The aim of this study is to present basic materials for suitable management of natural environment and rural landscape for the ageing society through landscape ecological analysis of rural longevity villages in South Korea.
Forty rural longevity vil...
The aim of this study is to present basic materials for suitable management of natural environment and rural landscape for the ageing society through landscape ecological analysis of rural longevity villages in South Korea.
Forty rural longevity villages were selected for this study. They are classified as mountainous, coastal and plain type villages. Sojeon-1ri(as a mountainous type village), Naeroe(as a costal type village) and Naengcheon(as a plain type village) were selected as the typical type of three type villages for this study.
An actual vegetation map, land-use map and biotope map are produced from the field survey for three villages. The conservation biotope area was selected by Sukopp's Hemeroby grade and Wittig's evaluation method which was applied to Dusseldorf in Germany. The landscape ecological characteristics of the biotope type was analysed by the occupied area ratio, shape index, fractal index, degree of dispersion and diversity index.
The biotope types were classified into twenty types in the mountainous village, and nineteen types were classified in coastal village and sixteen types were classified in the plain village. The conservation biotope area is 69.23% of the total area in the mountainous village, 23.36% in the coastal village and 11.71% in the plain village.
The results of analysis through landscape ecological index is as the following.
At the occupied area ratio, cultivated land and residential biotope types was lower than others in mountainous village. But the biotope types of plain village were higher.
At the shape index, afforest land biotope was lower than the natural forest biotope. The cultivated land biotope was lower in plain village. But cultivated land biotope was higher in the mountainous village. The result came from human interference.
At the fractal index, streams and deciduous forest were higher in mountainous village. Coniferous forest around the residential area was higher in coastal village. Streams and deciduous forest were also higher in plain village. The conservation measure to preserve them is necessary.
At the degree of dispersion, the residential area, the closed farm, and forest were higher in the mountainous village. But the residential area and cultivated land is lower in coastal and plain villages.
At the diversity index, the index of mountainous and coastal villages were higher than the plain village, because of their geographical specificities.
The result of the analysis for the assesment of biotope type and landscape ecological characteristic is as the following.
The landscape ecological index of the conservation biotope area shows regular results in order of the mountainous, coastal, and plain village. The results came from the difference of human interference, the degree of fragmentation, the area in the three type villages.
The mixed application method of the Hemeroby grade and selective biotope mapping is suitable to the selection of the conversion biotope area in rural areas of South Korea. And the landscape ecological index supports the reasonability of this method. If the method is developed, the arrangement of the selection method for buffer zone and useable area biotope types will be possible.