• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.2
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• pp.115-123
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• 2020

The vertical distribution of vegetation can be classified according to the altitudinal gradient and the distribution of species along this gradient. The purpose of this study was to analyze the vegetation structure, species composition, dimensional density, and change according to altitude. These data illustrate the distribution of coniferous forest by altitude. By order of importance, the vegetation structure of this mixed forest consisted of Abies nephrolepis (12.2), Pinus koraiensis (10.86), and Acer komarovii (8.11). As a result of species composition according to the altitude, A. nephrolepis and Maianthemum bifolium increased in importance with increasing altitude. Tripterygium regelii emerged between 1,400 m and 1,600 m, which indicates that forest gaps were frequent at that elevation. The species diversity index was the highest from 1,400-1,500 m and coincided with the presence of forest gaps. The changes in A. nephrolepis of evergreen conifers increased significantly from 402 ± 5.4 ha.^-1 to 528 ± 11.6 ha.^-1 for two years, and decreased from 57 ± 1.3 ha.^-1 to 56 ± 1.6 ha.^-1 for P. koraiensis. The density of A. nephrolepis and P. koraiensis seedlings significantly increased at 1,500-1,600 m. The results of this study can be used as a basis to identify the mast seeding year with the increase or decrease of seedlings. In addition to documenting the evergreen conifer population of the Seorak Mountain, these results can be built upon for future monitoring of seedlings mortality.