Last
week, I reported my experience with the forest for coastal erosion control
along Shonan Beach 湘南海岸砂防林. It turned out not only the beach front but
also inland areas of Kanagawa Prefecture 神奈川県 can be affected by seawater.
The case in point: salt damages Super Typhoon Trami brought us on October 1st,
2018. As a rule of thumb, in the Northern Hemisphere the Coriolis Effect gave
the momentum to wind speed in the east of the eye of a storm. Super Typhoon Trami
ran almost along the center of Honshu Island 本州, which
meant Kanagawa Prefecture was on the east of the eye of Trami, i.e. we had mega
punches of storm wind. Yokohama recorded 18.2 m/s of winds, and the Shonan
Beach had 24.5 m/s by this typhoon. Not only the power of wind Trami displayed,
but also it flung up the seawater and carried it to the inland until the wind
hit high mountains that blocked the wind. Moreover, Trami did not bring enough
rain water with it. The brine from the sea was not washed away. The results in
our forests? We had lots of wringed trees by swirling winds and browned leaves
by salt damage. The particles of salt and other minerals in the seawater
blocked the pores of broad leaves. Poor leaves were suffocated, and died. Yeah,
it’s not only near the sea, but in the inland we can find the effect.
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| Trees
we can find along Hodogaya Bypass 保土ヶ谷バイパス near Yokohama-Machida IC of Tomei Express Way, early October. The place is about 14km inlands from the Port of Yokohama, beyond the hilly downtown. Still, the leaves turned brown. |
NiiharuCitizen Forest 新治市民の森 near Yokohama-Machida IC of Tomei Express Way
was hard-hit. Some members of Lovers of Niiharu who live right next to the
forest went in there next day, and found lots of damages here and there.
“Several large trees were uprooted and blocked trekking roads.” “Some bamboo
forest became a tangled mess of broken trunks!” “Immature cones of cypresses
were blew up and ended up covering the slopes. The route was like a slide with
ball-bearings spreading the surface!” “Branches of plum trees were damaged
severely …” Now, almost 3 weeks later after the Typhoon, the Lovers of Niiharu
still devote the weekend activities to clean up the mess. Broad leaved trees
like Quercus acutissima and Quercus serrata have browned and often
desiccated outlook, which looks like autumn leaves for uninitiated, but
definitely in more tired appearance. When weather is normal, deciduous trees in
lower altitude of Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama included, change their color in
early December. “Er, well, we should not expect bright autumn colors this year
…” *Sign*
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| Wooooooooooooow … an uprooted tree in Niiharu. |
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| Poor Quercus actissima in Niiharu … A large branch of this tree was wrung off by the wind. We Lovers of Niiharu were relieved that no one was hurt by such damages, at least so far … |
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| The
Niiharu Lovers are removing a broken tree threatening the safety of trekking roads. |
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| For a
large, well-rooted tree to be broken in this way, strong winds must have been swirling … |
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| The
Lovers swept the ball bearing, aka cypress cones, to the side of the slopes. |
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| Salt-damaged
reeds in a biotope of Niiharu. In October, they should have been green yet … |
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| “Well,
let’s leave the damages off the trekking roads. We have already plenty of things to tend!” |
Niiharu
Citizen Forest is some 14km away from Tokyo Bay 東京湾.
Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林 on the foot of Mt. Nabewari 鍋割山 is located about 23km inlands from Sagami Bay 相模湾, tucked in mountains of Omote-Tanzawa 表丹沢. Was it spared from the power of the Super
Typhoon? Unfortunately, no. The place may have had larger damages than Niiharu.
It is reported that Hadano Forestry Road 秦野林道 has new collapses … (That part is now closed.) Tall afforested coniferous trees some 50 or more years’
old were uprooted here and there. Walking trekking routes was literally wading
through deep debris of fallen branches to open up the trail. The place had
several “Forests of Growing 成長の森” afforested by kids some 10
or so years ago. They were protected by sturdy wire-meshed fences against
hungry deer. Their fences were destroyed in several places by the fallen large
trees. “We need to mend it ASAP. Otherwise, deer will come in and eat up the
kids’ trees.” The slope of mountains were dotted with brownish colors that were
not autumn leaves but salt damages. “We cannot expect a beautiful December …
*Sigh*”
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| Few
days after the storm, the tree behind the admin cottage of Yadoriki had yellow leaves of salt damage. We hope it can survive … |
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| Beyond
Yadoriki Bridge 寄大橋 on Hadano Forestry Road. Woooooooooooow. |
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| This is … dramatic. |
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| Destroyed
fence. The Prefecture has allocated the budget to deal with it. |
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| Believe it or not, ahead of us is a road. |
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| It
looks like a beginning of autumn leaves. They are not. Instead of turning into yellow or red, the trees with brownish color here have more desiccated tone. They will shed the leaves before December. |
The
other side of Tanzawa Mountains, there is Doshi Village 道志村. At the
moment, National Route 413 (2020 Tokyo Olympics’ course for the road race) is
closed around the border of Yamanashi 山梨県 and Kanagawa Prefectures, due
to the massive landslide. i.e. Doshi Village had lots of rain with the Super
Typhoon. Because of it, or seawater could not reach there? I don’t know. Early
October, Japanese Rowan was brightly red in Doshi at ASL 600m. Villagers told
me salt damage did not reach to their place. … I now have a renewed awe toward
the Mother Nature … People say global warming will bring more frequent monster
typhoons to Japan … Would it be difficult for us to expect regular joy of
autumn leaves any more?
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| Early
October in Doshi Village, this year. Trees are preparing for autumn leaves … |
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| December, several
years ago in Yokohama, near my home. If the condition turns all right, we should be able to enjoy this ... |
If you find an environmental issues
in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation
Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター
657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121 厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323
You can send an enquiry to them by
clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/
