학술논문

Vegetation History Characteristics of Planted Forests in Japan: Analysis of the 1960 World Census of Agriculture and Forestry
Document Type
article
Source
Forests, Vol 15, Iss 1, p 59 (2023)
Subject
expansion of afforestation
geographic information system
Japan
planted forest
change of forest landscape
vegetation history
Plant ecology
QK900-989
Language
English
ISSN
1999-4907
Abstract
This study aimed to clarify the vegetation history of planted forests that are still in use today by comparing the types of land afforested in 1960 with the post-war afforestation period in Japan’s Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Kinki regions. It was during that time that the majority of the planted forest in these regions was established. We calculated the afforestation ratios (afforested area of each type of land/total afforested area) for the smallest survey unit, the 1950 administrative sections, using data from the 1960 World Agriculture and Forestry Census on the afforested areas of various types of land (i.e., deforested areas resulting from natural forests, deforested areas resulting from planted forests, and areas other than forests). The afforestation ratios were then sorted into ten categories for each municipality in the three regions and mapped using GIS. The analysis results showed that the vegetation history in Kyushu, even within the same municipality, was frequently mixed in 1960; in Hokkaido, the afforestation ratio for deforested areas resulting from natural forests was extremely high, while the afforestation ratio for deforested areas resulting from planted forests was low. In contrast, the Kinki region has a low afforestation ratio for non-forest regions. This study provides useful information for ecosystem management.