• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.411-421
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• 2017

Understanding the need for temperature regulation, behavior, and ecology of hibernating bats provides the possibility of conservation and management for target species. Our objective in this study was to improve understanding of the population trend and ecological requirement in Myotis formosus population in South Korea. From 2007 to 2016, total of 58 hibernacula for Myotis formosus were found across the country. Of the 58 hibernating sites of Myotis formosus, 86% (n=49) were abandoned mines and 14% (n=8) were natural caves. During the survey period, 28 (5%) bats of total 570 bats were observed in natural caves (n=8) and 542 (95%) bats were observed in abandoned mines (n=49). The internal environments of hibernacula of M. formosus were highly stable despite dramatic variation in the external environment. Specifically, we examined the population trend of the endangered bat Myotis formosus in South Korea by long-term monitoring for hibernation sites. The population trend of endangered species M. formosus showed a marked stable in hibernating population. Our results indicate that a tightly collected long-term data set may help to establish the initial approximation of population trends and manage to threats for the endangered bat species.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.402-406
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• 2015

This study aims at favorable environmental conditions by river otter residing in Hongcheon river ecosystems using spraints along the river. Otter spraints were indicative of habitat use pattern and marking a territory in the areas. Nae-chon and Kuneob-chon river otter spraints were collected totaling 478 with 8 times during 2009-2011, and based on the number river use patterns were analyzed with the technique of index of dispersion. Results with larger than one indicated that river otter habitat use pattern were not random; instead they used preferred areas for habitat use. 'I' values greater than one indicate a clumped distribution and lower than one indicate random distribution. This study also demonstrated that we need a sophiscated linear model that should be developed to identify key habitat elements in river ecosystems.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2016

In this study we analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution and preferred habitat type of the Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) based on the 3rd National Ecosystem Survey. Kentish plovers were observed in 97 maps out of a total 842 maps (11.8%) between 2006 and 2012, mainly along the western and southern coasts of Korea. They were also observed in the eastern coast of Korea, inland rivers (Han, Geum, Nakdong, Seomjin, and Yongsan River), the western and eastern coast of Jeju island, and Daecheong Island in the Yellow Sea. The observations were mainly made during the spring breeding season and migration seasons in spring and autumn. The occurrence of kentish plovers was positively influenced by the area of water and wetland according to the middle classification level of land cover type analysis and the area of coastal wetlands in the detailed classification level of land cover types. Most (90%) of the kentish plovers recorded maps had coastal wetlands. Kentish plovers were known to be susceptible to change of habitat. As the occurrence of kentish plovers could be associated with the habitat-change of coastal wetlands and it is possible to estimate the number of individuals, it is recommended that kentish plovers be used as a bioindicator species for the ecological assessment of ecosystem in intertidal zones.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.107-116
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• 2018

In this study, the distribution of sedimentary environment and benthic macro-fauna in habitats and non-habitats of Zostera marina were investigated. The purpose of this study was to obtain basic data about the sedimentary environment and benthic macro-fauna in the habitats and non-habitats of Z. marina. Sand was dominant within habitat environments, whereas the non-habitats were predominantly composed of silt. As a result, the habitats of Z. marina have a different grain size and organic matter content compared to the non-habitats. These differences in the sedimentary environment were expected to influence the species composition of benthic animals. Benthic communities in the habitats of Z. marina showed a higher density and a greater number of species than in the non-habitats. As a result of an ecological index evaluation, the species diversity index (H') was $3.44{\pm}0.10$ for the habitat; the non-habitat was analyzed as $2.34{\pm}0.35$. It was also found that the stability of community in the habitats was higher than that in the non-habitats. The cluster analysis also clearly showed that habitats and non-habitats of Z. marina have distinct characteristics.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2008

Void fraction of air bubble in the seagrass bed by photosynthesis was estimated with sound speed dispersion. A field experiment was conducted at Seagrasss bed of which bottom type is sandy mud and 120 kHz CW waveform was transmitted to obtain backscattered signals from seagrass bed. The differences of the arrival time of received signal from seagrass bed were observed between day and night. The diurnal variation of arrival time was caused by sound speed dispersion of air bubble generated by photosynthesis of seagrass.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1435-1443
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• 2012

The changes of plant communities at Angol valley and Baetgol valley in Geoje-do were studied. Both ${\alpha}$-diversity and ${\gamma}$-diversity decreased with the sizes and degrees of habitat fragmentations. The mean number of winner species decreased with habitat fragmentation. All Quercus species, including Quercus acutissima, significantly declined in importance, while the many introduced species, including Trifolium pretense, all increased in importance. As the proportional change in adult survival rate increased, the absolute value of the bias in the elasticity prediction also increased from 2003 to 2011 at undisturbed forests. However, the bias was low for decreases in disturbed populations. Moran's I values showed overall decreases for habitat fragmentation and for the periods of habitat conversion. Eventually, plant communities, due to urbanization in Goeje-do, might have led to decreased chances of common species when the environment was disturbed.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.567-572
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• 2013

Mammals act as an important role in maintaining ecosystem, but direct observation is very difficult. Nevertheless, in order to understand the impact of various changes about a sudden environment, long-term monitoring through direct investigation is essential. This study investigated home range analysis using GPS tracking device and behavioral ecology of Korean waterdeer (Hydropotes inermis), indigenous and native species in Korea. Studies on ecological characteristics and home range of Korean waterdeer are insufficient. Therefore, we studied home range using the GPS technique for critical point of existing research. Data showed the active movement in daytime ($44.1km^2$) than night ($30.0km^2$) and large area of activity in winter ($3.7km^2$) and spring ($44.1km^2$) than summer($0.04km^2$) and autumn ($0.01km^2$). The most used area of Korean waterdeer was forested area and wetland, agricultural area, waters in order of frequency based on the land coverage map. Our research represents overall characteristics of Korean water deer due to measurement of area of activity. However, this research signified behavioral ecology for Korean waterdeer, and further investigation in necessary.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.170-178
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• 2020

There are few landscape ecological analyses of Khingan fir (Abies nephrolepis) and other habitats of the sub-alpine zone in South Korea. In this study, we tried to quantitatively interpret and assess the habitat characteristics by analyzing 15 landscape indices according to the differences in tree layer coverage, in the Khingan fir habitat growing naturally in the sub-alpine zone of Seoraksan National Park. It was difficult to identify the tendency of landscape ecology to increase and decrease the tree layer coverage in the study site, which was the entire Khingan fir habitat in Seoraksan National Park. However, the Khingan fir habitat was found to be generally low in coverage, and population density as the tree layer coverage of less than 50 percent accounts for 85 percent of the total habitat. Moreover, the Khingan fir habitat in the 10 to 50 percent range was fragmented into a total of 286 patches, making it relatively less connected to the habitat. The total edge length and edge density, which could determine the edge effect of the main part according to the physical form, were the highest in the habitat of 26 to 50 percent coverage, indicating a relatively high impact from outside than habitats of other coverages. The shape with the tree layer coverage of between 10 and 50 percent was more complex even with patches of the same size, and it is believed that these characteristics make it more susceptible to habitat fragmentation and external confounding. We expect that the results of this study can be useful for time series analysis of spatial expansion or reduction of the Khingan fir habitat in Seoraksan National Park and provide the reference data for the morphological change and movement of patches and the connectivity and break-off between forests.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 2009

The Oriental white stork (Ciconia boyciana) is an endangered species in Korea as well as in the world. In order to provide information on foraging habitats for releasing storks to the wild, we studied the foraging behavior of the species according to different food densities and water levels. We released two individuals, male and female, after enclosing a study site with a fence and cutting out a part of two or three primary feathers. Research was conducted from 20 June to 16 August 2008 at Whawon-ri, Mewon-myung, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea. We investigated habitat patch usage, foraging efficiency, and foraging methods of the feeding individuals in the different food densities and water levels. The storks invested more for foraging time and trials, and they captured more food in a habitat of high food density than others. The female invested more time and captured food most in a habitat of lowest water depth while the male in a habitat of middle water depth. However, foraging efficiency did not differ significantly among habitats of food density and water depth, and only differed between male and female by ways of foraging method. From this study we suggest that the storks select foraging habitats and foraging methods under different conditions of food density and water depth.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.476-491
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• 2017

The water spider (Argyroneta aquatica), a rare member of its species, is one of the few insects known to live under water all over the world. In Korea, the water spider can be found only in the Eundae-ri, Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi province, where they are designated as a natural monument. However, loss of habitat is obvious, as the Eundae-ri wetland undergoes hydrarch succession. Loss of habitat has a direct impact on the water spider population. Thus protective measures for the water spider are needed to preserve the water spider habitat. In this study, a sweeping and visual survey of insect species was conducted in the water spider habitat from May to September 2015. The characteristics of each one of the different insect species and the community features were analyzed in this study. A total of 3,929 insects representing 276 species from 13 orders collected for the analysis. The most frequently collected insects from the Order Hemiptera represented 24.2% of total species and 82.3% of the total number of insects. Community analyses showed dominance, diversity, evenness, and richness indices of 0.23, 2.27, 0.41, and 31.2, respectively. Compared with the previous survey data, these results showed that reduction of the spider's wetland habitat caused the most commonly collected insects to adapt and spread to the surrounding terrestrial environment.