Forest Vegetation of Northeast Asia

This book presents the first detailed survey, in English, of the forest vegetation of northeast Asia, a vast, mainly boreal or cool-temperate region that includes the Russian Far East (easternmost Siberia, Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Kuril Islands), Manchuria (northeastern China and adjacent), and northern Korea and Japan. Vegetation descriptions were prepared by local and foreign vegetation scientists, partly from literature sources but also from local field experience, including the several Czech-Slovak botanical expeditions to North Korea during the 1990s. Regional integration is provided in chapters on physical conditions and biogeography, and in a chapter comparing vegetation syntaxa. Two methodologies are used: 1) Exploration and forest classification following the Sukachev school of forest types (Manchuria and Russian Far East); and 2) Forest classification by Zurich-Montpellier (Braun-Blanquet) methodology (Japan and North Korea). The book should be valuable to vegetation scientists, conservation biologists, and anyone interested in the regional vegetation and landscapes, including students. When two of us (Jifi Kolbek, Miroslav Sriltek) were working in North Korea on the Czech­ Slovak field expeditions of the early 1990s, we did not think initially of comparing our results with the vegetation of surrounding areas or of writing a book. Our efforts mainly involved observing and documenting the vegetation as completely as possible and initial recognition of vegetation units. At first we focused on the most obvious vegetation types, but eventually also any important types that we could discern. Later we focused more on forests, since almost ali of northeastern Asia has forest potential and forests stiH do form the landscape matrix in most areas. First we studied suburban woods and forests, most of which are strongly affected by human activities. Later, though, we also had chances to visit and study lovely mountain regions, including Myohyang-san, Kumgang-san, Su­ jang-san, and the high, especially beautiful Changbai-shan on the border between North Korea and China. The Changbai-shan is the highest mountain system in the Korean Peninsula, including the highest peak Paektu-san. We gradually changed our goal from an evaluation of forest data from North Korea to comparison with available field data and literature sources from comparable surrounding areas. These include South Korea, the Russian Far East, northeastern China (Manchuria), and northem Japan, including the Kuril Islands. Finally we decided to prepare a preliminary survey of the forest vegetation of the Russian Far East and eventually of aII of northeastem Asia, which would be published in English. This book presents the first detailed survey, in English, of the forest vegetation of northeast Asia, a vast, mainly boreal or cool-temperate region that includes the Russian Far East (easternmost Siberia, Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Kuril Islands), Manchuria (northeastern China and adjacent), and northern Korea and Japan. Vegetation descriptions were prepared by local and foreign vegetation scientists, partly from literature sources but also from local field experience, including the several Czech-Slovak botanical expeditions to North Korea during the 1990s. Regional integration is provided in chapters on physical conditions and biogeography, and in a chapter comparing vegetation syntaxa. Two methodologies are used: 1) Exploration and forest classification following the Sukachev school of forest types (Manchuria and Russian Far East); and 2) Forest classification by Zürich-Montpellier (Braun-Blanquet) methodology (Japan and North Korea). The book should be valuable to vegetation scientists, conservation biologists, and anyone interested in the regional vegetation and landscapes, including students Content: Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-3 Climate of Northeast Asia....Pages 5-31 Basic Geomorphological and Geological Characteristics of Northeast Asia....Pages 33-49 Phytogeography of Northeast Asia....Pages 51-91 Forest Vegetation of Easternmost Russia (Russian Far East)....Pages 93-180 Forest Vegetation of Northeast China....Pages 181-230 Forest Vegetation of Northern Japan and the Southern Kurils....Pages 231-261 Forest Vegetation of the Northern Korean Peninsula....Pages 263-361 Vegetation-environment Relationships within and among Selected Natural Forests in North Korea....Pages 363-381 Species and Spatial Structure of Forests on the Southeastern Slope of Paektu-san, North Korea....Pages 383-407 Comparison of Forest Syntaxa and Types in Northeast Asia....Pages 409-423 Back Matter....Pages 425-464