• Plant Resources
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.217-224
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• 2005

We tested the hypothesis that alpine plants have special physiological and biochemical mechanisms in addition to their structural adaptation in order to survive under extreme conditions. The photosynthetic organs of Pinus pumila were used to examine the seasonal changes in sugar concentration, antioxidative enzyme, and lipid peroxidation. The concentrations of sucrose, glucose, fructose and reducing sugar were the highest in the leaves in April. But sugar contents in buds and inner barks did not respond sensitively on temperature change. Meanwhile superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity responded sensitively on the change of temperature and SOD in all tissues maintained high activity in April. Meanwhile anthocyanin content increased rapidly in June but the increase of anthocyanin content was not enough to prevent their tissues from the damage by the exposure of high temperature or other stress. In conclusion, under low temperature condition, P. pumila increased the concentration of soluble sugars and SOD activity in their tissues in order to overcome extreme environmental condition. But in summer, these stress defense system against high temperature might be disturbed slightly. This results in the increase of malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in three tissues by lipid peroxidation.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.323-337
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• 2006

This work discussed the species composition, phylogeny, spatio-temporal distribution, ecology and natural history of North Korean Pinaceae or pine tree family, which seems to be important to maintain nature and ecosystem in the Korean Peninsula. Out of five genera and sixteen species of Pinaceae of the Korean Peninsula, North Korea contains four genera and eleven species of Pinaceae, including Pinus densilflora, P. koraiensis, P. pumila, Picea jezoensis, P. koraiensis, P. koraiensis var. koraiensis, P. pungsanensis, Larix gmelini, L. gmelinii var. olgensis, Abies holophylla and A. nephrolepis. In terms of phylogeny Pinus is closely related to Picea, and followed by Larix. Abies is close to Tsuga which only occur at Ullung Island. Distributional pattern of North Korean Pinaceae can be classified into four types; three species of nation-wide montane type i.e., Pinus densilflora, P. koraiensis and Abies holophylla, four species of central and northern subalpine type, i.e., Pinus pumila, Picea koraiensis, Larix gmelini and Abies nephrolepis, one nation-wide subalpine type, Picea jezoensis, and three species disjunctive to north type, i.e., Picea koraiensis var. koraiensis, P. pungsanensis, and Larix gmelinii var. olgensis. Pinaceae species occurring on the alpine and subalpine belts of North Korea, such as Pinus koraiensis, P. pumila, Picea jezoensis, P. koraiensis, P. koraiensis var. koraiensis, P. pungsanensis, Larix gmelini, L. gmelinii var. olgensis and A. nephrolepis are considered as the glacial descendant from the boreal region. Those species might have migrated from the north during the Pleistocene glacial epochs in search of favourable condition, and since the Holocene period they survived on the hostile alpine and subalpine environments, in which they are more competitive than warmth-tolerant temperate vegetation. Certain species, such as Picea pungsanensis, is segregated on the isolated mountains since the Pleistocene period, and forced to adapt to local environment, and eventually became an endemic species of North Korea. Recent rapid global warming trend especially in northern high mountains of North Korea could cause an unfavourable environment for the survival of cold-tolerant Pinaceae of the alpine and subalpine belts. Pinus densiflora, which is occurring on the montane belt might faced with difficulties due to both the deforestation and the outbreak of insect-borne disease, such as Bursaphelenchus xylophilus.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.317-325
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• 2022

Endophytic fungi occupy various ecological niches, which reinforces their diversity. As few studies have investigated the endophytic fungi of alpine conifers, we focused on four species of alpine conifers in this study-Abies nephrolepis, Pinus pumila, Taxus cuspidata var. nana, and Thuja koraiensis-and examined them for endophytic fungi. A total of 108 endophytic fungi were isolated. There were four taxa in A. nephrolepis, 12 in P. pumila, 18 in T. cuspidata var. nana, and 17 in T. koraiensis; these were divided into five classes: Agaricomycetes (3.2%), Dothideomycetes (29.0%), Leotiomycetes (15.0%), Sordariomycetes (41.9%), and Orbiliomycetes (1.6%). The most prevalent fungi were Sydowia polyspora (22.7%) and Xylariaceae sp. (22.7%) in P. pumila, Phomopsis juglandina (16.1%) in T. cuspidate var. nana, and Thuja-endophytes sp. 1 (70.0%) in T. koraiensis. However, there was no dominant species growing in A. nephrolepis. Some host plants were analyzed using next-generation sequencing. We obtained 4618 reads for A. nephrolepis and 2268 reads for T. koraiensis. At the genus level, the top three endophytic fungi were Ophiostomataceae_uc (64.6%), Nectriaceae_uc (15.5%), and unclassified organism (18.0%) in A. nephrolepis and Nectriaceae_uc (41.9%), Ophiostomataceae_uc (41.8%), and Magnaporthaceae_uc (9.2%) in T. koraiensis. Our results show that there are different communities of endophytic fungi among different host plants, even if the host plants are in the same region. Such ecological niches are important in terms of the ecological restoration of alpine conifers.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.123-128
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• 2003

This study was conducted to examine the water use efficiency (WUE) in five species of one-year-old seedlings grown in a field nursery in Mongolia. Larix sibirica and Pinus sylvestris are the most dominant coniferous species while Ulmus pumila is an important deciduous species known well-adapted in harsh conditions such as in semi-arid forests and Gobi desert regions. Caragana arborescens (Siberian pea shrub) and Hippophae rhamnoides are N-fixing shrubs in Mongolia. Thirty one-year-old seedlings were sampled from each of the five species (a total of 150 samples) and measured for net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and transpiration rate (E). The Pn and E were used to calculate and compare the WUE of each species. Pn differed significantly among the five species (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in Pn between L. sibirica and H. rhamnoides (p > 0.05). C. arborescens showed the highest Pn whereas U. pumila did the poorest. E differed significantly among the five species (p < 0.05). L. sibirica and U. pumila showed considerably lower E than other species. Thus, WUE values of coniferous species such as L. sibirica and P. sylvestris were significantly greater than deciduous or shrub species such as U. pumila, C. arborescens and H. rhamnoides (p < 0.01). It may result that conifers showed relatively high water use efficiency than deciduous or shrub trees due to their lower transpiration rates, which resulted in morphological and physiological characteristics of their leaves. This may indicate that L. sibirica and P. sylvestris can be widely used for rehabilitation works in Mongolia attributed to their dominant distributions but also their high drought-resistance properties.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.202-212
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• 2004

The present study was conducted to compare of pollen morphological characteristics for five Haploxylon species in Korea using light microscopy(LM). The results are as follows; 1. Highly significant (P＜0.01) interspecific difference was observed in five Haploxylon species for their pollen morphological parameters. 2. The discreminant analysis based on the pollen morphological parameters demonstrated that the classification ratio of Haploxylon was 68.8 ％ ranging from 72.8 ％ of Pinus pumila to 62.2 ％ P. koraiensis. 3. The relationship among the species based on their pollen morphological parameters showed that P. koraiensis and P. pumila in Haploxylon were most closely related while P. pumila and P. bungeana were least related.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.253-258
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• 2015

In South Korea, Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel (dwarf stone pine) has been designated as a critically endangered species by the Korea Forest Service. We have difficulties in obtaining the seeds of P. pumila because P. pumila grows only in the Daecheongbong area (1550–1700 m above sea level) of Mt. Seorak and almost all of its cones are damaged by birds and rodents. For establishing an ex situ conservation stand of P. pumila, this study was conducted to figure out the effects of wet cold (cold stratification, prechilling) and GA₃ treatment on the germination of P. pumila seeds. After cold stratification (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 months), prechilling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 months) and GA₃ treatment (0, 100, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 ㎎/L), seeds were placed on petri-dishes at 25℃ under light condition. The percentage of germination, mean germination time and the germination rate were investigated. The results showed that both of the cold stratification and prechilling were effective in improving germination performances. However, there were no significant differences in performances between the two cold treatments. Within each treatment, the germination performances improved with the period of treatment. However, after three months of treatment, the performances showed no significant improvement. The gibberellin treatment was also effective in improving seed germination of P. pumila. The percentage of germination reached 79.0% in the seeds treated with 100 ㎎/L of GA₃. However, the germination performances decreased at high concentration of GA₃ treatments (over 2000 ㎎/L). In conclusion, cold stratification (over 3 months) or 100 ㎎/L of GA₃ treatment was considered to be the appropriate method for seedling production of P. pumila.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.397-406
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• 1998

To investigate the structure and the conservation strategy of natural forest at Taech'ongbong-Hangyeryong Area in Soraksan. 45 plots(20m*20m) set up with random sampling method were surveted. Four groups - Quercus mongolica - Acer pseudosieboldianum community, Avies nephrolepis - Tilia amurensis - Quercus mongolica community, Abies nephrolepis - Taxus cuspidata community, Abies nephrolepis - Qurecusmongolica community - were classified by cluster analysis. High positive correlations were proved between Abies nephrolepis and Betula ermanii; Abies nephrolepis and Pinus pumila; Aies nephrolepis and Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum; Betula ermanii and Pinus pumila; Betula ermanii and Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum; Pinus pumila and Rhododendron mucronulatm var. ciliatum; Quercus mongolica and Rhododendron schlippenbachii; Quercus mongolica and Qeigela subsessilis; Euonymus macroptera and Syringa reticulata; Euonymus macroptera and Viburnum wrightii; Acer ukurunduense and Euonymus oxyphyllus, and high nagative correlations were proved between Betula ermanii and Acer pseudosieboldianum; Quercus mongolica and Tripterygium regelii; Rhododendron schlippenbachii and Tripterygium regelii; Carpinus cordata and Acer pseudosieboldianum. Species diversity(H') of investigated area was calculated 2.1352~2.8016.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.59-67
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• 2020

In this study, the effects of windbreak fences composed of natural vegetation on one-year-old seedlings were analyzed to develop restoration methods for an endangered subalpine species, the dwarf Siberian pine (Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel). One-year-old seedlings were planted in 2016 by sowing seeds that had been collected from the Daecheongbong area on Mt. Seoraksan, South Korea, in 2014. The area near Daecheongbong was selected as the experimental site, and treatment and control plots (2m×2m) were installed at the site. To analyze the effects of wind protection, windbreak fences were constructed in the treatment plots using hairy Korean rhododendrons (Rhododendron mucronulatum Turcz. var. ciliatum Nakai) from the surrounding area and weather stations were installed to investigate atmospheric temperature, humidity, and wind speed. In all control plots without windbreak fences, dwarf Siberian pine seedlings were killed by strong winds seven months after planting. In contrast, the average survival rate of the seedlings in treatment plots was 96.7% after seven months, 64.2% after two years, and 45% after three years, with most (85.3%) of the seedlings showing good initial root establishment. Accordingly, windbreak fences composed of natural vegetation are suitable for promoting the early establishment of seedlings in the restoration of dwarf Siberian pine stands.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.407-415
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• 2012

Pinus pumila, which occurs in the northeast Asia, is found limitedly in Daecheongbong area of Mt. Seorak in the South Korea. This population was chosen to study spatial pattern, genetic diversity and spatial genetic structure. There were 48 polymorphic and 30 monomorphic I-SSR markers. A total of 65 individuals which distributed in the study site (40 m ${\times}$ 70 m) showed weakly aggregate distribution (Aggregate Index = 0.871). A total of 40 genets were observed from 65 individuals through I-SSR genotype comparison. Proportion of distinguishable genotype (G/N), genotype diversity (D) and genotype evenness (E) were 61.5%, 0.977 and 0.909, respectively. In spite of the small number and the limited distribution, Shannon's diversity index (I = 0.567) was relatively high as compared with those of other plant species. Spatial autocorrelation using Tanimoto's distance showed that the genetic patch was established within 12 m. Based on Mantel tests, there was relatively low correlation between genetic distance and geographic distance. Therefore, it seems the P. pumila population was formed by many parent trees in early stage. For ex situ genetic conservation of P. pumila, the sampling strategy is efficient at least above 12 m between individual trees.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.194-201
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• 2010

This study was carried out to analyze vegetation and soil characteristic, and ordination of subalpine forest vegetation of Daecheongbong area, Mt. Seorak. Communities by characteristic in species composition of subalpine forest were classified into Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum - Betula ermani community group, Pinus pumila, Abies nephrolepis, Thuja koraiensis, and Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum - Betula ermanii typical community. The results of the correlation between forest communitie sand soil conditions of Daecheongbong area by DCCA ordination method are as follows: The Pinus pumila community and Thuja koraiensis community were mainly found in the high percentage area of total nitrogen, available phosphorous, organic matter in comparison with Abies nephrolepis community and Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum - Betula ermanii typical community. The Abies nephrolepis community and Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum - Betula ermanii typical community were mainly found in the high elevation area in comparison with Pinus pumila community and Thuja koraiensis community. The Pinus pumila community and Thuja koraiensis community were mainly found in the northern and northwestern direction, but Abies nephrolepis community and Rhododendron mucronulatum var. ciliatum - Betula ermanii typical community were mainly found in the southwestern direction.