Seon-Mi Lee

Which Environmental Factors Caused Lammas Shoot Growth of Korean Red Pine

Lammas growth, a rare phenomenon for Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora), occurred in 2006. Lammas shoots showed higher frequency and longer length in Seoul`s hotter urban center than in urban boundary or suburban forest sites. Frequency and length showed a close correlation with urbanization density and vegetation cover expressed in NDVI. Air temperature in the late summer of 2006 was more than higher than an average year. Of the predominant environmental signals that modulate bud flush, only temperature changed significantly during the year. Differences in temperature between the urban centers, urban boundaries and suburban forests correlated with varying land-use density. The rise in temperature likely spurred lammas growth of the Korean red pine. Symptoms of climate change are being detected throughout the world, and its consequences will be clearer in the future. Considerate interest in the responses of ecological systems to the variable changes is required to prepare for unforeseeable crises. Monitoring of diverse ecological phenomena at Long Term Ecological Research sites could offer harbingers of change.

Feasibility of seed bank for restoration of salt marsh: a case study around the Gwangyang Bay, southern Korea

Salt marsh is an important transitional zone among terrestrial, riverine, and marine ecosystems and is a productive habitat that interacts extensively with adjacent landscape elements of estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Nowadays, in addition to various human activities, a variety of natural processes induce changes in salt marshes. This study aims to provide background information to restore disturbed salt marshes and to propose their ecological restoration using seed banks. The study area is a prepared area for the Gwangyang Container Port located in the southern Korea. This area was formed by accumulating mud soils dredged from the bottom of the forward sea. This land was created in a serial process of preparing the Gwangyang container port and the salt marsh was passively restored by seeds buried in mud soil dredged from seabed. As a result of stand ordination based on vegetation data collected from the land, stands were arranged according to tolerance to salinity in the order of Suaeda maritima, Salicornia europaea, and Phragmites communis communities on the Axis 1. Landscape structure of the projected area was analyzed as well. Edges of the projected area were divided from the marginal waterway by the dike. Four types of vegetation appeared on the dike: Alnus firma plantation, Robinia pseudoacacia plantation, Lespedeza cyrtobotrya plantation, and grassland. In the more internal areas, two types of vegetation sequences appeared: Aster tripolium community-Suaeda glauca community-Salicornia europaea community sequence and Aster tripolium community-Suaeda maritima community-S. europaea community sequence. Mixed community showed the highest species diversity (H′ = 0.86) and S. europaea community showed the lowest (H′ = 0.0). Evenness is the highest in Mixed community (J′ = 2.26) and the lowest in S. maritime-S. europaea community (J′ = 0.0). Several plant communities were successfully established on the land created by mud soil dredged from the bottom of Gwangyang Bay. Moreover, community diversity in this area approached a similar level with those from other studies involving natural salt marshes. Therefore, restoration effect based on community diversity obtained in our study can be evaluated as a successful achievement. In this respect, although most salt marshes in Korea and other places worldwide have been destroyed or disturbed by excessive land use, feasibility of seed bank as a restoration tool is greatly expected.

Effects of Partial Habitat Restoration by a Method Suitable for Riverine Environments in Korea

Korean rivers and their surrounding environments have been used excessively for rice production in the past and more recently for construction of urban areas to accomodate the rapidly increasing population. Affected Korean rivers experience dramatic fluctuations in their water levels and have faster currents compared with those in other countries. In order to restore more natural conditions in rivers experiencing such conditions, we employed a partial restoration method, which is designed to achieve physical and biological stability simultaneously. Concrete blocks were introduced to increase the river`s physical stability during floods, and terra cottem, a soil enhancer, was used to reduce water loss due to intense heat. These interventions increased the river`s ability to hold water and thereby promoted plant growth. This restoration method increased vegetation coverage and species diversity in treated areas, and changed the species composition in treated areas to more closely approximate that of the control site. These results suggest that this method is effective in restoring damaged habitats to more natural conditions.

An Evaluation of the Effects of Rehabilitation Practiced in Coal Mining Spoils in Korea: 2. An Evaluation Based on the Physicochemical Properties of Soil

The effectiveness of rehabilitation programs for coal mining spoils in Samcheok, Jeongsun, and Mungyung were evaluated based on the physicochemical properties of soil in the rehabilitated areas. These spoils were reclaimed by introducing plants such as black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), pitch pine (Pinus rigida), birch (Betula platyphylla var. japonica), alder (Alnus hirsuta), bush clover (Lespedeza cyrtobotrya), and grass (Lolium perenne) in planting beds covered with forest soil. In the surface soil, the pH, organic matter, total N, available P, and exchangeable Ca showed significant changes over the years after reclamation. The pH and exchangeable Ca content decreased exponentially over time, whereas organic matter increased linearly and total N and available P increased exponentially. Changes in the physicochemical properties of subsurface soils displayed a different pattern. There were significant changes over time in the organic matter, available P, and exchangeable Ca and Mg contents of the soil. Organic matter increased logarithmically with years since rehabilitation and available P increased exponentially. Meanwhile, exchangeable Ca decreased exponentially, and Mg decreased logarithmically. The changes in the subsurface soil were not as dramatic as those in the surface soil. This result suggests that the ameliorating effects of the establishment and growth of plants more pronounced on the surface soil layer. Stand ordination data showed different relationships with time since rehabilitation in the early and later stages of the rehabilitation process. In the early stages of rehabilitation, stands tended to be arranged in the order of reclamation age. However, in the later stages, there was not a clear relationship between reclamation age and vegetation characteristics. This result suggests that soil amelioration is required for the early stages, after which an autogenic effect becomes more prominent as the vegetation becomes better established.

An Evaluation of the Effects of Rehabilitation Practiced in the Coal Mining Spoils in Korea 1. An Evaluation Based on Vegetation

This study evaluated the effects of rehabilitation of existing coal mining spoils on species composition and species diversity. The species composition of most rehabilitated stands differed from that of the reference stands, and thus did not suggest successful rehabilitation. However, stands subjected to restorative treatment many years ago showed higher species diversity than the reference stands and thereby met the goals of rehabilitation. Our results demonstrate that restorative treatments practiced in the past created a heterogeneous ecological space with regard to the surrounding areas. Therefore, even though species diversity increased several years after rehabilitation, this does not indicate that the treatment achieved true rehabilitation success. The treatment did result in temporary stability through increased species diversity, but it could not be described as successful rehabilitation in terms of biological integrity with the surrounding ecosystems.