• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.335-352
• /
• 2014

In this study, we investigated and analysed the water quality, distribution of the vegetation and the wildlife to seven wetlands in Donghae city. As a result, most of the wetlands was found to be very poor water quality and some specific pollutants from entering the wetland. A total of 234 taxa on vegetation were identified including 207 species, 24 varieties, 3 formaes, 168 genera and 69 families. 2 species were recorded as designated rare plant of Korea Forest Service. The naturalized plants were 27 species. The urbanization rate of naturalization index was 8.4% and 11.6% respectively. The number of benthic macroinvertebrate taxa was 35 species, 26 families, 12 orders, 5 classes and 3 phylums. Rare species were recorded 3 species. Taxa for fishes were 5 family and 5 species. Endangered wildlife was found 1 species. Most wetlands in Donghae city were the relatively small in size, and some wetlands were separately located from forest and river ecosystems. It was limited inflow and outflow of species into a wetland from the outside. However, various vegetation were found at whole wetlands and some special species also inhabited. The wetlands performed the role as a habitat of wild life.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.415-428
• /
• 2011

The vascular flora in the Mt. Cheongtae area, located Pyeongchang-gun in Gangwon-do, were surveyed 14 times from April of 2008 to October of 2011. The result of this survey revealed 663 taxa in total, comprising 89 families, 342 genera, 577 species, 6 subspecies, 73 varieties and 7 forms. In the flora of this area, 19 taxa were Korean endemic plants and 24 taxa were rare and endangered plants of Korea. The floristic regional indicator plants found in this area were 136 taxa comprising 4 taxa of grade V, 16 taxa of grade IV, 31 taxa of grade III, 41 taxa of grade II and 44 taxa of grade I. Naturalized plants in Korea numbered37 taxa. In addition, 485 taxa were categorized by usage into 8 groups, as follows: 240 edible, 8 fiber, 177 medical, 60 ornamental, 245 pasturing, 2 industrial, 12 dyeing and 16 timer plants.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.412-424
• /
• 2009

The flora and vegetation of Chuncheon area were investigated from March, 2006 to September, 2008. Vascular plants of investigated regions were composed of 118 families, 496 genera, 894 species, 2 subspecies, 132 varieties, and 38 forms, totally 1,066 taxa, and the Pteridophyta index (Pte-Q) was 1.17. Forty two taxa including endemic genus Hanabusaya and Echinosophora among the 1,066 taxa were Korean endemic. Thirty three rare and endangered plants and 119 specially designated plants by Ministry of Environment were also investigated. The naturalized plants were 71 taxa, and percent of naturalized plant species were 6.66%. The vegetation of Chuncheon area were classified into five communities such as Quercus mongolica community, Pinus densiflora-Quercus mongolica community, Quercus mongolica-Acer mono community, Quercus mongolica-Quercus variabilis community and Quercus mongolica-Betula davurica community.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.146-160
• /
• 2013

The flora of vascular plants in the Mt. Cheonhwang, located at Miryang-si, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, was surveyed 16 times from March, 2009 to September, 2011. The result of this survey revealed 442 taxa in total, comprising 90 families, 252 genera, 387 species, 3 subspecies, 43 varieties, and 9 forms. Among the flora of this area, 14 taxa were plants endemic to Korea and 11 taxa were rare and endangered plants of Korea. The floristic regional indicator plants found in this area were 59 taxa: 2 taxa of grade V, 5 taxa of grade IV, 15 taxa of grade III, 16 taxa of grade II and 21 taxa of grade I. Alien plants in Korea numbered 21 taxa. In addition, 442 taxa were categorized by usage into 8 groups, as follows: 163 edible, 6 fiber, 125 medical, 76 ornamental, 163 pasturing, 4 industrial, 9 dyeing and 21 timber plants.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.277-291
• /
• 2009

The flora in the region of Songnisan National Park ($N36^{\circ}28^{\prime}05^{{\prime}{\prime}}{\sim}36^{\circ}46^{\prime}38^{{\prime}{\prime}}$, $E\;127^{\circ}47^{\prime}06^{{\prime}{\prime}}{\sim}127^{\circ}57^{\prime}50^{{\prime}{\prime}}$) was surveyed from April 2000 to July 2006. Vascular plants in 26 collections included a total of 723 taxa: 115 families, 392 genera, 629 species, 4 subspecies, 72 varieties and 18 forms. Ninety-three of these taxa were first records for the region. In the flora of Songnisan National Park, 27 taxa were Korean endemic plants, 19 taxa were rare and endangered plants as designated by the Korea Forest Service. Forty-five of the taxa were with the levels III, IV, V in the floristic regional indicator plants which was designated by Korean Ministry of Environment, and 29 taxa were alien plants now naturalized in Korea. Owing to their unusual phytogeography and low number of populations, the taxa Crypsinus hastatus (Thunb.) Copel., Paeonia japonica (Makino) Miyabe & Takeda, Jeffersonia dubia (Maxim.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex Baker & S.Moore, Bupleurum euphorbioides Nakai, Phacellanthus tubiflorus Siebold & Zucc., Lilium cernuum Kom., Gastrodia elata Blume and Cephalanthera erecta var. subaphylla (Miyabe & Kud ) Ohwi were considered the most important. Based on these results, it is clear that appropriate plans to conserve the natural habitat of Songnisan National Park must be made immediately.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.49-56
• /
• 2008

Glehnia littoralis Fr. Schmidt et Miquel is an important medicinal plants in East Asian countries. This plant species naturally distributed in Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan, but it is a rare plants living in the coastal dune in Korea. To investigate the genetic variation, genetic diversity and genetic evolutionary relationships of 14 different geographical G. littoralis, ITS sequence and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were analyzed. On the basis of ITS sequences, it was clearly showed that the ITS1 and ITS2 sequences among 14 populations are identical regardless of geographical origin excepting 2 bp in pair-wise comparison of ITS1. Furthermore, RAPD results also showed that 14 different geographical G. littoralis produce various polymorphic patterns without critical relationship among neighboring regions. These combined results suggest that the geographical variation and genetic evolution of G. littoralis is stable and provide important information on genetic diversity, and conservation of this rare plant species in situ and ex situ.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.229-234
• /
• 2008

An efficient micropropagation was established by using axillary bud explants from two-year-old tree(Echinosphorea koreensis Nakai), which has been known as a rare and endangered species. Among various basal media tested, DKW medium was shown to be the best for axillary shoot elongation. The addition of both BA and TDZ to the medium induced 6 to 10 shoots per explant during eight weeks of culture, without showing any abnormal morphology at the shoot proliferation stage. However, high concentration of TDZ(>0.05 mg/L) appeared to cause hyperhydration on either leaf or shoot at the later developmental stage. Approximately 20% of shoots produced roots by the addition of 1.0 mg/L NAA but not by IBA($0.2{\sim}1.0$ mg/L). Ex vitro micro-cuttings were better source for root induction; up to 58.6% of the micro-cuttings rooted when 100 mg/L IBA was applied to the soil(vermiculite). More than 90% of plantlets with roots were successfully acclimatized and grew normally in the field. Therefore, we suggest that this endangered tree species can be effectively micropropagated by axillary bud culture system developed in this study.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.481-504
• /
• 2008

This study was carried out to investigate the flora of Mt. Biseul. The vascular plants collected 10 times(from May 2006 to October 2007) were identified as 468 taxa in total, including 89 families, 302 genera, 397 species, 1 subspecies, 59 varieties and 11 forms. Korean endemic plants of this area were identified as 17 taxa including Thalictrum uchiyamai, Coreanomecon hylomeconoides, Lonicera subsessilis, etc.; the Ministry of Environment-designated plants, which should be protected by the wildlife protection law, were identified as one taxon including Aconitum austrokoreense; the Office of Forestry-designated rare & endangered plants were identified as 6 taxa including Viola albida, Lloydia triflora, Streptopus ovalis, etc.; the naturalized plants were identified as 34 taxa, and their naturalization ratio and urban index were found to be 7.3%, and 12.2% respectively. This study newly identified about 160 taxa of the plants, among which 17 taxa were newly added to the list of naturalized plants, such as Phytolacca americana, Dicentra spectabilis, Lepidium apetalum, Medicago lupulina, Euphorbia supina, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Cosmos bipinnatus, Crassocephalum crepidioides, Galinsoga ciliata, Rudbeckia bicolor, Sonchus oleraceus, Tagetes minuta, Taraxacum officinale, Chloris virgata, Festuca arundinacea, Lolium perenne, Tradescantia reflexa, etc. There existed many kinds of plants resources having conservational value like Aconitum austrokoreense etc. in this area, but there remains a fear of nature destruction's acceleration due to indiscriminate human development and access of a lot of visitors, so it is judged that there should be a management plan, such as a limit on the number of visitors or rest-year-system for restoration of nature.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.220-256
• /
• 2022

The most important thing for conserving plant diversity in an area is to make an overall inventory of the plant species inhabiting the area. In particular, limestone areas are known for their high plant diversity and distribution of specific plants. Despite that, only a few have been designated as protected areas. This study investigated the vascular plants distributed in Goyangsan Mtn. and Munraesan Mtn., located in limestone areas of the central part of the Korean Peninsula. A field survey was conducted eight times from April to October 2021. As a result, we identified a total of 654 taxa comprising 113 families, 357 genera, 592 species, 15 subspecies, 44 varieties, and 3 formulas. They included four endangered wild plant species: Astilboides tabularis, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Cypripedium macranthos, and Epilobium hirsutum. Endemic plants in Korea were identified as 32 taxa. Floristic target plants were identified as 168 taxa, specifically 5 taxa of grade V, 41 taxa of grade IV, and 36 taxa of grade III. The red data plants included 2 taxa as "Endangered (EN)", 7 taxa as "Vulnerable (VU)", and 7 taxa as "Near threatened (NT)". A total of 41 taxa of naturalized plants were identified, and 4 of them were invasive alien plants. The surveyed vicinity of Goyangsan Mtn. and Munraesan Mtn. showed high plant diversity and contained core habitats for distribution of an endangered wild plant, Astilboides tabularis,in the limestone area. Moreover, both mountains contained a small population of Cotoneaster integerrimus. These findings confirm that the area has conservation values. Therefore, we propose to identify areas with high plant diversity and designate them as special protected areas.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.106 no.2
• /
• pp.111-120
• /
• 2017

The best source of information on the conservation status of species at a global scale is the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Until now, 236 vascular plants from Korean peninsula have been evaluated using the IUCN red list categories and criteria. It indicated that five taxa were considered as critically endangered, 20 as endangered and nine as vulnerable species as a threatened status. On the other hand, the rest (189 taxa) were assessed as a least concern, which did not qualify for threatened species categories. Korea Ministry of Environment published a revised version of 57 species list by re-classifying endangered species with idiosyncratic qualitative criteria for two levels (I and II) followed by status reviews in 2011. However, two thirds species proposed by Ministry of Environment do not qualify as threatened. The major difficulties found in applying IUCN Red List criteria at the global scale was a lack of knowledge on the status of species at broader geographic scales and the perceived difficulty the causes. The lack of consistency between two lists constrains the prioritization of species-based conservation work at the national level. Due to a lack of centralized monitoring data for most species, this status is largely qualitatively and so it carries a high level of uncertainty. This is reflected in the high number of species with an unknown population trend. The current list of endangered species of flora and fauna by the Ministry of Environment should be recognized as the national list (local and population extinction), which is different from the IUCN Red list due to the different geographical contexts. Also, it is necessary to improve the quality of evaluation and conservation management system rather than presenting massive number of endangered species list.