RESEARCH INTO DYING NEEDLE-LEAF TREES

[Anchor Lead]

Needle-leaf trees growing at more than one thousand meters above sea level on Mt. Jirisan are dying en masse, presumably because of climate change. To identify the exact cause, the first research center has opened in the area.

[Pkg]

This is what Cheonwang Peak of Mt. Jirisan standing 1915 m above sea level looked like last year. The needles, which are supposed to stay green all year, have dried out and died. All that's left are white branches. The trees have turned grayish as if burned by forest fires. Korean firs growing in high-lying areas are dying en masse. The area of the Korean fir forest used to surpass four thousand ha, equal in size to 6,000 soccer fields, but now this tree species has been designated as endangered. Higher temperatures and low precipitation in spring due to climate change are presumed to be the reason. But the exact cause has yet to be identified. To find out more, a research center has been set up in Mt. Jirisan in an area 1,650 m above sea level. Its task is to survey annually the ecology of needle-leaf trees growing 1,500 to 2,500 m above sea level to find out if there is a link between climate change and the trees' mass deaths. The one-story facility was built on a 400 million won investment and measures 57.7 sq. m. It can conduct meteorological observations by checking the temperature and humidity levels, and monitor plants' growth.

[Soundbite] Kim Jin-won(National Park Research Institute) : "Our goal is to study the conditions in which fir trees grow and how meteorological conditions change according to climate."

The Korea National Park Service plans to respond to climate change proactively by setting up research centers in major national parks nationwide as well as on islands and in wetland areas.