Classification of Halophyte Community Growth and Its Relationship with Soil Chemical Properties in Saemanguem Reclaimed Land

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Halophyte communities have been established to reduce dust from the Saemangeum reclaimed land. Growth of large-scale artificial halophyte communities was assessed, and the relationship between halophyte community growth and soil chemical properties was examined through three-year halophyte monitoring and soil analysis. Halophyte community growth was classified in 230 quadrats from 2006 to 2008, and the statistical significance between halophyte community growth and soil chemical properties was determined by Duncan's multiple range test. Overall, the yearly percentage of Class1 and Class 2 quadrats increased from 40% in 2006 to 87% in 2008. Over 90% of the 29 common quadrats consecutively surveyed for three years belonged to Class 1 or Class 2. Soil electrical conductivity (EC) decreased from 3.3 $dSm^{-1}$ in 2006 to 2.0 $dSm^{-1}$ in 2008. Available phosphate content increased from 28 mg $kg^{-1}$ in 2007 to 115 mg $kg^{-1}$ in 2008. Among soil properties, soil EC had a significantly negative relationship with halophyte community growth. A significant relationship was also observed between halophytic height and soil EC ($R^2$=0.95). These results indicate that halophyte community growth could be classified into five classes based on plant height and coverage closely related to soil EC in the reclaimed land.