Fire impact on vegetation and landscape in western Japan

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It was made clear by pollen and charcoal analysis that fire events have affected the vegetation landscape for the last 10,000 years in western Japan. In the period from 10,000 to 8,000 years ago, frequent fire events affected on the composition of forests. Also, for the last 3,000 years, pine and deciduous broad-leaved forests replaced natural vegetation such as evergreen broad-leaved forests and Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) forests by the strong disturbance of fire events related to agricultural activities. The mechanism of vegetation changes by fire events was, also, made clear. The grassland and Satoyama landscape in western Japan have been affected by frequent fire events.