Which Environmental Factors Caused Lammas Shoot Growth of Korean Red Pine

Abstract

Lammas growth, a rare phenomenon for Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora), occurred in 2006. Lammas shoots showed higher frequency and longer length in Seoul`s hotter urban center than in urban boundary or suburban forest sites. Frequency and length showed a close correlation with urbanization density and vegetation cover expressed in NDVI. Air temperature in the late summer of 2006 was more than higher than an average year. Of the predominant environmental signals that modulate bud flush, only temperature changed significantly during the year. Differences in temperature between the urban centers, urban boundaries and suburban forests correlated with varying land-use density. The rise in temperature likely spurred lammas growth of the Korean red pine. Symptoms of climate change are being detected throughout the world, and its consequences will be clearer in the future. Considerate interest in the responses of ecological systems to the variable changes is required to prepare for unforeseeable crises. Monitoring of diverse ecological phenomena at Long Term Ecological Research sites could offer harbingers of change.