Protection of understory vegetation by deer exclosure fences prevent the reduction of beech growth due to soil erosion.

Overbrowsing by ungulates has degraded understory vegetation in worldwide forests. Understory degradation causes soil erosion and environmental degradation, causing mature tree decline. Although ungulate exclosure fences are installed to protect vegetation, their effectiveness in preventing tree decline associated with soil degradation remains unclear.

Evaluation of influences of forest cover change on landslides by comparing rainfall-induced landslides in Japanese artificial forests with different ages.

In this study, we evaluated the influence of forest cover changes on rainfall-induced shallow landslides by comparing two shallow landslides and debris flows that occurred on plantation forests of different ages in Japan: the Kake disaster in 1988 and the Asakura disaster in 2017. At Kake, the trees ranged in age from 10 to 30 years, whereas at Asakura the trees were over 40 years old. The rainfall characteristics that triggered each landslide were estimated using a three-layer tank model, and the results, as well as the volume of driftwood produced by the landslides, were then compared.