National species lists are getting important because it defines the boundary of biological resources in the nation. Currently, several national species lists have been managed in Korea: e.g., ‘Checklist of Vascular Plant in Korea’ and the ‘National Species List.’ However, species coverage of these lists including valid names, synonyms, and general names are slightly different from each other, causing confusion sometimes. As a first step to construct the integrated national plant species list in Korea, we compared the two major national plant species lists, ‘Checklist of Vascular Plant in Korea’ and the ‘National Species List of Korea.’ We found that the number of common valid names from both lists is 3,158 accounting for 55.96% of non-redundant valid names originated from both lists. In contrast to the discordance of valid names, the number of common Korean names in both lists is 3,884 accounting for 60.68% of total Korean names used in both lists. Several cases of typos or incongruent ranks scientific names between two lists were also identified, which can be guide for managing plant species lists in near future. Based on our comparison results, better quality of an integrated species list can be generated so that precise boundary of our own biological can be confirmed and maintained.
National species lists are getting important because it defines the boundary of biological resources in the nation. Currently, several national species lists have been managed in Korea: e.g., ‘Checklist of Vascular Plant in Korea’ and the ‘National Species List.’ However, species coverage of these lists including valid names, synonyms, and general names are slightly different from each other, causing confusion sometimes. As a first step to construct the integrated national plant species list in Korea, we compared the two major national plant species lists, ‘Checklist of Vascular Plant in Korea’ and the ‘National Species List of Korea.’ We found that the number of common valid names from both lists is 3,158 accounting for 55.96% of non-redundant valid names originated from both lists. In contrast to the discordance of valid names, the number of common Korean names in both lists is 3,884 accounting for 60.68% of total Korean names used in both lists. Several cases of typos or incongruent ranks scientific names between two lists were also identified, which can be guide for managing plant species lists in near future. Based on our comparison results, better quality of an integrated species list can be generated so that precise boundary of our own biological can be confirmed and maintained.