Effects of dwarf bamboo (Sasa nipponica) and deer (Cervus nippon centralis) on the chemical properties of soil and microbial biomass in a forest at Ohdaigahara, central Japan
2005
Furusawa, H.(Forestry and Forest Products Research Inst., Kyoto (Japan). Kansai Research Center) | Hino, T. | Kaneko, S. | Araki, M.
In forests at Ohdaigahara, central Japan, the understory is dominated by dwarf bamboo (Sasa nipponica Makino et Shibata; hereafter, Sasa), which is the main food of the sika deer (Cervus nippon centralis Temminck) that overpopulate the region. We examined the effects of Sasa and deer on the chemical properties of soil and on soil microbial biomass by experimental exclusion of deer or removal of Sasa over 3 years. Clipping and removing Sasa increased the concentrations of N03(-), Ca(2+), and Mg(2+) in the soil. This might be caused to decrease of nutrient uptake by Sasa. Inside the deer exclosures, the concentrations of NH4(+) were higher than those of outside the exclosures, whereas the concentrations of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) were lower. This result suggests that much Sasa litter input and lack of excretion by deer owing exclusion of deer might affect nutrient conditions in the soil. On the other hand, neither Sasa nor deer affected total carbon content, total nitrogen content or microbial biomass C in the soil. These soil properties may be stable for the short duration of the change of Sasa aboveground biomass or deer exclusion.
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