• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.579-593
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• 2021

In order to understand the types of vegetation in warm temperate-climate zones, vegetation was investigated in several island areas in Jeollanam-do (Jindo, Wando, Gangjin, Goheung, and Yeosu). The evaluation standard for degraded level of warm temperate forests were proposed based on the importance percentage (IP) in canopy layer of the evergreen broad-leaf forests and the number of arboreal evergreen broad-leaf species. Through these measurements, the restoration types and techniques for each degraded level were estimated, and it is intended to be used in establishing restoration plans for the southwest coast island area. The vegetation was analyzed using the two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) method using survey data of 307 plots. As a result, it was divided into 8 communities, and the appearance characteristics of evergreen broad-leaf species were identified in each community. Community I was located on the lower slope at an altitude of 86.6 m, and Neolitsea sericea and Castanopsis sieboldii were dominant. Communities II and III were the vegetation types that appear on the coast below an altitude of 10.5 to 22.5 m, and Machilus thunbergii, Cinnamomum japonicum, N. sericea, and C. sieboldii were dominant. Communities IV and V were vegetation types that appeared in the lower and middle slops between the altitudes of 71.9 to 153.4m, and C. sieboldii was dominant. In community VI, the N. sericea was dominant in the lower and middle slops at an altitude of 166.9 m. The last communities VII and VIII were the vegetation types that appeared on the middle slop at an altitude of 187.8 to 246.2 m. Also, Quercus acuta and Q. salicina were present. In summary, the evergreen broad-leaf forests dominated by M. thunbergii, C. japonicum, and N. sericea appeared mainly in the coastal areas of the lowlands. The community of C. sieboldii was distributed higher inland than this community. The communities that appeared mainly in the inland highlands at levels above these two communities were Q. acuta and Q. salicina. The degraded level was classified as 0 to V, according to the IP of arboreal evergreen broad-leaf species and the number of arboreal evergreen broad-leaf species. According to the degraded level, the restoration types (preservation, induction, improvement, creation) and the restoration techniques were determined.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2021

Munseom (Island) is known as the largest native Elaeocarpus sylvestris var. ellipticus in Korea. Recently, disease damage from the E. sylvestris var. ellipticus community has been reported in Munseom. This study was conducted to understand the damage situation and growth characteristics of the E. sylvestris var. ellipticus population in Munseom. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the spontaneous regeneration potential of the community by grasping the characteristics of the population of surviving E. sylvestris var. ellipticus individuals, and to discuss ways to restore native habitats. A total population survey was conducted to determine the distribution status of E. sylvestris var. ellipticus individuals. The field survey carefully recorded the height of tree, DBH, DRH, and growing status, along with GPS location information of the individual. The growth status of E. sylvestris var. ellipticus individuals distributed in Munseom and the characteristics of tree height, DBH, DRH of each individual were analyzed. The total number of E. sylvestris var. ellipticus populations identified in Munseom was 293. The dense E. sylvestris var. ellipticus community reported in 2005 has been identified as being greatly damaged or damaged. In particular, the damage was more serious in mature trees with a height of 6m or more forming the canopy layer in the forest, and it was confirmed that 80.6% of the mature trees died. In the growth characteristics of the old-growth tree, which is an indicator of the health of the forest based on DRH, 75.4% died or the growth condition was found to be poor. In order to restore the native habitat of E. sylvestris var. ellipticus in Munseom, conservation efforts such as pest control, preservation of mature trees, control of the territory of young trees, and reintroduction after ex-situ transplantation etc. are considered necessary.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.439-449
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• 2023

This study was conducted to verify the role of forest roads in the extinction of large forest fires in Korea. The study area was the forest fire-damaged area of Gangneung City, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, in April 2023, which is one of the areas with the highest road density among the major forest fires that have occurred so far. The scope of the forest fire damage area was confirmed through on-site survey, and the intensity of the fire was carried out through Sentinel-2 satellite imagery analysis. After that, the relationship between the damage range and intensity and the forest road was examined. About 59.6 km of roads were built within 50 m from the boundary of the forest fire damage area, which can easily access the entire 149.1 ha of forest fire damaged area. The road density is as high as 168.9 m/ha. All forests that were fragmented by roads were fragmented into 83 places, and all of these forests could be judged to have spread by spotting fire. As a result of analyzing the distribution of damage intensity by distance from the road to see the extent of damage according to the ease of access of fire extinguishing vehicles, it was confirmed that the proportion of areas with low-intensity damage has increased sharply even from 75 m or more away from the road. The results of analyzing the distribution of damage intensity by altitude to see the extent of damage according to the ease of access of fire extinguishing showed that the proportion of areas with low-intensity damage increased as the altitude increased, while the proportion of areas with damage of more than strong intensity decreased as the altitude increased. It was confirmed that there is no data that roads inside or adjacent to forests in the forest fire area of Gangneung City are effective in extinguishing forest fires. These results are contrary to the logic that increasing the road density in forests is effective in extinguishing forest fires. In the case of this fire area in Gangneung City, the road density is 43 times higher than the current road density in Korea claimed by the Korea Forest Service of 3.9 m/ha. This study suggests that roads can be a hindrance to extinguishing forest fires.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.277-292
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• 2024

In order to manage large-scale forest fires concentrated in Gangwon-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do with severe topographical heterogeneity, a decision-making process through efficient and rapid damage assessment using satellite images is essential. Accordingly, this study targets a large-scale forest fire that ignited in Gangneung and the Donghae, Gangwon-do on March 5, 2022, and was extinguished around 19:00 on March 8, to estimate the fire severity using dNBR and derive environmental factors that affect the grade. As environmental factors, we quantified the regular vegetation index representing vegetation or fuel type, the forest index that classifies tree species, the regular moisture index representing moisture content, and DEM in relation to topography, and then analyzed the correlation with the fire severity. In terms of fire severity, the widest range was 'Unbured' at 52.4%, followed by low severity at 42.9%, medium-low severity at 4.3%, and medium-high severity at 0.4%. Environmental factors showed a negative correlation with dNDVI and dNDWI, and a positive correlation with slope. Regarding vegetation, the differences between coniferous, broad-leaved, and other groups in dNDVI, dNIWI, and slope, which were analyzed to affect the fire severity, were analyzed to be significant with p-value < 2.2e-16. In particular, the difference between coniferous and broad-leaved forests was clear, and it was confirmed that coniferous forest suffered more damage than broad-leaved forest due to the higher fire severity in the Gangwon-do region, including Pinus densiflora, which are dominant species, as well as P. koraiensis, P. rigida and P. thunbergii.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.2 s.90
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• pp.109-118
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• 2000

The dynamics of inorganic nutrients and phytoplankton population were examined at eight stations of Shihwa Reservoir, which situated near the cities newly constructed and the industrial complex of West-sea in Korea, from January to December 1999. Among environmental factors, average concentration of $NH_4$, SRP and SRSi were $522.7\;{\mu}g\;N/l$, $9.8\;{\mu}g\;N/l$ and $0.26\;{\mu}g\;Si/l$, respectively. Water quality was extremely deteriorated by a great amount of pollutants load into inner reservoir after the event of rainfall. Nutrients concentration was suddenly decreased toward the lower part. While $NO_3$ concentration did not much varied among stations, but it was relatively high in winter season. Chlorophyll-a concentration was high at the upper part of the reservoir, with average of $37.2\;{\mu}/l$, and closely related to the fluctuation of $NH_4$, SRP and SRSi concentrations. The phytoplankton development in the water column was dominated by diatom (autumn), prasinoid (winter) and dinoflagellate (summer). Dominant phytoplankton were composed to Skeletonema costatum of diatom, Prorocentrum minimum of dinoflagellate, Chroomonas spp. of cryptomonad, Eutreptiella gymnastica of euglenoid and Pyramimonas spp. of prasinoid. The large bloom of phytoplankton at the upper zone of the Shihwa Reservoir after inflow of a seawater were consistently observed. In consequence, water quality management of the inlet stream was assessed to be very important and urgent.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.216-227
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to propose the rational mountain stream management strategy considering the natural conditions and social needs of the Republic of Korea. We reviewed domestic and overseas studies related to mountain streams, identified the study areas by text mining and co-word analysis using the VOSviewer program, and then analyzed the spatial and temporal study trends and topics of each study area. The results showed that domestic studies on mountain streams are still in an initial stage compared to overseas studies. Overseas studies on mountain streams can be classified into four groups: (i) habitat and species composition of fish and invertebrates, (ii) hydrological phenomena and nutrient migration, (iii) transport of sediment and organic materials and the relevant morphological changes by runoff flows, and (iv) plant species composition in mountain streams. Of these study subjects, domestic studies belonging to the (i) group mainly focused on macroinvertebrates while domestic studies belonging to the (iii) group regarded transport of sediment and organic materials as not the ecological disturbance but the source of sediment-related disasters. We then analyzed the rate of each research group to all papers by period and country. The results showed that the overseas studies belonging to (iii) and (iv) groups have increased with time, and the increase was mostly due to the studies in the United States, Brazil, Canada, and China. On the other hand, domestic studies belonging to (i) and (iii) groups increased somewhat with time, but there was a slight lack of correlation between the two subjects. Therefore, the hybridity studies to complement the shortage is necessary for the future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.1
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• pp.88-96
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to understand when forest fire as a natural phenomenon becomes constructed as social issues in Korea; how the forest fire-related discourses in the editorials reflecting the social perceptions have been changed regarding the principal subject and the measures of the forest fire management; and whether the social perception on the forest fire affects the forest fire policy of the state. From the analysis of a total of 44 editorials related to forest fires from 1988 to 2017. By the using, in the forest fire-related editorials the social perceptions on forest fires are forest fire editorials categories, main keywords, contents of social perception on 'the main subject responsible for forest fire management,' 'forest fire prevention measures,' categorization, frequency analysis and context analysis of words used. It is found that in the first-period forest fire management measures were recognized as a part of the overall forest management. In the second period, the approaches of ecological management emerged on the part of forest fire management. As forest fires were managed as a type of social disaster during the third period, such perceptions were gradually reinforced that the state should protect the people from the forest fire. In the 3rd, 4th, and 5th National Forest Plan, the forest fire management policy of each period was focused in enlightening the general public, protecting forest resources ecosystems, and preventing loss of lives, respectively. As a result of the analysis of social perceptions and comparing them to the forest fire policies through the analysis of editorials on forest fires, it is found that the social perception on the forest fire and forest fire management plan has changed having interconnections.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2017

We conducted this study to investigate vegetation structure and soil conditions of six Viburnum erosum Thunb.(V. erosum) populations which showed high dominance. A total of 68 woody plants were observed to distribute: 13 in tree layer; 38 in subtree layer; and 48 in shrub layer. Based on the Mean Importance Value(MIV), the dominant tree species in the V. erosum populations were as follows in order of: Acer pseudosieboldianum(Pax) Kom., Callicarpa japonica Thunb., Indigofera kirilowii Maxim. ex Palib., Lindera obtusiloba Blume, Prunus sargentii Rehder, Quercus variabilis Blume, Rhododendron mucronulatum Turcz. and Vaccinium oldhamii Miq. In paticular, the species observed in all of the study sites were Quercus serrata Murray and Styrax japonicus Siebold & Zucc. It was found that the presence of V. erosum was positively correlated with that of Albizia julibrissin Durazz. and Symplocos chinensis f. pilosa (Nakai) Ohwi, while negatively correlated with that of Platycarya strobilacea Siebold & Zucc. According to the result, means of species diversity(H'), maxim species diversity(H' max), evenness(J') and dominance(1-J') were measured at 0.887, 1.102, 0.803, and 0.196, respectively. The soil conditions properties of pH value, organic matter content, total nitrogen content, and the amount of available phosphorous indices in the study sites were 4.3, 10.6%, 0.34% and $0.68mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$, respectively. Meanwhile, the total amount of exchangeable cations of $Ca^{2+}$, $K^+$, and $Mg^{2+}$ were $16.84cmol_c{\cdot}kg^{-1}$, $6.41cmol_c{\cdot}kg^{-1}$, and $4.26cmol_c{\cdot}kg^{-1}$, respectively. Overall, Viburnum erosum Thunb. populations tend to grow in the strongly acid soil, which has great abundance of soil organic matters, a lot of exchangeable cations, and has higher amount available phosphorous than that of nitrogen.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.338-349
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• 2022

This study aims to investigate whether modular community planting, which entailed planting a variety of species of seedlings at high density, was more effective in restoring natural forests than the existing mature tree planting. We also investigated whether the planting density of the modular community planting facilitates growth or improves the tree layer coverage. We conducted outdoor experiments in which the samples were divided into a mature tree planting plot (control plot), where mature trees were planted at wide intervals, and a modular community planting (MCP) plot (treatment plot), where multiple seedlings were planted in high density. The MCP plot was further divided into the plot in which 3 seedlings were planted per m² and the plot of 1 seedling per m². We measured the specimens' survival rate, growth rate (tree height, crown width, and root collar diameter), and cover rate for 26 months from May 2019 and the predicted future tree height growth using the measured tree height. The survival rate and relative growth rate of the MCP were higher than those of the mature tree planting plot. The vertical coverage rate of the tree crown in the MCP exhibited complete coverage of the ground before 23 months, while the coverage rate of the mature tree planting decreased due to transplantation stress. The seedlings in the MCP, which were planted at high density, grew well and were predicted to grow higher than the mature trees in the large tree planting plot within 5 to 6.5 years after planting. It was due to multiple species, seedlings, high-density planting, and planting foundation improvements, such as soil enhancement and mulching. In other words, the seedlings planted in the MCP had a higher survival rate as their environmental adaptation after planting was better, and their early growth was also larger than the trees in the mature planting plot. The high-density mixed planting of various native species not only mitigated the inter-complementary environmental pressures but also facilitated growth by inducing competition between species. Moreover, the planting foundation improvement effectively increased the seedlings' viability and growth rate. A reduction in follow-up management costs is expected as the tree layer coverage sharply increases due to the higher planting density. In the MCP (3 seedlings per m² and 1 seedling per m²), the tree height growth was promoted with the higher planting density, and the crown width and root collar diameter tended to be larger with the lower planting density, but these differences were not statistically significant.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2023

We analyzed the distribution area of debris slopes in Mudeungsan (Mt. Mudeung) National Park by comparing aerial photos of the past (1966) and the present (2017) and identified the vegetation characteristics that affect the change in the area of the debris slopes by investigating the vegetation status of the debris slopes and the surrounding areas. The area of debris slopes in Mt. Mudeung appears to have been reduced to a quarter of what it used to be. Debris slopes here have decreased at an average rate of 2.3 ha/yr over 51 years by vegetation covers. Notably, most of the small-area debris slopes in the low-inclination slopes disappeared due to active vegetation coverage. However, there are still west-facing, south-west-facing, south-facing, and large-area debris slopes remaining because the sun's radiant heat rapidly raises the surface temperature of rock blocks and dries moisture, making tree growth unfavorable. Because of these locational characteristics, the small-scale vegetation in the middle of Deoksan Stony Slope, which is the broadest area, showed distinct characteristics from the adjacent forest areas. Sunny places and tree species with excellent drying resistance were observed frequently in Deoksan Stony Slope. However, tree species with high hygropreference that grow well in valleys with good soil conditions also prevailed. In some of these places, the soil layer has been well developed due to the accumulation of fine materials and organic matter between the crevices of the rock blocks, which is likely to have provided favorable conditions for such tree species to settle and grow. At the top of Mt. Mudeung, on the other hand, the forest covered the debris slopes, where Mongolian oaks (Quercus mongolica) and royal azaleas (Rhododendron schlippenbachii), which typically grow in the highlands, prevailed. This area was considered favorable for the development of vegetation for the highlands because the density of rock blocks was lower than in Deoksan Stony Slope, and the soil was exposed. Moreover, ash trees (Fraxinus rhynchophylla) and Korean maple trees (Acer pseudosieboldianum) that commonly appear in the valley areas were dominant here. It is probably due to the increased moisture content in the soil, which resulted from creating a depressive landform with a concave shape that is easy to collect rainwater as rock blocks in some areas fell and piled up in the lower region. In conclusion, the area, density of the rock blocks, and distribution pattern of rock block slopes would have affected the vegetation development and species composition in the debris slope landform.