• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.309-319
• /
• 2008

Roads are an indicator of anthropogenic activity causing ecosystem disturbances and often lead to habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, and habitat isolation. The Hallasan National Park(153.4$km^2$) on Jeju Island being distinguished for its unique geology, topography, and biota has also been designated as a core area of UNESCO Man and the Biosphere(MAB) Reserve. Although the high conservation value of this park has contributed to a rapid growth of tourists and road construction, landscape changes due to roads have not been examined yet. We used GIS systems to examine the fragmentation pattern caused by roads, in relation to its zonation, elevation, and vegetation. When a buffer was applied to roads(112m width for paved roads and 60m width for both legal and illegal trails), the park consisted of 100 fragments. The ten fragments generated after applying buffer to only paved roads and legal trails ranged from $0.002km^2$ to $38.2km^2$ with a mean of $14.2km^2$, and about 7% of both nature conservation zone and nature environment zone of the park were edge. Fragments in both east and west ends of the park and around the summit exhibited relatively high shape indices with means of 5.19(for 100 fragments) and 7.22(for 10 fragments). All five legal trails are connected to the pit crater of the mountain and vegetation changed from broadleaf forests and conifer forests to grasslands with elevation, consequently resulting in dramatic fragment size reduction in grasslands at high elevation, in particular above 1,400m, where endemic and alpine plants are abundant. These results show that in Hallasan National Park the risks of habitat deterioration and habitat loss due to fragmentation may be more severe in the nature conservation zone dominated by Baengnokdam than in the nature environment zone. Therefore, current road networks of the park appear to fall short of the goal of the national park for ecosystem conservation and protection. Considering that the entire Hallasan National Park also serves as a MAB core area, conservation efforts should focus, first of all, on park rezoning and road management to mitigate habitat fragmentation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.106 no.3
• /
• pp.310-319
• /
• 2017

This study categorized the damaged trees by Supervised Classification using time-series-aerial photographs of Bukhan, Cheonggae and Suri mountains because oak wilt disease seemed to be concentrated in the metropolitan regions. In order to analyze the spatial characteristics of the damaged areas, the geographical characteristics such as elevation and slope were statistically analyzed to confirm their strong correlation. Based on the results from the statistical analysis of Moran's I, we have retrieved the following: (i) the value of Moran's I in Bukhan mountain is estimated to be 0.25, 0.32, and 0.24 in 2009, 2010 and 2012, respectively. (ii) the value of Moran's I in Cheonggye mountain estimated to be 0.26, 0.32 and 0.22 in 2010, 2012 and 2014, respectively and (iii) the value of Moran's I in Suri mountain estimated to be 0.42 and 0.42 in 2012 and 2014. respectively. These numbers suggest that the damaged trees are distributed in clusters. In addition, we conducted hotspot analysis to identify how the damaged tree clusters shift over time and we were able to verify that hotspots move in time series. According to our research outcome from the analysis of the entire hotspot areas (z-score>1.65), there were 80 percent probability of oak wilt disease occurring in the broadleaf or mixed-stand forests with elevation of 200~400 m and slope of 20~40 degrees. This result indicates that oak wilt disease hotspots can occur or shift into areas with the above geographical features or forest conditions. Therefore, this research outcome can be used as a basic resource when predicting the oak wilt disease spread-patterns, and it can also prevent disease and insect pest related harms to assist the policy makers to better implement the necessary solutions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.101 no.4
• /
• pp.710-721
• /
• 2012

This study is to find out the search of the desirable tree cutting permit system by investigating and analyzing timber logger's consciousness in Korea. A sample group, including 64 officers in 5 Regional Forest Services and 27 National Forest Stations, 161 local government of 322 officers and team leaders with cutting permits, and 308 tree loggers was surveyed. The survey results showed that the ongoing harvest year plan for national, public and private-type forests, which was applied differently, could be integrated as 3.73 points, which was not significant among the groups. A total of 95.1% of the national forest officers stated that the environmentally friendly harvesting system could be improved and that it is exempted from bad broadleaf trees and renewal of forest type (4.14 points). An environmentally friendly harvesting system including the type of forest and location status (slide, soil, etc) is needed (3.87 points). Additionally, the round timber purchased from tree loggers managed in 2009 was about 10.6% of the domestic timber supply ($3,176,000m^3$) and round timber sales were about 50.1%. A total of 72% of the loggers suggested that a environmentally friendly harvesting system is needed (4.11 points). These results show that a new system for harvesting timber is needed to replace the current environmentally unfriendly harvesting system, and that tree loggers should be registered for management.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.114-133
• /
• 2013

This study aims to identify the natural damage of the Samcheonsaji Temple Site in Bukhansan National Park and to suggest the plans to minimize damage for the remains. The types of natural damage are classified into direct vegetation damage, indirect topographical damage, and artificial damage. The most popular causes of damage to temple sites include the roots of trees as direct vegetation damage and the soil erosion by rain or stream as topographical damage. Direct vegetation damage includes burial remains damaged by the root of trees and vines, but it is often observed that some trees have contributed to protection against collapse. Indirect topographical changes have damaged the ruins by soil erosion caused by floods or typhoons. Vegetation changes due to topographical reasons have also caused damage. Artificial reasons of damage include forestry operations and compaction by hikers. Based on the analysis of the findings, the following could be suggested as plans to resolve these problems: 1. Natural damage occurs slowly due to negligence. Therefore, it could be reduced by forestry improvement, including forest density control through thinning, planting to prevent landslides, maintaining grasslands nearby. 2. Deciduous broadleaf trees can be planted to reduce soil erosion by rainfall. It is necessary to maintain the density of forests at around $0.02{\sim}0.18trees/m^2$. 3. It would be good to grow Quercus spp and Carpinus spp or weaken the community of Robinia pseudoacacia and Pueraria lobata which disturb the ecosystem. Samcheonsaji Temple Site is located in Mt. Bukhan National Park that is a publicly owned property. Therefore, it is constantly maintained for natural preservation and vegetation management could be considered for the preservation of historical remains.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.48-67
• /
• 2021

Plant species exhibit current characteristics as a result of interactions with environmental conditions. The plants of Viola sp. have selected chasmogamous flowers with vigorous vegetative propagation or development of cleistogamous flowers as an adaptation strategy. Viola websteri is distributed on the Korean peninsula and the eastern part of Jilin Province, China. The center and edge of the distribution are expected to exhibit different population-dynamics. It is necessary to investigate the cause of its current limited distribution even though V. websteri has a mixed-mating strategy. Firstly, We examined the vegetation environment of habitats and evaluated its characteristics. Growth characteristics were examined through plant phenology. We then evaluated the population structure, characteristics of chasmogamous flowers, and productivity of cleistogamous flowers. Moreover, we compared population sizes between 2014 and 2018. Most habitats were located in deciduous broadleaf mixed forests adjacent to valleys. V. websteri produced chasmogamous flowers with self-incompatibility in April-May and cleistogamous flowers in June-September. The cleistogamous flower production is a strategy ensuring seed production under uncertain environmental fluctuations; these were approximately twice as numerous as chasmogamous flowers. The population structure was distinguished into stable and very unstable regions. There were sites where the population experienced a sharp decline in the 2018 compared to that of 2014. This large decline was found in the edge populations. The habitats had different microsites depending on the natural disturbances of drought and the matrix constituting the habitat, thus supporting various plants. Ensuring the production of seeds through cleistogamous flowers, it was determined that rapid seedling re-establishment and population replenishment were possible when the natural disturbance factor was removed. Environmental factors did not equally affect all populations or individuals. Therefore, it was expected that it would be able to persisted in a long time, despite the rapid decrease in the number of individuals in the population regionally. Local extinction and re-establishment are likely to repeat according to environmental change. We propose the additional population investigation based on this works are required. We also suggest a need to assess the long-term population dynamics and the genetic characteristics of chasmogamous flowers and cleistogamous flowers to establish and implement effective conservation strategies.