Journal of Ecology and Environment

The Ecological Society of Korea (한국생태학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Are the conservation areas sufficient to conserve endangered plant species in Korea?

  • Kang, Hye-Soon (School of Biological Science and Chemistry, and Basic Science Research Institute, Sungshin Women's University) ;
  • Shin, Sook-Yung (School of Biological Science and Chemistry, and Basic Science Research Institute, Sungshin Women's University) ;
  • Whang, Hye-Jin (Department of Geography, Sungshin Women's University)
  • Received : 2010.10.10
  • Accepted : 2010.10.13
  • Published : 2010.12.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Understanding the factors relevant to endangerment and the patterns of habitat locations in relation to protected areas is critically important for the conservation of rare species. Although 64 plant species have recently been listed as endangered species in Korea, this information has, until now, not been available, making appropriate management and conservation strategies impossible to devise. Thus, we collected information on potentially threatening factors, as well as information on the locations in which these species were observed. The potentially threatening factors were classified into seven categories. National parks, provincial parks, ecosystem conservation areas, and wetland conservation areas were defined as protected conservation areas. Korean digital elevation model data, along with the maps of all protected areas were combined with the maps of endangered plant species, and analyzed via Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Excluding the category of "small population", endangered plant species in Korea were associated more frequently with extrinsic factors than intrinsic factors. Considering land surface only, all conservation areas in Korea totaled 4.9% of the land, far lower than International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)'s 10% coverage target. At the species level, 69% of the endangered plant species were detected in conservation areas, mostly in national parks. However, this result demonstrates that 31% of endangered species inhabit areas outside the conservation zones. Furthermore, at the habitat level, a large proportion of endangered species were found to reside in unprotected areas, revealing "gaps" in protected land. In the face of rapid environmental changes such as population increases, urbanization, and climate changes, converting these gap areas to endangered species' habitats, or at least including them in habitat networks, will help to perpetuate the existence of endangered species.

Keywords

References

  1. Bang SW, Ahn S. 2005. Development of Red List Categories and Criteria for the Protection of Endangered Species in Korea. Korea Environment Institute, Seoul, pp 332. (in Korean)
  2. Chang CS, Seok HD. 1997. Prediction of forest land decrease and preservation planning: a case of the surrounding areas of Seoul. J For Econ Res 5: 1-12. (in Korean)
  3. Chang CS, Lee HS, Park TY, Kim H. 2005. Reconsideration of rare and endangered plant species in Korea based on the IUCN Red List categories. Korean J Ecol 28: 305-320. (in Korean) https://doi.org/10.5141/JEFB.2005.28.5.305
  4. Choi SW. 2000. Study on the ecological influences on the butterfly fauna of islands in Korea: roles of island area, isolation, latitude and maximum elevation. Korean J Environ Biol 18: 237-246.
  5. Chung JM, Hong KN. 2002. Relationships between geographical conditions and distribution pattern of plant species on uninhabited islands in Korea. Korean J Ecol 25: 341-348. https://doi.org/10.5141/JEFB.2002.25.5.341
  6. Czech B, Krausman PR, Devers PK. 2000. Economic associations among causes of species endangerment in the United States. BioScience 50: 593-601. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0593:EAACOS]2.0.CO;2
  7. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Australian Government. 2005. Threatened species and ecological communities. http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/index.html. Accessed 4 October 2010.
  8. Environmental Systems Research Institute. 2004. Arc/Info User’s Guide. Ver. 9.0. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA.
  9. Green Korea United. 2008. Baekdudaegan is cut off by the roads every 8.3 km. http://www.greenkorea.org/zb/view.php?id=activity_news01&no=75. Accessed 5 October 2010. (in Korean)
  10. Groom MJ. 2005. Threats to biodiversity. In: Principles of Conservation Biology (Groom MJ, Meffe GK, Carroll CR, eds). Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA, pp 63-109.
  11. Hyun JO. 2002. Categorization of the threatened plant species in Korea. PhD Dissertation. Soonchunhyang University, Asan, Korea. (in Korean)
  12. IUCN. 1993. Parks for Life: Report of the 4th World Conference on Natural Parks and Protected Areas. IUCN, Gland.
  13. IUCN. 2010a. News release: new study shows over one fifth of the world’s plants are under threat of extinction. http://www.iucnredlist.org/news/srli-plants-press-release. Accessed 3 October 2010.
  14. IUCN. 2010b. The IUCN Red List of threatened species: classification schemes. http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes. Accessed 3 October 2010.
  15. Kang H, Bawa KS. 2003. Effects of successional status, habit, sexual systems, and pollinators of flowering patterns in tropical rain forest trees. Am J Bot 90: 865-876. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.90.6.865
  16. Kang H, Kim H, Chang E. 2008. Landscape analysis of the Hallasan National Park in a Jeju Island biosphere reserve: Fragmentation pattern. Korean J Environ Ecol 22: 309-319. (in Korean)
  17. Kang U, Chang CS, Kim YS. 2000. Genetic structure and conservation considerations of rare endemic Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai (Oleaceae) in Korea. J Plant Res 113: 127-138. https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00013923
  18. Kim YS. 1994. The necessity of evaluation criteria selections for Korean rare and endangered plant species. Korean J Environ Ecol 8: 1-10. (in Korean)
  19. Kim YS, Chang CS, Kim H. 2001. Reconsideration of rare and endangered plant species in Korea based on the IUCN Red List categories. Korean J Plant Taxon 31: 107-142. (in Korean)
  20. Korea Forest Service. 2010. Korean Plant Names Index. http://www.nature.go.kr/kpni/. Accessed 3 October 2010. (in Korean)
  21. Mawdsley JR, O’Malley R, Ojima DS. 2009. A review of climate-change adaptation strategies for wildlife management and biodiversity conservation. Conserv Biol 23: 1080-1089. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01264.x
  22. Ministry of Environment. 2003. White Paper on the Environment. Ministry of Environment of Korea, Gwacheon. (in Korean)
  23. Ministry of Environment. 2005a. Endemic Species of Korea. Ministry of Environment of Korea, Gwacheon. (in Korean)
  24. Ministry of Environment. 2005b. Satellite images. http://egis.me.go.kr/egis/. Accessed 3 October 2010.
  25. Ministry of Environment. 2005c. Wild fauna and flora of Korea: the biotic resources distribution map. http://nre.me.go.kr/meweb/w03/w0304s01.jsp. Accessed 5 October 2010. (in Korean)
  26. Ministry of Environment. 2006. White Paper on the Environment. Ministry of Environment of Korea, Gwacheon. (in Korean)
  27. Ministry of Environment. 2007. White Paper on the Environment. Ministry of Environment of Korea, Gwacheon. (in Korean)
  28. Ministry of Environment. 2008. White Paper on the Environment. Ministry of Environment of Korea, Gwacheon. (in Korean)
  29. National Geographic Information Institute. 2003. http://www.ngii.go.kr/geography/map_main.do?mainMenu=3&subMenu1=1&subMenu2=1. Accessed 9 October 2010.
  30. National Parks of Korea. 2009. Endangered species. http://english.knps.or.kr/Archive/Endanger/Default.aspx?MenuNum=4&Submenu=Endangeredspecies. Accessed 3 October 2010.
  31. Noss RF, Fleishman E, Dellasala DA, Fitzgerald JM, Gross MR, Main MB, Nagle F, O’Malley SL, Rosales J. 2009. Priorities for improving the scientific foundation of conservation policy in North America. Conserv Biol 23: 825-833. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01282.x
  32. Possingham HP, Wilson KA, Andelman SJ, Vynne CH. 2005. Protected areas: goals, limitations, and design. In: Principles of Conservation Biology (Groom MJ, Meffe GK, Carroll CR, eds). Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA, pp 509-551.
  33. Primack RB. 1993. Essentials of Conservation Biology. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA, pp 564.
  34. Rho P. 2010. Species richness related to landscape characteristics of uninhabited islands in Korea. J Ecol Field Biol 33: 105-114. https://doi.org/10.5141/JEFB.2010.33.2.105
  35. Rodrigues ASL, Gaston KJ. 2001. How large do reserve networks need to be? Ecol Lett 4: 602-609. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00275.x
  36. So S, Han K, Kim M, Park H, Seo Y, Kim YP, Kim TH. 2008. Pollination mechanism of Bupleurum latissimum (Apiaceae). Korean J Plant Taxon 38: 43-50. (in Korean)
  37. Turner IM, Corlett RT. 1996. The conservation value of small, isolated fragments of lowland tropical rain forest. Trends Ecol Evol 11: 330-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(96)10046-X
  38. United Nations Environment Programme. 2010. Convention on biological diversity: the global strategy for plant conservation. http://www.cbd.int/decision/cop/?id=7183. Accessed 6 October 2010.
  39. Vellak A, Tuvi EL, Reier U, Kalamees R, Roosaluste E, Zobel M, Partel M. 2009. Past and present effectiveness of protected areas for conservation of naturally and anthropogenically rare plant species. Conserv Biol 23: 750-757. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01127.x
  40. Vitousek PM, Mooney HA, Lubchenco J, Melillo JM. 1997. Human domination of Earth’s ecosystems. Science 277: 494-499. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5325.494
  41. Wilcove DS, Rothstein D, Dubow J, Phillips A, Losos E. 1998. Quantifying threats to imperiled species in the United States. BioScience 48: 607-615. https://doi.org/10.2307/1313420
  42. Wilson KA, Underwood EC, Morrison SA, Klausmeyer KR, Murdoch WW, Reyers B, Wardell-Johnson G, Marquet PA, Rundel PW, McBride MF, Pressey RL, Bode M, Hoekstra JM, Andelman S, Looker M, Rondinini C, Kareiva P, Shaw MR, Possingham HP. 2007. Conserving biodiversity efficiently: what to do, where, and when? PLoS Biol 5: e223. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0050223
  43. Yu TY, Yeam DY, Kim YJ, Kim SJ. 1976. Studies on dimorphism and heterostyly-incompatability of Abeliophyllum distichum. Seoul Nat Univ J Agric Sci 1: 113-120. (in Korean)

Cited by

  1. The Korean Baekdudaegan Mountains: A Glacial Refugium and a Biodiversity Hotspot That Needs to Be Conserved vol.9, pp.1664-8021, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2018.00489