Journal of Environmental Science International pISSN: 1225-4517 eISSN: 2287-3503 26(10); 1111~1124; October 2017 https://doi.org/10.5322/JESI.2017.26.10.1111 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Effects on Vegetation Distribution of Odaesan National Park according to Climate and Topography of Baekdudaegan, Korea Bong-Ho Han, Jin-Woo Choi1), Jung-Hun Yeum2)* Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Seoul, Seoul 02504, Korea 1)Environmental Ecosystem Research Foundation, Seoul 05643, Korea 2)National Wetlands Center, National Institute of Environmental Research, Changnyeong 50303, Korea Abstract This study aimed to understand the distribution of vegetation in the eastern and western sides of the Baekdudaegan (ridge) dividing the Odaesan National Park, as influenced by its topography and climate. The actual vegetation, topography and climate for each side were used in the overlay analysis. The results of the analysis of actual vegetation showed a high distribution rate of Quercus mongolica forest on both the eastern and western sides. On the eastern side, the distribution rate of Pinus densiflora forest and P. densiflora-Q. variabilis forest was high, while the western side had a high distribution rate of deciduous broad-leaved tree forest and Abies hollophylla forest. A clear trend was identified for vegetation distribution with respect to elevation but not with respect to slope or aspect. The results of micro-landform analysis showed that the P. densiflora forests in the ridge and slope and the deciduous broad-leaved tree forest in the valley were respectively distributed with a high ratio. In terms of climate, the eastern side revealed an oceanic climate, with a relatively high average annual temperature, while the western side was characterized by relatively high average annual humidity and average annual precipitation. The distribution rate of P. densiflora forest was found to be high on the eastern side of the mountain range. Key words : Ridge impact, Topographic characteristic, Northern temperate zone, Oceanic climate, Overlay analysis 1. Introduction1) direction (Lee, 2000b). In particular, a study on the relationship between the micro-landform and the Topography and climate are key factors that affect vegetation pattern which evaluated the slope showed vegetation patterns (Shin, 2006). Topographic studies that the distance between the erosion and stream demonstrated that factors affecting the vegetation affects the vegetation structure (Kikuchi and Miura, pattern include vertical changes depending on the 1993). Peterson et al. (1997) indicated that the altitude above the sea level (Hou, 1983; Park et al., vegetation distribution depends on the vertical 1996; Byun et al., 1998; Lee, 2000a; Yoo et al., altitude above the sea level for the horizontal latitude 2003), micro-landform changes depending on the difference. slope (Yeon et al., 2006; Chang et al., 2012) and the The climate directly affects the vegetation distribution intensity of radiation changes depending on the (Vloebeld and Leemans, 1993; Neilson, 1995) and Received 16 March 2017; Revised 29 September, 2017; ⓒ The Korean Environmental Sciences Society. All rights reserved. Accepted 6 October, 2017 This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the *Corresponding author: Jung-Hun Yeum, National Wetlands Center, Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// National Institute of Environmental Research, Changnyeong 50303, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted Korea non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, Phone: +82-55-530-5533 provided the original work is properly cited. E-mail: [email protected] 1112 Bong-Ho Han, Jin-Woo Choi, Jung-Hun Yeum most studies cover the distribution range depending distribution. The Korea Forest Research Institute on the climate of the vegetation community (Jiang, (2003) states that the Baekdudaegan vegetation 1980; Kira, 1991). Kira (1991) separated the includes northern warm, mid- and southern climatic vegetation distribution in East and Southeast Asia regions. There are a lot of studies investigating the into the warmth and coldness indices to identify each plant vegetation structure in each section (Kim and climate feature and reported that the tropical rain Choo, 2003; Lee et al., 2012; Choi et al., 2015) as forest influences the local growing environment due well as the impact of the altitude above the sea level to the strong rainfall. Ohsawa (1990) reported the and micro-landform changes on the vegetation impact of the temperature in the summer and winter distribution (Choung, 1998; Hwang et al., 2012). on the vegetation distribution pattern of the tropical Prior studies have reported that the vegetation forest in East Asia according to the longitude and distribution is affected by the altitude above the sea latitude. In addition, it was suggested that the Föhn level, the slope, direction and micro-landform, as effect from the mountains forms the local climate well as the regional climate like the temperature, (Marcu and Huber, 2003) and that the forest near the Föhn effect and oceanic climate. However, most ocean forms a climate without a large annual studies focus on the relation to the factors affecting fluctuation (Yuste et al., 2003) while affecting the the vegetation distribution at the site and a limited forest vegetation distribution. number of studies accurately determined the vegetation The Baekdudaegan (ridge) is the biggest range of difference according to the north and south or east mountains from Baekdusan to Jirisan through Geum and west based on the ridge at the local scale. In -gangsan, Odaesan and Deokyusan, reflecting the particular, it is important to understand the forest topographic feature of Korea with 65% of mountains. eco-system by investigating the vegetation distribution The concept of 'Baekdudaegan', mountains from in the east and west Baekdudaegan central mountains Baekdusan, is based on feng shui from the Goeyro of Korea depending on the topography and climate. Dynasty. However, it is from the Joseon Dynasty that Odaesan National Park, the site of the study, is a the concept of the range of mountains and river representative park with a clear distinction between basins was generalized and established through a the oceanic climate at the east slope and the inland system like the Sangyeongpyo in the late period of climate at the west slope. the Joseon or the mid-18th century (Yang, 1997). The Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate total length of Baekdudaegan is about 1,400 km and how the climate features including the annual average the section below the truce line is about 670 km from temperature, precipitation and humidity and the Hyangrobong in Goseong, Gangwon to Cheonwangbong topographic features depending on the elevation, slope, in Jirisan. The ridge elongates along the vertical direction and micro-landform affect the vegetation direction of the highlands on the topography, the east distribution as the basic data for vegetation manage side near the seashore has an oceanic climate with a -ment of protected areas. rapid slope and the west side has a slow slope with an inland climate (Ministry of Environment, 2002; 2. Materials and Methods Choung et al., 2004). 2.1. Study area Lee et al. (2013) classifies the vegetation group of The Odaesan National Park is located between N. the rid into 49 types including 42 natural forests and 37°42' - 37°-49' and E. 128°42' - 128°44' with a total 7 artificial forests according to the vegetation Effects on Vegetation Distribution of Odaesan National Park according to Climate and 1113 Topography of Baekdudaegan, Korea Fig. 1. Location of study area. area of 326 . The park is located in the northeast of on the vegetation physiognomy of the tree layer and Gangwondo facing Seoraksan on the north and areas like Buddhist temples and garden trees were Taebaeksan on the south along with the axis of classified based on the land use status. The study Baekdudaegan and contains peaks like the main distinguished coniferous trees and broad-leaf trees Birobong (1,563 m), Durobong (1,422 m), Sangwangbong from aerial photographs obtained by the National (1,491 m), Horyeongbong (1,561 m), Dongdaesan Geographic Information Institute (taking year of (1,338 m) and Noinbong (1,338 m). Gangneung-si is 2012). The photographs were used to draw the in the east while Pyeongchang-gun and Hongcheon current vegetation map and form blocks of vegetation -gun are located west of the ridge (Fig. 1). and land use types with a topographic map of 1/5,000 The national park is in the northern limit area of scale recording the characteristics of the site. The site the northern temperate zone and the western and survey result was mapped using the AutoCAD Map eastern parts of Baekdudaegan are affected by the 2004 and ArcGIS 10.1 then the area and ratio for inland climate and oceanic climate, respectively (Yim each type of actual vegetation were calculated. The and Lee, 1975). In particular, the climate data of the vegetation types in the northern temperate and Korean Meteorological Administration (1981 - 2010) mid-temperate areas were reconstructed based on the show that the Woljeongsa region marked the lowest afforestation tree species for each temperate region average temperature in Korea of 6.6 9 and the designated by the Korea Forest Service (2017). largest annual average precipitation among inland 2.2.2. Topography and climate areas of more than 1,700 mm. The topography was analyzed with the 3D Analyst 2.2. Survey and analysis method Tool and the Spatial Analyst tool in ArcGIS 10.1 to 2.2.1. Current vegetation determine the elevation, slope, aspect and micro The current vegetation type was classified based -landform. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was 1114 Bong-Ho Han, Jin-Woo Choi, Jung-Hun Yeum analyzed by extracting the contour from the for analyzing and checking the overlay feature as a numerical topographic map (1/25,000). The cell size pre-process for Multi-Criteria Evaluation.