Minerals are among the important nutritional components that are indispensable for animals. In particular, the acquisition of sodium is important for plant‐feeding animals because sodium may be deficient for these animals as plants do not need sodium. This study compiled data on the mineral contents of leaves in 28 forests in Japan, with special emphasis on the effect of distance from the sea and bedrock type. The aim of this study was to provide basic data on mineral availability for forest‐dwelling folivores, which provide important baseline data for understanding the mineral acquisition strategy of plant‐feeding animals. Sodium and phosphorus contents of live leaves were lower than the levels required for folivores (captive non‐human primates and ungulates). The effect of the distance from the sea was evident only for magnesium and sodium. The sodium content of live leaves was high enough to satisfy folivores' requirements at only a few hundred meters from the sea. The live leaves in forests growing on sedimentary bedrocks contained more minerals than those on granite/rhyolite. Seasonality was also evident based on repeated sampling at three study sites. The mineral contents of dead leaves at the three study sites showed similar inter‐site and inter‐season variations to those of live leaves. Phosphorus and potassium contents in dead leaves were consistently lower and iron content was consistently higher than in live leaves.

中文翻译：

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距海洋和基岩的距离对日本森林叶面矿物质含量的影响：对食叶动物获取矿物质的影响

矿物质是动物不可缺少的重要营养成分之一。特别是，钠的获取对于植物喂养的动物很重要，因为这些动物可能缺乏钠，因为植物不需要钠。这项研究收集了日本 28 个森林叶子矿物质含量的数据，特别强调了距海距离和基岩类型的影响。本研究的目的是提供森林食叶动物矿物质可用性的基本数据，这为了解植物饲养动物的矿物质获取策略提供重要的基线数据。活叶的钠和磷含量低于食叶动物（圈养的非人类灵长类动物和有蹄类动物）所需的水平。仅对镁和钠来说，距海洋距离的影响很明显。活叶的钠含量足够高，足以满足距大海仅数百米的食叶动物的需求。生长在沉积基岩上的森林中的活叶比花岗岩/流纹岩上的活叶含有更多的矿物质。根据三个研究地点的重复采样，季节性也很明显。三个研究地点死叶的矿物质含量与活叶的矿物质含量显示出相似的地点间和季节间变化。死叶中的磷和钾含量始终低于活叶，而铁含量始终高于活叶。