The Relationship Between the Locational Types and Biodiversity in the Sites of Geumgang Riparian Ecological Belts

Abstract

Background and objective: This study was carried out to assess the relationship between the internal and external environments and the ecological items in five sites with a high level of artificial use intensity prior to the establishment of Geumgang River riparian ecological belts. Methods: The sites were classified into forest type, cultivated land type and urbanized type in accordance with their respective locational types. Ecological items including plant ecology such as proportion, naturalization index and urbanization index of native species were analyzed and animal ecology such as the number of species and population of wild birds, amphibians and reptiles, mammals, and butterflies and dragonflies, which are indicator insects, were investigated. In addition, species diversity indices of wild birds, butterflies and dragonflies found in all the subject lands were computed. Results: Among the plant ecological items, the ratio of native species in the forest type was higher than 90%, which was a satisfactory level, while the naturalization and urbanization indices were less than 10%. The number of species in the animal ecological characteristics was reduced in the order of forest type, cultivated land type and urbanized type. As the results of correlation analysis, the internal area of the planted area showed a negative correlation with the total of individuals. The area of grasslands showed a positive correlation with the number of dragonfly species and the total number of individuals, thereby illustrating that wet grasslands have positive effects. The area of surrounding forests, as an external environment, had a negative correlation with the urbanization index (UI) but a positive correlation with the inhabitation of butterflies and the total number of species. Conclusion: The results confirmed the need for more diversified special compositions including planted land, grassland, wetland, bodies of water and waterways within the subject land in the wetland ecological belt along with the need for surrounding forest location and preservation from the perspective of purchase and restoration of land for enhancement of wider biodiversity in the future.

Analysis of the Correlation Between Ecological Status and Location Environment by Cultivated Land Restoration Type of Geumgang Riverine Ecobelt

“…In other words, naturality was high in Jik-dong or Sangjang-ri located in lands adjacent to a forest. This is consistent with the result that the ratio of native species in areas near forests is higher than that of cultivated lands or lands adjacent to urbanized areas (Kang, 2020) or that the mountain type increases autogenous property and promotes habitat functionality (Son et al, 2014).…”

“…As a result of analyzing the correlation between internal/external environmental factors and ecological items of the sites (Table 5), it was found that the site area and planting area as the internal environment showed a negative correlation with the number of species of dragonfly species (r = -0.860, r = -0.922) and the number of amphibian and reptile individuals (r = -0.899, r = -0.939). This is similar to the result that planting areas like orchards have a more negative effect on inhabitation of dragonflies and amphibians than wetlands (Kim et al, 2018 In other words, areas with higher artificial use intensity had more negative effect on naturality, ecological property, and species diversity (Kang, 2020). As for the sites in this study, there was a negative effect on inhabitation of amphibians and reptiles as well as mammals.…”

“…Moreover, forest area showed a positive correlation with the number of amphibian and reptile species (r = 0.853), number of butterfly species (r = 0.898), number of mammalian individuals (r = 0.924), and diversity of dragonfly species (r = 0.861), thereby showing that forest location around restored sites had a positive effect on inhabitation of wild animals. In other words, the results were similar to the studies bySon et al (2014) andKang (2020) who assessed that mountain location type most effectively contributed to habitat function in terms of biodiversity of rural areas or waterfront areas. Therefore, when purchasing land to promote and maintain biodiversity of riverine ecobelts, it is necessary to first restore abandoned paddy fields or lands near forests in order to have a positive effect.Items with significance with the cultivated land area around the sites (p < .05) were the ratio of native species (r = -0.912), number of wild animal species (r = -0.840), and diversity of wild bird species (r = -0.856) showing a negative correlation.There was a positive correlation (r = 0.912) with naturalization index, showing similar results withYou et al (2014) that, when there is a restored site located near the cultivated land, it may serve as the source of naturalized plants due to disturbance and interference by agriculture.…”

“…The lands were divided into forests, cultivated lands, and urbanized areas (artificial facilities areas such as roads, housing, and commercial districts) located around the 100m radius outside the sites. Inside, the lands were divided into planting areas, grasslands, and open water areas to calculate the ratio of area (Kang, 2020). This was calculated based on the 1/5,000 digital map, and the area of each type was calculated using ArcGIS 10.1.…”

“…As a study on ecological restoration of idle farmlands, Kim et al (2015) presented the ecology/landscape/forest type through landscape forest creation and the ecological environment type through wetland restoration. Kang (2020) reported the ecological excellence of wetlands from abandoned paddy fields with high naturality and biodiversity among the forest type, cultivated land type, and urban district type as ecological restoration areas of riparian buffer zones.…”