• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.450-462
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• 2023

This study suggested methodology of Citizen Science as a tool of ecosystem conservation and management to achieve Wetland Protected Area (WPA) Conservation Plan and examined whose applicability in 3 WPAs (Jangrok of Gwangju metropolitan city, Madongho of Goseong in South Gyeongsang Province, and Incheongang estuary of Gochang in North Jeolla Province). It consists of a) figuring out main interests and stakeholder or beneficiaries of WPA and their information demand based on conservation, utilization, and management target in the WPA Conservation Plan, b) conducting research activities to gain outcome to address stakeholder's demand, and c) returning the research outcome to citizen scientists and making diffusion to the society. Based on the suggested method and process, citizen scientists conducted ecosystem monitoring (plants including Invasive Alien Plants, terrestrial insects, traces of mammals, discovering unknown wetland). As a result, citizen scientists contributed to collecting species information of 16 plans, 43 species of terrestrial insects, 5 mammals including Lutra lutra (Endangered Species I) and Prionailurus bengalensis (Endangered Species II). The authors constructed and provided distribution map of Invasive Alien Plants, which included information of location and density which citizen scientists registered, for Environment Agencies and local governments who manage 3 WPAs to aid data-based ecosystem policy, In further studies, not only accumulating research data and outcomes acquired from citizen science to suffice the policy demands but also deliberate reviewing policy applicability and social·economic ripple effect should be processed for the suggested Citizen Science in WPA to be settled down as a tool of ecosystem conservation and management.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.81-91
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• 2016

This study was performed to investigate and monitor changes in aquatic ecological communities, particularly benthic macroinvertebrates from the upper reaches to the down reaches of Songchu valley before the project of Songchu valley translocation initiates. We aimed to verify the translocation effects of the valley on the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. A field investigation was conducted over three rounds from November 2012 to August 2013. A total of four sites were selected: one to represent the control site (St. 1), two for the translocation sites (St. 2, 3), and one for the downstream sites (St. 4). Our quantitative sampling revealed that the total number of benthic macroinvertebrates were 3,805, which belong to 62 species, 32 families, 9 orders, 5 classes and 4 phyla. As a result of the community analysis at the control site, dominant index was 0.52(${\pm}0.16$), diversity index was 1.95(${\pm}0.44$), evenness index was 0.81(${\pm}0.04$), and richness index was 2.25(${\pm}0.85$). Thus, the community structure was found to be relatively stable. For the EPT ratio of species and individuals that appeared, the control site showed the highest values at 67.60(${\pm}5.66$)% and 66.30(${\pm}2.06$)% respectively, but its value became lower towards the downstream sites. Upon the statistical analysis of the functional feeding groups, it was found that gathering-collectors and filtering-collectors increased toward the downstream sites while shredders decreased. From the point of habitat-oriented group evaluation, sprawlers decreased and burrows increased toward the downstream sites. According to the analysis using Korea Saprobic Index (KSI), the control site is categorized as grade A with average value at 0.75(${\pm}0.10$). However, the grade gradually falls from A to B toward the lower reaches, as the KSI value increases at the translocation and downstream sites.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.426-435
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• 2010

The present study attempts to compare the soil chemical characteristics and biological activities (i.e. microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities), and litter decomposition rate of Arundinella hirta and Miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens) collected from serpentine and non-serpentine sites by litter bag techniques at serpentine and non-serpentine field experiment sites over a 9-month period. The serpentine soil showed higher pH and soil alkaliphosphatase activity, and lower soil dehydrogenase and urease activities than the non-serpentine soil. Microbial biomass-N at the serpentine soil was larger than the non-serpentine soil, although the microbial biomass-C and microbial biomass-N represented no significant difference between serpentine and non-serpentine soil. These results suggest that the larger microbial biomass-N caused the lower C/N in serpentine soil. At the end of the experiment, the litter samples of A. hirta and M. sinensis collected from serpentine soil revealed a 39.8% and 38.5% mass loss, and the litter sample from non-serpentine soil also showed a 41.1% and 41.7% mass loss at the serpentine site. On the other hand, at the non-serpentine site, 42.2%, 37.4%, and 46.8%, 44.8% were respectively shown. These results demonstrate that the litter decomposition rate is more intensely affected by the heavy metal content of leaf litter than soil contamination. Moreover, the litter collected from the serpentine soil had a lower C/N, whereas the litter decomposition rate was slower than the litter from the non-serpentine soil, because the heavy metal inhibition activities on the litter decomposition process were more conspicuous than the effect of litter qualities such as C/N ratio or lignin/N. The nutrient element content in the decomposing litter was gradually leached out, but heavy metals and Mg were accumulated in the decaying litter. This phenomenon was conspicuous at the serpentine site during the process of decomposition.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.271-277
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• 2012

The present study was conducted to assess the suitability of domestic natural waters as a Daphnia magna culture medium. In order to assess survival rate and reproductive output, young female daphnids (parent animals), aged less than 24 hours at the start of the test and produced in the Elendt M4 medium, were exposed to Elendt M4 medium, de-chlorinated tap water, and natural mineral water for 21 days. D. magna cultured in Elendt M4 medium (reference medium) and natural mineral water met the criteria of OECD No. 211, Daphnia magna Reproduction Test Guidelines in terms of percent adult survival, first day of reproduction, and average young production. However, the mortalities of adult daphnids observed in de-chlorinated tap water were more than 20% in two reproduction tests for 21 days. Mortality was observed on exposure days 13, 15, and 18 in de-chlorinated water. The use of D. magna is recommended in water of hardness >80 mg $CaCO_3\;L^{-1}$. However, the hardness of de-chlorinated tap water used in the present study was 50~53 mg $CaCO_3\;L^{-1}$. Therefore, it is judged that the delayed mortalities observed in de-chlorinated tap water were caused by a rapid decreased in hardness when the medium was changed from Elendt M4 to de-chlorinated tap water. When D. magna is cultured using domestic natural waters (underground water, surface water, and de-chlorinated water), the quality-control (QC) data should be maintained through a standardization for health assessment method, toxicity test method using reference chemical, test intervals of reference toxicant toxicity test, and data treatment and interpretation. In the long term, national research programs are needed for the development of test species which are representative of domestic aquatic environmental conditions among indigenous daphnids.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.305-319
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• 2000

A total of 50 diatom species and 1 subspecies belonging to 31 genera except Chaetoceros resting spores were identified in the 45 sediments subsampled from a gravity core GH98-1223 collected from the western Hokkaido Island located in the northeastern East Sea (Sea of Japan). The most dominant species is Thalassionema nitzschioides (Grunow) Hustedt, ranging 29 to 59% of the total assemblages, and most species including Denticulopsis seminae (Simonsen and Kanaya) Simonsen and Pseudoeunotia doliolus (Wallich) Grunow were less than 5% in average. Frequencies of cold-water species are generally higher than those of warm-water species and the vertical distribution of cold-water species was largely opposite to that of warm-water species in spite of ecological habitat difference. Frequency of cold-water species, D. seminae is reverse to that of P. doliolus, an indicator of the Tsushima Warm Current, which is consistent with diatom temperature value (T$_{d}$ value). The variation of T$_{d}$ values shows that the upper part of core with greater-than-average T$_{d}$ values represents postglacial warming trend. These T$_{d}$ values clearly demonstrate that the study area located in the northern part of the East Sea is gradually influenced by Tsushima Warm Current. In addition, the zig-zag variation in the lower part reflects the unstable seawater for diatom habitat. Chaetoceros resting spores indicating productivity and upwelling was 5.3 to 40%, with maximum peak at 80 cm. Chaetoceros resting spores/Chaetoceros vegetative cells, an indicator of relative amounts of biogenic material in the sediments was high at the upper 80 cm level, corresponding to the change of T$_{d}$ values. On the basis of diatom assemblages, the northeastern part of East Sea has experienced the effects of Tsushima Warm Current during the postglacial period of Holocene, which is similar to the modem climatic environment. However, the variation of P. doliolus reflects that the intensity of Tsushima Warm Current has been oscillated in the East Sea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.241-248
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• 2010

Hypoxic(oxygen-deficient) water masses are a key threat to the ecosystem of shallow marine coastal areas worldwide. The phenomena of hypoxia occurred at Gamak Bay, on the southeast coast of Korea, in late June 2007. In this paper, the physicochemical characteristics of seawater were surveyed for a period of hypoxic water mass disappearance. The hypoxic water mass was located between Sunso and the northwestern area of the inner bay. The dissolved oxygen(DO) concentrations of surface and bottom water were $1.3mgL^{-1}$ and less than $2mgL^{-1}$, respectively, in the hypoxic water masses, and $4.5{\sim}6.8mgL^{-1}$ and $3.8{\sim}6.0mgL^{-1}$ at the other oxygen-rich sample sites, respectively. Chlorophyll a concentrations were $4.9{\sim}25.3{\mu}gL^{-1}$ at the surface, $2.3{\sim}23.1{\mu}gL^{-1}$ in the middle, and $1.9{\sim}9.0{\mu}gL^{-1}$ at the bottom of the hypoxic water masses. When the hypoxic water mass appeared in Gamak Bay, it formed three different vertical types. The first type occurred throughout the water depth around Sunso. The second type developed from the bottom. The third type of hypoxic water mass was formed in the middle water layer when the inversion of water temperature occurred. The third type of phenomena appeared at only St. 9, St. 14 and St. 21 sites near the Hodo coast. Aquatic surface respiration of bottom-dwelling fishes such as the oriental goby(Acanthogobius flavimanus) was observed and many crustaceans were seen along the adjacent shore of the hypoxic water mass area. About 3,000 oriental gobies as well as many crustaceans died due to this event in Gamak Bay. The results of this study could provide fundamental data for the mechanism of hypoxic water masses in Gamak Bay.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the reproductive ecology of the Korean Mandarin Fish, Siniperca scherzeri in Seomjin River and Imjin River from April to October 2008. After have investigating the relationship between standard length (SL) and Gonadosomatic index (GSI) of Siniperca scherzeri, we can conclude that the body length of maturation was over 200mm SL in case of females and over 180mm SL in males. The GSI of the females that were from Seomjin river was the highest in April (7.43%), and gradually decreased after May (5.55%) and June (3.58%). The GSI was decreased sharply in August and indicated the lowest value in September (0.44%). The GSI of the females that were from Imjin river showed similar tendency of females' GSI from Seomjin river. The GSI of males from Imjin river was totally higher than that of females, it was 5.96% in April, and 8.03% in May. It was lowered in early June, and late June, it indicated 2.12%. In September, it was the lowest value (0.20%), and increased after October (0.54%). The result of histological study of ovary presented similar result of the study of GSI in Seomjin river and Imjin river. The ratio that fishes constitute in stomach contents of Siniperca scherzeri was 92% in Seomjin river and 90% in Imjin river. Digestion of food organisms and the ratio of unidentifiable fishes in stomach contents was fairly high, and it was 50% in Seomjin river and 72.2% in Imjin river. In the period of study, eating ratio was very low 38.3% (36 ind.) in Seomjin river and 21.8 (53 ind.) in Imjin river.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.296-307
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• 2016

Ecological restoration is an eco-technology, which heals the nature damaged by human activity by imitating organization and function of the integrate nature and thereby provide an inhabitable space for diverse organisms. Such an ecological restoration has to be carried out by applying restoration plan prepared based on the results of diagnostic evaluation discussed in the diversified respects. This study aims to prepare an ecological restoration plan of the damaged forest ecosystem in Mt. Moodeung National Park. To arrive at the goal, first of all, we diagnosed quality of forest landscape established in Mt. Moodeung National Park based on natural (topography, climate, and distribution of vegetation) and artificial (land use, linear landscape element) factors. In addition, we evaluated the integrity of each zone divided by linear landscape element quantitatively based on geometric property and land use intensity. As the result of analysis, topography of Mt. Moodeung National Park tended to be depended on weathering property of parent rock and vegetation zones were divided to three vegetation zones. Based on land use pattern, deciduous broad-leaved forest, evergreen needle-leaved forest, and mixed forest occupied about 90% of Mt. Moodeung National Park. Mean score of forest landscape quality was shown in $69.86{\pm}11.41$. As a result, forest landscape elements in Mt. Moodeung National Park were influenced greatly by human activity and the degree was depended on topographic condition. This study suggested the synthetic restoration plan to improve ecological quality of Mt. Moodeung National Park based on the results of diagnostic evaluation.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.562-581
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• 2018

This study was designed to predict the changes in species richness of plants under the climate change in South Korea. The target species were selected based on the Plants Adaptable to Climate Change in the Korean Peninsula. Altogether, 89 species including 23 native plants, 30 northern plants, and 36 southern plants. We used the Species Distribution Model to predict the potential habitat of individual species under the climate change. We applied ten single-model algorithms and the pre-evaluation weighted ensemble method. And then, species richness was derived from the results of individual species. Two representative concentration pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) were used to simulate the species richness of plants in 2050 and 2070. The current species richness was predicted to be high in the national parks located in the Baekdudaegan mountain range in Gangwon Province and islands of the South Sea. The future species richness was predicted to be lower in the national park and the Baekdudaegan mountain range in Gangwon Province and to be higher for southern coastal regions. The average value of the current species richness showed that the national park area was higher than the whole area of South Korea. However, predicted species richness were not the difference between the national park area and the whole area of South Korea. The difference between current and future species richness of plants could be the disappearance of a large number of native and northern plants from South Korea. The additional reason could be the expansion of potential habitat of southern plants under climate change. However, if species dispersal to a suitable habitat was not achieved, the species richness will be reduced drastically. The results were different depending on whether species were dispersed or not. This study will be useful for the conservation planning, establishment of the protected area, restoration of biological species and strategies for adaptation of climate change.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.87-102
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• 2022

To clarify the spatial distribution pattern of macrozoobenthos in Korean coastal waters in the summer season and investigate the relationship between community structure and benthic environmental factors, field surveys on community structure and benthic environmental factors were conducted at 117 stations in August 2017. A total of 613 macrobenthic species were identified, with the mean density of 1,228 ind./m² and the mean biomass (wet weight) of 110.9 g WW/m². Rich biodiversity was found at stations near Wando and along the coast of the East Sea, and there is a trend that stations with greater biodiversity also showed higher mean density as well. The dominant species in all the coastal areas in Korea was Heteromastus filiformis, which were found at most of the stations during the survey. The relatively deep areas in the East Sea were dominated by Magelona johnsoni and Maldane cristata, which were the third and ninth dominant species in the study areas, respectively. Pseudopolydora kempi and Rhynchospio sp. were observed only at the station located in the Nakdong River estuary. From the cluster analysis the stations could be clustered into three station groups with more similar faunal composition. Group A was located in the eastern coast, characterized with deep water depth and low levels of sand contents, while Group B was located in the southern coast, characterized by shallow depth of water and high content of mud and organic matter. Lastly, Group C was in the western coast, demonstrating low levels of mud content and organic matters. The biodiversity of macrobenthic species in the study area showed high positive correlation coefficients with benthic environmental factors such as sorting, clay, silt, and contents of organic matter in sediments, but negatively correlated with the sand contents. Major dominant species, Theora lata and Eriopisella sechellensis, both showed negative correlation coefficients with the sand contents, but a relatively high positive correlation with the levels of organic contents.It can be concluded that the spatial distribution patterns of macrobenthic organisms in Korean coastal waters are affected by depth, sediment type, and contents of organic matters.