• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.503-507
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• 2015

To examine the interannual variation of seedfall and seed viability rates of Acer pictum subsp. mono (APSM), we investigated the annual seedfall and seed viability of APSM in the natural broadleaved forest in Mt. Jungwang, Gangwon-do, from 2009 to 2014. The amounts of annual seedfalls from 2009 to 2014 were revealed to be 5,700, 4,060, 60,900, 403,450 and 310 ea/ha respectively. 2013 is presumed to be the masting year since large amounts of seedfall were revealed, compared to that of the other years in the study period. Also, the amount of seeds was significantly different among seed viabilities. Most fallen seeds were damaged or decayed, accounting for 47.88% of the total, followed by empty seeds, undeveloped seeds and sound seeds in that order. The percentage of sound seeds ranged from 6.7 to 31.0%, which marks the lowest average with 16.74%. In the masting year, 2013, a significantly larger number of sound seeds fell at 125,070 ea/ha, on the forest floor than in the other years (320~17,840 ea/ha). Meanwhile, the ratio of damaged or decayed seeds was the lowest at 38%, although the number of those seeds was the largest, 153,310 ea/ha, for the same year. These results imply that the surplus seeds are supplied for natural regeneration in the masting year, supporting the seed predator satiation hypothesis. More long-term researches should be conducted on the seed production of broadleaved trees.