• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.52-63
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• 2019

This study analyzed the characteristics of vegetation structure of the camphor tree (Cinnamomum japonicum) community in the area of mount Tachibana, Kasuya county, Fukuoka Prefecture designated as a special natural monument in Japan. The survey showed overwhelming dominance of canopy tree in the canopy layer (about 30 m in tree heights and 92.79 cm in average breast height diameter) but no appearance in the understory layer or the shrub layer. In the understory layer and the shrub layer, Castanopsis sieboldii, Machilus thunbergii, Neolitsea sericea, and Cinnamomum yabunikkei, which were the competing species to the canopy layer and the late-successional species in the warm temperate climate zone, were mainly distributed. Moreover, the species diversity was generally low, indicating the vegetation characteristics that was not typical of evergreen broad-leaved forests. This is presumably because camphor trees were actively planted, protected, and cultivated to produce camphor which was valuable in the past. Although this site has not been artificially managed for the past 90 years as the raw materials of camphor have not been collected, vegetation transition did not proceed, which is unique. It is probably due to the fact that camphor was overwhelmingly dominant in the canopy layer so that the inflows of species were restricted, and young tree germination did not occur due to the allelopathy effects of camphor trees.