• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2016

Cymbidium kanran Makino is being threatened in its own habitats due illegal collecting and habitat changes by vegetation growth along historical landuse change. In this study, we established habitat restoration model for conservation of C. kanran based on ecological diagnosis. Through exploration to Jeju Island in 2014 and 2015, we identified 27 unknown habitats of C. kanran and in there, abiotic variables and vegetation structure and composition were quantified. Altitudinal distribution of C. kanran was between 200 m~700 m a.s.l. and compared to distribution in 2004, Area of Occupation (AOO) decreased at 82%. Specific habitat affinity was not observed by evenly found in mountain slope and valley and summergreen and evergreen broadleaved forests, but likely more abundant in valley habitats with higher soil and ambient moisture. Total of 96 individual of C. kanran was observed with an average density of $942.6individuals\;ha^{-1}$. The plants showed relatively short leaf length (average=$10.7cm{\pm}1.1cm$) and small number of pseudo bulbs ($1.2{\pm}0.2$). Flowering and fruiting individuals were not observed in field. C. kanran was classified into endangered plant species as CR (Critically Endangered) category by IUCN criteria. Phenotypic plasticity of C. kanran was likely support to sustain in more shaded habitat environment and recent habatat changes to closed canopy and low light availability may exhibit negatively effects to C. kanran's life history. Restoring C. kanran habitat should create open environment as grassland and low woody species density.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-28
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• 2019

This study analyzed the density and mortality rate of Korean fir at 9 sites where individuals of Korean firs were marked into the live and dead trees with coordinates on orthorectified aerial images by digital photogrammetric system. As a result of the analysis, Korean fir in each site showed considerable heterogeneity in density and mortality rate depending on the location within site. This make it possible to assume that death of Korean fir can occur by specific factors that vary depending on the location. Based on the analyzed densities and mortality rates of Korea fir, we investigated the correlation between topographic factors such as altitude, terrain slope, drainage network, solar radiation, aspect and the death of Korean fir. The density of Korean fir increases with altitude, and the mortality rate also increases. A negative correlation is found between the terrain slope and the mortality rate, and the mortality rate is higher in the gentle slope where the drainage network is less developed. In addition, it is recognized that depending on the aspect, the mortality rate varies greatly, and the mean solar radiation is higher in live Korean fir-dominant area than in dead Korean fir-dominant area. Overall, the mortality rate of Korean fir in Mt. Halla area is relatively higher in areas with relatively low terrain slope and low solar radiation. Considering the results of previous studies that the terrain slope has a strong negative correlation with soil moisture and the relationship between solar radiation and evaporation, these results lead us to infer that excess soil moisture is the cause of Korean fir mortality. These inferences are supported by a series of climate change phenomena such as precipitation increase, evaporation decrease, and reduced sunshine duration in the Korean peninsula including Jeju Island, increase in mortality rate along with increased precipitation according to the elevation of Mt. Halla and the vegetation change in the mountain. It is expected that the spatial patterns in the density and mortality rate of Korean fir, which are controlled by topography such as altitude, slope, aspect, solar radiation, drainage network, can be used as spatial variables in future numerical modeling studies on the death or decline of Korean fir. In addition, the method of forest distribution survey using the orthorectified aerial images can be widely used as a numerical monitoring technique in long - term vegetation change research.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.101 no.1
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• pp.163-174
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• 2012

CBI(Composite Burn Index) developed by USDA Forest Service is a index to measure burn severity based on remote sensing. In Korea, the CBI has been used to investigate the burn severity of fire sites for the last few years. However, it has been an argument on that CBI is not adequate to capture unique characteristics of Korean forests, and there has been a demand to develop KCBI(Korean Composite Burn Index). In this regard, this study aimed to develop KCBI by adjusting the CBI and to validate its applicability by using remote sensing technique. Uljin and Youngduk, two large fire sites burned in 2011, were selected as study areas, and forty-four sampling plots were assigned in each study area for field survey. Burn severity(BS) of the study areas were estimated by analyzing NDVI from SPOT images taken one month later of the fires. Applicability of KCBI was validated with correlation analysis between KCBI index values and NDVI values and their confusion matrix. The result showed that KCBI index values and NDVI values were closely correlated in both Uljin (r = -0.54 and p<0.01) and Youngduk (r = -0.61 and p<0.01). Thus this result supported that proposed KCBI is adequate index to measure burn severity of fire sites in Korea. There was a number of limitations, such as the low correlation coefficients between BS and KCBI and skewed distribution of KCBI sampling plots toward High and Extreme classes. Despite of these limitations, the proposed KCBI showed high potentials for estimating burn severity of fire sites in Korea, and could be improved by considering the limitations in further studies.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.160-166
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• 2014

This study was aimed at looking into the distribution status and age structure of Abies holophylla population in Sudo-Am temple forest. It was found that a total of 302 individuals of Abies holophylla existed which were more than 2m in height within the study area. Furthermore the population size is one of the largest in the southern region of Korea. The CBH of Abies holophylla ranged from 1.5 cm to 500.8 cm. Age structure of Abies holophylla looks like a gourd-shaped bottle. This means that they have an unstable structure status and do not survive very long. This status results from a variety of factors including, vegetation succession, anthropogenic activities, and global warming. The environmental characteristics of Abies holophylla population was $931{\pm}64.5m$ in mean altitude, $19.2{\pm}8.7^{\circ}$ in mean slope in the northeastern and southeastern area of the slope direction, and $1,324,323{\pm}174,459wh\;m^{-2}$ in average of direct normal irradiation. Among the site environmental factors, the significant ones which influence the potential habitat for Abies holophylla distribution were chosen using the MaxEnt model. According to the results of this study, altitude and slope were found as the important factors. The average value of environmental conditions by ROC analysis were altitude 903.2 m, slope $20.04^{\circ}$, irradiation $1,352.248wh\;m^{-2}$, and the southeastern aspect.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.66-76
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• 1982

Soil harness represents such physical properties as porosity, amount of water, bulk density and soil texture. It is very important to know the mechanical properties of soil as well as the chemical in order to research the fundamental phenomena in the growth and the distribution of tree roots. The writer intended to grip soil hardness by soil layer and also to grasp the root distribution and the correlation between soil hardness and the root distribution of Pinus riguda Mill. planted on the denuded hillside with sooding works by soil layer on soil profile. The site investigated is situated at Peongchang-ri 13, Kocksung county, Chon-nam Province. The area is consisted of 3.63 ha having on elevation of 167.5-207.5 m. Soil texture is sandy loam and parant rock in granite. Average slope of the area is $17^{\circ}-30^{\circ}$. Soil moisture condition is dry. Main exposure of the area is NW or SW. The total number of plots investigated was 24 plots. It divided into two groups by direction each 12 plots in NW and SW and divided into three groups by the position of mountain plots in foot of mountain, in hillside, and in summit of mountain, respectively. Each sampling tree was selected as specimen by purposive sampling and soil profile was made at the downward distance of 50cm form the sampling tree at each plot. Soil hardness, soil layer surveying, root distribution of the tree and vegetation were measured and investigated at the each plot. The soil hardness measured by the Yamanaka Soil Hardness Tester in mm unit. the results are as follows: 1) Soil hardness increases gradually in conformity with the increment of soil depth. The average soil indicator hardness by soil layer are as follows: 14.6mm in I - soil layer (0-10cm in depth from soil surface), 16.2mm in II - soil layer (10-20cm), 17.2 in III - soil layer (20-30cm), 18.3mm in IV - soil layer(30-40cm), 19.8mm in V - soil layer (4.50mm). 2) The tree roots (less than 20mm in diameter) distribute more in the surface layer than in the subsoil layer and decrease gradually according to the increment of soil depth. The ratio of the root distribution can be illustrated by comparing with each of five soil layers from surface to subsoil layer as follows: I - soil layer; 31%, II - soil layer; 26%, III - soil layer; 18%, IV - soil layer; 12%, V - soil layer; 13%, 3) Soil hardness and tree root distribution (less than 20mm in diameter) of Pinus rigida Mill. correlate negatively each other; the more soil hardness increases, the most root distribution decreases. The correlation coefficients between soil hardness and distribution of tree roots by soil layer are as follows: I - soil layer; -0.3675 (at the 10% significance level), II - soil layer; -0.5299 (at the 1% significance level), III - soil layer; -0.5573 (at the 2% significance level), IV - soil layer; -0.6922 (at the 5% significance level), V - soil layer; -0.7325 (at the 2% significance level). 4) the most suitable range of soil hardness for the growth of Pinus rigida Mill is the range of 12-14.9mm in soil indicator hardness. In this range of soil indicator hardness, the root distribution of this tree amounts to 41.8% in spite of 33% in soil harness and under the 20.9mm of soil indicator hardness, the distribution amounts to 93.2% in spite of 82% in soil hardness. Judging from above facts, the roots of Pinus rigida can easily grow within the soil condition of 20.9mm in soil indicator hardness. 5) The soil layers are classified by their depths from the surface soil.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.262-269
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• 1994

In order to determine ecological niches of forests in Mt. ManDeok, the studies were analyzed on the methods of TWINSPAN and DCCA ordination. The results are summarized as follows ; Four groups were determined by TWINSPAN : Styrax japonica. Quercus variabilis-Quercus mongolica, Carpinus laxiflora and Fraxinus mandshurica-Cornus controversa communities. In the relations of community structures and environmental factors, Styrax japonica community were distributed in the rich site of magnesium and organic matter, Quercus variabilis-Quercus mongolica community in the low potassium, Carpinus laxiflora community in the low available phosphorus, and the factors in influencing community distribution were elevation. The importance value of Quercus variabilis recorded the highest in all the quadrats sampled and the next values then came those Cornus controversa. Quercus variabilis, Lindera erythrocarpa. Quercus mongolica, Fraxinus mandshurica. Cornus controversa, Symplocos chinensis for pilosa, Acer mono, Carpinus laxiflora, and Styrax japonica in the orders. The species diversities of major dominant species recorded the highest value in the communities of Quercus variabilis-Quercus mongolica but they lowest value in the communities of Fraxinus mandshurica-Cornus controversa.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.423-434
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• 2016

Surface emissivity and its background values according to each sensor are mandatorily necessary for Mid-Wavelength Infrared (MWIR) remote sensing to retrieve surface temperature and temporal variation. This study presents the methods and results of Land Surface Emissivity (LSE) of the MWIR according to land cover over the Korean Peninsula. The MWIR emissivity was estimated by applying the Temperature Independent Spectral Indices (TISI) method to the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) band 4 Day/Night images ($3.74{\mu}m$ in center wavelength). The obtained values were classified according to land-cover types, and the obtained emissivity was then compared with those calculated from a standard Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) spectral library. The annual means of MWIR emissivity of Deciduous Broadleaf Forest (0.958) and Mixed Forest (0.935) are higher than those of Croplands (0.925) and Natural Vegetation Mosaics (0.935) by about 2-3%. The annual mean of Urban area is the lowest (0.914) with an annual variation of about 2% which is by larger than those (1%) of other land-covers. The TISI and VIIRS based emissivity is slightly lower than the ASTER spectral library by about 2-3% supposedly due to various reasons such as lack of land cover homogeneity. The results will be used to understand the MWIR emissivity properties of the Korean Peninsula and to examine the seasonal and other environmental changes using MWIR images.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.215-219
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• 2001

Land surface parameterization schemes for atmospheric models as well as decision support tools for ecosystem management require a frequent updating of land cover classification data for regional to global scales. Rice paddies have not been treated independently from other agricultural land classes in many classification systems, despite their atmospheric and ecological significance. A simple but improved method over conventional land cover classification schemes for rice paddy is suggested. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was calculated for the land area of South Korea at a 1km by 1 km resolution from the visible and the near-infrared channel reflectances of NOAA-AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer). Monthly composite images of daily maximum NDVI were prepared for May and August, and used to classify 4 major land cover classes : urban, farmland, forests and water body. Among the pixels classified as "forests" in August, those classified as "water body" in May were assigned a "rice paddy" class. The distribution pattern of "rice paddy" pixels was very similar to the reported rice acreage of 1,455 Myons, which is the smallest administrative land unit in Korea. The correlation coefficient between the estimated and the reported acreage of Myons was 0.7, while 0.5 was calculated from the USGS classification.calculated from the USGS classification.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2005

The black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) forests were studied by a phytosociological approach. Particular attention was given to characterize the vegetation classification, distribution pattern, and ecological flora of the syntaxa classified. A total of 38 releves were analyzed by using Correlation coefficient, UPGMA as the clustering method, and Principal Coordinates Analysis for ordination. Ecological flora analyzed by plant character sets such as scrambler, annual and biennial plants, forest elements, and actual urbanization index. The analyzed data are based on site-releve matrix with relative net contribution degree (r-NCD) of species. A total of 77 families, 193 genera and 323 species of vascular plants are recorded. Camellino-Robinietum pseudoacaciae ass. nov. and Phragmites-Robinia pseudoacacia community were described. Main cluster and ordination could be separated: 1) urban type, 2) rural type, 3) riparian type, and 4) combined type. It is defined that the Robinietum is a representative unit on the black locust afforestation, Phragmites-Robinia community on the lentic zone in the river ecosystem, and Cameliino-Robinietum ailanthetosum altissimae as an urban forest type. The Robinietum was considered as a perpetual community.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.89 no.5
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• pp.618-629
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• 2000

This study was carried out to investigate ecological niche of Quercus acuta communities in Bogildo-island from July to October, 1998. This island is occupied by a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. The study on community ecology of Q. acuta, mostly dominant species of subtropical forests, is very important for successful forest management. Sampling areas were selected in 16 quadrats, dominated by Q. acuta to examine the vegetation characteristics(plant identification, D.B.H.) and environmental elements (microtopography, altitude, slope degree, aspect, illumination and soil physicochemical properties). On the basis of data from field surveys, importance values were calculated for the dominance of Q. acuta and volume growth was analyzed by tree ring widths. The results obtained were as follows ; 1. The lists of vascular plants in the investigations were identified as 54 families, 91 genera, 113 species, 9 varieties, 1 formae. It appeared that 45 kinds were evergreen, 6 kinds(Camellia japonica, Ligustrum japonicum, Eurya japonica, Smilax china, Trachelospermum asiaticum var. intermedium, Carex lanceolata) were commonly observed in all plots and 5 species(Cinnamomum japonicum, Ardisia japonica, Cymbidium goeringii, Dryopteris bissetiana, Viburnum erosum) were most highly observed in all plots(over 80%). 2. The dominating species per strata were, Quercus acuta, Castanopsis cuspidata sp. Quercus salicina, Pinus thunbergii, Prunus sargentii in tree layer, Camellia Japonica, Ligustrum japonicum, Quercus acuta, Eurya japonica, Castanopsis cuspidata sp. in subtree layer, Camellia japonica, Ligustrum japonicum, Smilax china, Cinnamomum japonicum, Viburnum erosum in shrub layer and Trachelospermum asiaticum var. intermedium, Ardisia japonica, Carex lanceolata, Camellia japonica(seedlings), Quercus acuta(seedlings) in herb layer, all in descending orders. 3. Quercus acuta could be suggested as shade intolerant tree, considering the distribution in southern, western, nothern and eastern slopes in the descending orders. 4. Mean relative illumination in the forest is 0.89 % and it is relatively low in brightness. 5. Sustainment of Quercus acuta community couldn't be confirmed by judging from their reverse J curve in even-aged forest, as shown in D.B.H. distribution analysis. 6. The result of annual ring width analysis(mean ; 2.44 mm) showed three stages, such as a gentle increasing(1~12 year ; 2.04 mm), a relatively steep increasing(13~22 year ; 2.95 mm) and decreasing or stagnating(23 year after ; 2.41 mm).