permanent plots in Toyama Prefecture, central Japan, were analyzed. Seven plots were beech–oak stands dominated by Fagus crenata and Q. crispula, and nine were oak stands dominated by Q. crispula (in five plots) and/or Q. serrata (in six plots). In beech–oak stands before the appearance of JOW, dominance of shade-tolerant F. crenata increased and that of less shade-tolerant Q. crispula decreased in all seven plots, as expected from process of secondary succession. Since 2005 when the incidence of JOW became noticeable, Q. crispula suffered high mortality rates, and basal area in 2013 decreased compared with the first measurement (1987–1990) in all 12 plots. In contrast, JOW had less impact on Q. serrata because of its low mortality rates with JOW. In beech–oak stands, F. crenata expanded in dominance because of secondary succession and subsequent JOW, and stands will develop into old-growth beech forests over the long term. In oak stands, shade-tolerant canopy species under dead oak trees, such as Acer sieboldianum, are expected to replace dead oak trees, but understory species might also increase and slow the growth of saplings and seedlings of canopy tree species. Regeneration of oak was inferred to be difficult. JOW had a large negative impact on Q. crispula dynamics in abandoned coppice forests at a regional scale, and severely damaged oak stands will become heterogeneous forests composed of various species and ages, unlike the even-aged and rather monospecific oak coppice stands.