South Korea

Asia

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South Korea is a largely mountainous and heavily urbanised country that nonetheless keeps ecosystems of international importance. Its tidal flats on the west and south coasts, the getbol, form one of the largest marsh systems in the world and are an essential stopover on the East Asian-Australasian flyway, along which millions of waders travel between Siberia and Oceania. The volcanic island of Jeju, with Mount Halla, its lava tubes and its cinder cones, is a World Heritage Site and keeps temperate laurel forests. Inland, the Seoraksan and Jirisan parks protect conifer and deciduous forests where the Asiatic black bear has been reintroduced. Suncheon bay, with its reedbeds, hosts hooded cranes each winter.

The nature of South Korea

National animal: The Korean tiger is the national animal; the Korean magpie is the national bird

Did you know?

The South Korean marshes are the filling station for birds such as the spoon-billed sandpiper, a tiny wader with a spatula-shaped bill of which fewer than five hundred pairs are left in the world. During its stopover on the Yellow Sea it can double its body weight in a few weeks feeding on the mud, a fat reserve essential to completing a journey of thousands of kilometres to Southeast Asia.

Biodiversity profile

Asia Oriental (peninsula de Corea)Cobertura de areas protegidas por debajo del promedio de la OCDE segun BioDB, pese a contar con 5 geoparques nacionales, 18 humedales Ramsar y reservas de la biosfera UNESCO (Seoraksan, Jejudo)

Climate

•Templado monzonico (Dwa/Cfa), con veranos calidos y humedos e inviernos frios y secos, cuatro estaciones bien diferenciadas

Main biomes

•Bosque templado caducifolio y de coniferas (dominante en la mayor parte del territorio)
•Bosque perennifolio de hoja ancha en el sur y las islas (clima calido-templado)
•Vegetacion subalpina en las montañas del cordon Baekdudaegan y el Monte Hallasan
•Marisma mareal getbol
•Bosque templado caducifolio
•Isla volcánica con tubos de lava
•Cañaveral costero
•Bosque de coníferas de montaña
•Laurisilva templada
•Humedal fluvial

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Extenso litoral con humedales costeros de importancia para aves migratorias
•Zona Desmilitarizada (DMZ) como santuario involuntario de biodiversidad entre ambas Coreas

Flagship wildlife

•Grulla de corona roja (invernada en la DMZ)
•Oso negro coreano
•Goral coreano
•Foca (aguas costeras)
•Correlimos cuchareta
•Grulla encapuchada
•Grulla de coronilla roja
•Oso negro asiático
•Goral de cola larga
•Espátula menor
•Nutria paleártica
•Ciervo almizclero siberiano
•Foca moteada
•Cigüeña oriental

Notable endemic species

•179 especies de plantas endemicas evaluadas en estudios recientes de modelado climatico, con centros de endemismo en el cordon montañoso Baekdudaegan, el Monte Hallasan y zonas insulares del sur
•Rana de Suweon
•Musaraña de Jeju

Notable threatened species

•Especies endemicas de distribucion restringida proyectadas a migrar hacia mayores altitudes y latitudes por el cambio climatico, aumentando su vulnerabilidad
•Multiples especies vegetales en peligro bajo la Ley de Proteccion y Gestion de Vida Silvestre

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional Seoraksan (Reserva de la Biosfera UNESCO)
•Parque Nacional Jirisan
•Isla de Jeju (Reserva de la Biosfera y Patrimonio Mundial, volcan Hallasan)
•Marismas getbol del litoral
•Parque Nacional de Jirisan
•Parque Nacional de Seoraksan
•Isla volcánica de Jeju
•Bahía de Suncheon
•Parque Nacional de Hallasan

Main conservation threats

•Perdida de habitat por urbanizacion e industrializacion acelerada
•Reduccion sustancial de humedales, tierras de cultivo y zonas forestales en las ultimas dos decadas
•Mas de 2.000 especies exoticas identificadas, varias invasoras
•Caza furtiva y comercio ilegal de vida silvestre

Notable natural phenomena

•La Zona Desmilitarizada (DMZ) funciona como refugio involuntario de biodiversidad al llevar mas de 70 años sin actividad humana significativa

Conservation

The getbol were declared a World Heritage Site in 2021 after decades of land reclamation destroyed much of the marshland. The Asiatic black bear has been reintroduced in Jirisan since 2004 and is breeding in the wild again.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The western marshes in April and May and again in September for migrating waders. Suncheon between November and February for hooded cranes. Jeju in spring for island flora.

Sources: Nature Scientific Reports - Climate-induced distribution dynamics South Korean endemic plants | BioDB.com - Korea | PMC - Mapping Endangered Plant Distributions South Korea

Temperate forest Mountain Freshwater