Background: Most of the Pinus densiflora forests, occupying the largest area, have been restored in South Korea since the 1970s. As young pioneer forests, the succession process is under way. Since the forests are distributed nationwide and are vulnerable to disturbances, the process may differ depending on the geography and/or site conditions. Therefore, we reviewed the direction, the seral communities, and the late-successional species of progressive and disturbance-driven succession nationwide in the cool-temperate zone through meta-analysis and empirical observations. Main text: As a result of a meta-analysis of the direct succession and vertical structure, we found that the P. densiflora forest is in a directionally progressive succession, changing to the broadleaved forest after forming a mixed forest with its overwhelming successor, Quercus species (particularly Q. mongolica and Q. serrata). In dry stands in a relative sense, the Quercus species was favored occupying over 80% of the abundance of the succeeding species. Therefore, in dry stands, it is presumed that Quercus-dominated stage would last for a long time due to the current dominance and long life span, and eventually, it settles as Quercus-broadleaved forest with a site change. Contrary to this, it is presumed that in mesic stands where Quercus species do not occur or have low abundance, the late-successional broadleaved species settle early to form a co-dominant forest with multiple species. Due to geographical limits, the species composition of the two late-successional forests is different. Disturbances such as insect pests and fire retrogressed vulnerable P. densiflora forest for a while. However, it was mostly restored to the Quercus forest and is expected to be incorporated in the pathway of the dry stand. Conclusions: We revealed the succession process of P. densiflora forests according to geography and moisture and found that stand moisture had a decisive effect on the species and abundance of the successor. Although the P. densiflora forest is undergoing structural changes, the forest is still young; so within a few decades, physiognomy is not likely to change. Therefore, the decrease in the forest area may be due to other causes such as disturbances and forest conversion rather than due to succession.
Background Genus Quercus is a successful group that has occupied the largest area of forest around the world including South Korea. The acorns are an important food source for both wild animals and humans. Although the reproductive characteristics of this genus are highly variable, it had been rarely studied in South Korea. Therefore, in Seoraksan and Odaesan National Parks (i) we measured the acorn production of Quercus mongolica, an overwhelmingly dominant species in South Korea, for 3 years (2017–2019), (ii) evaluated the spatial-temporal variation of acorn production, and (iii) analyzed the effects of oak- and site-related variables on the acorn production. Results The annual acorn production of Q. mongolica increased 36 times from 1.2 g m−2 in 2017 to 43.2 g m−2 in 2018, and decreased to 16.7 g m−2 in 2019, resulting in an annual coefficient of variation of 104%. The coefficient of spatial variation was high and reached a maximum of 142%, and the tree size was the greatest influencing factor. That is, with an increase in tree size, acorn production increased significantly (2018 F = 16.3, p < 0.001; 2019 F = 8.2, p < 0.01). Elevation and slope also significantly affected the production in 2019. However, since elevation and tree size showed a positive correlation (r = 0.517, p < 0.001), the increase in acorn production with increasing elevation was possibly due to the effect of tree size. The acorn production of Odaesan for 3 years was 2.2 times greater than that of Seoraksan. This was presumed that there are more distribution of thick oak trees and more favorable site conditions such as deep soil A-layer depth, high organic matter, and slower slopes. Conclusion As reported for other species of the genus Quercus, the acorn production of Q. mongolica showed large spatial and annual variations. The temporal variability was presumed to be a weather-influenced masting, while the spatial variability was mainly caused by oak tree size.
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