We studied the relationship between changes in forest floor vegetation and several management schemes at the Michinoku Lakewood National Government Park in Kawasaki Town, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. We found that the number of newly recorded species and the total number of species increased in plots where brush had been cut, and also in plots where brush had been cut followed by thinning after two years. Moreover, pioneer species, such as grassland species and forest-edge species were observed in these plots. Besides, climax species, such as laurel forest species also survived these forest management practices. Our results showed that these forest management techniques were effective in increasing the species richness of the forest floor vegetation without elimination of the climax species.

In a park planning in the hilly landscape, it is necessary to balance use by people with preservation of the biota. Therefore, it is called for that a planner appropriately extracts the place suitable for use and the place for preservation. In this research, the environmental synthetic evaluation using two axes, ecosystem quality and convenience for people, was conducted in the Michinoku Lakewood National Government Park in Kawasaki Town, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Using GIS, we conducted comprehensive evaluation on ecosystem quality from the viewpoints of forest floor plants, plant community complexes, avian species, and aquatic and semi-aquatic species in swamps, and on the degree of peoples convenience from the standpoints of slope, aspect, viewshed, and accessibility. Our results can be classified into four use types with the cross tabulation.

Diversity in plant species on the floor of coppice forest forms beautiful forest floor scenery. The purpose of this study was to examine conservation measures to maintain the flowering of forest floor plants. A case study was conducted to understand the relationships between forest management and flowering of forest floor plants in the Michinoku Lakewood National Government Park in Kawasaki Town, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Flowering ratios of Disporum smilacinum, Ainsliaea acerifolia var. subapoda, Tricyrtis affinis, etc. were increased in plots with thinning and brush cutting, and in plots with brush cutting. Flowering ratios of Rhododendron obtusum var. kaempferi, Epimedium grandiflorum var. thunbergianum and Veratrum maackii var. maackioides were increased in plots only with thinning and brush cutting. These results showed that thinning is necessary to increase flowering of R. obtusum var. kaempferi etc. Brush cutting without thinning was also effective to increase flowering of D. smilacinum, A. acerifolia var. subapoda, T. affinis, etc.

In Michinoku Lakewood National Government Park, the potential habitats of the several herbal species that found commonly in the forest floor and were preferred by park users were predicted from topographical factors and route census data. Potential-Habitat maps of the species were deduced from the analysis of the relations between the plant distributions along the census routes and the topographical factors (slope steepness, slope direction, hill-shade, and topographic wetness index TWI) and DEM (Digital Elevation Model) with GIS (Geographical Information System). Species richness and diversity in small watershed areas were evaluated with the Potential-Habitat maps thus obtained. The effective maintenance scheme of the forest floor can be evaluated by the potential habitats and the steepness of the site, and the areas in the park were classified with these criteria.

Many people have recently been appreciating country forests as an amenity area in their daily lives. In order to keep the forest floor vegetation in good condition, it is necessary to set a clear target for a management plan of the forest based on analysis of relationships among the forest floor vegetation, the landforms and other environmental factors. The purpose of this study is to examine how to categorize habitats and how to set a target of a management plan based on the analysis. A case study was conducted to understand the relationships in Michinoku Lakewood National Government Park in Kawasaki Town, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It was found that the species composition of the vegetation, the accumulated air temperature and the soil moisture were different in different landforms (i.e. valley and ridge / slope) . The relative photon flux density of the valley was not higher than the one of the ridge slope, although the tree density of the ridge / slope was lower than the valley's. Based on these results, we proposed that it was necessary to categorize the habitats into two types, valley and ridge / slope, and to set a target of the management plan based on the characteristics formed by the species composition and environmental factors of the two types.