Differences in the Vegetation within Deogyusan National Park and the Surrounding Landscape: Implications for National Park Conservation

AbstractWe surveyed the vegetation in Deogyusan National Park (conservation areas) and surrounding areas outside the park (Mt. Juksang, Mt. Johang and Mt. Bonghwa). We calculated plant community indices and diversity indices; these identified properties of the surrounding areas that are relevant to conservation efforts in the park. We compared the diversities of plant communities and plant species between areas using field and quadrat surveys to assign the identities of plant communities to an existing un-delineated preliminary vegetation map produced from aerial photographs. We identified 19 associations. The covers of dominant species in all tree and herb layers were markedly higher in the conservation areas than in the peripheral zone. Mean richness (based on plant community richness and species richness indices) was significantly higher in the conservation area, but mean values of community dominance, diversity, and evenness and the Simpson, Shannon diversity, and evenness indices in the surrounding area were significantly higher than those in the conservation area. Ordination by detrended canonical correspondence analyses showed that elevation and slope explained the distributions of quadrats in the Cartesian space of the ordination. The cover of dominant species in the tree, herb, and sub-tree layers and species numbers in quadrats explained the variation in species compositions within the quadrats. Our results demonstrate that disturbances in the areas surrounding a park can have increasing impacts on plant community and diversity indices. Hence, the preservation and management of surrounding areas are essential conservation elements for protecting whole national park areas.