Abstract
In other to classify calcicoles and calcifuges and calcifuges within plant communities occurring on limestone and granite soils in chungbuk province, korea, soil propertile, constancy for species by prsence or absence, and ratios of soluble to insoluble $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ were investigated. In the limestone soils ph values and $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ content, ranging 7.26 ~7.48, 5.32~7.37 mg $Ca^{2+}/g$ and 0.42~0.62 mg $Mg^{2+}/g$, respectively, were higher than those in the granite soil with ph 5.76, 1.03mg $Ca^{2+}/g$ and 0.24mg $Mg^{2+}/g$. species with high constancy in the 5 communities were classified into three groups; species group a(29~36% of total number of species) was composed of species occuring on the granite soil; group c(16~24%) is commonly distributed throughout both soils. Ratios of soluble to insoluble $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ ranged from 0.1 to 81.3 in the group a, 0.2 to 0.8 in the group b and 0.2 to 8.7 in the group c. species within each group can be divided into two groups based on the values of the ratio, below or above 1.0. consequently, each of the group a and c was classified again into two groups; the group a1 and c1 with the ratio of above 1.0 and the group a2 and c2 withbelow 1.0 but the ratio could not further subdivide the group b. from these results it was proposed that plants of the group a1 were termed as obligate calcicoles, the group b as obligate calcifuges, the group c1 as facultative calcicoles, the group c2 as facultative calcifuges and the group a2 as avoiding calcifuges.