## 3 Results
### Temporal Variation of Vegetation Recovery in the Damage Area from 2009 to 2013  
#### 3.4.1 Vegetation Recovery in the Damage Area  
According to spatial distribution of vegetation recovery (Figure 10), the better vegetation recovery occurred in the northeast and southwest regions of the study area and the worse recovery was in the central and eastern regions. More digital information could be seen in Figure 11.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Vegetation type**} & \multirow{2}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} **Total Area** \\ **(ha)** \\ \end{tabular} } & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Vegetation Recovery Types**} \\ \cline{3-8}  & & **Damage Area** & **Not Recovering** & **Recovering** & **Recovering** & **Recovered** \\  & & **(ha)** & **(\%)** & **Slightly (\%)** & **Largely (\%)** & **Fully (\%)** \\ \hline Coniferous forest & 598,391 & 90,153 & 4.25 & 12.67 & 40.93 & 42.15 \\ broad-leaved forest & 544,654 & 67,512 & 3.43 & 14.04 & 46.35 & 36.19 \\ Mixediferous broad & 12,070 & 2288 & 0.00 & 9.89 & 57.14 & 32.97 \\leaved forest & & & & & & \\ Scrub & 1,163,630 & 221,314 & 7.65 & 15.71 & 37.14 & 39.49 \\ Grass & 2534 & 119 & 0.00 & 15.79 & 52.63 & 31.58 \\ Meadow & 273,320 & 29,626 & 8.91 & 8.76 & 23.67 & 58.66 \\ Alpine vegetation & 68,893 & 31,964 & 22.77 & 9.48 & 13.72 & 54.03 \\ cultivated vegetation & 641,100 & 32,712 & 26.01 & 17.06 & 23.42 & 33.51 \\ Non-vegetated area & 12,302 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 6: The relationship between vegetation recovery and vegetation type.  
Figure 10: Vegetation recovery from 2009 to 2013. White areas mean vegetation is not damaged by the earthquake.  
The damage area within the study area with no vegetation recovery declined from 95,094 ha in 2009 to 41,756 ha in 2013 with a reduction of 13,335 ha per year. The total area recovering slightly decreased from 101,963 ha in 2009 to 67,138 ha in 2013 at a rate of 8706 ha per year. The area in which vegetation had largely recovered increased from 110,106 ha in 2009 to 170,594 ha in 2013 with a reduction of 15,122 ha per year. Finally, the area that recovered fully increased from 168,525 ha in 2009 to 196,200 ha in 2013 at increments of 6919 ha per year (Figure 11).  
In 2009, the proportions of the vegetation not recovering, vegetation recovering slightly, vegetation that had largely recovered and vegetation that recovered fully were 20%, 21%, 23% and 35%, respectively. By 2013, the proportions of the four types were 9%, 14%, 36% and 41%, respectively, which indicates that 41% of the vegetation had recovered to the level before the earthquake, 50% was recovering, and 9% showed no signs of recovery after five years. During the five years, the level of vegetation not recovering declined by 11%, the level of vegetation recovering slightly declined by 7%, the level of vegetation that had largely recovered increased by 13% and the vegetation that recovered fully increased by 6% (Table 7).  
In conclusion, between 2009 and 2013, the major trend in the severely afflicted earthquake area within the study area was a rapid decrease in vegetation not recovering and a rapid increase in vegetation that recovered fully.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**2009**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**2013**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Yearly Variation**} \\  & **Area (ha)** & **Proportion (\%)** & **Area (ha)** & **Proportion (\%)** & **(ha/year)** & **Variation** \\ \hline Not recovering & 95,094 & 19.99 & 41,756 & 8.78 & \(-\)13,335 & \(-\)14.02 \\ Recovering slightly & 101,963 & 21.43 & 67,138 & 14.11 & \(-\)8706 & \(-\)8.54 \\ Recovering largely & 110,106 & 23.15 & 170,594 & 35.86 & 15,122 & 13.73 \\ Recovered fully & 168,525 & 35.43 & 196,200 & 41.25 & 6919 & 4.11 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 7: The amount of variation (ha/year) and the rate of the vegetation recovery types per year between 2009 and 2013.  
Figure 11: Area variation in vegetation recovery in the damaged area over time.