Evaluation on the Restoration Effects in the River Restoration Projects Practiced in South Korea

This study evaluated the effects of the restoration of rivers carried out by the central government on streams located in major cities in South Korea. The effects of the restoration were evaluated based on the morphological and ecological characteristics, species composition and richness of vegetation, and a Riparian Vegetation Index of the restored streams. The naturalness of the streams, based on both the morphological and ecological characteristics, as well as the Riparian Vegetation Index of the restored streams was significantly lower than that of the reference rivers. The vegetation profiles of the restored streams did not reflect the flooding regimen of the river. Furthermore, the herbaceous plants found on the streambanks give way to shrubs and then to tree-dominated vegetation, respectively. The species composition of the vegetation in the restored streams showed a significant difference from that of the reference streams and this difference was particularly more significant with regards to the herbaceous plant-dominated vegetation types. The species richness of the restored streams showed a difference among the different streams but was lower than that of the reference streams. The ratio of exotic and gardening plants occupied in the species composition of the restored streams tended to be higher than that in the reference streams. Considering the above results, the restoration effects were usually low in the restored streams. Accordingly, an active adaptive management plan was recommended to improve those problems.