Spatial distribution of vegetation along the environmental gradient on the coastal cliff and plateau of Janggi peninsula (Homigot), southeastern Korea

Abstract

Background: Cliffs are a major plant habitat around the coastal area, but in contrast to sand dunes and salt marshes, they have been little investigated in Korea. There are simple descriptions of cliff vegetation in studies on island vegetation, but there is no published paper, which addressed sea cliff vegetation synthetically. Furthermore, the coastal area where this study was carried out was designated as a conservation reserve. Even though, this area is exposed to intense recreational use such as trekking in these days. This study aims to clarify spatial distribution and structure of vegetation along the environmental gradient on coastal cliff and plateau in the Janggi peninsula (Homigot) located on southeastern Korea. Further, this study has also another objective to prepare a restoration plan to protect this conservation reserve from intense human disturbance. Results: Landscape elements were arranged in the order of sea cliff risen directly on the sea, seashore, coastal cliff, and plateau covered with relatively deep soil in a coastal area of the Janggi peninsula (Homigot), southeastern Korea. Vegetation was sampled at 59 plots arranged from the sea cliff through the seashore and coastal cliff to plateau. The sea cliff, seashore, and coastal cliff, which compose the coastal landscape, were dominated by the seashore spatulate aster (Aster spathulifolius Maxim.) community, dwarf sand sedge (Carex pumila Thunb.) community, and seashore spatulate aster (Aster spathulifolius Maxim.) community. On the plateau corresponding to the ridge of the coastal cliff, black pine (Pinus thunbergii Parl.) community, golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata Laxmann) community, east Asian hackberry (Celtis sinensis Pers.) community, sawleaf zelkova (Zelkova serrata Makino) community, and Korean oak (Quercus dentata Thunb.) community were established in the mentioned order along distance from the sea. Stand ordination showed a vegetation sequence from the seashore through the cliff to the plateau, consistent in its overall pattern among sites. This was dominated by topography. There is evidence for the importance also of salinity, drought and of soil depth. Conclusion: The lack of scientific interest in cliffs to date is in striking contrast to the commonness of cliffs around the whole national territory and to the attraction cliffs have had for humans throughout history. Cliffs provide a unique habitat, rarely investigated from an ecological viewpoint. Cliffs may represent an invaluable type of ecosystem, consisting of some of the least disturbed habitats on earth and contributing more to the biodiversity of a region than their surface coverage would indicate. Although this coastal area where this study was carried out was designated as a conservation reserve, this area is in danger of severe disturbance due to excessive recreational use. We recommended a restoration plan to protect this area from such a disturbance.

Spatial distribution of insular cliff vegetation and future scenarios in a climate change perspective

“…500 m. Indeed, the rupicolous flora can also be found on small islands such as Dragonera or Cabrera, where suitable habitats are also present, despite their low elevation. This is common in rupicolous plant communities, as specialization is not always linked to elevation (Cooper, 1997), but it depends on the study species particular ecology (Aronne et al, 2015; Jung et al, 2019).…”

Development of SSR molecular markers and genetic diversity analysis of Clematis acerifolia from Taihang Mountains

“…C. acerifolia is one of the rare and precious plant species that grow on the cliffs of Taihang mountains. Their vertical or nearly vertical growth habit limits water, nutrient, and soil availability, leading to the situation that such plants are usually narrowly distributed, fragmented, and susceptible to environmental influence [5][6][7]. These cliff-dwelling plant species are strongly tolerant to poor environmental conditions and evolve gradually with long lifespans as well as slow individual growth rates [8].…”