Both the traits of litter and the place to which litter is supplied are important for a forest ecosystem. We tried to predict the compositions and proportions of 5 dominant tree species leaf litter fall in a certain point by the crown projection map in a temperate deciduous forest in Japan.

We collected fallen litter from 9 litter traps in Kusaki research site (1 ha). Then we sorted leaf litter of every species from collected litter, and measured the dry weight of them. We recorded the crown projection map of the trees above 15 cm girth at breast height. In analysis, we made 12 circle buffers with different radius between 0.5-25.0m from the litter trap points and calculated 5 dominant species crown area within each buffer. Then we determined which size of the circle buffer was the best one for predicting the composition and proportion of leaf litter fall of them.

To predict the compositions and proportions of leaf litter fall by the crown projection map, best buffer sizes from the trap points were different among trap locations. The traps showed the best similarity to the crown area within the buffer radius of 10-15m at valley bottom, of 12.5-17.5m at slope, of 0.5m at small ridge. We could predict the leaf litter species compositions and proportions from the projection map with considering geographical feature.