Korea Long-Term Ecological Research

• KLTER Website
• ILTER regional network: East Asia-Pacific

Over the last 40 years, the landscapes of Korea as been dramatically changed due to people's intensive afforestation efforts and the conversion of the domestic fuel source from firewood to fossil fuels. Land areas was largely revegetated and the condition of the vegetation is now getting better with time. However, Korea has also experienced a degradation of the natural environment because of intensive developmental activities and the subsequent pollution, such as industrialization, fossil fuel extraction and land clearance.

As the environmental degradation is occuring rather slowly over the decades, most of the people do not realise what is happening with any great understanding. Hence the need to extensively collect and carefully analyze relevant data for longer time periods than before, to gain a better understanding of the management of the individual biotic components as well as the overall environment/ecosystems of Korea. Although some scientists have realized the importance of studying long-term phenomena in ecology, major advancements in LTER have not yet been made in Korea.

It is only recently that three sites were officially designated for long-term ecological research. The Forestry Research Institute (FRI) included LTER as a major project within forestry research. The first LTER site in Korea is Kwangnung Experimental Forest which represents the oldest natural forest of Korea. Some parts of the forest have been protected for more than 500 years. Forests of Mt. Kyebangsan and Mt. Keumsan were included in the list. There are some other sites which have the potential to be designated as LTER sites. Although it is in early phase in LTER, promotion and encouragement of focused activities of ecologists will promise the sound development of Korea LTER in the near future.

Efforts are being made to establish the central and national program and to publically support and coordinate research in official and potential LTER sites in Korea. Meanwhile, in order to facilitate communication, coordination, and cooperation among the scientists in ecology and related disciplines, Korea LTER Committee (KLC) was established in 1997.

The objectives of most of the research, are focused on the investigation into the dynamics of structure and function of ecosystems related to the changes in the environment, which is ultimately related to monitoring biodiversity and global change in Korea. All the LTER sites have common themes, called core research areas, which must be investigated and can be compared to each other. The core areas include primary production, population dynamics, nutrient cycling, impacts of environmental stress and disturbances, and environmental changes.