Distributional Uniqueness of Deciduous Oaks(Quercus L.) in the Korean Peninsula

Abstract

The Korean peninsula belongs to the temperate forest biome dominated by many deciduous oaks. We quantitatively and qualitatively studied vertical and horizontal distributions and habitat characteristics on the major oak species such as Quercus mongolica, Q. serrata, Q. variabilis, Q. dentata, Q. aliena and Q. acutissima. A total of 5,278 samples were analyzed with a species coverage and 6 principal environmental variables extracted from public database of nationwide natural environment survey. Correlation analysis was accomplished by the CANOCO using Canonical Correspondence Analysis and the Pearson correlation coefficient using PASW Statistics. The hierarchical distribution tendency of six oaks was finalized using the Goodman-Kruskal lambda coefficient of non-metric multidimensional scaling by SYN-TAX 2000. The utmost factor on the distributional segregation of oak species was the elevation, i.e. temperature. Q. serrata and Q. mongolica show clearly a diametrical distribution patterns with zonal distribution. Q. variabilis was determined as a thermophilic and xerophilous species that is a component of not only natural pseudo-climax forest but also secondary forest. The highest frequency of the dominant forest was found Q. mongolica. Whereas, Q. serrata showed the highest frequency of individual tree but the relatively lower frequency of dominant forest, which is resulted from the original habitat loss. By the benefit 38 김윤하․김종원 of the traditional Soopjeong-E, Q. acutissima dominant forests were remained rather largely. Individuals of Q. dentata occurred horizontally nationwide, but its dominant forest was the poorest. Dominant forest of Q. aliena, which is a natural vegetation, was the most rare due to a limited potential habitat.

Aggregation, status competition and levelling mechanisms in prehistoric Chulmun, Korea

“…Both deciduous and evergreen oaks are native to the Korean Peninsula. Deciduous taxa like Quercus acutissima , Q. mongolica and Q. dentata are particularly abundant in the region above latitude 35° and at an altitude below 800 m (Kim & Kim 2017). Pollen research has also demonstrated that the oak was one of the most abundant tree taxa during the Holocene (Choi 1998).…”