• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-38
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• 1972

1. Objective of the Study The objective of the study was to make fundamental suggestions for drawing a forest insurance system applicable in Korea by investigating forest insurance systems undertaken in foreign countries, analyzing the forest hazards occurred in entire forests of Korea in the past, and hearing the opinions of people engaged in forestry. 2. Methods of the Study First, reference studies on insurance at large as well as on forest insurance were intensively made to draw the characteristics of forest insurance practiced in main forestry countries, Second, the investigations of forest hazards in Korea for the past ten years were made with the help of the Office of Forestry. Third, the questionnaires concerning forest insurance were prepared and delivered at random to 533 personnel who are working at different administrative offices of forestry, forest stations, forest cooperatives, colleges and universities, research institutes, and fire insurance companies. Fourth, fifty three representative forest owners in the area of three forest types (coniferous, hardwood, and mixed forest), a representative region in Kyonggi Province out of fourteen collective forest development programs in Korea, were directly interviewed with the writer. 3. Results of the Study The rate of response to the questionnaire was 74.40% as shown in the table 3, and the results of the questionaire were as follows: (% in the parenthes shows the rates of response; shortages in amount to 100% were due to the facts of excluding the rates of response of minor respondents). 1) Necessity of forest insurance The respondents expressed their opinions that forest insurance must be undertaken to assure forest financing (5.65%); for receiving the reimbursement of replanting costs in case of damages done (35.87%); and to protect silvicultural investments (46.74%). 2) Law of forest insurance Few respondents showed their views in favor of applying the general insurance regulations to forest insurance practice (9.35%), but the majority of respondents were in favor of passing a special forest insurance law in the light of forest characteristics (88.26%). 3) Sorts of institutes to undertake forest insurance A few respondents believed that insurance companies at large could take care of forest insurance (17.42%); forest owner's mutual associations would manage the forest insurance more effectively (23.53%); but the more than half of the respondents were in favor of establishing public or national forest insurance institutes (56.18%). 4) Kinds of risks to be undertaken in forest insurance It would be desirable that the risks to be undertaken in forest insurance be limited: To forest fire hazards only (23.38%); to forest fire hazards plus damages made by weather (14.32%); to forest fire hazards, weather damages, and insect damages (60.68%). 5) Objectives to be insured It was responded that the objectives to be included in forest insurance should be limited: (1) To artificial coniferous forest only (13.47%); (2) to both coniferous and broad-leaved artificial forests (23.74%); (3) but the more than half of the respondents showed their desire that all the forests regardless of species and the methods of establishment should be insured (61.64%). 6) Range of risks in age of trees to be included in forest insurance The opinions of the respondents showed that it might be enough to insure the trees less than ten years of age (15.23%); but it would be more desirous of taking up forest trees under twenty years of age (32.95%); nevertheless, a large number of respondents were in favor of underwriting all the forest trees less than fourty years of age (46.37%). 7) Term of a forest insurance contract Quite a few respondents favored a contract made on one year basis (31.74%), but the more than half of the respondents favored the contract made on five year bases (58.68%). 8) Limitation in a forest insurance contract The respondents indicated that it would be desirable in a forest insurance contract to exclude forests less than five hectars (20.78%), but more than half of the respondents expressed their opinions that forests above a minimum volume or number of trees per unit area should be included in a forest insurance contract regardless of the area of forest lands (63.77%). 9) Methods of contract Some responded that it would be good to let the forest owners choose their forests in making a forest insurance contract (32.13%); others inclined to think that it would be desirable to include all the forests that owners hold whenerver they decide to make a forest insurance contract (33.48%); the rest responded in favor of forcing the owners to buy insurance policy if they own the forests that were established with subsidy or own highly vauable growing stock (31.92%) 10) Rate of premium The responses were divided into three categories: (1) The rate of primium is to be decided according to the regional degree of risks(27.72%); (2) to be decided by taking consideration both regional degree of risks and insurable values(31.59%); (3) and to be decided according to the rate of risks for the entire country and the insurable values (39.55%). 11) Payment of Premium Although a few respondents wished to make a payment of premium at once for a short term forest insurance contract, and an annual payment for a long term contract (13.80%); the majority of the respondents wished to pay the premium annually regardless of the term of contract, by employing a high rate of premium on a short term contract, but a low rate on a long term contract (83.71%). 12) Institutes in charge of forest insurance business A few respondents showed their desire that forest insurance be taken care of at the government forest administrative offices (18.75%); others at insurance companies (35.76%); but the rest, the largest number of the respondents, favored forest associations in the county. They also wanted to pay a certain rate of premium to the forest associations that issue the insurance (44.22%). 13) Limitation on indemnity for damages done In limitation on indemnity for damages done, the respondents showed a quite different views. Some desired compesation to cover replanting costs when young stands suffered damages and to be paid at the rate of eighty percent to the losses received when matured timber stands suffered damages(29.70%); others desired to receive compensation of the actual total loss valued at present market prices (31.07%); but the rest responded in favor of compensation at the present value figured out by applying a certain rate of prolongation factors to the establishment costs(36.99%). 14) Raising of funds for forest insurance A few respondents hoped to raise the fund for forest insurance by setting aside certain amount of money from the indemnity paid (15.65%); others wished to raise the fund by levying new forest land taxes(33.79%); but the rest expressed their hope to raise the fund by reserving certain amount of money from the surplus money that was saved due to the non-risks (44.81%). 15) Causes of fires The main causes of forest fires 6gured out by the respondents experience turned out to be (1) an accidental fire, (2) cigarettes, (3) shifting cultivation. The reponses were coincided with the forest fire analysis made by the Office of Forestry. 16) Fire prevention The respondents suggested that the most important and practical three kinds of forest fire prevention measures would be (1) providing a fire-break, (2) keeping passers-by out during the drought seasons, (3) enlightenment through mass communication systems. 4. Suggestions The writer wishes to present some suggestions that seemed helpful in drawing up a forest insurance system by reviewing the findings in the questionaire analysis and the results of investigations on forest insurance undertaken in foreign countries. 1) A forest insurance system designed to compensate the loss figured out on the basis of replanting cost when young forest stands suffered damages, and to strengthen credit rating by relieving of risks of damages, must be put in practice as soon as possible with the enactment of a specifically drawn forest insurance law. And the committee of forest insurance should be organized to make a full study of forest insurance system. 2) Two kinds of forest insurance organizations furnishing forest insurance, publicly-owned insurance organizations and privately-owned, are desirable in order to handle forest risks properly. The privately-owned forest insurance organizations should take up forest fire insurance only, and the publicly-owned ought to write insurance for forest fires and insect damages. 3) The privately-owned organizations furnishing forest insurance are desired to take up all the forest stands older than twenty years; whereas, the publicly-owned should sell forest insurance on artificially planted stands younger than twenty years with emphasis on compensating replanting costs of forest stands when they suffer damages. 4) Small forest stands, less than one hectare holding volume or stocked at smaller than standard per unit area are not to be included in a forest insurance writing, and the minimum term of insuring should not be longer than one year in the privately-owned forest insurance organizations although insuring period could be extended more than one year; whereas, consecutive five year term of insurance periods should be set as a mimimum period of insuring forest in the publicly-owned forest insurance organizations. 5) The forest owners should be free in selecting their forests in insuring; whereas, forest owners of the stands that were established with subsidy should be required to insure their forests at publicly-owned forest insurance organizations. 6) Annual insurance premiums for both publicly-owned and privately-owned forest insurance organizations ought to be figured out in proportion to the amount of insurance in accordance with the degree of risks which are grouped into three categories on the basis of the rate of risks throughout the country. 7) Annual premium should be paid at the beginning of forest insurance contract, but reduction must be made if the insuring periods extend longer than a minimum period of forest insurance set by the law. 8) The compensation for damages, the reimbursement, should be figured out on the basis of the ratio between the amount of insurance and insurable value. In the publicly-owned forest insurance system, the standard amount of insurance should be set on the basis of establishment costs in order to prevent over-compensation. 9) Forest insurance business is to be taken care of at the window of insurance com pnies when forest owners buy the privately-owned forest insurance, but the business of writing the publicly-owned forest insurance should be done through the forest cooperatives and certain portions of the premium be reimbursed to the forest cooperatives. 10) Forest insurance funds ought to be reserved by levying a property tax on forest lands. 11) In order to prevent forest damages, the forest owners should be required to report forest hazards immediately to the forest insurance organizations and the latter should bear the responsibility of taking preventive measures.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.79 no.4
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• pp.367-375
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• 1990

In order to determine the effects of bedrock, organic matter, calcium and iron oxide on the soil aggregation, this research has performed with soils from bedrock regions of Limestone, Granite and Granite gneiss. This research was also to estimate how organic matter, calcium and iron oxide influence on soil aggregation under different forest conditions in various bedrock regions. And it also had a purpose to rate physical factors relevant to soil aggregation, their characteristics and aggregate diameter which closely relates to stabilities in the process of soil erosion. The following conclusions have been drawn in response to the overall research objectives. The rates of the soil aggregation on different bedrock regions were 21% in Limestone bedrock, 19.8% in Granite bedrock and 9.9% in Granite gneiss bedrock. A main factor in soil aggregation was the orgainc matter content in soils and the rate of soil aggregation increased in the constant proportion with the organic matter content. The relation could be formulated into Y=4.31X-4.37(Y : aggregation ratio X : organic matter content). The soil aggregation ratio under the deciduous forests eras higher than that under the coniferous forests. It was considered that this resulted from differences in organic matter content. Soil aggregates with larger diameter than 0.5mm were found more in Limestone bedrock than other smaller size soil aggregates of 0.25mm diameter were more distributed in Granite gneiss bedrock. Granite bedrock region had normal distribution in soil aggregate sizes with the highest frequency of 0.5mm diameter. Calcium and iron oxides had only partial influences on the soil aggregation in some specific conditions. But in Limestone bedrock region calcium influenced on the soil aggregation with the organic matter content.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.246-254
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• 2015

From 2013 to 2014, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were analyzed to determine biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs) at eight sites in Mt. Mudeung and one site in downtown, by using a GC/Mass-ATD (automatic thermal desorber). The concentration of terpene noted as biogenic volatile organic compounds at Pungamjeong (PA), in a forest of Chamaecyparis obtusa, was 821 pptv, which was the highest among the eight sites. This value was followed by Wonhyogyegok (WH: 785 pptv), Norritzae (NZ, coniferous forest: 679 pptv), Dongjeokgol (DJ, mixed species forest: 513 pptv), Jangbuljae (JB, Abies koreana: 476 pptv), and Seinbongsamgerri (SS, pine trees: 464 pptv). 11~15 species of terpene was detected in the forest depending on the site. At PA in May, α-pinene showed the highest value, occupied 20% of terpene followed by coumarin, sabinene, phellandrene, myrcene, borneol, eucalyptol, β-pinene, cymene, δ-limonene, γ-terpinene, camphor, camphene, and mentol in the order. The mean concentrations of AVOCs were 0.74~2.52 ppbv in the forests and 3.14 ppbv in the downtown area. From May to July, the AVOCs ratios of the downtown to each forest were 1.9~4.0. Among 10 species of AVOCs, the sum of toluene and benzene was 2.34 ppbv and occupied 75%. In June, the ratios of toluene were 44.1% at DJ site and 53.1% at JW site (downtown). The BVOCs showed a positive correlation with the AVOCs at the forest sites (r = 0.328), which was statistically insignificant (p = 0.184).

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2011

We studied the forest environment and characteristics of bird community between April and September of 2010 on the Hyangjeokbong area(A), Baekryunsa area(B) and Anseong area(C), all in the Deogyusan National Park. Hyangjeokbong area of the high latitude ridge was characterized by the Taxus cuspidata and Abies koreana etc., and deciduous broadleaf forest species, such as the Quercus mongolica, with abundance of subalpine zone coniferous trees, the Hemerocallis fulva and the Rhododendron schlippenbachii, while the areas Baekryunsa and Anseong were primarily characterized by deciduous broadleaf forests, with the valleys showing Fraxinus mandshurica colonies. In terms of the DBH(diameter at breast height) of trees, between 11 and 20cm showed the highest frequencies, while over 30cm was the highest in Baekryunsa area and the lowest in Hyangjeokbong area. Furthermore, in terms of coverage in relation to layers, in Hyangjeokbong area, the coverage volume of the lower layer was very high, in Baekryunsa area, the coverage volume of the middle layer between 8 and 12m was the highest, and in Anseong area, the coverage volume of the upper layer over 18m was the highest. A total of 53 bird species were observed during the study period at the Deogyusan National Park. The numbers of species and density of areas were 25 species and 45.20 Ind./km for Hyangjeokbong area, 50 species and 58.63 Ind./km for Baekryunsa area and 35 species and 66.89 Ind./km for Anseong area, with Baekryunsa area showing the highest number of species and Anseong area showing the highest level of density. In terms of dominant species, in Hyangjeokbong area, Cettia diphone, along with species which inhabit in grassland and shrubs, were the dominant species, and species which live in the canopy layer, including the Aegithalos caudatus, were found to be dominant in Baekryunsa and Anseong areas. For guild structure, bush nesting guild and bush foraging guild species were the highest in all areas, and the hole nesting guild and the air foraging guild species showed the lowest proportion. This seems to be the result of the low number of trees with diameter at breast height of over 30cm, which results in the lack of nesting grounds for hole nesting guild species.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.471-480
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• 2008

This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of breeding bird community in relation to altitude and vegetation in Jirisan National Park. The survey was carried over 4 study sites by point counts method to figure out habitat environment and breeding bird community from March to August in 2006. The study results are summarized as follows: Total 32 species were recorded, and 27 species and density of 37.31 ea/ha in low altitude mixed forest, 23 species and 34.99 ea/ha in low altitude deciduous forest, 18 species and 23.95 ea/ha in high altitude mixed forest, 19 species and 20.21 ea/ha in high altitude deciduous forest, respectively. Eleven species were observed only in the low altitude sites, 4 species were observed only in the high altitude sites. Number of species and density were high in the low altitude sites, and they were high in the mixed forests. In nesting guild analysis, the low altitude sites are similarly found species number of three types but canopy nesting species in the high altitude sites are advent less. In foraging guild analysis, the species number of canopy foraging appeared most highly in all study sites. In the difference analysis of each species density. Four species which are showed the difference in the low altitude sites, owing to vegetation. Long-tailed Tit(Aegithalos caudatus) and Great tit(Parus major) are difference because of difference in volume of canopy layer, and Coal Tit(Parus ater) was difference because of coniferous forest preference quality. Four species(Hazel Grouse, Winter Wren, Pale Thrush, Yellow-throated Bunting) which are showed the difference of the density in the high altitude sites because of thick growth of the bush layer. Ten species which are showed the difference in study sites, owing to altitude. Oriental Cuckoo(Cuculus saturatus), Winter Wren(Troglodytes troglodytes), Siberian Blue Robin(Luscinia cyane), Arctic Warbler(Phylloscopus borealis), Coal Tit(Parus ater), and Yellow-throated Bunting(Emberiza elegans) appeared highly in the high altitude sites, Pale Thrush(Turdus pallidus), Long-taild Tit(Aegithalos caudatus), Varied Tit(Parus varius), and Eurasian Nuthatch(Sitta europaea) appeared highly in the low altitude sites. It seems that bush layer coverage volume and canopy layer total coverage volume do influences on the breeding bird community, because the bush layer was thick growth, and canopy layer coverage volume was difference. It would be needed the management and maintenance of bush layer coverage volume and canopy layer with multi-layer structure to increase foliage height diversity and total coverage volume for the protection and management of bird community in Jirisan National Park.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2010

In order to rehabilitate forest sites damaged by wildfire via natural or artificial restoration, it is important to determine right tree species, which can acclimate to biogeoclimatic environment at the sites. The objectives of this study were to develop site index equation of different tree species for estimating forest productivity and to provide information on species selection for post-wildfire restoration. Site index equation was developed based on environmental information from wildfire damaged areas in Gangneung, Goseong, Donghae, and Samcheok, where were located in east coastal areas of South Korea. Despite the small numbers (4~5) of environmental variables used for the development of the site index equations, statistical analysis (e.g. mean difference, standard deviation of difference, and standard error of difference) showed relatively low bias and variation, suggesting that those equations can provide relatively high capability of estimation and practical applicability with high effectiveness. The small numbers of the variables enabled the model to be applied in a wide range of usages including determination of appropriate tree species for post-wildfire restoration. The estimation of forest site productivity showed the possibility of large distribution in east coastal region as the best site for Korean ash (Fraxinus rhynchophylla) and original oak (Quercus variabilis) that can be used for firebreak in the region. These results imply that damages by forest fire can be reduced significantly by replacing existing pure coniferous forests in the area with ones dominated by broad-leaved deciduous stands, which can play an important role as fire break and/or prevent a transition from surface fire to crown fire.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.161-176
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• 1999

The objectives of this study are to analyze the changes of geo-surface topography in the Siwha embankment and the Ahsan city area by the image processing of Landsat Thematic Mapper data, and to estimate the reclaimed amount of the exposed tidal flat in the Siwha area using the GIS. False color composite, Tasseled cap, NVDI(normalized difference vegetation index), and supervised classification techniques were used to analyze the distribution of sediments and the aspect of topographical variations caused by artificial human actions. The total amount of the exposed tidal flat was estimated on the basis of the database snch as aerial photography, hydrographic chart, geological map, and scheme drawing in the Siwha area. The possible excavation regions for a seawall were predicted analyzing the supervised classification image of Landsat TM data. Tasseled cap images were used to observe the distribution of sediments. The difference of the NDVI images between spring and summer seasons indicates that deciduous and coniferous forests were distributed over the whole areas. The total fill-volume of the exposed Siwha tidal flat and the fill-volume of the construction planning seawall were calculated as $581,485,354\textrm{m}^3{\;}and{\;}3,387,360\textrm{m}^3$, respectively, from the digital terrain analysis. Daebu Island, Sunkam Island, and the part of Songsan-myeon were chosen as the cut area to make the seawall, and their cut-volumes were estimated as $5,229,576\textrm{m}^3,{\;}79,227,072\textrm{m}^3,{\;}and{\;}47,026,008\textrm{m}^3$, respectively. Therefore, the cut-volume of Daebu Island alone among three areas was sufficient to make the seawall.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.233-245
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• 2014

Nighttime correction of $CO_2$ flux is one of the most important and challenging tasks in eddy covariance measurements over a complex mountainous terrain. In this study, we have scrutinized the quality and the credibility of the $CO_2$ flux datasets which were produced by employing three different methods of nighttime correction, i.e., (1) friction velocity ($u^*$) correction, (2) light response curve (LRC) correction, and (3) advection-based van Gorsel (VG) correction. The whole year datasets used in our analysis were collected at the two KoFlux tower sites (i.e., GDK deciduous forest site at the upper hill and GCK coniferous forest site at the lower hill) located in the valley of Gwangneung National Arboretum in central Korea. The resultant magnitudes and patterns of ecosystem respiration ($R_E$), gross primary productivity (GPP), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of $CO_2$ showed marked differences among the datasets produced with three different correction methods, which were also site-specific. The examination from micrometeorological and ecological perspectives suggests that the major cause of some inconsistency seems to be associated with the advection of $CO_2$ along the sloping terrain and the inappropriate selection of the correction data that might have been already affected by advective flows. The comparison with the results from other studies indicated that the overall characteristics of the corrected $CO_2$ fluxes at GDK and GCK (except those with LRC correction) were well within the ranges reported in the literature for various ecosystems in East Asia in similar latitudes. However, our study also implies that there will be always a room for further improvement in the present datasets. Therefore, caution must be exercised for the data users in order to properly use the updated version of datasets through transparent, open and participatory communication with data producers.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.366-377
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• 2016

Water use efficiency (WUE) is considered as an important ecological indicator which may provide information on the process-structure relationships associated with energy-matter-information flows in ecosystem. The WUE at ecosystem-level can be defined as the ratio of gross primary productivity (GPP) to evapotranspiration (ET). In this study, KoFlux's long-term (2007-2015) eddy covariance measurements of $CO_2$ and water vapor fluxes were used to examine the WUE of needle fir plantation in Korea National Arboretum. Our objective is to ascertain the seasonality and inter-annual variability in WUE of this needle fir plantation so that the results may be assimilated into the development of a holistic ecological indicator for resilience assessment. Our results show that the WUE of needle fir plantation is characterized by a concave seasonal pattern with a minimum ($1.8-3.3g\;C{\cdot}(kg\;H_2O)^{-1}$) in August and a maximum ($5.1-11.4g\;C{\cdot}(kg\;H_2O)^{-1}$) in February. During the growing season (April to October), WUE was on average $3.5{\pm}0.3g\;C\;(kg\;H_2O)^{-1}$. During the dormant seasons (November to March), WUE showed more variations with a mean of $7.4{\pm}1.0g\;C{\cdot}(kg\;H_2O)^{-1}$. These values are in the upper ranges of WUE reported in the literature for coniferous forests in temperate zone. Although the growing season was defined as the period from April to October, the actual length of the growing season (GSL) varied each year and its variation explained 62% of the inter-annual variability of the growing season WUE. This is the first study to quantify long-term changes in ecosystem-level WUE in Korea and the results can be used to test models, remote-sensing algorithms and resilience of forest ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.374-382
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• 2021

In the present study, we analyzed the decay rate and nutrient dynamics during leaf litter decomposition of Pinus densiflora and Pinus thunbergii in Gongju for 60 months, from 2014 to 2019. P. thunbergii leaf litter decomposed faster than that of P. densiflora. The decay constant of P. densiflora and P. thunbergii leaf litter after 60 months was 3.02 and 3.59, respectively. The initial C/N ratio of P. densiflora and P. thunbergii leaf litter were 14.4 and 14.5, respectively. After 60 months, C/N ratio of decomposing P. densiflora and P. thunbergii leaf litter decreased to 2.26 and 3.0, respectively. The initial C/P ratio of P. densiflora and P. thunbergii leaf litter were 144.1 and 111.3. After 60 months elapsed, the C/P ratio of decomposing P. densiflora and P. thunbergii leaf litter decreased to 40.1 and 45.8, respectively. After 60 months, the percentage of the remaining N, P, K, Ca, and Mg in decomposing P. densiflora leaf litter was 231.08, 130.13, 35.68, 48.58, and 36.03%, respectively. After 60 months, the percentage of the remaining N, P, K, Ca, and Mg in decomposing P. thunbergii leaf litter was 143.91, 74.02, 28.59, 45.08, and 44.99%, respectively. The findings of the present study provide an insight into the forest ecosystem function of coniferous forests through the analysis of the amount of nutrient transfer into the soil through a long-term decomposition process; this information is intended to be used as basic data for preparing counter measures for future climate and ecosystem changes.