• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

Background: Though the biomass of floral vegetation in understory plant communities in a forested ecosystem only accounts for less than 1% of the total biomass of a forest, they contain most of the floral resources of a forest. The diversity of understory honey plants determines visitation rate of pollinators such as honey bee (Apis mellifera) as they provide rich food resources. Since the flower visitation and foraging activity of pollinators lead to the provision of pollination service, it also means the enhancement of plant-pollinator relationship. Therefore, an appropriate management scheme for understory vegetation is essential in order to conserve pollinator population that is decreasing due to habitat destruction and disease infection. This research examined the diversity of understory honey plant and studied how it is related to environmental variables such as (1) canopy density, (2) horizontal heterogeneity of canopy surface height, (3) slope gradient, and (4) distance from roads. Vegetation survey data of 39 plots of mixed forests in Chuncheon, Korea, were used, and possible management practices for understory vegetation were suggested. Results: This study found that 113 species among 141 species of honey plant of the forests were classified as understory vegetation. Also, the understory honey plant diversity is significantly positively correlated with distance from the nearest road and horizontal heterogeneity of canopy surface height and negatively correlated with canopy density. Conclusions: The diversity of understory honey plant vegetation is correlated to vegetation structure and human impact. In order to enhance the diversity of understory honey plant, management of density and height of canopy is necessary. This study suggests that improved diversity of canopy cover through thinning of overstory vegetation can increase the diversity of understory honey plant species.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.245-256
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• 1989

Nitrogen cycling was in vestigated in Piuns koraiensis plantations with different ages, 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 11 years, which were reforested after clear-cutting. Annual N input by bulk precipitation was 10kg., and output by runoff decreased as the plantation aged, especially in-N. The standing N content of the whole vegetation increased approximately 5 times through 11 years. Understory surpassed P. koraiensis plants in the distribution of standing N content for the initial 9 years, but reversed thereafter. Annual N uptake of P. koraiensis plants increased greatly through 11 years, but that of understory increased somewhat until 9 years and decreased thereafter. The maximum N uptake of the whole vegetation was made in the 9-yr-old plantation. In the 1-yr-old one, 59% of the maximum was already absorbed by understory which mainly consisted to herbs. The recycling coefficient, ratio of annual return to rptake, of the whole vegetation decreased as the plantation aged and the value of understory was greater than that of P koraiensis plants. On the contrary, the N use efficiency, ratio of the net primary production to N uptake, of the whole vegetation increased as the plantation aged and the value of understory was less than that of P. koraiensis plants. Consequently, it is emphasized that understory played an important role in such plantation reforesred after clear-cutting for the initial 9 years.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.2
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• pp.151-159
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of thinning on changes in stand characteristics and understory vegetation in a silvopasture practiced Japanese larch plantation in the Research Forest of Kangwon National University, Korea. Three different thinning intensities (64%, 35%, and control) were applied. Before and after thinning, the understory plant species increased its number from 48 (7 tree species, 7 shrubs species, 28 herbaceous species, and 6 woody climbers) to 100 (11 tree species, 15 shrub species, 67 herbaceous species, and 7 woody climbers). Thinning made plants invade easily on the forest floor, and plot A (325 stems/ha) had much higher number of undersory species than those Of plot B (575 stems/ha) and control plot (1,150 stems/ha). In three years after thinning, understory aboveground biomass (kg/ha) of herbs were 523 for control, 1,230 for plot B, and 1,288 for plot A. The canopy coverage had remarkable influence on the understory biomass production, resulting in relatively small amount of herbage production on control plot. The differences were statistically significant between thinned plots and unthinned plot, but there were no significant differences among the thinned plots (p<0.05).

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.98 no.3
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• pp.339-350
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate distributional condition of rare plants and useful plant resources, and to verify distributional patterns of understory vegetation associated with the upper layer's vegetation structure. Total 59 families, 160 genera, 218 kinds of vascular plants were identified at the study site including 6 rare plants designated by Korea Forest Service (Lloydia triflora Bak., Trillium kamtschaticum Pall., Lilium distichum Nakai, Anemone koraiensis Nakai, Iris odaesanensis Y.N. Lee, Viola diamantica Nakai). Twenty three species of useful plant resources were also identified at the site; 8 of them showed clustered distributions and the others were prone to scatter. Actual vegetation of this study area consisted of one natural community dominated by Quercus mongolica Fisch. and three disturbed communities of Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carriere, Abies holophylla Max. and/or a herbaceous vegetation resulting from forest removal and strong wind of mountain top. This classification was strongly supported by cluster analysis based on the surveyed plot data. Distributional patterns of understory vegetation within forest stand were somewhat related to overstory vegetation structure, but showed a different tendency according to site condition, species composition, and competitive pressure among understory vegetation. Therefore, in order to protect the important understory components as forest genetic resources, forest treatments such as density control of overstory should be implanted based on understanding of impact on understory's dynamics and growing condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.81-96
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of vegetation changes and structures in the buffer green zone of Sihwa Industrial Complex and propose environmental, ecological and multi-functional vegetation management directions. The density of the Pinus thunbergii decreased from $23.1trees/100m^2$ in 2006 to $9.6trees/100m^2$ in 2017 due to the influence of thinning works. Its green volume increased from $0.97m^3/m^2$ to $2.02m^3/m^2$, contributing to the improvement of the atmospheric environment and promotion of biodiversity. The density of deciduous broad-leaved trees at the top maintained at $18{\sim}21trees/100m^2$. In the areas where the understory vegetation was removed, Pueraria lobata spread as an invasive plant and disturbed the forest. In the areas where the understory vegetation was not removed, various native plant species including the Rhus javanica and Celtis sinensis were introduced and contributed to the development of a forest in a multiple structure. There was a concern with the spread of Robinia pseudoacacia which developed into understory vegetation in Pinus thunbergii forest and some canopy forest. The study proposed vegetation management directions for the back, top and front side according to the physical structure of large-scale buffer green zone formed in a long linear form and the usage characteristics of adjacent land.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.90 no.3
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• pp.236-241
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• 2001

This study was conducted to clarify the relationship between forest understory habitat and small rodents in the study sites of 500m, 800m and 1,100m a. s. l. of 6 areas in Mt. Chirisan National Park from July 1997 to August 1998. Coverage of understory vegetation and depth of litter layer were increased as the increase of altitude. Seventy seven individuals of Apodemus agrarius, A. peninsulae and Eothenomys regulus were captured in all study areas. There were significantly correlations among coverage of understory vegetation, depth of litter layer and number of captured small rodents. Increase of understory vegetation coverage and litter layer would provide the proper habitat condition for small rodents.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.202-211
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• 2019

Oceanic islands are biologically important for their unique assemblages of species and high levels of endemism and are sensitive to environmental change because of their isolation and small species source pools. Habitat destruction caused by human landscape development is generally accepted as the main cause of extinction on islands, with exotic species invasion a secondary cause of extinction, especially on tropical islands. However, secondary impacts of human development (e.g., general degradation through resource use and exotic species introduction) are understudied on temperate islands. To determine secondary impacts of human development on the understory vegetation community, 90 field sites on Ulleung Island, South Korea, were sampled during the summer of 2016. Understory vegetation was chosen as it is a proxy for ecosystem health. Diversity and percent cover of introduced, native, and endemic species were tested against proximity to developed areas and trail usage using a model selection approach. Diversity was also tested against percent cover of three naturalized species commonly found in survey plots. The main finding was that distance to development, distance to town, and trail usage have limited negative impacts on the understory vegetation community within best-supported models predicting native and introduced cover and diversity. However, endemic species cover was significantly lower on high usage trails. While there are no apparent locally invasive plant species on the island at the time of this study, percent cover of Robinia pseudoacacia, a naturalized tree species, negatively correlated with plot diversity. These findings indicate that forests on Ulleung Island are not experiencing a noticeable invasion of understory vegetation, and conservation efforts can be best spent preventing future invasions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.5
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• pp.520-527
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• 2007

Biomass and species diversity of understory vegetation after fertilization were studied for 28-year-old Quercus acutissima plantation (MQA), 29-year-old Pinus densiflora plantation (MPD), 8-year-old Betula platyphylla var. japonica plantation after coal reclamation (YBP), and 4-year-old Pinus densiflora plantation after forest fire (YPD) in central Korea. Nitrogen + phosphorus + potassium (6:4:1) fertilizer was applied for 3 years from 2004. Thereafter photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and understory species richness and diversity were measured in late July-early August 2006. PAR (${\mu}mol\;m^{-2}S^{-1}$) was higher at the fertilization treatment (100.9) than at the control (67.0) for MQA while was lower at the fertilization treatment (156.5) than at the control (268.7) for MPD. Total understory biomass (t $ha^{-1}$) was lower at the fertilization plot (1.8) than at the control plot (3.0) for YPD, however, there were no differences in biomass between fertilization and control plots for MQA, MPD and YBP. Total species number of understory vegetation was higher for fertilization than for control at MPD (47 vs. 45) and YPD (21 vs. 13), and was higher for mature plantations (33 vs. 37 for MQA and 47 vs. 45 for MPD) than for young plantations (16 vs. 16 for YBP and 21 vs. 13 for YPD). Species richness and diversity were higher at the fertilization treatment than at the control for MQA, YBP, and YPD while were lower at the fertilization treatment than at the control for MPD, however, the differences were not statistically significant. Our results indicate that there were no consistent patterns in light conditions, biomass and species richness and diversity of understory vegetation following fertilization. More detailed long-term studies with different fertilizer applications would be necessary to conclude the influence of fertilization on understory vegetation in the region.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.100 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2011

Vegetation structure, composition and diversity were quantified for 10 samples ($10m{\times}10m$) representing woody vegetation and for 30 samples ($1m {\times}3m$) representing understory vegetation in Pinus parviflora and Tsuga sieboldii forest of Taeharyeong, Ulleung-gun (Gyeongsangbuk-do). P. parviflora was limitedly advanced to sapling layer from seedling stage, and based on Mantel tests, composition of canopy layer was not established in ground woody vegetation. Non-metric multidimensional scaling revealed influence of biotic and abiotic factors in species composition of woody and understory vegetation. In the result of multiple regression model, abundance of P. parviflora (density and breast height area) and percent cover of woody debris were significant predict variables for understory diversity. These results suggest that relatively large disturbance is required for regeneration of P. parviflora and T. sieboldii forest, and control of expansion of monocultural understory species that monopolize resources such as Carex blepharicarpa and Maianthemum dilatatum, is necessary for maintenance of diversity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.59-76
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• 2022

This study was conducted to investigated woody species community classification and understory vegetation characteristics of Abies nephrolepis forest in Mt. Gyebang and Mt. Odae designated as Protected Area for Forest Genetic Resource Conservation and National Park. Vascular plants were surveyed as following; 55 family, 148 species, 3 sub species, 14 variety, 2 form 167 taxa. As an analysis of the species estimator of Jackknife 1, 29 survey plots could be representative of vegetation in study site. Results of the woody species, 3 communities were divided by cluster analysis(A=Abies nephrolepis-Tilia amurensis, B=Betula ermanii-Abies nephrolepis, C=Quercus mongolica-Abies nephrolepis). Using MRPP-test, there were significant differences between the communities indicating analysis of the appropriate group classification(p<0.01). The basal area and altitude were analyzed by negative relationship for NMS ordination. By analyzing plexus diagram of woody species, Acer pseudosieboldianum is strong associated with Quercus mongolica and Rhododendron schlippenbachii. Magnolia sieboldii is strong associated with Acer pictum subsp. mono etc.