Abstract
This study was conducted to explore an accurate site identification technique using a geographic information system (GIS) and geo-temperature (gT) for locating suitable sites for growing cultivated mountain ginseng (CMG; Panax ginseng), which is highly sensitive to the environmental conditions in which it grows. The study site was Jinan-gun, South Korea. The spatial resolution for geographic data was set at 10 m × 10 m, and the temperatures for various climatic factors influencing CMG growth were calculated by averaging the 3-year temperatures obtained from the automatic weather stations of the Korea Meteorological Administration. Identification of suitable sites for CMG cultivation was undertaken using both a conventional method and a new method, in which the gT was added as one of the most important factors for crop cultivation. The results yielded by the 2 methods were then compared. When the gT was added as an additional factor (new method), the proportion of suitable sites identified decreased by 0.4 % compared with the conventional method. However, the proportion matching real CMG cultivation sites increased by 3.5 %. Moreover, only 68.2 % corresponded with suitable sites identified using the conventional factors; i.e., 31.8 % were newly detected suitable sites. The accuracy of GIS-based identification of suitable CMG cultivation sites improved by applying the temperature factor (i.e., gT) in addition to the conventionally used factors.
Highlights
The South Korean society in the twenty-first century is characterized by a high standard of living and diversified leisure activities, driven by continuous economic growth and progress in cutting-edge technologies
Factors for identifying suitable sites We identified suitable sites for cultivated mountain ginseng (CMG) cultivation using the factors including conditions described in a previous study (Beon et al 2013), namely elevation, aspect, slope, forest type, organic content, effective soil depth, soil humidity, and drainage
Suitable sites were identified by applying the factors used in previous GISbased studies on the one hand, and by including temperature as an additional influential factor for the different stages of CMG growth
Summary
The South Korean society in the twenty-first century is characterized by a high standard of living and diversified leisure activities, driven by continuous economic growth and progress in cutting-edge technologies. In South Korea, forests extend over 6,369,000 ha (at end 2010) across the country and occupy 63.7 % of the entire territory, the fourth highest forest-to-land ratio among. The average forest area per forest land owner was as small as 1.8 ha, with owners of
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
