Flowering, Fruiting, Seed Fall and Seed Viability of Acer pseudosieboldianum in Mt. Jungwang, Gangwondo

To examine the natural regeneration in the natural mixed-broadleaved forest, flowering, fruiting, seed-fall, and seed viabilities of Acer pseudosieboldianum (Ap) were investigated in Mt. Jungwang, Gangwon-do, from 2009 to 2015. The flower of Ap consisted many male and bisexual flowers on the corymb. Flowering dates are differed between sex morph in the same inflorescence. Stamens are stop growing and disappeared after pollinated pistil begin to grow in bisexual flowers, and male flowers have vestial pistil. The flowers of Ap might be pollinated by Apis mellifera, Andrenidae spp. and Syrphinae spp. Ap had some mechanism to prevent from self pollination with heterodichogamy. Mean annual seedfall of Ap was 70,780 ea/ha (ranged 310~234,840 ea/ha). Annual seedfall of Ap varied severely, and the maximum was about 760 times the minimum. Annual seed production of Ap might be to a normal distribution. Rates of damaged or decayed seeds are highest 59.3%, and those of sound seeds are 23.9%, Those of undeveloped and empty seeds are 9.2% and 7.6%, respectively. The most important factors influencing sound seed production might be the density and activities of insect pollinators and sucking pest in the flowerwing period, middle-late May. Successful regeneration of Ap might be in masting year and on the gap sites with proper conditions to germinate and grow. To understand the natural regeneration of deciduous hardwoods, further study on the characteristics of flowering and fruiting, preand post-dispersal seed predation, and annual variation on these factor should be needed.