• Journal of Climate Change Research
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.401-414
• /
• 2017

Vegetation and landscape characteristics at the three highest summits of Republic of Korea, i.e. Seoraksan, Jirisan and Hallasan, are analyzed on the basis of species composition, physiognomy, vegetation distribution and structure of alpine plants, along with landform, geology, soil and habitat conditions. Dominant high mountain plants at three alpine and subalpine belts contain deciduous broadleaved shrub, Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum (31.6%), and evergreen coniferous small tree, Pinus pumila (26.3%) at Seoraksan, deciduous broadleaved tree, Betula ermanii (35.3%), evergreen coniferous tree, Picea jezoensis (23.5%) at Jirisan, and evergreen coniferous tree, Abies koreana (22.6%), deciduous broadleaved shrub, Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum, and Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii (19.4%) at Hallasan, respectively. Presence of diverse landscapes at the peak of Seoraksan, such as shrubland, grassland, dry land along with rocky areas, and open land may be the result of hostile local climate and geology. High proportion of grassland and wetland at the top of Jirisan may related to gneiss-based gentle topography and well developed soil deposits, which are beneficial to keep the moisture content high. Occurrence of grassland, shrubland, dry land, conifer vegetation, and rocky area at the summit of Hallasan may due to higher elevation, unique local climate, as well as volcanic origin geology and soil substrates. Presences of diverse boreal plant species with various physiognomy at alpine and subalpine belts, and wide range of landscapes, including rocky, grassland, shrubland, wetland, and conifer woodland, provide decisive clues to understand the natural history of Korea, and can be employed as an relevant environmental indicator of biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.43 no.6
• /
• pp.73-85
• /
• 2015

This study investigated the extent and magnitude of the woodland edge effects on users' thermal environments according to distance from woodland border. A series of experiments to measure air temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity, MRT and UTCI were conducted over six days between July 31 and August 5, 2015, which corresponded with extremely hot weather, at the south-facing edge of Hadongsongrim(pure Pinus densiflora stands, tree age: $100{\pm}33yr$, tree height: $12.8{\pm}2.7m$, canopy closure: 75%, N $35^{\circ}03^{\prime}34.7^{{\prime}{\prime}}$, E $127^{\circ}44^{\prime}43.3^{{\prime}{\prime}}$, elevation 7~10m) and east-facing edge of Hamyangsangrim (Quercus serrata-Carpinus tschonoskii community, tree age: 102~125yr/58~123yr, tree height: tree layer $18.6{\pm}2.3m/subtree$ layer $5.9{\pm}3.2m/shrub$ layer $0.5{\pm}0.5m$, herbaceous layer coverage ratio 60%, canopy closure: 96%, N $35^{\circ}31^{\prime}28.1^{{\prime}{\prime}}$, E $127^{\circ}43^{\prime}09.8^{{\prime}{\prime}}$, elevation 170~180m) in rural villages of Hadong and Hamyang, Korea. The minus result value of depth means woodland's outside. The depth of edge influence(DEI) on the maximum air temperature, minimum relative humidity and wind speed at maximum air temperature time during the daytime(10:00~17:00) were detected to be $12.7{\pm}4.9$, $15.8{\pm}9.8$ and $23.8{\pm}26.2m$, respectively, in the mature evergreen conifer woodland of Hadongsongrim. These were detected to be $3.7{\pm}2.2$, $4.9{\pm}4.4$ and $2.6{\pm}7.8m$, respectively, in the deciduous broadleaf woodland of Hamyansangrim. The DEI on the maximum 10 minutes average MRT, UTCI from the three-dimensional environment absorbed by the human-biometeorological reference person during the daytime(10:00~17:00) were detected to be $7.1{\pm}1.7$ and $4.3{\pm}4.6m$, respectively, in the relatively sparse woodland of Hadongsongrim. These were detected to be $5.8{\pm}4.9$ and $3.5{\pm}4.1m$, respectively, in the dense and closed woodland of Hadongsongrim. Edge effects on the thermal environments of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, MRT and UTCI in the sparse woodland of Hadongsongrim were less pronounced than those recorded in densed and closed woodland of Hamyansangrim. The gradient variation was less steep for maximum 10 minutes average UTCI with at least $4.3{\pm}4.6m$(Hadongsongrim) and $3.5{\pm}4.1m$(Hamyansangrim) being required to stabilize the UTCI at mature woodlands. Therefore it is suggested that the woodlands buffer widths based on the UTCI values should be 3.5~7.6 m(Hamyansangrim) and 4.3~8.9(Hadongsongrim) m on each side of mature woodlands for users' thermal comfort environments. The woodland edge structure should be multi-layered canopies and closed edge for the buffer effect of woodland edge on woodland users' thermal comfort.