Introduction of Alien Plants on the Fill and Cut Slopes of the Road Construction in South Korea

Road development is considered an important factor in invasion and dispersion of ailen plants by damaging the natural ecosystems and connecting the detached landscapes into long tubular structures. In this study, vegetation survey was carried out according to the topographical characteristics of cut slope, fill slope, and flat land at the construction site in order to understand the effect of road developemt on the change of the floristic composition of ailen plants. Road developement projects caused a lot of changes in annual and biennial alien plants because of continuous disturbances. Changes in species composition of alien plants decreased in the cut slope. On the other hand, the ailen palnts of the fill slope increased. The increase or decrease alien plants on flat land were identified depending on where it occurred, and no major trend was found. The cause of these change was driven by unintentionally introduced alien plants. In particular, the cut slope with a high occurence of unintentional ailen plants should not be used as a source of high-risk alien plants such as ecosystem disturbances. Since the transplanted species were intentionally planted by the landscape plan, it was possible to identify colonies from early stages and spread to the nearby flat land. Therefore, in order to minimize the impact of road slope vegetation on the surrounding ecosystem during and after road construction, it is suggested to plant high viability plants in the landscape design during the environmental impact assessment consultation.