• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.465-476
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• 2016

This study was conducted to elucidate the ecological characteristics of sub-alpine coniferous forest on Banyabong, Mt. Jiri. Soil pH was 4.20. The contents of organic matter, total N, available P and CEC were 14.15%, 0.43%, 10.1 ppm and $17.17cmol^+/kg$, respectively. Sub-alpine coniferous forest had a relatively soil moisture content with 22.9%. According to the results of importance value analysis, Picea jezoensis (42.7) and Abies koreana (34.0) for tree layer, Rhododendron schlippenbachii (25.5) for subtree layer and Tripterygium regelii (18.4) and Rhododendron mucronulatum (16.6) for shrub layer were high, respectively. Shannon's diversity ranged from 0.3560 to 1.050. Evenness and dominance ranged from 0.398 to 0.733 and 0.267 to 0.601, respectively. A. koreana population had a reverse J-shaped DBH distribution, while P. jezoensis population had a normal DBH distribution. Height growth according to DBH of A. koreana was higher than that of P. jezoensis, which indicate than A. koreana have more effective water use efficiency than P. jezoensis. Annual mean tree ring growth of P. jezoensis and A. koreana showed up 1.792, 1.652, 1.389 mm/yr and 2.081, 1.921, 1.576 mm/yr for small, middle and large diameter tree, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.19-28
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to estimate carbon dioxide emissions from soil microbial respiration by forest type of Sobaeksan National Park. As a result of estimating the annual soil microbiological respiration volume by forest type in Sobaeksan National Park, broad-leaved forests, coniferous forest, artificial forests were similar to around 19.5 CO₂-ton/ha/yr. In the case of coniferous forests in sub-alpine and grassland near Birobong Peak, 12.2 CO₂-ton/ha/yr and 8.1 CO₂-ton/ha/yr, respectively, were lower than general forest areas. And as a result of analyzing the changes in soil microbiological respiration rate according to forest type in Sobaeksan National Park, the soil microbiological respiration rate in coniferous forests, broad-leaved forests, artificial forests, and sub-alpine areas was the highest in the July survey in summer and the lowest in November in late autumn. The change in soil microbial respiratory volume according to the measurement time in Sobaeksan National Park was the highest between 12:00 and 16:00, when the soil temperature was generally the highest among the days. It is known that the soil temperature is relatively low and the amount of soil microbial respiration decreases during winter, and the change in respiratory volume over the measurement time during the day was the smallest in November, when the amount of soil microbial respiration was relatively smaller than the May-September survey. However, this study has limitations in revealing the causal relationship of various environmental factors that affect the soil microbial respiration. Therefore, it is suggested that long-term research and investigation of various factors affecting soil respiration are needed to understand the carbon cycle of forest ecosystems.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.165-172
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• 2017

Background: This study investigated the temporal variation in soil $CO_2$ efflux and its relationship with soil temperature and precipitation in the Quercus glauca and Abies koreana forests in Jeju Island, South Korea, from August 2010 to December 2012. Q. glauca and A. koreana forests are typical vegetation of warm-temperate evergreen forest zone and sub-alpine coniferous forest zone, respectively, in Jeju island. Results: The mean soil $CO_2$ efflux of Q. glauca forest was $0.7g\;CO_2\;m^{-2}\;h^{-1}$ at $14.3^{\circ}C$ and that of A. koreana forest was $0.4g\;CO_2\;m^{-2}\;h^{-1}$ at $6.8^{\circ}C$. The cumulative annual soil $CO_2$ efflux of Q. glauca and A. koreana forests was 54.2 and $34.2t\;CO_2\;ha^{-1}$, respectively. Total accumulated soil carbon efflux in Q. glauca and A. koreana forests was 29.5 and $18.7t\;C\;ha^{-1}$ for 2 years, respectively. The relationship between soil $CO_2$ efflux and soil temperate at 10 cm depth was highly significant in the Q. glauca ($r^2=0.853$) and A. koreana forests ($r^2=0.842$). Soil temperature was the main controlling factor over $CO_2$ efflux during most of the study period. Also, precipitation may affect soil $CO_2$ efflux that appeared to be an important factor controlling the efflux rate. Conclusions: Soil $CO_2$ efflux was affected by soil temperature as the dominant control and moisture as the limiting factor. The difference of soil $CO_2$ efflux between of Q. glauca and A. koreana forests was induced by soil temperature to altitude and regional precipitation.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.236-243
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• 2016

It was a case study to use as a basic data for efficient the preservation and management of subalpine coniferous forest in national parks. It is based on inhabitation condition of 210 individuals of Abies koreana Wilson that was found through local investigation in the sub-alpine zone of Jirisan National Park and Songnisan National Park. It analyzed the effect of the geographical location and topographical features, which are the basics of location environment, on the growth of A. koreana. The variables related to the growth of A. koreana are tree height and diameter at breast height. Topographical features include geographical longitude, altitude above sea level, slope of the mountains, aspect that describes the direction in which a slope faces and topographical wetness index. Topographical features were extracted through GIS spatial analysis. It used canonical correlation analysis to estimate whether the two variables groups have related to each other and how much they are related, if any, and estimated the effect of the geographical and topographical features on the growth structure of A. koreana using multiple regression analysis. The tree height and diameter at breast height that represent the growth structure of A. koreana show greater relation to geographical latitude distribution than topographical feature and the geographical and topographical factors show greater relation to diameter at breast height than tree height. The growth structure's variable and geographical and topographical variable of A. koreana have meaningful relation and the result shows that geographical and topographical variables explain 18.1% of the growth structure. The variables that affect the diameter at breast height of A. koreana are geographical latitude, topographical wetness index, aspect and altitude, which are put in order of statistical significance. The higher the latitude is, the smaller the diameter at breast height. Depending on the topographical feature, it becomes bigger. The variable that affects the tree height is topographical wetness index, which was the only meaningful variable. Overall, the tree height and diameter at breast height that are related to the growth structure of A. koreana are affected by geographical and topographical feature. It showed that the geographical feature affected it the most. Especially the effect of water among the topographical features is expected to be bigger than the other topographical factors. Based on the result, it is expected that geographical and topographical feature is an important factor for the growth structure of A. koreana. Even though it considered only the geographical and topographical features and used spatial analysis data produced by GIS, the research results will be useful for investigating and researching the growth environment of coniferous forest inhabiting in sub-alpine zone of national parks and are expected to be used as basic data for establishing measures to efficiently manage and preserve evergreen needleaf tree such as A. koreana.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 2011

This study was written about the actual vegetation map by researchig current vegetation and on-site vegetation in the Deogyusan National Park. Current vegetation patterns were classified into 42 types according to correlation. And Quercus mongolica forest was 39.08% out of the total forest vegetation, and was dispersed the most widely. Next were Q. variabilis, Pinus densiflora, and Fraxinus mandshurica forests in order, so that the forests of Deogyusan are different from those of another national parks in that F. mandshurica forest is more widely dispersed. Forest vegetation of Deogyusan national park is broadly classified into three types: deciduous broad-leaved forest (Quercus forest and valley forest), coniferous forest(P. densiflora forest), and sub-alpine forest(Taxus cuspidata forest, Abies koreana, Rhododendron schlippenbachii shrub-forest, and prairie). Distribution of DBH of Q. mongolica and Q. variabillis had a higher frequency of young individuals and middle individuals, Q. serrata and Carpinus laxiflora had a higher frequency of young individuals, suggesting a continuous domination of these species over the other species for the time being. In contrast, F. mandshurica appeared limited to the valley of the sheet and a higher frequency of young individuals, suggesting a continuous domination of these species the development of a climax forest terrain. P. densiflora, Betula davurica, Cornus controversa, B. costata, A. koreana and T. cuspidata had a formality distribution, suggesting a continuous domination of these species over the other species for the time being.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.327-357
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• 2011

This study compared the species composition and distribution of the forest communities between Korea and Japan using vegetation releve database. The study included the eastern and southern Korean Peninsula, Is. Jeju, Is. Ulreung, northern Kyushu, central part of Japan and Is. Tsushima and divided in fourteen region with major mountain as the center. Seventy-nine forest communities were classified by tabular comparison with the total of 1844 releves. In the composition table, fifty-four groups of plant species were listed. Some grew in one area exclusively, while others were present in multiple locations. This study showed the similarity and heterogeneity of species composition among study areas. We grouped fourteen types showing similar physiognomy for forest communities. The physiognomical features of the vertical vegetation zones in the study area were similar, however, dominant species and species composition were different between the regions. In the lowland zone, Castanopsis-Type dominated by Castanopsis cuspidata var. sieboldii or Castanopsis cuspidata were distributed in the study area except for northern part of the Korean Peninsula and Is. Ulreung. Additionally, Persea thunbergii-Type was distributed widely in the lowest part of the study area, however, it showed the simplification of the species composition in the Korean Peninsula and Is. Ulreung. In the hilly zone, evergreen forest composed by Abies firma-Type distributed in northern Kyushuand Is. Tsushima, but it was absent in the other study region. The difference in forest community was conspicuous, especially in the montane zone. Deciduous broadleaved forests composed Quercus(D)-Type and Fagus-Type widely distributed in the montane of study area. However, forest community dominated by Quercus mongolica and Fagus multinervis flourished in Korea. On the otherhand, forest community dominated by Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata, Fagus crenata and F. japonica distributed in Japan. In the sub-alpine zone, evergreen coniferous forest composed Abies-Quercus(D)-Type, Abies koreana-Type, and Pinus pumila-Type were distributed in the Korean Peninsula and Is. Jeju. Forests composed Taxus cuspidata var. nana-Type, Abies mariesii-Type, and Pinus pumila-Type distributed in the central part of Japan. As a result of DCA ordination, evergreen broadleaved forests of the whole study area showed the lower scores along the first axis, while deciduous and coniferous forests showed the higher scores. The forest types of western part of Japan were located the higer scores, forest types of the Korean Peninsula were located the lower scores, and forest types of Is. Jeju located in the middle. Warmth index (WI) and Annual range of temperature in climate factor were highly correlated on the first axis. The first axis reflected the gradient from oceanic climatic to continental one. The higher the altitude and further geographically, the lower the similarity among communities and the peculiarity of community appeared stronger. The historical background reflecting local flora has strongly influenced on development of community.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.388-408
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• 2022

This study was conducted to select the indicator species (plant) according to the topographical characteristics in the Picea jezoensis forests, endangered subalpine coniferous trees. In South Korea and China (close to Baekdusan), the southern tree line limit of Picea jezoensis has meaningful geographical and latitudinal values for analyzing the ecological characteristics of P. jezoensis forests. Latitude greatly affects the geographical values of plant ecology, and the difference in latitude and habitat affects the change in species composition in forests. With prolonged environmental change, the habitat of subalpine plants will become smaller, and the plants may become extinct. As the P. jezoensis forests of South Korea and China, in particular, are in danger of disappearing without protection, it is important to monitor the population and develop a conservation strategy. Eighty-seven circular plots were established in P. jezoensis forests in South Korea and China. Through processes such as MRPP-test and NMS ordination, indicator species were selected based on this, and basic data for biodiversity assessment were presented. As a result of the Indicator Species Analysis (ISA), 5 taxa were selected from the upperstory vegetation and 18 taxa from the understory vegetation at the altitude(p<0.05). Indicator species by aspect were analyzed as 3 taxa for upperstory vegetation and 16 taxa for understory vegetation (p<0.05). In the case of indicator species according to the slope, 6 taxa for upper vegetation and 24 taxa for understory vegetation were selected(p<0.05). As for the indicator species according to their habitat, 8 taxa in upper vegetation and 65 taxa on understory vegetation were selected. As a result of MRPP-test, it was analyzed that the species composition was heterogeneous in the group of understory vegetation than that of upperstory vegetation. As a result of NMS ordination, the correlation with environmental factors of indicator species was analyzed by rock exposure for upperstory vegetation and latitude for understory vegetation (cut off level=0.3).