(Daejeon=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Eun-pa = As a result of the restoration project for the endangered species 'Snow Pine' pursued by the National Institute of Forest Science and the Seoraksan National Park Office since 2016, the 9-year survival rate of young trees was reported to be 45% on the 11th.
Snow Pine is a rare coniferous species inhabiting alpine areas above 1,500 meters, with its only native habitat in Korea being the Daecheongbong area of Seoraksan.
However, as the alpine ecosystem changes due to global warming, the Snow Pine's collective habitat has been threatened.
The Forest Science Institute and Seoraksan National Park Office established a genetic diversity conservation strategy from 2011 and conducted research on seed collection and propagation methods.
Particularly, the Forest Science Institute installed windbreaks using surrounding plants like woolly rhododendron to improve the survival rate of young trees planted in damaged areas in 2016, resulting in a 50% survival rate after three years. This was a breakthrough performance compared to the 0% survival rate in the control area without windbreaks.
The Seoraksan National Park Office focused on observing changes in Snow Pine colonies and propagation.
While observing the trend of dead and successor trees, they annually produced and installed cone protection nets to secure complete seeds.
Based on this, by the end of last year, in the 9th year of on-site restoration research since 2016, the young tree survival rate was stably recorded at 45%, with some individuals growing over 60cm and showing adaptability in their native environment.
The Forest Science Institute and Seoraksan National Park Office currently have 300 successor individuals propagated in the Seoraksan Native Plant Propagation Center based on collected seeds.
However, the Forest Science Institute noted that poor cone fruiting in the native habitat remains a challenge to resolve.
The Forest Science Institute will begin seedling cultivation this year using seeds collected in 2016 while investigating the causes of poor fruiting.
The Seoraksan National Park Office plans to establish an ICT-based smart propagation center and a climate change station at the newly constructed Jungcheong shelter this