Abstract
Site index is an essential tool to estimate forest productivity. Generally, a site index equation is developed and used from the relationship between stand age and dominant tree heights. However, there is a limit to the use of the site index equation in the application of variable ages, environmental influence, and estimation of site index for the unstocked forest. Therefore, it has been attempted to develop a new site index equation based on various environmental factors including site, climate, and topographical variables. This study was conducted to develop a site index equation based on the relationship between site index and environmental factors for the species of Pinus koraiensis in Yangpyung-Gun, Gyunggi Province. The influence of climatic factors (temperature and solar irradiation ratio), topographical factors (elevation, slope, ratio of slope to valley and aspect) and soil profiles (soil depth by layer and soil consistency) on site index were evaluated by multiple regression analysis. Five environmental factors were selected in the final site index equation for Pinus koraiensis. The site index equation developed in this study was also verified by three evaluation statistics: model's estimation bias, model's precision, and mean square error of measurement. Based on the site index equation, the number of productive areas for Pinus koraiensis were estimated by applying GIS technique to digitized forest maps. In addition, the distribution of productive areas was compared with the areas of current distribution of Pinus koraiensis. It is expected that the results obtained in this study could provide valuable information about the amount and distribution of productive areas for Pinus koraiensis reforestation.