Recovery of a Sasa tsuboiana population after mass flowering and death

• DOI: 10.1007/bf02348534
• Publication Date: 2006-03-15T21:07:53Z
• Authors: Akifumi Makita; Yasuo Konno; Noboru Fujita; Ken′ichi Takada; Etsuji Hamabata
• Keywords: Sasa; Population density

AbstractThe recovery process of a Sasa tsuboiana population after a mass flowering and death in 1977 was investigated by 15 years of observation in the Hira Mountains, Kinki district, western Japan. Seed production was high (6600–13 800 seeds m−2 in Sasa plots and 3900 seeds m−2 in a forest plot) but emergent seedling density was low (14–21 seedlings m−2), probably because of seed predation by Microtus montebelli occurring between seed shedding and the next spring. The seedling density had decreased further by the next year and the S. tsuboiana population recovered from only a limited number of seedlings. In spite of such a low initial density, the S. tsuboiana population was able to regenerate successfully and attained the previous full stand height in 7–16 years. Miscantbus sinensis invaded and delayed the recovery of S. tsuboiana in one plot, but S. tsuboiana became dominant as it caught up with the height of M. sinensis. Seedling growth patterns, such as frequent tillering, the onset of rhizome extension in the early stage of seedling growth and frequent culm production from rhizomes, played important roles in the successful regeneration of S. tsuboiana.