Observation site
The observation was conducted at the M-1 basin in the Uryu Experimental Forest (UREF) of Hokkaido University (44°22' N; 142°15' E), located in the northern part of Hokkaido, Japan. The watershed area was 1.3 km2, and the altitude was 290-545 m a.s.l. The predominant bedrock is Tertiary andesite, and the soil is mainly acidic brown forest soil. The vegetation is mixed forest, and the predominant species include Abies sachalinensis, Quercus mongolica, Betula platyphylla, Acer mono, Kalopanax pictus and Phellodendron amurense. The forest floor is covered with dense bamboo (1-2 m height). The mean annual temperature in the open area of the lowland was approximately 2.5 °C, and the annual precipitation was about 1400 mm. The maximum snow depth was about 2 m on average.