Near Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan Photograph by Dr. Tatsuyuki Seino   Eastern Asia: Island of Hokkaido, Japan Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests   9,800 square miles (25,500 square kilometers) -- about the size of Maryland Vulnerable

· Drawing the Line
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Drawing the Line

The Hokkaido Deciduous Forests ecoregion lies to the north of the Oshima Peninsula on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Here, owls, grouse, deer, and even bears live amid a diversity of trees.

Special Features

The cold winter temperatures and heavy snowfall of this ecoregion prevent the beech forests typical of the rest of Japan from growing here. Instead, deciduous forests in the lowland areas and hills are dominated by species such as Mongolian oak, with a dwarf bamboo understory. Japanese Katsura trees, Amur corktrees, Japanese lindens, Japanese limes, and an endemic ash tree subspecies can be found here as well. The most prominent intact tracts of this forest ecoregion are found in the state reserves of Mt. Moiwa and Maruyama Hill in central Hokkaido.

	The Shika deer is not the only large mammal found on Hokkaido: brown bears roam these forests as well. Both species, along with the Japanese serow (another type of deer), can be found in the forested areas of other Japanese islands as well.

Wild Side

The animal diversity of this ecoregion is fairly low, except for some large mammals such as Shika deer, which are common throughout Japan. However, some important birds make this ecoregion their primary habitat, such as an endemic subspecies of hazel grouse. Another important bird is a subspecies of Blakeston's fish owl, which has a national natural monument status in Japan and is considered endangered by the World Conservation Union and BirdLife International.

Cause for Concern

Only 30 percent of the Blakeston's fish owl nesting sites are protected within national parks or protected areas, and no regulation exists for the general protection of owl habitats. The mixed forests that the owls depend on have mostly been exploited for logging, with remaining forests heavily affected by horse and cattle grazing. The replacement of natural forests with pine plantations may be related to a rapid decline in the hazel grouse population.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.