Dependence of natural regeneration or Korean Pine on animals-An outclosure experiment
红松天然更新对动物的依赖性—一个排除动物影响的球果发芽实验

The seeds of Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis sieb. et aucc)can not release from mature cones autcmatically,but were taken out and distributed by rodents and birds. To test the possibility that the seeds maygerminate within cones, cones were enclosed in wire cages and put on Korean-pine forest ground inSeptember 1992. Ten cones were recovered and examined in August 1994. Germination were showed in 9cones. For 115 fully developed seeds from 5 cones, 11. 3% of them germinated, 54. 8% has rotted and33. 5% remained healthy but ungerminated. All the seedlings in cones showed abnormal curling appearance. The abnormality of seedlings was discussed in relation to the position of seeds in cones and the orientation of the embryo in the seeds. The results supported the conclusion that Korean Pine can not regenerate naturally without the help of wild animals so that the related animals should be viewed as agroup of key stone spedes in deciduous-Korean Pine forest.