大氣汚染에 依한 麗川地域의 森林群集變化에 關한 硏究

A Study on the Change in Forest Community by Air Pollution at Yocheon District

Nowadays, air pollution by increasing consumption of fossil fuels resulting from rapidly growing population and industrialization has caused the adverse effects on terrestrial ecosystems and become one of the most serious problems causing environmental discriptions. Air pollution such as $SO_2, HF, NO_X,$ fly ash, ozone and PAN might influence plant growth, reproduction, nutrient cycling, photosynthesis and predisposition to entomological and pathological stresses on plants. Furthermore, accumulation of those toxic substances in forests might cause subtle or serious changes in the structure and function of forest ecosystems. Since 1970s, a number of large industrial complexes had been constructed as a part of industrialization plan in Korea. Accordingly, the forest exosystems around them has been under chronic influences of air pollution and effects of air pollution on plants became a matter of concern. In Yocheon Industrial Complex which consisted of lots of petrochemical plants and a phosphatic fertilizer manufacturing plant, forests has been exposed to chronic air pollution, mainly HF and $SO_2$ gas, Various reports were available to investigate the potential effects of air pollution on crops and forest trees in Yocheon. Kim and Kim surveyed vegetation by naked eye method and reported 71 families, 150 genera and 158 species were growing within a 2 km from air pollution sources in 1981. Needle injuries on Pinus spp. in the polluted area water reported by Kim, et al. and Kim, et al. Kim, et al. investigated the primary production of Pinus thunbergii forests in the polluted area and verified that growth inhibition of Pinus thunbergii was attributable to air pollution. Thus, previous reports suggested that forest ecosystems around Yocheon Industrial Complex were influenced adversely by air pollution. The objective of this study was to investigate the subtle ecological changes in forest community exposed to chronic air pollution in Yocheon.