Village Woods and Agricultural Biodiversity in South Korea

In South Korea village woods are composed of an isolated tree or a number of trees, located near rural villages and which have an apparent fengshui shape. Village woods also function as wildlife habitat and promote agricultural biodiversity. Here village woods were classified in to four types (natural forest, semi-natural forest, half-natural forest and artificial forest) and 23 main tree species(dominant or sub-dominant species) identified. Pinus densiflora is dominant at 50 sites, and Zelkova serrata is dominant at 45 sites. Across village woods, emerged plants comprise 125 families, 519 genus and 1081 species. In spite of the extremely small area of village wood, 100 000 km2 or 0.00278% Korea's territory, this ecosystem has an important biodiversity and habitat conservation function. Village woods are not only a base for conserving biodiversity, but also deliver ecosystem services in South Korea.