• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.447-466
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• 2019

The orchard flora where perennial fruit trees are grown may be different than in arable fields where annual crops are grown. The study focused on the floristic composition and characteristics of orchards in South Korea. The flora surveys were conducted in 36 areas in nine provinces at two times (May-June and August-September) in 2014. The results showed that the vascular orchard plants in South Korea included 466 taxa, which contained 91 families, 278 genera, 420 species, two subspecies, 39 varieties, four forms, and one hybrid. Among the 91 families, Compositae was the most diverse in species (66 taxa), followed by Gramineae (51 taxa), Leguminosae (28 taxa), Cyperaceae (18 taxa), Polygonaceae (17 taxa), Cruciferae (16 taxa), and Labiatae (14 taxa). Based on the occurrence frequency of each species, Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koel. (100%) was the highest, followed by Acalypha australis L. (94.4%), Commelina communis L. (94.4%), Persicaria longiseta(Bruijn) Kitag.(91.7), Capsella bursa-pastoris(L.) L. W. Medicus(91.7%), Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. (91.7%), Mazus pumilus (Burm. f.) Steenis (86.1%), Artemisia princeps Pamp. (86.1%), Cyperus microiria Steud. (86.1%), Stellaria aquatica (L.) Scop. (83.3%), Stellaria media(L.) Vill.(83.3%), and Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv.(83.3%). The biological type of orchards in South Korea was determined to be Th-₅-D₄-e type. Rare plants were found six taxa: Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J. Presl, Aristolochia contorta Bunge, Melothria japonica (Thunb.) Maxim., Ardisia crenata Sims, Gnaphalium hypoleucum DC., and Aster koraiensis Nakai. Eighty-five taxa contained naturalized plants composed of 23 families, 58 genera, 80 species, four varieties, and one form. The urbanization and naturalization indices were 26.3% and 18.2%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.615-632
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• 2019

Field surveys were conducted from May 2016 to October and from April to October 2017 in Tributary Region of Middle Stream of the Nakdong River. The survey was carried out at 66 sites including Young-gang 11, Naeseong-cheon 21, Wi-cheon 16, and Gam-cheon 9, Byeongseong-cheon 9. As a result of investigation, 474 taxa in total ; 99 familly, 288 genera, 421 species, 4 subspecies, 39 varieties and 10 forma. Among them, 5 Korean endemic plants, 7 rare plants, 31 taxa were listed as Floristic Target Species in Korea. Naturalized plants was confirmed 73 taxa, their Urbanization Ratio 22.7%, and naturalization ratio 15.4% in the investigated area. The Life form(Dormancy form) review results as follows ; Therophytes 159 taxa, Hemicryptophytes 91 taxa, Hydrophanerophytes 68 taxa, Geophyte 52 taxa, Nanophanerophytes 35 taxa, Megaphanerophytes 32 taxa, Microphanerophytes 25 taxa, Chamaephytes 12 taxa, and Epiphyten 1 taxa.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.305-313
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• 2002

The physico-chemical characteristics of water and sediment, and structures of vegetation of the vascular hydrophytes were investigated in the West Nakdong River. Water quality was eutrophic according to the mean values and the ranges of water properties such as pH, DO, BOD, chlorophyll a, total nitrogen and phosphate, and other nutrients. A few cases were hypereutrophic for chlorophyll a level in summer. Soil reaction was weak acid. Composition of sediment was mainly sand except in SI(Sinan chideung) of which was mainly clay, and SU(Suan chideung) of which was mainly silt. Flora of vascular hydrophyte had 26 species and 1 variety comprising 16 families. Trapa japonica was dominant species in the sites of DU(Dunchido), GA(Garak chideung) and SU. Nymphoides peltata and Hydrocharis dubia dominated in DA and SI, respectively. Species diversity and evenness were relatively high in SI and SU but dominance was high in DA. After June, water lettuce(Pistia stratiotes) and water hyacinth(Eichhornia crassipes) were flowed from tributary to the river. Standing crop of macrohydrophytes was high in DA from April to August, but it showed maximum standing crop (445g·dw/㎡) in DU after disturbance by explosive growth of exotic plants in October. In comparison with those in 1985, total productivities in DU and GA decreased to 33.5%, and the reduction ratio of dominant species, Trapa japonica was 56.7%. Najas marina, N. minor, Myriophyllum spicatum and Nymphoides indica have disappeared ever since the Nakdong barrage was constructed in the Nakdong river. They were divided into three groups (GA-SU-DU, DA, SI) by cluster analysis. Introduction of the exotic species in this river caused decreasing of endemic plants including endangered species Euryale ferox and rare species Hydocharis dubia, and food plants for waterfowl such as Trapa japonica, Vallisneria asiatica and Potamogeton crispus.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 1999

To develope wild flower collected from Chollabuk-do area resource plant species were investigated from May 1996 to April 1997. This study was focussed to make the basic data for better quality of breeding species from wild flower species and to keep proper gene pool for development with competitive power internationally in future. There was 131 species blooming in spring season(34.7%), 219 species in summer(58.1%), 25 species in autumn(6.6%) and 2 species in winter(0.5%), respectively. Flower color of all the plants was 26 kinds in diverse, among them, white flowers were occupied dominantly of 28.9%, yellow flowers, 20.7%, violet flowers, 16.4% and red purple flowers, 7.9%, respectively. Transplanted wild flower plants at the garden in the study area frequently were Chelidonium majus var. asiaticum, Hemerocallis fulva, Iris nertschinskia, Rhododendron yedoense var. poukhanense, Rhododendron mucronulatum, Pulsatilla koreana, Chrysanthemum zawadskii var. latilobum, Taraxacum platycarpum, Chrysanthemum boreale, Liriope platyphylla and Lycoris radiata. Twenty-six species of wild flowers such as Cymbidium goeringii, H. fulva, L. radiata, C. zawadskii var. latilobum, etc. were collected from their habitat and being selling at the market or road side. Total 343 taxa of wild flowers to prevent carrying out to foreign countries and to improve better quality were selected and recommended in this study, for example, they were 41 taxa of Compositae plant, 25 of Rosaceae, 20 of Liliaceae and 18 of Ranunculaceae in order. Acorus calamus var. angustatus, Cypripedium japonicum, C. macranthum, Calanthe discolor, Dicentra spectabilis, Ilex cornuta, Stewartia koreana, Abeliophyllum distichum, Forsythia saxatilis and Campanula glomerata var. dahurica should be protected as wild flowers because their numbers are decreasing remarkably, belong to rare species, being at a crisis to extinct species and important plants for research materials.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.83-96
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• 2016

Through the research and analysis on the vegetation environment, flora of habitats through documentary and field studies over 14 habitats of Euryale ferox Salisbury within Jeollabukdo, with the objective of acquiring the basic data for forming an environment based on plantation of reservoirs that are composed with Euryale ferox, the following results were obtained. 1. The entire flora of the 14 habitats appeared to be 79 families, 211 genus, 298 species, two subspecies, 30 varieties and six forma, thus, a total of 336 taxa was confirmed. Among these, emergent water plants appeared to compose 17 taxa, floating-leaved plants to compose seven taxa including Euryale ferox floating plants to compose five taxa and submerged water plants to compose two taxa. As a result of analyzing the similarity only over the water plants. The lowest similarity rate appeared between Gamdong Reservoir and Aedang Reservoir, as the similarity rate between the two regions appeared to be 0% as a result of the analysis. Floating-leaved plants, lotuses and caltrops, appeared to be equally inhabiting in Hanseongji at Jeongeup and Seoknam Reservoir at Gochang, which showed the highest similarity rate, in addition to Euryale ferox. 2. When examining the appearance frequency of aquatic plants per growth type, Actinostemma lobatum and Phragmites communis, in addition to Euryale ferox each appeared 11 times, showing a high frequency of 78.6% and Trapa japonica, which is a floating-leaved water plant, appeared ten times(71.4%) and Zizania latifolia appeared eight times(57.1%). In addition, the appearance rate appeared to be high in the order of Persicaria thunbergii, Leersia sayanuka, Ceratophyllum demersum, Echinochloa crusgalli var. oryzicola, Scirpus maritimus, and Nelumbo nucifera. 3. The rare plants discovered in the Euryale ferox habitats pursuant to the IUCN evaluation standards was confirmed to be composed of five taxa, with three taxa including the least concerned species(LC), Melothria japonica at Yanggok Reservoir, Hydrocharis dubia at Myeongdeokji and Ottelia alismoides at Daewi Reservoir, in addition to vulnerable species(VU), Utricularia vulgaris at Sangpyeong Reservoir, along with Euryale ferox. 4. Most of the group or community types of the natural habitats of Euryale ferox appeared to be the Euryale ferix community' and the Daewi Reservoir of Gunsan was defined as caltrop + Euryale ferox + Nymphoides indica community. The green coverage ratio of Euryale ferox per natural habitats showed a considerably huge deviation from 0.03 to 36.50 and as the average green coverage ratio was appropriated as 9.8, it can be considered that maintaining the green coverage ratio of Euryale ferox in a 10% level would be advisable when forming a reservoir with Euryale ferox as the key composition species. 5. The vegetation community nearby the natural habitats of Euryale ferox per research subject area appeared to be composed of three Leersia japonica communities, two communities each for Zizania latifolia community and Trapa japonica community and one community each for Nelumbo nucifera community, Nymphoides peltata + Typha orientalis community, Trapa japonica + Nelumbo nucifera community, Hydrocharis dubia community, Leersia japnica + Paspalum distichum var. indutum community and Euryale ferox + Trapa japonica community, showing a slight difference depending on the location conditions of each reservoir. Thus, this result may be suggested as a guideline to apply when allocating the vegetation ratio and the types of floating-leaved plants upon planting plants in reservoirs with Euryale ferox as the main companion species.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.305-320
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• 2005

Recently 64 species in Korea have been ranked as rare and endangered taxa by the Ministry of Environment using two categories, I and II. The original threat categories produced by the Ministry of Environment were developed to provide a standard for specifying animals and plants in danger of extinction and has been influential sources of information used in species conservation in Korea. However, the criteria by Ministry of Environment were applied to the whole taxa only by regional boundaries, especially in South Korea, rather than international context, and it also lacked an explicit framework that was necessary to ensure repeatability among taxa because of the absence of quantitative criteria to measure the likelihood of extinction. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has developed quantitative criteria for assessing the conservation status of species. The threatened species categories, the 2000 IUCN Red List, proposed by SSC (Species Survival Commission) of IUCN have become widely recognized internationally. Details of threatened Korean plants, identified by applying the IUCN threat categories and definitions, were listed and analyzed. The number of species identified as threatened was only 34 out of 64 taxa (48.4%), while the rest of taxa were rejected from the original lists. Many of the species (51.6%, 33 taxa) excluded from the original list proposed by Ministry of Environment do not qualify as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable because these taxa were widely distributed either in Japan or in China/far eastern Russia and there is no evidence of substantial decline in these countries. An evaluation of taxa in Korea has been carried out only based on subjective views and qualitative data, rather than quantitative scientific data, such as rates of decline, distribution range size, population size, and risk of extinction. Therefore, the national lists undermine the credibility of threatened species lists and invite misuse, which have been raised by other cases, qualitative estimate of risk, political influence, uneven taxonomic or geographical coverage. The increasing emphasis on international responsibilities means that global scale is becoming more significant. The current listings by Environment of Ministry of Korea should be challenged, and the government should seek to facilitate the resolution of disagreements. Especially the list should be flexible enough to handle uncertainty and also incorporates detailed, quantitative data. It is suggested that the highest priorities for the Red List should be given to endemic species in Korea first. After setting up the list of endemic species to Korea, quantitative data on population size and structure, distributional range, rated of decline, and habitat fragmentation should be collected as one of long term projects for the Red list categories. Transparency and accountability are the most important key factors. Also, species assessors are named and data sources referenced are required for the future objective evaluations on Korean plant taxa.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.4-25
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• 2011

This study was performed in 2010 to examine the flora and vegetation structure and chemical characteristics of soil in the growing community of Abeliophyllum distichum, located in the Byeonsanbando National Park. This Abeliophyllum distichum community has more individual numbers in Cheongrim-ni and Jungkye-ri, Byeonsan-myeon, and Buan-gun area, which is designated as a Natural Monument (No. 370), and also where the habitat conditions for Abeliophyllum distichum is more favorable. The authors recorded 100 taxa with 45 families, 82 genus, 93 species, 4 varieties, and 3 forms. Among them, species such as Abeliophyllum distichum (critically endangered), Asarum maculatum (near threatened) and Chionanthus retusa (near threatened), which are categorized as rare plants, were recorded. According to the list of Korean endemic plants, 4 taxa, particularly Philadelphus schrenckii, Abeliophyllum distichum, Weigela subsessilis, and Lonicera subsessili, were recorded. The community of Abeliophyllum distichum is located in the northwest slope of Baekcheon watershed and the community is comprised of healthy soil. The community structure was classified into three: the Castanea crenata community, Zelkova serrata community, and Quercus serrata community. The Castanea crenata community is composed of the Cornus walteri, Platycarya strobilacea, Zelkova serrata, Rhamnella frangulioides, arranged in terms of importance percentage. The Zelkova serrata community is composed of Celtis sinensis, Quercus aliena, Styrax japonica, and Acer pseudo-sieboldianum, also according to importance percentage. As for the Quercus serrata community, it is composed of Quercus variabilis, Castanea crenata, and Prunus sargentii, also arranged in terms of importance percentage. The importance percentage of Abeliophyllum distichum is 6.6% in the Castanea crenata community, 5.6% in the Zelkova serrata community and 5.1% in the Quercus serrata community. Moreover, in order of chemical characteristics of soil pH, electrical conductivity, available phosphoric, organic matter, and exchangeable cation (K, Ca, Mg) are analyzed. The No. 3 site was relatively higher than other districts of the same chemical characteristics of soil.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.177-201
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• 2022

Following the adoption of the global plant conservation strategies at the Conference of the Parties for Biodiversity Conservation, diligent actions to achieve each targets are actively carried out. In particular, the need for ecological conservation research to achieve targets 2 and 7 of GSPC-2020 has increased. The priority taxa to accomplish the objectives of GSPC-2020 are rare and endemic plants. In particular, endemic plants with limited distribution in specific regions are evaluated to face a high risk of extinction. To address the necessity to preserve endemic plants, we investigated the distribution of Prunus choreiana H. T. Im, a Korean endemic plant. After that, we examined the vegetational environment of the habitat of P. choreiana and evaluated its population structure. The productivity of its fruits and the effects of pollinators on fruit production were evaluated as well. The fruiting ratio was calculated based on the number of flowers produced. Lastly, we observed the annual growth characteristics of P. choreiana. The habitats of P. choreiana did not show a specific type of vegetation. All of them were located in a limestone area of Gangwon-do in the central Korean Peninsula and occupied a site where the coverage of the tree layer and the sub-tree layer was not high or did not exist. The population structure of P. choreiana contained a high proportion of mature plants capable of producing fruits and a low proportion of seedlings and Juvenile plants. We found that the production of fruits required pollinators and was affected by the performance of each plant. Although P. choreiana produces many flowers, only a maximum of 20% and only 2-6% on average bear fruits. These flowering characteristics may be due to pollinators' low abundance and activity during the flowering season (between mid-March and early April), suggesting that many flowers are needed to attract more pollinators. We rarely observed the re-establishment of seedlings in the population of P. choreiana. Despite that, we predict the population to persist owing to its long lifespan and periodic production of numerous fruits. However, if the tree layer and sub-tree layer in competing status with P. choreiana increase their crown density, they are expected to inhibit the growth of P. choreiana and affect the risk of its extinction. Therefore, the current changes in the vegetational environment of the habitats are expected to decrease the number and extent of P. choreiana in the long term. The results of this study may serve as primary and important data necessary for the achievement of GSPC-2020 objectives.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.107 no.4
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• pp.361-377
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to examine whether the guideline by the Ministry of Environment (ME) successfully and appropriately applied the IUCN Red List criteria at regional level and the rare and endangered national list considered eligible. A certain number of vascular plants, which are widely distributed in the world or in east Asia, deemed to be ineligible for assessment at a regional level as Not Applicable category (NA), because it occurs at very low numbers in South Korea. Among 377 vascular plant taxa evaluated by the ME, NA included 238 species, which represented 63.1%. The number of synonymized species or illegitimate name species were 13 species, which accounted for 3.4%. 21 species (9.3%) were threatened at global level and 103 species were possibly candidates species list for Red List assessments at regional level in the near future. The proportion of NA or waiting list was 66.6% among the list assessed by the ME. The most common errors involved incorrectly application of species extinction in case of population extinction in South Korea to the assessment and provided incorrect interpretation of the Red List criteria at regional level. The most assessments proposed by ME were not backed up without quantitative data quality, justifications, and sources. It is suggested that the risk of extinction should be reassessed at least in the Korean peninsula within the light of their overall distribution including far eastern Russia and North eastern China in north and for Japan and Taiwan in south for regional assessment. The results obtained here using the IUCN criteria at regional level showed that the list proposed by the ME produced an overestimation of the number of threatened vascular plants. Also, the misapplication of the term 'species extinction' for regional assessment was open to some degree of subjectivity and misinterpretation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.105 no.1
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• pp.19-41
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• 2016

This study examined the flora and community classification in the Forest Genetic Resources Reserves (FGRR) at Mt. Daeseng and Juparyeong to understand the degree of disturbance and the state of forest stand development within the Civilian Control Line (CCL) and to provide baseline data for preservation and management. Of the vascular plants dispersed throughout the study site, there were 98 families, 311 genera, 507 species, 6 subspecies, 65 varieties, and 10 forms, for a total of 588 taxa. Of these, 92 families, 290 genera, 459 species, 6 subspecies, 58 varieties, and 9 forms, for a total of 532 taxa of native plants, were determined to be dispersed around the FGRR at Mt. Daeseng, and 94 families, 259 genera, 364 species, 6 subspecies, 50 varieties, and 8 forms, for a total of 428 taxa of native plants, were confirmed to be dispersed around the FGRR at Juparyeong. There were 21 taxa of endemic Korean plants growing in the FGRR at Mt. Daeseng, with 14 taxa growing in the FGRR at Juparyeong. In terms of rare plants, 26 taxa were confirmed in the FGRR at Mt. Daeseng, and 10 taxa were confirmed in the FGRR at Juparyeong. A Cluster analysis was performed using vegetation data taken from 58 sample plots in each FGRR. The results showed a total of three representative community classifications from Mt. Daeseng: mixed mesophytic forest, Quercus mongolica-Acer pseudosieboldianum, and Quercus mongolica-Fraxinus rhynchophylla communities. Four representative community classifications were observed from Juparyeong: Quercus mongolica-broad leaved forest, Fraxinus rhynchophylla-broad leaved forest, Quercus mongolica, and Quercus communities. On the whole, the species diversity of the communities in Mt. Daeseng FGRR was greater than for the communities in Juparyeong FGRR. At Mt. Daeseng, the mixed mesophytic forest had the highest species diversity index at 1.590, while at Juparyeong, the Fraxinus rhynchophylla-broad leaved forest had the highest species diversity index at 1.319. These study results should serve as useful baseline data for future preservation and management of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and the surrounding area.