Evergreen broad-leaved forest - shoyojurin (English spelling) laurilignosa; laurel forest

Japanese: 照葉樹林 - しょうようじゅりん（英語表記）laurilignosa; laurel forest

A forest dominated by evergreen broad-leaved trees (→evergreen trees, broad-leaved forests). It develops in warm temperate to northern subtropical regions, where there is a lot of rainfall in summer and little rainfall in winter. The leaves of the dominant species are thick and shiny with a cuticular layer on the surface. The buds are protected from the cold and dryness of winter by scales, hairs, and wax. It develops in high-rainfall areas in the mountains of the Mediterranean region, from the southern slopes of the Himalayas through Yunnan in China to the lowlands of southwestern Japan. It includes camphor-type (→camphor tree), thunbergia-castoria-type (→ thunbergia, castanopsis), and oak-type (→ oak) forests, and the sub-tree and shrub layers are dominated by evergreen broad-leaved trees such as camellia, sasanqua, holly, fatsia, and aucuba. The leaves fall mainly in May, and the standing stock (→biomass) is 8-9 t per hectare on a dry basis. Even in winter, when temperatures are high, photosynthesis continues, and the total dry matter production in one year is about 60 tons, with the net production (net primary production, the amount of organic matter produced by plants through photosynthesis minus the amount of respiration) reaching about 18 tons. (→Colony)

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

常緑広葉樹（→常緑樹，広葉樹林）が優占種である森林。暖温帯から亜熱帯北部で，雨量が夏季多く冬季少ない地域に発達する。優占種の葉は厚く，表面にクチクラの層をもち光沢がある。芽は鱗片，毛，ろう質により冬の寒さと乾燥から保護される。地中海地方の山地の多雨地域，ヒマラヤ山脈南斜面から中国のユンナン（雲南）を経て日本南西部の低地に及ぶ地域に発達する。クス型（→クスノキ），タブ‐シイ型（→タブノキ，シイ），カシ型（→カシ）の森林を含み，亜高木層と低木層もツバキ，サザンカ，モチノキ，ヤツデ，アオキなどの照葉樹が占める。葉はおもに 5月に落ち，現存量（→バイオマス）は乾量で 1haあたり 8～9t。冬も温度の高いときは光合成を行ない，1年間の乾物総生産量は約 60t，純生産量（純一次生産量。植物が光合成で生産した有機物の量から呼吸量を引いた量）は約 18tに及ぶ。（→群系）

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