Development of Methodology for Vulnerability Assessment of Chemical Accident in Terrestrial Ecosystem:(1) Focusing on the Trees

Abstract

Objective With rapid industrial development, human and the environment are frequently exposed to various chemicals. In particular, there is a possibility that terrestrial ecosystems as well as humans are exposed to a large amount of highly toxic chemicals due to accidents occurring frequently in Korea and abroad. If a large amount of chemicals enter the terrestrial ecosystem due to an accident such as a chemical leakage, the terrestrial ecosystem around the accident site may be affected and these chemicals may impair not only a living organisms, but also the function of terrestrial environment, the habitat of the organisms. The aim of this study is to develop methodology for vulnerability assessment of chemical accident in terrestrial ecosystem. Method First, we selected 41 forest tree species and 41 shrubs among woody plants according to the domestic distribution and establish various vulnerability indicators that can be evaluated according to the exposure and recovery categories. Results and Discussion As a result of vulnerability scoring for 41 forest tree species and 41 shrubs, most vulnerable species were Daphniphyllum macropodum, Lindera obtusiloba, Juniperus rigida, Diospyros lotus, and Eucommia ulmoides in forest trees and Zanthoxylum piperitum, Cephalotaxus koreana, Forsythia koreana, Cycas revoluta, and Lespedeza maximowiczii in shrubs. Conclusions This study quantified the vulnerability of trees to chemical accidents by adding them and assigning them according to their characteristics. We expect that the risk of chemicals caused by chemical accidents occurring in these days and the exposure of chemicals to the environment can be assessed in terms of ecological perspective using the assessment of vulnerability of terrestrial ecosystems proposed in this study.

Keywords

• vulnerability
• terrestrial ecosystem
• soil
• chemical accident
• plant