Vascular Plant Diversity of the Gogunsan Archipelago in the Korean Peninsula
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Journal136 of Species Research 8(1):136-159, 2019JOURNAL OF SPECIES RESEARCH Vol. 8, No. 1 Vascular plant diversity of the Gogunsan Archipelago in the Korean Peninsula Jung-Hyun Kim1,*, Ji-Hong An2, Gi-Heum Nam1, Hwan-Joon Park1, Jin-Seok Kim1, Byoung Yoon Lee1, Kyeong-Ui Lee3,4 and Yeon-Soon Chang4 1Plant Resources Division, National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon 22689, Republic of Korea 2Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration Team, Baekdudaegan National Arboretum, Bonghwa 35208, Republic of Korea 3Department of Forest Resources, Kongju National University, Yesan 32439, Republic of Korea 4Institute of Ecosystem Survey, Seoul 06580, Republic of Korea *Correspondent: [email protected] This study was carried out to investigate the flora of six islands belonging to the Gogunsan Archipelago (i.e., Sinsi-do, Seonyu-do, Munyeo-do, Yami-do, Bian-do, and Duri-do) in the Korean Peninsula. As results of five field surveys from March to October of 2016, we have identified 575 total taxa, representing 527 species, five subspecies, 42 varieties, and one hybrid, placed in 358 genera and 118 families. Of these 575 taxa, four are endemic to Korea, six taxa are listed on the Korean Red List of threatened species, 67 are floristic regional indicator plants, and 74 are invasive alien species. In this study, we compared species richness among the islands, and find that the larger the islands, the higher the species richness. In the case of habitat affinity types, forest species were most common, followed by farmland, seacoast, bare ground and wetland species. From similarity analyses based on the composition of vascular plants, each island did not exhibit either local spec- ificity or unique diversity. On the contrary, the proportion of invasive alien and ruderal species may increase by human activities. Investigations and analyses of island flora such as this are important to assess the cur- rent status of the flora, predict future vegetation patterns and the spread of the alien species, and establish managment plans of plant diversity. Keywords: endemic plants, invasive alien plants, similarity index Ⓒ 2019 National Institute of Biological Resources DOI:10.12651/JSR.2019.8.1.136 INTRODUCTION 2002), and the present flora of these islands follow the peninsula effect being impoverished in species composi- The Korean Peninsula, located in the eastern portion of tion from the mainland to the adjacent islands or outer the Eurasian continent, is connected to the continent to edge of the peninsula (Lee and Yim, 2002). In the last the north and surrounded by seawater on three sides (Kim glacial maximum (some 12,000-18,000 years ago), the et al., 2015). Since Korea is located at the intersection of current western and southern coasts were land associat- vascular plants with southern and northern distribution ed with continents, but after the ice age was over, some limits, plant diversity is relatively high per unit area and areas with high elevation became islands caused by the distributions are very complex. These features of Korean rising sea level. Scholars estimate that the current coast- flora are thought to be results of correlations between line formed some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago so that plants ecological characters of plants and abiotic elements of remaining on the southwestern coastal islands could be climate, geographical features, and geographical location isolated from the population of the continent for more (Lee and Yim, 2002). The southwestern coast of the Ko- than 8,000 years (National Institute of Biological Resour- rean Peninsula is a typical Rias coast with irregular, com- ces, 2015). There is a possibility of genetic interaction plex coastlines formed by erosion, fault activities, and between peninsular and inland populations depending on sea elevation, and thus many inhabited and uninhabited pollination and seed dispersal capabilities, but islands islands are scattered nearby. A lot of islands are scattered located far from shore show unique ecosystem because along western and southern coasts of the peninsula (Cho, of geographical barriers and isolation. It is also known February 2019 Kim et al. Plant diversity of Gogunsan Archipelago 137 Fig. 1. A map of investigated area in the Gogunsan Archipelago. that the island forms an independent ecological landscape first time in Korea (Kim and Yun, 2012; Kim and Kim, and is biologically localized where the introduction, set- 2013; Kim et al., 2013; Ko et al., 2014; Nam et al., 2014; tlement, and extinction of species is more variable than So et al., 2014; Yang et al., 2015). These findings are that of mainland (Kim et al., 2016). It is a common that presumed to be due to the fact that the islands on the the closer the island is to the mainland and the larger its southwestern coast acts as a shelter or new frontier for area, the higher species richness (Kong, 2007). Currently, some species due to geographical, climatic, and geogra- about 4,000 inhabited and uninhabited islands are scat- phical conditions different from those in inland areas tered around the southwestern coast of Korea (Kim et al., (National Institute of Biological Resources, 2015). South- 2016). Although the islands, which forms their own eco- western coastal islands of the Korean Peninsula, on the system based on interactions between terrestrial and ma- other hand, are the most favorable sites for ecological rine ecosystems, are highly valued area in terms of eco- studies of distribution shift of evergreen trees because logical, biological, and genetic conditions, not much pro- they are located at the northern limits of the species. With- gress has been made in domestic research on these issues out surveys of exact floral diversity, numerous inhabited (Kim et al., 2016). Recent research into island biogeogra- and uninhabited islands of west coast show symptoms of phy has been performed on the basis of a variety of fauna unnatural degradation or disappearance of rare species and flora, including vascular plants, marine invertebrates, due to human disturbance and damage. Of islands of the birds, and spiders (Kim et al., 2016). Through these flo- Gogunsan Archipelago, the current study is focused on ristic studies, new species such as Melampyrum koreanum flora of Sinsi-do and Yami-do that were connected to the K.-J. Kim & S.-M. Yun, Paraphlomis koreana S. C. Ko & land by the Saemangeum Seawall, and flora of their adja- G. Y. Chung, and Potentilla gageodoensis M. Kim were cent islands such as Seonyu-do, Munyeo-do, Bian-do, discovered and several species including Ajuga nippon and Duri-do (Fig. 1). ensis Makino, Fimbristylis hookeriana Boeck., Carex The first study on the Gogunsan Archipelago was con- tsushimensis (Ohwi) Ohwi, and Rhododendron keiskei ducted by Lee et al. (1980), and they reported that the var. hypoglaucum Suto & Suzuki were recorded for the islands comprise 364 taxa in 85 families and 246 genera: 138 JOURNAL OF SPECIES RESEARCH Vol. 8, No. 1 Table 1. The dates and site of vascular plants surveyed in the Gogunsan Archipelago. Islands Dates Sinsi-do 31 Mar. 2016; 24 May 2016; 29 Jun. 2016; 7 Sep. 2016; 9 Sep. 2016; 25 Oct. 2016 Seonyu-do 23 May 2016; 8 Sep. 2016 Munyeo-do 24 May 2016; 7 Sep. 2016 Yami-do 1 Apr. 2016; 30 Jun. 2016; 8 Sep. 2016; 25 Oct. 2016 Bian-do 25 May 2016; 28 Jun. 2016; 8 Sep. 2016 Duri-do 25 May 2016 355 species, five varieties, and five hybrids. Since then, Korea. Various ecological habitats include mountain, flat- studies have been carried out by Lee and Kim (1980), land, wetland, valley, reclaimed land, sandy coast, mud Kim (2008), Jang et al. (2013). The previous research has flat, rocky roast, and abandoned salt field. Specimens been carried out in limited areas, so a comprehensive sur- were identified with the use of illustrations, photographs, vey of vascular plants in the region is needed. According- and published descriptions (Lee, 1980; 2003; Lee, 1996; ly, this study was conducted to secure voucher specimens Lee, 2006; Park, 2009; Kim and Kim, 2011; Lee and Lee, through field surveys, create a detailed plant diversity list, 2015; Cho et al., 2016). The voucher specimens were and conservation strategies to ensure biodiversity and listed according to the Cronquist classification system of effective management are discussed in detail. vascular plants (Cronquist, 1981). Under each family, genera and species are listed in an alphabetical order. Korean and scientific names of vascular plants followed MATERIALS AND METHODS Lee et al. (2011) and a cultivated plant was indicated by (C) after the Korean name. The survey plants were also Survey site categorized based on endemic plants of the Korean Pen- insula (Chung et al., 2017), red list plants (National Insti- The Gogunsan Archipelago is about 50 km from Gun- tute of Biological Resources, 2012), floristic regional in- san-si, consisting of Sinsi-do, Seonyu-do, Munyeo-do, dicator plants (National Institute of Environmental Re- Yami-do, Bian-do, Duri-do, Daejang-do, Jangja-do, and search, 2012), and invasive alien plants (Jung et al., 2016). many other uninhabited islands. The Gogunsan Archipe- The habitat affinity types of species were categorized lag is considered part of Okdo-myeon, Gunsan-si, Jeol- according to preference of habitat: forest, farmland, wet- labuk-do Province (126°15ʹ-126°30ʹ East longitude, land, seacoast, and bare ground. We used cluster analy- 35°45ʹ-35°55ʹ North latitude), in Korea. sis to similarity of species composition among the the The geology of the Gogunsan Archipelago consists of six islands. The index of similarity was analyzed using the Jurrasic sedimentary rocks of Daedong system, Cre- UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method using Arith- taceous sedimentary rocks of the Gyeongsang system, metic algorithm) of MVSP (Multi Variate Statistical Pack- Late Cretaceous to early tertiary acidic volcanic rocks, age 3.1-Kovaok Computing Services), depicted as a den- and Quaternary sediments (Won and Song, 1980).