Human impacts on pine-dominated vegetation in rural landscapes in Korea and western Japan

Abstract

To understand the human influence on the successional process of vegetation, structures of the pine forest as a dominant vegetation were compared between in Yanghwa-ri of rural Korea and Miwa-cho of rural Japan. The secondary pine forests are well developed around the villages in both regions. In rural Korea, pine forests are still used intensively for several traditional purposes. The pine forests in Yanghwa-ri of Korea, therefore, are stayed in the early stage of the succession. The floristic composition in pine forests of Yanghwa-ri was similar to that in the secondary grasslands. The fertilizer trees such as Robinia and Alnus contributed to develop the stratification of the forest. On the other hand, in Japan, almost all pine forests in rural regions had been abandoned due to the changing of traditional use because of the economic growth and the development of alternative energy sources since 1960s. In the case of pine forests of Miwa-cho, those in the early successional stage were few in number and small in patch size. Several woody plants covered under the pine canopy. The shade-tolerant shrub invaded into pine forest floor, because the undergrowth as a traditional energy source had no longer used. Pine forests were partly succeeded by deciduous oaks in Miwa-cho corresponding to the social changes. On the contrary in Yanghwa-ri, the vegetation replacement will not present because traditional management such as collecting fuels and making graveyards will be remained as a Korean ideology in the rural landscape.