Alpine plants distribution patterns at Mt. Kusatsu Motoshirane in relation to temperature and soil environment


Shin-Ichi Ishikawa, Satoshi Nomura (Fac. Soc. Info. Studies, Gunma Univ.), Seiji Tokumasu (Inst. Biol. Sci., Univ. Tsukuba), Kenji Tamura (Inst. Appl. Biol., Univ. Tsukuba) and Jun-Ichi P. Abe (Inst. Agri., Univ. Tsukuba)
In: 48th Annual meeting of Japanese Ecological Society, Kumakoto Pref. Univ., Mar. 26 - 31 2001
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The alpine plants distribution patterns at Mt. Kusatsu Motoshirane were described and some related environmental factors were investigated. At the Karagama volcanic crater, higher area of the crater wall is mainly covered with Abies veitchii and Betula ermanii, and lower area is covered with Pinus pumila and Vaccinium uliginosum. This distribution pattern is contrary to the general pattern of these species. Continuous air temperature measurement revealed that the higher area was warmer than the lower area during the winter season.



This study was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific research (C)(1) (NO. 11680525) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.