Effects of small-scale management on biodiversity of an abandoned coppice forest in Japan: a case study on vegetation regeneration and ground beetle community

Abstract

Abstract. We studied the effects of small-scale vegetation disturbances on biodiversity in an abandoned coppice forest in central Japan during 2004–2006. We assessed biodiversity by examining vegetation regeneration and by changes in the diversity and abundance of ground beetles after experimental manipulations including tree felling, vegetation clearing, and litter removal. Our experimental design was dictated by the need of producing only small disturbances; therefore we could not replicate plots. Instead, we used a repeated measures approach during three years to document the consistency of experimental effects. We found that the diversity of regenerating vegetation increased dramatically due to recruitment of many new species after clearing ground vegetation. Tree cutting caused strong environmental changes and affected vegetation regeneration rate but not diversity. Tree cutting also significantly increased the diversity of ground beetle species, while litter removal affected the abundance of ground beetles. Our results suggest that a sound conservation practice shall combine tree cutting with ground vegetation clearing and litter removal. Besides, conservation of abandoned forests may be based on low-intensity labor, including tree cutting on restricted areas. Finally, ground beetles appeared to be surprisingly sensitive to vegetation disturbance on a restricted area and thus can be suggested for monitoring such small-scale-disturbance-based conservation practices.

Combined effects of gap creation and deer exclusion on restoration of belowground systems of secondary woodlands: A field experiment in warm-temperate monsoon Asia

“…Simple but effective countermeasures are generally taken to address these problems, including creation of canopy gaps for improving understory light conditions (Shibuya et al, 2008;Spitzer et al, 2008) and exclusion of herbivores or reduction in their numbers (Wardle et al, 2001;Bressette et al, 2012). The effectiveness of these activities is widely accepted for some aboveground components, such as plants and herbivorous insects (e.g.…”

Season‐specific habitat restriction in Asiatic black bears, Japan

“…However, the selection coefficients revealed seasonal variation in the importance (Table ). The lower probability of selection during summer can be explained by understories of deciduous forests, which are largely dwarf bamboo, restricting other shrubs (Tomimatsu et al ) and insects (Shibuya et al ). The higher probability of selection during spring may indicate bears forage for leaves and flowers on the canopy of broad‐leaved trees regardless of understory condition.…”

Effects of creation of open vegetation in abandoned terraced paddy fields on carabid beetle assemblages in temperate Japan

“…In this study, the shrub density was lower in the SFP sites than in the SFC sites; this also held true for canopy trees except in SFP3 (Table 1), because the existence of canopy trees was limited mainly to the levees of the abandoned paddies (Sato & Nakata 2008). The distribution of carabid beetles in apparently similar forest habitats is affected by environmental conditions such as soil moisture (Butterfield et al 1995;Luff & Woiwod 1995), soil compaction (Magura et al 2003), cover and depth of leaf litter (Niemelä et al 1992b;Koivula et al 1999;Magura et al 2003;Yu et al 2006), canopy and shrub cover (Niemelä & Spence 1994;Koivula et al 1999;Shibuya et al 2008;Yu et al 2008) and the abundances of prey and competitors (e.g., ants) (Niemelä et al 1992b;Poole et al 2003), some of which may be correlated with each other. The scarcity of some forest species in the SFP sites may be related to the differences in environmental conditions such as the shrub density measured in this study or other unmeasured factors between coppice and regenerating forests.…”

“…; Shibuya et al . ; Yu et al . ) and the abundances of prey and competitors (e.g., ants) (Niemelä et al .…”

“…We examined the response of carabid beetles to the creation of open vegetation. Carabid beetles are a suitable insect group to examine the effects of various environmental changes because they are species-rich, quantitative data are easily obtained using pitfall traps (Ishitani 1996;Matsumoto 2008), and the beetles respond to differences in vegetation types (Luff & Woiwod 1995;Rainio & Niemelä 2003;Purtauf et al 2004;Januschke et al 2011) and small-scale disturbances such as logging and forest floor management (Niemelä et al 1993;Koivula et al 2002;Shibuya et al 2008).…”