The influence of changes in soil moisture in association with geomorphic change on the formation of a subalpine coniferous forest on Mt. Akita-Komagatake, northern Japan

Abstract:

The coniferous forest (largely composed of Abies mariesii) is presently the typical vegetation of the subalpine zone in Japan. Pollen analysis revealed that few A. mariesii were present during the last glacial period, and the species began to expand to the subalpine zone during the Holocene (Morita, 1992). However, on Mt. Akita-Komagatake in northern Japan, the expected predominance of A. mariesii is not extensively observed, and the predominant vegetation is instead the dwarf bamboo (Sasa kurilensis). It is unknown why the area under coniferous forest is small in this region. Therefore, I examined this issue from the perspectives of (1) distribution of vegetation, (2) geomorphology, (3) soil moisture, and (4) vegetation history. (1) Precise digital elevation model data and photographic interpretation showed that this coniferous forest was densely distributed in a flat segment considered to be formed by a landslide; (2) this landslide is thought to have occurred up to 3,699 ± 26 yr BP because a boring-core specimen from the landslide included the AK-3 tephra layer (2,300–2,800 yr BP: Wachi et al, 1997) and the radiocarbon date of the lowermost humic soil layer was 3,699 ± 26 yr BP; (3) the soil in the forest area had higher volumetric water content than that in the non-forest area; and (4) phytolith analysis revealed that the main species in the study site was initially dwarf bamboo, but coniferous forest replaced it after the Towada-a tephra (1035 cal. BP, Machida and Arai, 1992) layer fell. These results suggest that soil water conditions changed because of the formation of the flat segment by the landslide, and the coniferous forest was consequently established. However, the landslide only indirectly affected the formation of the coniferous forest, because the forest developed over several thousand years after the landslide occurred. In other words, more direct reasons for the establishment of the coniferous forest may involve changes in soil moisture. This unresolved issue warrants further investigation of the vegetation on the subalpine zone.