Degradation of Lowland Forest Landscape and Management Strategy to Improve Ecological Quality in Mt. Baekja and Its Surroundings

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The number of species and forest area has decreased as urbanization is progressed. The landscape degradation was examined by analyzing vegetation map, satellite image and characteristics of actual vegetation. The study was conducted in Mt. Baekja and its surroundings located on Gyeongsan city, southeastern Korea. As the result of landscape analysis, agricultural field was a characteristic attribute of the study area. Lowlands of this study area were occupied by agricultural field and various plantations. For 15 years from 1987 to 2002, forest area decreased from 2,072.9 ha to 1,853.2 ha, and shape index and fractal dimension of vegetation patches increased from 1.32 to 1.65 and from 1.05 to 1.09, respectively. Pinus densiflora Siebold & Zucco. community showed the highest species diversity, whereas Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carriere community showed the lowest species abundance. As forest management implications, monitoring of endangered plant species (Jeffersonia dubia (Maxim.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex Baker & S.Moore), and restoration of lowland forest from plantation to natural forest were discussed. Further, establishment of greenways utilizing existing streams, roadside, and public facilities were recommended.