Environmental and growth variation of Peucedanum japonicum in coastal areas of South Korea

Coastal habitats are characterized by steep and spatially heterogeneous environmental gradients that can influence plant population structure, growth and reproductive performance.Peucedanum japonicum is a coastal perennial plant distributed across diverse habitats, but differences in population characteristics and individual performance among populations under different local environmental conditions remain poorly understood.We compared vegetation, environmental conditions, structural characteristics, and individual growth and reproductive traits of P. japonicum across three habitat types in Korea: coastal sand dunes (SD), coastal slopes (CS), and island interior (II).The results showed that while soil in SD sites had high sand content and low organic matter and moisture, individual plants showed the highest mean plant height, number of leaves, secondary pedicels, and flower stalks.These high values were largely observed at SD_T, one of the two SD sites.In II site, soil moisture, organic matter and phosphate (PO 4 -P) were relatively high, and the species showed the highest Importance Value.Conversely, in CS sites, despite relatively high soil moisture and organic levels, P. japonicum exhibited the lowest Importance Value and growth traits, which could be explained in relation to community structure.Because these differences were not statistically tested, they should be interpreted as descriptive patterns.These findings suggest that the observed patterns of P. japonicum may reflect differences in both soil conditions and biotic context, including surrounding vegetation structure and plant density.Our findings provide an ecological basis for evaluating habitat suitability and informing cultivation-site selection.