Relationship between early development of plant community and environmental condition in abandoned paddy terraces at mountainous valleys in Korea

Abstract

In Korea, many paddy fields in mountainous area have been abandoned because of their low accessibility and rice price and the abandoned paddy terraces have changed into natural lentic wetlands. To understand the relationship between characteristics of environmental conditions and early development of plant community in abandoned paddy terraces, we investigated at four well-maintained abandoned paddy terraces in 3 different climatic zones in Korea. Soil texture of abandoned paddy terraces was mostly kinds of loam and electric conductivity of soil was also similar among abandoned paddy terraces. On the other hand, contents of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium in soil were relatively low and significantly different among abandoned paddy terraces. Water depth was different within sites and inter-sites. Although environmental conditions including climate, soil condition and water depth were different among abandoned paddy terraces, the compositions of plant communities were relatively similar in all abandoned paddy terraces. 55 dominant taxa out of 141 recorded species were commonly recorded over sites and they were mostly perennial obligate wetland plants and facultative wetland plants. 8 taxa out of 55 dominant taxa were occurred at all abandoned paddy terraces with over 10% coverage. Several site-specific species were occurred at site, which have some area with deep water level. This result indicates that early development of plant community in abandoned paddy terraces of similar water regime is similar in the entire area of Korea even though environmental conditions such as climate, biogeographic history and soil are different.

Effects of Micro-topography on Vegetation Pattern in Dunchon-dong Wetland

“…식물의 정착 및 생육 에 영향을 미치는 환경 인자로는 물, 빛, 양분 등이 있으며, 그 중에서 미지형은 상대적 높이 차에 의해 수위에 영향을 미친다 (Park et al, 2013). 수위의 차이 는 종자 산포 및 식물 생육에 영향을 미치기 때문에 (Kim and Ju, 2005;Ju and Kim, 2009;Hong et al, 2014) 미지형은 식물 군락 형성에 중요한 요소로 알 려져 있다.…”

“…수위의 차이 는 종자 산포 및 식물 생육에 영향을 미치기 때문에 (Kim and Ju, 2005;Ju and Kim, 2009;Hong et al, 2014) 미지형은 식물 군락 형성에 중요한 요소로 알 려져 있다. 특히, 종자 발아 및 초기 유묘 시기의 수 위는 식물 종의 정착에 직접적인 영향을 미치기 때문 에 매우 중요하다 (Kim et al, 2013;Huh et al, 2006). …”

Microbial Community and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from Abandoned Rice Paddies with Different Vegetation

“…If abandoned rice paddy fields transform into wetlands, they can play a significant role in restoring lost wetland functions to ecosystems including water quality improvement, floodwater storage, biological productivity, and carbon sequestration [8]. Primary succession of plant communities directed toward a climax is not a typical occurrence in wetlands because these ecological systems are inherently dependent on hydrology, and temporal hydrologic variability often causes reversals or setbacks in succession [9]. Succession of plants can be strongly affected by hydrology because terraced abandoned rice paddies consist of a mosaic of different elevations.…”

“…Succession of plants can be strongly affected by hydrology because terraced abandoned rice paddies consist of a mosaic of different elevations. Therefore, plant species could establish based on the hydrology regime and soil condition and that could produce different developmental stages in the plant community [9]. Different plant species can create wetlands with different ecosystem functions, and they can induce different environmental conditions.…”

Effects of habitat differences on the genetic diversity of Persicaria thunbergii

“…H. Gross is an annual Polygonaceae herb that commonly appears at diverse wetland ecosystems such as streamlets, abandoned paddy fields, montane fens, and floating mats in Korea (Kim 2009;Kim et al 2012;Park et al 2013). P. thunbergii inhabits widely and sometimes dominate in wetland ecosystems where the water level is not much deep (Kawano 2008;Kim et al 2013).…”