Ecological site classification (ESC) based on potential productivity and disturbance regimes

Yoshinobu TANIGUCHI (Project leader)
Satoshi ITO
Nobuya MIZOUE
Osamu SHIMIZU
Kotarou SAKUTA
Yasushi MITSUDA

Project aims

Methods

Work plan

Participants

Publications

Rationale

The Forest Ecosystem Management (FEM) has become global concerns for sustainable forestry and conservation of biodiversity.

More than forty percent of the forested land in Japan (ca. 10 million ha) comprises plantations. These commercial plantations provide a considerable national resource of industrial wood. However, the establishment of extensive areas of even-aged monocultures has resulted in a simplified forest structure of low biodiversity.

Zoning for FEM is very important, and should be done only after considering the potential ecosystem functioning of woodlands.

The structure of ecosystems, which is directly relating to its functioning, strongly depends on the resource availability (potential productivity) and disturbance regimes. This means that the FEM should be arranged to fit the natural resource availability and disturbance regimes.

Thus, Ecological Site Classification (ESC) based on potential productivity and natural disturbance regimes is strongly desired as decision support system for FEM strategy.

Project aims

1. To estimate potential productivity
2. To estimate natural disturbance regimes
3. To evaluate potential biodiversity
4. To develop Ecological Site Classification (ESC) as a source of Decision Support System (DSS)

Work plan (2002-2004)

2002: Constraction database of climate, geology, topography and landcover on GIS
2002: Modeling of potential productivity
2003: Modelling of natural disturbance regimes (landslides, windthrows)
2003: Mapping of potential biodiversity
2004: Estimation of human impacts on disturbance regimes and biodiversity
2004: Development of ESC

Participants

Publications

Ito, S. and Marutani, T. (1993) Disturbance by debris flows and vegetation pattern in flood plain forests in a subalpine region of central Japan, Proceedings of the XV International Botanical Congress, Yokohama, Japan, p.299

Ito, S. (1994) Vegetation pattern and biodiversity in flood plain forests disturbed by debris flows, Proceedings of the VI th International Congress of Ecology, Manchester, UK, p.397

Fujii, N. and Ito, S. (2000) Classification of evergreen forests, deciduous forests and large-scale disturbance traces by using LandsatTM images, Proceedings of the 43rd Symposium of the International Association for Vegetation Science, Nagano, Japan, p.111

Ito, S., Marutani, T. and Fujii, N. (2001) Linking vegetation mosaics to geomorphology in a headwater basin, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Geomorphology, Tokyo, Japan, p.C-109

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