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Joshin’etsukogen NP, Niigata / Nagano
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After a 1978 clear-cut in one Naeba test plot, sasa rebounded to 1.5–2 m despite 11 years of efforts to suppress it. Thirty years later, the next generation of beech still had not established.
Naeba is said to be named for wetland plants in the summit pools that look like rice seedlings. Niigata Prefecture also records a long-standing tradition of revering the mountain as a deity of rice cultivation.
Naeba's 22.5-hectare beech trial was set up in 1967 as an outdoor experiment: ten 150-m-square plots compared 5 levels of tree removal and different forest-floor treatments to learn how beech renews naturally.
In a 100-plus-year-old Naeba beech stand, researchers adapted ordinary 800-watt carbon infrared heaters for a warming experiment. In each 1.5 × 1.5 m patch, soil warmed 3°C at the surface and 1.5°C at 30 cm deep.
Naeba field tests found effective beech-seed dispersal reached about 5 m beyond a parent tree’s crown—an area roughly 3 times the crown’s size. Where seed-bearing trees remain can make a big difference to forest renewal.
Naeba’s beech plots span 550–1,500 m, with individual trees’ growth and deaths recorded since 1970. Winter snow can reach 3–5 m deep and remain for 4 months.
At a 900-m Naeba research plot, instruments 26 m above ground measure CO₂ exchange. A 3-D sonic anemometer samples wind 10 times a second, and the readings are averaged every 30 minutes.
