Plus tree of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don with a heterozygous male-sterility gene

To find plus tree clones of Cryptomeria japonica that are heterozygous for a male-sterility gene (Aa), we crossed a homozygous male-sterile tree (aa) with 63 clones. Male sterility in this case is controlled by a recessive allele at a single gene locus and is expressed only in homozygotes. All F₁ seedlings obtained by crossing the male-sterile mother tree and 62 out of the 63 clones produced pollen. In contrast, F₁ seedlings obtained from the crossing between the male-sterile mother tree and a plus tree clone, Ohara 13, produced 64 male-sterile individuals and 52 fertile individuals. The segregation ratio fitted the expected 1 : 1 ratio according to a chi-square test. These results clearly demonstrate that the Ohara 13 clone is heterozygous for a male-sterility gene.     

Sorption of Cr(VI) on the wood of Japanese larch treated with concentrated sulfuric acid

A carbonaceous sorbent was prepared from the wood of Japanese larch (Larix leptolepis) by dehydration with concentrated sulfuric acid in a 69% yield. The abilities of the sorbent to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions were investigated. Research parameters included the initial solution pH, temperature, and initial concentration of Cr(VI) in solution. The removal of Cr(VI) was highly solution pH dependent and was mainly governed by physicochemical sorption under weak acidic conditions. The equilibrium data fit well in the Langmuir isotherm model. The Langmuir constants were calculated at different temperatures, and the sorption capacity increased with rising temperature, indicating the endothermic nature of the Cr(VI) sorption onto the sorbent. The desorption experiments suggest that the Cr(VI) sorption is generally irreversible, owing to strong interaction of HCrO ₄ ⁻ with the active sites of the sorbent.     

Effects of a severe typhoon on forest dynamics in a warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved forest in southwestern Japan

The effects of a typhoon on forest dynamics and the response of major tree species were studied in a warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved forest in southwestern Japan. The strongest typhoon on record (T9313) passed through this region in 1993. Return periods of typhoons over 30 ms⁻¹ in instantaneous wind velocity and T9313 were estimated to be 2.2 and 104.5 years, respectively. Approximately 10% of all stems suffered some damage from T9313 and annual stem mortality rose from 1.3 to 2.7%. The estimated period that the number of stems would fall below 10% of the initial was four years shorter with T9313-class typhoons than without them. Thus, the disturbance by T9313 was not catastrophic at the site although T9313 was an episodic typhoon. The short-term responses of major tree species to T9313 were classified into four types: 1) blunt-response type with little decrease and recruitment of stems in the DBH ≥ 5 cm class (Distylium racemosum), 2) retreat type with larger decrease than recruitment (e.g. Quercus acuta), 3) sharp-response type with a large decrease and much recruitment (e.g. Cinnamomum japonicum), and 4) advance type with less decrease than recruitment (Eurya japonica). Among the four regeneration types classified by previous studies (climax, light-demanding, subcanopy, and few-sapling), the climax and few-sapling types each showed a specific short-term response, the blunt-response and retreat types, respectively, that explains one aspect of the regeneration strategies of each type. On the other hand, the light-demanding or sub-canopy type showed multiple short-term responses, indicating that each regeneration type contains species with various regeneration strategies. In this paper, I analyzed data from the database that was compiled by the Aya Research Team.     

Effects of heat treatment on brittleness of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Styrax tonkinensis</Emphasis> wood

A new approach is proposed for the evaluation of the brittleness of heat-treated Styrax tonkinensis wood. Heat treatment made wood more brittle when wood was heated at a higher temperature or for a longer time. The brittleness increased to four times that of the control when wood was heated at 200°C for 12 h. For treatment at 160°C, the increase in brittleness without any change in weight is thought to be possibly caused by the relocation of lignin molecules. At higher temperatures, loss of amorphous polysaccharides due to degradation is thought to become the main factor affecting brittleness. The crystallites that were newly formed after 2 h of treatment showed brittleness that was different from that of the inherent crystallites remaining after 12 h of heat treatment. This inherent crystalline cellulose possibly plays a role in brittleness. There is also the possibility of using color to predict the brittleness of heat-treated wood.     

Genetic diversity of Populus euphratica populations in northwestern China determined by RAPD DNA analysis

Five Populus euphratica Oliver populations in northwestern China were analyzed using RAPD DNA markers to determine genetic diversity among and within populations. One hundred-and-five polymorphic bands were observed, ranging in size from 250 bp to 1700 bp, using 10 primers. Only one population on the north side of the Tianshern Range had a unique band common to all individuals that was not found in individuals from populations in the Tarim River valley. Intra-population genetic diversity was high in two populations along the Tarim River and low in the other three populations. There was no significant correlation between genetic distances and geographic distances. The result of correspondence analysis shows that the individuals from the three populations with low genetic diversity are isolated from each other. The result of cluster analysis based on genetic distance shows that the population in the Tianshern Range is genetically distant from the other populations. These results suggest that the Tianshern Range population was genetically isolated from the other populations.     

Structure of xylan from culms of bamboo grass (Sasa senanensis Rehd.)

Xylan prepared from culms of kumaizasa (Sasa senanensis Rehd.), a representative species of bamboo grass, was hydrolyzed with-xylanase ofStreptomyces olivaceoviridis E-86. Four arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides and two glucuronoxylo-oligosaccharides were isolated from the enzymatic hydrolysate of the xylan by chromatography on a charcoal column, a Dowex 1-x8 column, a Toyo-pearl HW-40S column, and a LiChrospher 100 NH₂ column and on preparative paper chromatography. The results of the structural analyses of the saccharides showed that the isolated oligosaccharides had the structures of 3²--l-arabinofuranosyl-xylobiose, 3²--l-arabinofuranosyl-xylotriose, 3²--[-d-xylopyranosyl-(1 2)-l-arabinofuranosyl]-xylobiose, 3³--[-d-xylopyranosyl-(1 2)-l-arabinofuranosyl]-xylotriose, 2³--4-O-methyl-d-glucuronosyl-xylotriose, and 2³--d-glucuronosyl-xylotriose. From the structural analysis of the oligosaccharides derived from the xylan, kumaizasa xylan was concluded to be a kind of arabinoglucuronoxylan having not only stubs of singlel-arabinose and singled-glucuronic acid but also stubs of disaccharide units such as-d-xylopyranosyl-(1 2)-l-arabinofuranose.     

Estimating harvest costs and projecting quantities of logging residues for small-scale forestry in Nasushiobara,Tochigi Prefecture,Japan

We used GIS on a regional scale to estimate and compare supply potentials and costs of small-scale logging systems, a mini-forwarder and a 4-ton truck operated by private logging contractors, and manual logging and a light truck operated by individual forest own- ers, with the mechanized operational system of the Forest Owners＇ Asso- ciation. Total potential yields of timber and logging residues were esti- mated as 418,895 m3 and 254,962 m3, respectively. The economic bal- ances were estimated and available amounts were projected as supply potentials from profitable sub-compartments. As a result, available amounts of timber and logging residues were estimated at 375,466 m3 （89.9%） and 203,850 m3 （80.0%）, respectively. Because their transport expenses were lower than for other systems the most profitable sub-compartments were operated by private logging contractors who sold logging residues at a plant. The profitable sub-compartments operated by individual forest owners were few because the extracting distances were usually greater than 20 m. Raising logging residue prices from 3,000 yen·m-3 to 4,080 yen·m-3 or 6,800 yen·m-3, and establishing forest roads, which reduced some extracting distances to less than 20 m, increased the number and area of profitable sub＊compartments, and increased available amounts of logging residues.     

Thinning alters crown dynamics and biomass increment within aboveground tissues in young stands of Chamaecyparis obtusa

The stand density of a forest affects the vertical distribution of foliage. Understanding the dynamics of this response is important for the study of crown structure and function, carbon-budget estimation, and forest management. We investigated the effect of tree density on the vertical distribution of foliage, branch, and stem growth, and ratio of biomass increment in aboveground tissues; by monitoring all first-order branches of five trees each from thinned and unthinned control stands of 10-year-old Chamaecyparis obtusa for four consecutive years. In the control stand, the foliage crown shifted upward with height growth but the foliage quantity of the whole crown did not increase. In addition, the vertical distribution of leaf mass shifted from lower-crown skewed to upper-crown skewed. In the thinned stand in contrast, the foliage quantity of individual crowns increased two-fold within 4 years, while the vertical distribution of leaf mass remained lower-crown skewed. The two stands had similar production rates, numbers of first-order branches per unit of tree height, and total lengths of first-order branches. However, the mortality rate of first-order branches and self-pruning within a first-order branch were significantly higher in the control stand than in the thinned stand, which resulted in a higher ratio of biomass increment in branch. Thinning induced a higher ratio of biomass increment in foliage and lower in branch. The increased foliage quantity and variation in ratio of biomass increment after thinning stimulated stem growth of residual trees. These results provide information that will be useful when considering thinning regimes and stand management.