Researchers said Friday they have found at the summit of Mount Fuji grass and other seed plants that used to be unable to grow there, probably because the permafrost is ebbing due to rising temperatures.
The 3,776-meter summit could only grow moss about 20 years ago, but Takehiro Masuzawa, a Shizuoka University professor on plant physiological ecology, and his team recently found plants usually seen at an altitude of about 2,500 meters growing there.
Permafrost on Mount Fuji was found at an elevation of around 3,100 meters at the lowest level in 1976 and at around 3,200 meters in 1998, but the team found its edge had further receded and was even partially lost around the summit in 2009.
With low temperatures, strong winds and ultraviolet light as well as soil lacking water and nutrients, the mountaintop environment was thought to be too harsh to allow the growth of seed plants.
Masuzawa's team will report its findings Sunday at the University of Tokyo.