Twenty Years of Community Dynamics in a Mixed Confier - Broad-Leaved Forest Under a Selection System in Northern Japan

Demographic parameters of major tree species during a 20-year study of a 68 ha stand in which single-tree selection conducted since 1971, were analyzed. It was found that growth and survival of conifers was the most strongly positively affected by the treatment. Instead, shade-intolerant broad-leaved species would gradually increase because of their higher recruitment rates after the treatment. These trends differed markedly from those reported in previous papers concerning partial harvesting systems, which predicted an increase in dominance of shade-tolerant species. Shade-tolerant broad-leaved species appeared to experience the most distinct negative effects, especially on survival. The results should be generalized carefully because only one stand without repetition of the control area was investigated.