Abstract

A palustrine wetland is a type of a wetland that prevails in Korea as well as an ecosystem that provides various ecological functions and has affluent biodiversity. This study was conducted to understand the characteristics of vegetation in a palustrine wetland by analyzing a life form and naturalized plants, in order to present the maintenance and utilization plan of a small wetland. A total of 249 taxa including 76 families, 188 generics, 209 species, 38 varieties and 2 forma were found at six investigated wetlands. As a result of the appearance ratio analysis, Therophytes (37.8%) with 94 taxa and Hemicryptophytes (31.3%) with 78 taxa were in order of life form, and Gramineae (14.1 %) with 35 taxa and Compositae (11.2 %) with 28 taxa were in order of family level. These were deemed representative vegetation in a palustrine wetland. Equosetum arvense, Phragmites communis, Commelina communis, Persicaria thunbergii, Arenaria serpyllifolia, Stellaria media, Erigeron annuus, Erigeron canadensis and Artemisia princeps var, orientalis were found continuously for a period of investigation in all sites. Equosetum arvense, Phragmites communis and Persicaria thunbergii were species with high appearance frequency. Especially, Persicaria thunbergii was construed high in a cover ratio in May as it develop first among Hydrophytes and form a canopy sooner than anything else. We found that a degree of naturalization and an urbanization index appear comparatively high in Yeongok-ri, Cheonan, Gangjang-ri, Asan and Yodang-ri, Hwasung, which is construed due to artificial interference, such as fanning, fishing, swimming and green-tour program. These results would be used to utilize in restoring a deserted and damaged wetland and to provide fundamental data in creating a wetland as follows.

Keywords

• Vegetation;
• Palustrine Wetland;
• Naturalized Plants;
• Urbanization Index