Use of fallen dead trees by Japanese squirrels within cedar plantations in northeastern Japan

doi:10.3832/ifor4338-016

Use of fallen dead trees by Japanese squirrels within cedar plantations in northeastern Japan

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 16, Issue 5, Pages 262-267 (2023)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor4338-016
Published: Oct 19, 2023 - Copyright © 2023 SISEF

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Deadwood in forests plays a critical role in maintaining the ecological functions. Small mammals use deadwood, and thus deadwood can mitigate the negative impacts of plantation on small mammals. This study focused on fallen dead trees in planted forests, and aimed to verify whether fallen dead trees affect behavioral patterns of Japanese squirrels. To clarify the use of fallen dead trees by Japanese squirrels in a Japanese cedar plantation, we observed squirrel behavior by camera trap surveys at 61 survey sites. Our findings showed that fallen dead trees play a crucial role in the behavior of Japanese squirrels, serving as landmarks for movement, vigilance, resting, and hoarding sites. These functions are critical for the survival of Japanese squirrels, suggesting that fallen dead trees in planted forests have positive impacts on their microenvironment use. The increase of deadwood due to disturbances such as heavy rainfall and snowfall resulting from climate change may provide benefits to arboreal small mammals in poorly managed planted forests. Additionally, leaving some of the deadwood generated during the harvesting process in properly managed forests can improve the quality of habitat for arboreal small mammals.

Keywords

Arboreal Small Mammal, Behavioral Ecology, Coarse Woody Debris, Forestry, Deadwood, Sciurus lis

Authors’ address

(1)

Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 9978555 (Japan)

(2)

0000-0003-0535-6711
Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka 9978555 (Japan)

Corresponding author

Masayuki U Saito
saito.ume@gmail.com

Citation

Honda S, Saito MU (2023). Use of fallen dead trees by Japanese squirrels within cedar plantations in northeastern Japan. iForest 16: 262-267. - doi: 10.3832/ifor4338-016

Academic Editor

Mirko Di Febbraro

Paper history

Received: Mar 01, 2023
Accepted: Jul 23, 2023

First online: Oct 19, 2023
Publication Date: Oct 31, 2023
Publication Time: 2.93 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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