Reconstruction of Resin Collection History of Pine Forests in Korea from Tree-Ring Dating

Abstract

Resin is one of the traditional non-timber forest products in the Republic of Korea. In order to investigate the chronological activity of resin collection, the wounds/cuts on red pines (Pinus densiflora) were dated using a tree-ring analysis technique. Additionally, the size of the trees in the resin collection years and the present conditions of the trees were investigated to verify the tree conditions and the size of wounds. Eighty-eight red pines distributed over nine sites in the Republic of Korea were selected to extract increment cores and investigate the wound size. Through the tree-ring analysis, the trees with big wounds (24.7 × 104.7 cm) made via panel hacksaw method were dated in the range 1938–1952, whereas small wounds (40.2 × 20.9 cm) made via the conventional chisel method were dated between 1956 and 1973. Moreover, the red pines thicker than 20.0 cm were the ones that were used for resin collection. Furthermore, the wounds created by the conventional chisel were healed with time, whereas the ones formed via the panel hacksaw method still required long times for healing. The large wounds had the advantage of supplying a large amount of resin, but this was temporary. On the other hand, the smaller wounds formed via the traditional chisel method could generate resin for a longer time and heal faster.