Abstract

For the ecosystem conservation and the effective management of naturalized plant species on261 uninhabited islands distributed in southern and western sea in Korea, we tested the interrelationship betwen the patern of distribution and dispersal of the naturalized plant species and the factors of geographical environment of uninhabited islands such as island area, distance from mainland, latitude, longitude, human impacts and habitat diversity. Out of 261 uninhabited islands surveyed, 106 species of the naturalized plants occurred on 229 (87.7%) islands. The naturalized plant species per island averaged 4.6 (SD=4.07) species, and plant species number were higher in southern group (87 species) than in western group (64 species) of Rumex crispus L. (153 islands), Erigeron annuus Pers. (130 islands), and Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist (121 islands), the highest grade '5' of 'degree of naturalization'. The occurrence frequency of 106 naturalized plant species was significantly correlated with island area, distance to mainland, strength of human impacts, and latitude and longitude. Correlation coefficient (r=-0.330) between occurrence frequency and distance from mainland was higher than between occurrence frequency and island area (r=0.182). The result of path analysis confirmed that plant species number was significantly affected by island area p=0.336) and distance from mainland (p=-0.490), but in this analysis the effect of human impacts on plant species number was very weak (p=0.003). On the basis of these results, strategies on the conservation of ecosystem and the management of naturalized plant species in the uninhabited islands of Korea were discussed.