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Susceptibility of Sandy Beach Flora to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in Northern Tohoku, Japan

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Ecological Impacts of Tsunamis on Coastal Ecosystems

Part of the book series: Ecological Research Monographs ((ECOLOGICAL))

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems in northern Japan have been undergoing succession and recovery since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. In order to elucidate the mechanisms of vegetation responses to such catastrophe, we assessed the differences in susceptibility of sandy beach flora based on species composition and trait group composition as indicated by differences in ecomorphological traits of species, namely, Raunkiaer life form and clonality, to the tsunami. From the field observation and aerial photo interpretation, we found the clear landscape change of the four studied beaches before and after the tsunami. Osuka beach (Aomori Prefecture), which had no beach protection structures, including revetments or wave-dissipating blocks, and remained in a natural condition before the tsunami, experienced a relatively small wave impact (about 10 m height) associated with the disturbance. Tofugaura and Aketo beaches (Iwate Prefecture), which were exposed to a wave height of more than 20 m, were severely damaged, with fracturing and collapse of protective structures after the tsunami. Revetments at Kuji (Iwate Prefecture), which was subjected to a wave height of approximately 14 m, were not obviously damaged by the tsunami. Among the 103 plant species recorded in the four studied beaches, the occurrence of 14 species (13.6 %) changed significantly after the tsunami. In the case of the Raunkiaer life forms, the number of therophytes (mainly non-beach species) and chamaephytes increased after the tsunami on Aketo and Kuji beaches, which had high anthropogenic disturbance before the tsunami, and many beach geophytes decreased on Osuka beach. Impacts of the tsunami on woody species were smaller than on herbaceous species. Except Aketo beach, the proportions of clonality among the beaches did not clearly change before and after the disturbance. Rhizomatous plants showed relatively good tolerance to the tsunami, whereas monophytes and stoloniferous species underwent damages by sand erosion and accretion, perhaps due to their shallow roots, and could not protect beaches from coastal disturbances. Thus, beaches such as Aketo and Tofugaura, with a high proportion of ephemeral monophytes and stoloniferous species, may be more vulnerable to tsunamis.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Naoaki Shimada, Dr. Motohiro Kawanishi, and Miho Kazahaya for helping with fieldwork. The authors wish to thank Dr. Gen Kanaya and Dr. Francisco Sánchez-Bayo for their valuable technical advice. In this paper, we used aerial photos of the four studied beaches before and after the tsunami with permission from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan and the Land Improvement Association of Iwate Prefecture, Japan (see Fig. 17.2). Part of this research was financially supported by a research grant from the Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Environment Fund (R11-F1-015-1, Leader: D. Hayasaka), the Tohoku Ecosystem-Associated Marine Sciences, the Research Institute of Marine Invertebrate Foundation, the Sasagawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society (No. 21-507, Leader: K. Yamada), and the Center Project in National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan (No.1112AF001, Leader: K. Yamada; No. 1213AR001, Leader: D. Hayasaka).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, KINDAI University, 3327-204 Nakamachi, Nara, 631-8505, Japan

    Daisuke Hayasaka

  2. Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 1551-8 Taira-machi, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, 851-2213, Japan

    Katsumasa Yamada

  3. Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu Sangyo University (KSU), 2-3-1 Higashi-ku, Matsukadai, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 813-8503, Japan

    Taizo Uchida

Authors
  1. Daisuke Hayasaka
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  2. Katsumasa Yamada
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Correspondence to Daisuke Hayasaka .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Jotaro Urabe

  2. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Tohru Nakashizuka

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Hayasaka, D., Yamada, K., Uchida, T. (2016). Susceptibility of Sandy Beach Flora to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in Northern Tohoku, Japan. In: Urabe, J., Nakashizuka, T. (eds) Ecological Impacts of Tsunamis on Coastal Ecosystems. Ecological Research Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56448-5_17

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