Historic vegetation and environmental changes since the 15th century in the Korean Peninsula

摘要

Reconstruction of past vegetation is an important process in understanding vegetation history and global climate change. This research reconstructed the past vegetation range based upon historical records in the Korean Peninsula, especially for conifers and bamboos, and determined the factors responsible for historic change. Time-spatial changes in distribution of three conifer trees, two by-products of red pine and two bamboos from 1454 to 1931 were reconstructed with information about the local produce and tribute descriptions on seven historical documents. Plant distribution data were collated over time and space and plotted on county maps using a GIS software package.