The Southern Korea evergreen forests is a

temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These f ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

at the southern end of the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Geography

The Southern Korea evergreen forests occupy an area of in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, at the southern margin of the Korean Peninsula, as well as the Gotjawal Forest on Jeju Island in the East China Sea, 60 km south of the Korean mainland. The ecoregion also includes

Ulleungdo Ulleungdo (also spelled Ulreungdo; Hangul: , ) is a South Korean island 120 km (75 mi) east of the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of Japan, formerly known as the Dagelet Island or Argonaut Island in Europe. Volcanic in origin, the rocky s ...

Island, which lies 135 km east of the peninsula in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

Climate

The climate is humid and temperate. Rainfall averages 1000 mm per year, with two-thirds falling between June and September. Winters are drier and mild, with a mean January temperate of 2 °C. There are occasional winter snowfalls, but snow rarely accumulates.

Flora

The natural vegetation is evergreen broadleaf laurel forest, with members of the oak family ''(

Castanopsis cuspidata ''Castanopsis cuspidata'' (Japanese chinquapin; Japanese tsuburajii, 円椎) is a species of ''Castanopsis'' native to southern Japan and southern Korea. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 20–30 m tall, related to beech and oak. ...

'', '' Quercus acuta'', and '' Quercus myrsinifolia)'' and laurel family ''( Persea thunbergii,'' '' Cinnamomum camphora'', and others) prominent. Other trees and shrubs include '' Carpinus laxiflora,

Elaeocarpus ''Elaeocarpus'' is a genus of nearly five hundred species of flowering plants in the family Elaeocarpaceae native to the Western Indian Ocean, Tropical and Subtropical Asia, and the Pacific. Plants in the genus ''Elaeocarpus'' are trees or shrub ...

Neolitsea ''Neolitsea'' is a genus of about 85 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the laurel family Lauraceae. They range from Indo-Malaysia to East Asia to Australia. The leaves are alternate, clustered, or verticillate, rarely subopposite. Sp ...

Daphniphyllum macropodum ''Daphniphyllum macropodum'' is a shrub or small tree found in China, Japan and Korea. Like all species in the genus ''Daphniphyllum'', ''D. macropodum'' is dioecious, that is male and female flowers are borne on different plants. The timber is u ...

Ilex integra ''Ilex integra'', the elegance female holly, also called mochi tree, is an ornamental tree of the holly genus, which is native to parts of Asia, including Korea; Taiwan; the mid-southern regions of China; and Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu in Japan. ...

Hedera ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa an ...

Eurya japonica ''Eurya japonica'', known as East Asian eurya, is a 1–3.5 m tall shrub in the Pentaphylacaceae family found in eastern China, Korea, and Japan. It is used as an ornamental plant. In shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified ...

Pittosporum tobira ''Pittosporum tobira'' is a species of sweet-smelling flowering plant in the pittosporum family Pittosporaceae known by several common names, including Australian laurel, Japanese pittosporum, mock orange and Japanese cheesewood. It is native to ...

,'' and '' Viburnum awabuki''. The Bijarim forest on Jeju is home to dense groves of ''Bija'' (Nutmeg or Nutmeg yew, ''

Torreya nucifera ''Torreya nucifera'' is a slow-growing, coniferous tree native to southern Japan and to South Korea's Jeju Island. It is also called Japanese torreya or Japanese nutmeg-yew. Description It grows to 15–25 m tall with a trunk up to 1.5 m diam ...

''). The ivy shrub ''

Fatsia japonica ''Fatsia japonica'', also fatsi, paperplant, false castor oil plant, or Japanese aralia, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Araliaceae, native plant, native to southern Japan and southern Korea. Etymology The name '' ...

'' is another Jeju native.

Fauna

South Korea has 379 species of birds, including 111 are winter visitors and 90 are winter and spring passage migrants. Most of these species either reside or visit the southern evergreen forests, where the winter climate is milder. 207 bird species and subspecies have been recorded on the Jeju, and 54 species on the Ulleungdo Island. Resident birds of the ecoregion include

white-bellied woodpecker The white-bellied woodpecker or great black woodpecker (''Dryocopus javensis'') is found in evergreen forests of tropical Asia, including the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has 14 subspecies, part of a complex including the Andaman w ...

(''Dryocopus javensis''), fairy pitta (''Pitta nympha''), and

ring-necked pheasant The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus'') is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'', "pheasant". The species name ''colchicus'' is Latin for "of Colchis" (modern day Georgia), a country on ...

(''Phasianus colchicus torquatus''). The red-crowned crane (''Grus japonensis'') breeds in freshwater marshes, and both the red-crowned crane and

white-naped crane The white-naped crane (''Antigone vipio'') is a bird of the crane family. It is a large bird, long, about tall, and weighing about , with pinkish legs, a grey-and-white-striped neck, and a red face patch. Distribution The white-naped crane br ...

(''Grus vipio'') overwinter in coastal and freshwater wetlands and along rivers. Mammals on Jeju include

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

, weasels, hamsters, field mice, house rats and two species of bats. Wild boar and wild cats have been extirpated from the island. Eight amphibian and reptile species have been recorded on Jeju. Ulleungdo has no native reptiles or amphibians.

Conservation

The forests are mostly gone, replaced by

intensive agriculture Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ag ...

. Enclaves exist in the Ulsan, Hampyeong, and Naejang-san national monuments, and on Jeju. A 2017 assessment found that 630 km², or 4%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. 15% of the unprotected area is still forested. The ecoregion is home to four national parks, Dadohaehaesang, Hallyeohaesang, and Wolchulsan on the mainland, and Hallasan on Jeju.

External link

References

{{coord missing, South Korea Ecoregions of Asia Ecoregions of South Korea Forests of South Korea Palearctic ecoregions Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests