Advancing Timberline on Mt. Fuji between 1978 and 2018.

Climate change is a major cause of changes in alpine and polar vegetation, particularly at the edges of distributions. In temperate regions, these changes are expected to occur at the timberline of alpine zones. On Mt.

The advancing timberline on Mt. Fuji: natural recovery or climate change?

The alpine timberline on Mt. Fuji (central Japan) is at 2,400-2,500 m above sea level. Over a 21-year period (1978-1999), we tracked changes in this vegetation boundary on a transect at a site impacted by the 1707 volcanic eruption.

Ontogenetic changes in accumulation of rhizomes in monoclonal patch of Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. in warm temperate region of Japan.

To determine the main benefits of clonal expansion of Miscanthus sinensis patches (monoclones), we observed the annual pattern of the areal expansion of a number of M. sinensis patches and examined how the quantity of rhizomes in such patches is related to changes in their basal area. To forage for nutriments, a patch must continuously widen its habitat.

Ecosystem development and carbon cycle on a glacier foreland in the high Arctic, Ny-Alesund, Svalbard.

The Arctic terrestrial ecosystem is thought to be extremely susceptible to climate change. However, because of the diverse responses of ecosystem components to change, an overall response of the ecosystem carbon cycle to climate change is still hard to predict. In this review, we focus on several recent studies conducted to clarify the pattern of the carbon cycle on the deglaciated area of Ny-Alesund, Svalbard in the high Arctic.

Photosynthetic characteristics of a giant alpine plant, Rheum nobile Hook. f. et Thoms. and of some other alpine species measured at 4300 m, in the Eastern Himalaya, Nepal.

The photosynthetic characteristics of a giant alpine plant, Rheum nobile Hook. f. et Thoms.