• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.69-77
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• 2019

Pterocarpus erinaceus is a multipurpose tree species indigenous to semi-arid and Guinean-savanna woodlands of Africa. Natural regeneration on the savanna is being hampered by higher fire frequencies and other land use changes. Simultaneously, demand for timber from the species on the international market is on the rise, raising conservation concerns. To ensure sustainability, good quality seeds, sources of which have not received much research focus, are needed for afforestation. This study investigated how seed quality, germinability and initial seedling growth of P. erinaceus might be influenced by land-use type, mother tree size as well as source and timing of fruit harvest, using both correlational and experimental approaches. The results showed that up to 94.6% of all harvested fruits contained seeds, with no differences found between fruits harvested from cultivated and non-cultivated lands. Percentage of (sound) unblemished seeds was found to be higher for fruits harvested early March (47.3%) than fruits from late April (39.5%). Percentage sound seeds was 41.4% for dispersed fruits (i.e. detached fruits picked from under mother trees) which was not found to differ from undispersed fruits (i.e. fruits harvested while still attached to mother trees) at 45.5%. Also, the influence of fruit harvest time was not found to be different for dispersed and undispersed fruits. Correlations between seed set (proportion of fruits containing seeds) and mother tree size (both tree height and DBH) were found to be very low and non-significant for both dispersed and undispersed fruits. Across mother trees, mean emergence percent was 79.7%, and mean seedling height at three weeks following emergence was 5.32 cm. Both emergence percentage and seedling height were not found to differ among mother trees, but seeds from dispersed fruits had a higher emergence percent (85%) than seeds from undispersed fruits (74%). Implications of findings are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.170-200
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• 2019

This study was carried out to investigate the vascular plants of Mt. Choejeong in Gachang-myeon, Daegu. From March 2017 to October 2018, a total of 22 studies were conducted. The vascular plants surveyed were grouped into 560 taxa, including 104 families, 297 genera, 495 species, 4 subspecies, 51 varieties and 10 forma. Endemic plants 15 taxa, Rare plants 5 taxa, Red list plants 5 taxa, Floristic regional indicator plants 54 taxa, Naturalized plants 36 taxa were recorded. Among surveyed 560 taxa, edible, medicinal, ornamental, timber, pasturing, industrial and fiber plants included 246 taxa (29.2%), 228 taxa (27.1%), 164 taxa (19.5%), 61 taxa (7.2%), 13 taxa (1.5%), and 8 taxa (0.9%). And because people are coming and going more frequently than in the past, this will result in more frequent influx of naturalized plants and a threat to the habitat of the plants that are currently growing.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.574-590
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• 2021

International efforts to prevent illegally logged wood are expanding around the world. The "Legal Wood Trade Promotion System" was enacted in Korea in 2019 to strengthen the legal import and distribution of commercial wood in Korea. Since then, this system has promoted and ensured that the imported wood and wood products are legal with respect to the country of origin, wood species, and harvested area. As verification methods, DNA analysis technology and anatomical analysis using a microscope are mainly used in conjunction. Therefore, in this study, wood species of plywood were identified by analyzing the anatomical characteristics of various wood products for the first time. Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco.) and larch (Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carriere) plywoods (7, 9 ply) were obtained from four companies that supply plywood in Korea. After cutting each company's plywood to a size of about 1 cm³, the layers from top to bottom were separated into single layers, and three sections were observed using an optical microscope. The results revealed that the plywood was composed of a mixture of softwood and hardwood wood species, pine wood species, poplar wood species, or a mixture of larch and pine wood species. Identification of wood species using microscopy is important and can enable the scientific analysis and verification of various wood products, including plywood, imported from countries where the likelihood of indiscriminate distribution of illegal wood and illegal logging is high.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.2
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• pp.210-216
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• 2021

Musculoskeletal disorders affect workers' safety in most industries, and forest operations are classified as a musculoskeletal burden according to the Occupational Safety and Health Act in South Korea. In particular, felling and delimbing operations are mainly conducted by manpower, and then, it is necessary to evaluate ergonomic risk assessment for safety of felling and delimbing workers. Three ergonomic risk assessment methods, such as Ovako Working posture Analysis System (OWAS), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), are available for assessing exposure to risk factors associated with timber harvesting operations. Here, three ergonomic risk assessment methods were applied to examine ergonomic risk assessments in chainsaw felling and delimbing operations. Additionally, exposure to risk factors in each method was analyzed to propose an optimal working posture in felling and delimbing operations. The risk levels of these operations were evaluated to be highest in the RULA method, followed by the OWAS and REBA methods, and most of the exposed working postures were examined with a low-risk level of two and three without requiring any immediate working posture changes. However, two significant working postures, including the bending posture of the waist and leg in felling operation and standing posture on the fallen trees in delimbing operation, were assessed as the high-risk level and needed immediate working posture changes. Low-risk work levels were examined in the squatting posture for felling operation and the straightened posture of the waist and leg for delimbing operation. Moreover, the slope in felling operation and the tree height in delimbing operation significantly affected risk level assessment of working posture. Therefore, our study supports that felling and delimbing workers must operate with low-risk working postures for safety.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.52-61
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• 2021

Decay fungi can decompose plant debris to recycle carbon in the ecosystem. Still, they can also be fungal pathogens, which can damage living trees and/or wood material and cause a large amount of timber loss. We isolated and identified basidiomycetous fungi from the decayed bark of Mongolian oak wrapped with sticky roll traps. The degrading enzyme activities were then tested for all fungal isolates. The decay ability of selected isolates was assessed based on the weight loss of wood discs after inoculating with culture suspension of decay fungi under the different humidity levels. A total of 46 basidiomycetous fungal isolates belonged to 12 species, and 10 genera were obtained from Jong Myo (16 isolates), Chang Kyung palace (7 isolates), Cheong Gye (10 isolates), and Gun Po (13 isolates). Gymnopus luxurians was the most dominant fungus in the present study, and this species distributed in all survey sites with 9 isolates in Jong Myo, followed by 3 isolates in Chang Kyung palace, while Cheong Gye and Gun Po had only 1 isolate each. Among 46 isolates, 44 isolates secreted at least one enzyme, while 25 isolates produced both cellulase and phenol oxidase enzymes, and 2 isolates produced neither. The assessment of decay ability by artificial inoculation indicated that the weight loss of wood discs was significantly influenced by humidity conditions when inoculated with bark decay fungi. The percent weight losses by G. luxurians inoculation in RH of 90-100% and RH of 65-75% were 4.61% and 2.45%, respectively. The weight loss caused by Abortiporus biennis were 6.67% and 0.46% in RH of 90-100% and RH of 45-55%, respectively. The humidity reduction approach should be applied for further studies to control the growth and spread of bark decay fungi on the trunks wrapped with sticky roll traps.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.107-121
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to optimize the bonding method of the plywood suitable for cross-laminated timber (CLT) with plywood as a core by analyzing the flexural performance and failure mode according to the lamina species, the method of bonding plywood in the longitudinal direction, and whether or not adhesive is applied to the joint. In the case of the Douglas fir lamina layer, the modulus of elasticity decreased by about 11.5% due to longitudinal bonding, and the modulus of rupture increased or decreased according to the adhesive application and bonding method. The optimal conditions were derived as the butt joint without adhesive, half lap joint with adhesive, and butt joint. In the case of the larch lamina layer, the modulus of rupture and the modulus of elasticity decreased by about 15% and 40%, respectively. When using the half lab joint and tongue & groove joint, it is believed that it reduces the load transmitted to the middle layer by primarily preventing the failure on flexure at the joint of the plywood layer. From the results of this study, the larch lamina layer used in the manufacturing process of Ply-lam CLT did not show any difference based on the bonding method. Butt joint and half lap joint bonding method are determined to be suitable when using Douglas fir lamina layer.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.4
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• pp.583-593
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• 2022

The harvesting system in South Korea faces the problems of aging workers and high wages, so it is necessary to improve the operation system and train workers to use high-performance forestry machines. This study compared the effectiveness and costs of yarding and processing operations between a multi-operation system using a tower yarder (HAM300) and a processor (KESLA 20SH) with those of a single-system using a forestry combi-machine. A whole-tree (cable) yarding operation was conducted in the clear-cutting area located at Compartment 15, Gwangneung Experimental Forest, National Institute of Forest Science, and the productivity and cost of multi- and single-system were analyzed. The productivity of the single-system was 1.5 m³/PMH and 1.6 m³/PMH higher than that of the multi- system because the single-system produced 1 log/cycle more than the multi-system in the yarding operation. The cost was approximately 12.1% lower for the single-system (￦36,113/m³) than for the multi-system (￦41,065/m³). The costs of the single-system and multi-system were decreased by maximums of 22.6% and 15.9%, respectively, by decreasing the idle time.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.391-396
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• 2021

In this study, items for forest policy and forest resource research in Austria, Japan, New Zealand, and Indonesia, which are major forest advanced countries, were investigated, and the applicability of point cloud data acquired through laser scanning was identified. Through the study, it was found that forest policies in developed countries are being pursued for the purpose of sustainable forest conservation and management, job creation, and timber productivity improvement, and that new technologies are being researched and applied to actual projects. Korea has a high proportion of forests compared to the national land area compared to major forestry developed countries, but the accumulation of trees is relatively low, so it is a time for scientific forest management to improve the accumulation of trees. To understand the applicability of laser scanning technology, a forest resource survey using point cloud data was conducted, and the diameter of breast height, height, number of trees per unit area were calculated, and the shape of the crown was identified. If field experiments and accuracy evaluations applying various laser scanning technologies are carried out in the future, it will be possible to present the quantitative improvement of forest resource survey using foil cloud.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.91-99
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• 2023

Plus tree selection is the essential first step in a tree improvement program. This study was carried out to select plus trees of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) for tree improvement in Korea. The candidate plus trees of black locust were selected from twenty-one places in the four provinces (Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Chungcheong and Gyeongsang) following comparison selection. The trees were examined for qualitative and quantitative traits of economic interest like tree height (H), diameter at breast height (DBH), clear bole height (CBH), stem straightness (SS), crown size (CS) and disease resistance. The 64 selected trees showed higher quality in growth characteristics than control trees. Average of height, DBH, CBH, SS and CS were 20.5 m, 31.1 cm, 10.1 m, 1.2 and 5.2 m respectively. In particular, it was shown that the growth characteristics were higher in Chungcheong population. The superiority percentage of selected candidate plus trees of black locust over their respective check trees ranged from 7.3% to 18.9% in height, 20.0% to 40.6% in DBH, 32.8% to 73.5% in CBH, 42.9% to 55.2% in SS and -11.1% to 9.4% in CS, respectively. The selected black locust will be useful in future tree breeding programs based on their clonal and progeny performance.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.173-183
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• 2011

Gabensis village is one of the biggest village In the Wampar Local Level Government area within the Huon Gulf District of Morobe Province with a population of around 3,000. The major staple food is banana which is well complemented by minor staples yam, cassava, Singapore/Chinese taro and sweet potato. Apart from gardening for own consumption, the villagers engage in selling of vegetables, garden staples, cocoa beans, coconuts, timber, chicken, fish and pig meat to supplement their livelihood. Livestock like pigs and chickens are also kept for meat and for commercial purpose. Bettlenut which was once one of the main cash crops has now been overtaken by cocoa due to a disease that had attacked almost the entire bettlenut tree population in the area. Even though the Wau-Bulolo highway cuts through the village and all have access to transport infrastructure, the majority of the population still encounter problems in communication due to poor telecommunication coverage. On average most people earn not more than K50 per week due to constrains in production and marketing among others. Gabensis village has the potential to develop a tourism industry given its natural attraction of Lake Wanam. Beside there is also the natural eel farming and the fish pond at the nearby Potsie village. These natural attractions pose huge tourism potential for the community. As part of government services delivery and development, education and health issues is very much important in the community however there is lack of infrastructural development and poor service delivery especially in the area of health. However, the responsibility is on the community to organize themselves to realize that potential. A well developed agro-ecotourism investments would have positive spillover effects to the community thus contributing towards improving the livelihoods of the many farming families.