The Effects of Experimental Warming on Seed Germination and Growth of Two Oak Species (Quercus mongolica and Q. serrata)

Population growth and the increase of energy consumption due to civilization caused global warming. Temperature on the Earth rose about $0.7^{\circ}C$ for the last 100 years, the rate is accelerated since 2000. Temperature is a factor, which determines physiological action, growth and development, survival, etc. of the plant together with light intensity and precipitation. Therefore, it is expected that global warming would affect broadly geographic distribution of the plant as well as structure and function ecosystem. In order to understand the effect of global warming on the ecosystem, a study about the effect of temperature rise on germination and growth in the plant is required necessarily. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of experimental warming on the germination and growth of two oak species(Quercus mongolica and Q. serrata) in temperature gradient chamber(TGC). This study was conducted in control, medium warming treatment($+1.7^{\circ}C$; Tm), and high warming treatment ($+3.2^{\circ}C$; Th) conditions. The final germination percentage, mean germination time and germination rate of two oak species increased by the warming treatment, and the increase in Q. serrata was higher than that in Q. mongolica. Root collar diameter, seedling height, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, root dry weight, and total biomass were the highest in Tm treatment. Butthey were not significantly different in the Th treatment. In the Th treatment, Q. serrata had significantly higher H/D ratio, S/R ratio, and low root mass ratio (RMR) compared with control plot. Q. mongolica had lower RMR and higher S/R ratio in the Tm and Th treatments compared with control plot. Therefore, growth of Q. mongolica are expected to be more vulnerable to warming than that of Q. serrata. The main findings of this study, species-specific responses to experimental warming, could be applied to predict ecosystem changes from global warming. From the result of this study, we could deduce that temperature rise would increase germination of Q. serrata and Q. mongolica and consequently contribute to increase establishment rate in the early growth stage of the plants. But we have to consider diverse variables to understand properly the effects that global warming influences germination in natural condition. Treatment of global warming in the medium level increased the growth and the biomass of both Q. serrata and Q. mongolica. But the result of treatment in the high level showed different aspects. In particular, Q. mongolica, which grows in cooler zones of higher elevation on mountains or northward in latitude, responded more sensitively. Synthesized the results mentioned above, continuous global warming would function in stable establishment of both plants unfavorably. Compared the responses of both sample plants on temperature rise, Q. serrata increased germination rate more than Q. mongolica and Q. mongolica responded more sensitively than Q. serrata in biomass allocation with the increase of temperature. It was estimated that these results would due to a difference of microclimate originated from the spatial distribution of both plants.

온난화 처리가 신갈나무(Quercus mongolica)와 졸참나무(Q. serrate)의 종자발아와 생장에 미치는 영향

본 연구는 기온상승 강도에 따른 우리나라 주요 참나무류의 종자 발아와 초기생장에 미치는 영향을 파악하기 위해 수행되었다. 신갈나무와 졸참나무를 대상으로 온도구배온실을 이용하여 대조구, 중간 강도 온난화 처리구($+1.7^{\circ}C$) 및 강한 강도 온난화 처리구($+3.2^{\circ}C$)를 준비하여 재배실험을 실시하였다. 그 결과, 발아반응과 초기생장 반응은 기온상승 강도 및 수종에 따라 차이를 보였다. 중간 강도의 온난화 환경은 두 종의 발아반응을 촉진하고, 생장량(묘고, 근원경)과 생물량(잎, 줄기, 뿌리의 건중량 및 총 생물량)을 증가시켜, 초기정착에 다소 유리할 수 있을 것으로 판단된다. 그러나 Tm에서 두 종 모두 대조구보다 낮은 RMR과 높은 H/D율을 나타내, 장기적으로는 생장에 불리하게 작용할 수 있을 것임을 암시한다. 강한 강도의 온난화 환경은 신갈나무와 졸참나무의 발아반응을 촉진시켰으나, 생육기간 종료 시점의 총 생물량은 대조구보다 유의하게 낮았다. 뿌리 생장은 대조구보다 크게 저하되었고, 이로 인하여 RMR은 낮고 S/R율은 높게 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 강한 강도의 온난한 환경이 봄철에는 발아시기를 앞당겨 생장기간을 증가시켰지만, 여름철에는 임계치 이상의 높은 온도가 생장에 스트레스요인으로 작용하는데 기인한 것으로 판단된다. 식물의 생장은 온난화 처리기간, 토양수분, 광환경 등의 환경요인에 따라 다를 수 있으므로, 온난화에 의한 영향을 정확하게 판단하기 위해서는 다른 환경인자에 대한 모니터링과 장기간에 걸친 추가 연구가 필요할 것으로 판단되었다. 기온상승에 대한 두 식물의 반응을 비교하면, 발아 반응에서 졸참나무가 신갈나무보다 기온상승에 따른 발아율 상승이 높게 반응하였고, 생물량 분배반응에서 신갈나무가 졸참나무보다 민감하게 반응하는 차이를 보였다. 이는 자연에서 양 식물의 공간 분포가 가져오는 미기후 차이에서 비롯된 것으로 판단된다.