Stand Dynamics and Biomass Increment in a Lucidophyllous Forest over a 28-Year Period in Central Japan

Abstract

Secondary lucidophyllous forest is one of the dominant forests in human-dominated subtropical/warm-temperate regions in East Asia. There were few direct monitoring techniques to elucidate the following hypotheses: (a) self-thinning may govern the stand development process and (b) wood production decline can be observed during secondary succession in a lucidophyllous forest. We conducted a long-term study at a permanent plot in central Japan, since 1989. The forest consists mainly of Castanopsis cuspidata in a canopy layer, Cleyera japonica, and Eurya japonica in a subtree layer. During the 28-year period, the basal area of the stand significantly increased due to the growth of C. cuspidata, from 29.18 ± 1.84 (87.8% of total) to 38.71 ± 2.22 m2 ha−1 (91.9%), while the stem density of C. cuspidata significantly decreased from 666 ± 13 to 404 ± 10 stems ha−1 in proportion to accumulating biomass (117.8 to 166.6 ton ha−1). The annual woody net primary production ranged from 2.40 ± 0.13 to 3.93 ± 0.33 ton ha−1 year−1 as a nearly 70-year-old forest. There was no age-related decline of woody net primary production (NPP) was found during secondary succession, and the growth of individual tree still increased when the self-thinning process governed the stand.