Holocene vegetation changes inferred from soil stratigraphy on Mt. Sumon-dake, Central Japan

Abstract

Geo-historical surveys of slopes and soil stratigraphy show the changes in vegetation on the present-day upper montane zone of Mt. Suman-dake (1,538 m a.s.l.; 35°23'N, 139°08'E) since the Late Glacial when the slopes were poorly covered by vegetation. The snowpatch meadows widely covered the crest gentle slopes between the summit and 1,250 m in altitude in the early Holocene, indicated by initiation of the herbaceous peaty soil layer. Although the vegetation zones shifted upward in response to the warming after the Last Glacial, the upper limit of the continuous montane vegetation area represented by Fagus crenata trees remained at 1,200-1,300 m in altitude, 100-250 m lower than present, in the early Holocene. The widely distributed snowpatch meadows continued to exist on the slopes above 1,200-1,300 m in altitude during the early to middle Holocene instead of F. crenata forest. The changes in vegetation were strongly controlled by heavy snow accumulation since the Late Glacial.