Characteristics of vegetation succession on the Pinus thunbergii forests in warm temperate regions, Jeju Island, South Korea

BackgroundTo investigate the trends of succession occurring at thePinus thunbergiiforests on the lowlands of Jeju Island, we quantified the species compositions and the importance values by vegetation layers of Braun-Blanquet method on thePinus thunbergiiforests. We used multivariate analysis technique to know the correlations between the vegetation group types and the location environmental factors; we used the location environment factors such as altitudes above sea level, tidal winds (distance from the coast), annual average temperatures, and forest gaps to know the vegetation distribution patterns.ResultsAccording to the results on the lowland of Jeju Island, the understory vegetation of the lowlandPinus thunbergiiforests was dominated by tall evergreen broad-leaved trees such asMachilus thunbergii,Neolitsea sericea, andCinnamomum japonicumshowing a vegetation group structure of the mid-succession, and the distribution patterns of vegetation were determined by the altitudes above sea level, the tidal winds on the distance from the coast, the annual average temperatures, and the forest gaps. We could discriminate the secondary succession characteristics of thePinus thunbergiiforests on the lowland and highland of Jeju Island of South Korea.ConclusionsIn the lowland of Jeju Island, the secondary succession will progress to the form ofPinus thunbergii(early successional species)→Machilus thunbergii,Litsea japonica(mid-successional species)→Machilus thunbergii(late-successional species) sequence in the temperate areas with strong tidal winds. In the highland of Jeju Island, the succession will progress to the form ofPinus thunbergii(early successional species)→Neolitsea sericea,Eurya japonica(mid-successional species)→Castanopsis sieboldii(late-successional species) sequence in the areas where tidal winds are weak and temperatures are relatively low. However, local differences between lowland and highland of Jeju Island will be caused by the micro-environmental factors resulting from the topographic differences and the supply of tree seeds. From the characteristics of succession study, we could properly predict and manage thePinus thunbergiiforest ecosystem on lowland and highland of Jeju Island.