Korean traditional village forest (Ma-Eul-Soop) and potential natural vegetation: A case study on the Sachon-Ri Garo-Soop in Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

Prediction of potential natural vegetation (PNV) requires autochthonous species distributions of a benchmark phytocoenosen. In Korea there remained unique forests or groves, i.e. a traditional Ma-Eul-Soop (MES), in the foothill zone which has influenced by the most aggressively anthropogenic activities since the Neolithic Age. Sachon-ri’s Garo-Soop (SGS) located at the southern-eastern Korean Peninsula has been reputed as the best conserved MES in Korea. We studied SGS for identifying components of the PNV. A total of 1,959 trees in the SGS were measured finescaled GPS locations and diameter at breast height (DBH). Distribution patterns of major species were interpreted by using the MES species ranking class (MSRC) framed by a matrix of phytogeographical and phytosociological autochthons. We consequently found that the SGS was composed of 29 autochthonous species. Cornus walteri , Hemiptelea davidii , Quercus aliena , Zelkova serrata , and Celtis sinensis were identified as the best matched PNV species to the floodplain behind riverbank. A lot of saplings occurring at the forest floor were the major components of PNV too. By the way many allochthonous species have been consistently introduced into the SGS in terms of a man-made forest of most previous works. We suggested that such PNV-unfriendly managements should be promptly stopped.