Characteristics of Tree Growth and Temporal Change of Korean Fir (Abies koreana Wilson) Forest on Mt. Hallasan, Cheju, Korea

KIM, Young-sun¹⁾ and Eun-Shik KIM²⁾

¹⁾Institute of Forest Science and ²⁾Department of Forest Resources

Kookmin University

Seoul 136-702 Korea

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine the change of forest type, growth characteristics and diameter growth trend of the Korean fir on Mt. Hallasan. In this study, aerial photographs taken at the same place in 1974 and in 1992 were compared with each other to observe the change of crown closure and crown diameter, sample schemes were applied to the sites of Korean fir, tree-rings for the representative trees were taken, and the analyses were carried out for the materials obtained from the field work. The results are summarized as follows. It was clearly shown that the crown closure increased in 1992 compared to that in 1974 except the area near Baekrokdam(the peak of Mt. Hallasan) and that the crown diameter increased in all research sites. Elevation was found to be the most responsible environmental factor which negatively affect the tree height and the diameter growth of Korean fir on Mt. Hallasan. While the major part of trees showed continuous decreasing growth trend during their lives, more than half of the trees showed decreasing diameter growth patterns to present on Mt. Hallasan.

Keywords: Korean fir(Abies koreana Wilson), crown closure, crown diameter, elevation, tree hight, growth trend