• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.127-142
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• 2024

This study aimed to understand the interrelationships between tree species in plant communities through Plant Social Network (PSN) analysis using a large amount of vegetation data surveyed in an island area belonging to a warm-temperate boreal forest. The Machilus thunbergii, Castanopsis sieboldii, and Ligustrum japonicum, which belong to the canopy layer, Pittosporum tobira and Ardisia japonica, which belong to the shrub layer and Trachelospermum asiaticum and Stauntonia hexaphylla, which belong to the vines, appearing in evergreen broad-leaved climax forest community, showed strong positive association(+) with each other. These tree species had a negative association or no friendly relationship with deciduous broad-leaved species due to the large difference in location environments. Divided into 4 group modularizations in the PSN sociogram, evergreen broad-leaved tree species in Group I and deciduous broad-leaved tree species in Group II showed high centrality and connectivity. It was analyzed that the arrangement of tree species (nodes) and the degree of connection (grouping) of the sociogram can indirectly estimate environmental factors and characteristics of plant communities like DCA. Tree species with high centrality and influence in the PSN included T. asiaticum, Eurya japonica, Lindera obtusiloba, and Styrax japonicus. These tree species are common with a wide range of ecological niches and appear to have the characteristics and survival strategies of opportunistic species that commonly appear in forest gaps and damaged areas. They will play a major role in inter-species interactions and structural and functional changes in plant communities. In the future, long-term research and in-depth discussions are needed to determine how these species actually influence plant community changes through interactions