Artificial coniferous forests in Japan are important food resources for Japanese black bears Ursus thibetanus japonicus because they can feed on nuts, berries and grasses existing in the artificial coniferous forests. In the present study, we surveyed biomass of plants that can be food for the bear in artificial coniferous forests in relation to characteristics of the forest such as degree of thinning, age and density of deer, to find factors affecting the amount of food for Japanese black bears. We measured diameter at breast height DBH and basal area of trees or degree of cover of food plants as an index of the amount of food resource, and analyzed the relationship between the amount of food resource and characteristics of the forests using generalized linear model. The results suggested that: nuts are rich in the forests without thinning but berries are rich in the forests with thinning, grasses are rich in the forests under high deer density, whereas berries are rich in the forests under low deer density, nuts are rich in the old forests. Forest managements such as thinning can affect type of food and practical and effective management is expected considering deer density.
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