• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.213-222
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• 2019

Climate change has been intensifying and affecting forest ecosystems. Over the years, the intensity and frequency of climate change have increased and the effects of climate change have been aggravating due to cumulative greenhouse gases such as CO₂, which has resulted in several negative consequences, drought being the main threat among all. Drought affects forest ecosystems directly and indirectly. Insufficient soil moisture, due to drought, may affect the growth of plants and soil respiration (SR), and soil temperature may increase because of desiccated soil. In addition, the mortality rate of plants and soil microorganisms increases. As a result, these effects could reduce forest productivity. Thus, in this article, we have presented various research studies on artificial drought using throughfall exclusion, and we have mainly focused on SR, which is significantly related to forest productivity. The research studies done worldwide were sorted as per the main groups of Köppen-Geiger climate classification and intensively reviewed, especially in tropical climates and temperate climates. We briefly reviewed the properties among the exclusion experiments about the temperate climate, which mostly includes Korean forests. Our review is not a proof of concept, but an assumption for adequate investigation of drought effects in the Korean forest.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.258-261
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• 2018

Drought alters soil microorganisms; however, it is still not clear how soil microbes respond to severe drought conditions. In this study, the responses of soil bacterial community to experimental drought in a coniferous stand were examined. Six $6m{\times}6m$ plots with three replicates of control and drought treatments were delimited. PCR amplification and Illumina sequencing were conducted for cluster analysis of soil bacterial community and species richness and species diversity was analyzed. Along the 393 days of simulated drought from July 2016 to October 2017, soil bacterial species diversity slightly increased whereas species richness decreased in both control and roof plots. Moreover, soil bacterial species richness more decreased in roof plots than in controls. Combining these results, soil bacterial activity might have been altered by simulated drought.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.253-257
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• 2018

Climate models forecast more frequent and a longer period of drought events which may impact forest soil carbon dynamics, thereby altering the soil respiration (SR) rate. We examine the simulated drought effects on soil $CO_2$ effluxes from soil surface partitioning heterotrophic and autotrophic soil respiration sources. Three replicates of drought plots ($6{\times}6m$) were constructed with the same size of three control plots. We examined the relation between $CO_2$ and soil temperature and soil moisture, each being measured at a soil depth of 15 cm. We also compared which factor affected $CO_2$ efflux more under drought conditions. Total SR, autotrophic respiration (AR) and heterotrophic respiration (HR) were positively correlated with soil temperature (p < 0.05), and the relationships were stronger in roof plots than in control plots. Total SR, AR, and HR were negatively correlated only in roof plots, and the only HR showed a significant correlation (p < 0.05, r = -0.59). Soil respiration rates were more influenced by soil temperature than by soil moisture, and this relationship was more evident under drought conditions.