• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.98-103
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• 2008

Genetic diversity and population genetic structure within or among three stream populations (Gab, Baekgok and Ji streams) of Korean endangered natural monument fish, Iksookimia choii, were assessed by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). AFLP analysis using three primer combinations generated 104 to 106 AFLP bands, and percent polymorphic bands were similar in those three populations ranging 21.5 to 24.5%. Heterozygosity and genetic diversity within or among populations were quite low for all of these populations with average values ranging from 0.067 to 0.084 and from 0.076 to 0.087, respectively. Analyses of pairwise distance and genetic similarity among three populations of I. choii also revealed the similar results with very low genetic differentiation one another. Although pairwise Fst values were very low, our data clearly indicated distinct genetic differentiation among the three populations. This is the first report concerning the genetic diversity and differentiation of this species, and provides basic genetic information that should facilitate attempts to conserve this species.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.spc
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• pp.57-65
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• 2014

Spatial and temporal distributions of zooplankton were measured in an oligotrophic pumped storage-type hydroelectric reservoir which was composed of two reservoirs exchanging water daily, with water going up at night and going down during the day. Repetitive diel disturbance of the water column can be a unique feature of this reservoir system. Chl-${\alpha}$ concentration was highest in the early winter season. Phytoplankton density was lower in summer monsoon due to high flushing rate on rainy days. The zooplankton density was higher in the smaller upper reservoir possibly due to lower fish density in the upper reservoir. In the seasonal variation a time gap was observed between the phytoplankton bloom and the zooplankton bloom (particularly a rotifer, Keratella cochlearis). It is likely to that Keratella production is partially supported by heterotrophic food sources than phytoplankton. The dominance of a mixotrophic dinoflagellate (Peridinium bipes f. ocultatum) might have complicated the trophic relationship between phytoplankton and zooplankton. Our results provide some ecological information of zooplankton community in a highly disturbed alpine reservoir ecosystem relying on mostly allochthonous organic matter.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.81-98
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• 2012

This research aims 1) to analyse the spatial occurrence of red soils, in Korea 2) to predict their spatial distribution using terrain analyses, and 3) to interpret results from the perspective of pedogeomorphological processes. Red soils (often called red-yellow soils) in Korea are frequently found on welldrained plains and gently sloping areas. These soils are widely believed paleo-soils that were formed under hot and humid climatic conditions in the past. The spatial distribution of red soils was derived from the soil map of Korea, and a DEM based soil prediction was developed, based on a continuity equation to depict water and material flows over the landscape. About 64.5% of the red soil occurrence can be explained by the prediction. Close examinations between surveyed and predicted red soil maps show few distinctive spatial features. Granitic erosional plains at the inland of Korea show comparatively low occurrence of red soils, which might indicate active geomorphological processes within the basins. The occurrence of red soils at limestone areas is more abundant than that of the predicted, indicating the influence of parent materials on the formation of red soils. At and around lava plateau at Cheulwon and Youncheon, the occurrence of red soils is underestimated, which might partly be explained by the existence of loess-like surface deposits. There are also distinctive difference of prediction results between northern and southern parts of Korea (divided by a line between Seosan and Pohang). The results of this research calls for more detailed field-based investigations to understand forming processes of red soils, focusing on the spatial heterogeneity of pedological processes, the influence of parent materials, and difference in uplift patterns of the Korean peninsula.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.40-61
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• 2009

The Cretaceous Gyeongsang Supergroup, composed of clastic sediments mostly deposited in the lacustrine and fluvial environment, is widely distributed in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Diverse fossils of plants, molluscs, insects, footprints of dinosaurs, pterosaurs and birds, and eggs, bones, and teeth of dinosaurs have been found from the Gyeongsang Supergroup. New types of dinosaur, pterosaur, and bird tracks recently discovered from the Gyeongsang Supergroup attract great attention from the world. Several tracksites of dinosaurs and birds were designated as Natural Monument and nationally conserved, and many efforts have given to them for nomination of UNESCO World Heritage. Bird tracks from the Gyeonsang Supergroup are Koreanaornis hamanensis, Jindongornipes kimi, Goseongornipes markjonesi, Ignotornis yangi, Uhangrichnus chuni, and Hwangsanipes choughi, which correspond approximately one third of Mesozoic bird tracks recorded from the world. The Gyeongsang Basin of the Korean Peninsula yields world most diverse bird tracks which may be called a paradise of Mesozoic birds and they are important natural heritage providing significant information about evolution and paleogeographic distribution of birds.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.360-367
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• 2022

Research on food sources through DNA metabarcoding is being used for various organisms based on high resolution and reproducibility. In the study, we investigated the difference in food sources between pre and post-starving in the three bivalve species (Anemina acaeformis, Anodonta woodiana, and Unio douglasiae) through DNA metabarcoding using 18S rRNA V9 primer. The food source of pre-starving appeared in 87 genera, 71 families, 51 orders, 35 classes, and 22 phyla. The primary food sources were the zoo and phytoplankton, including Chlamydomonadales, Euglenales, Ploima, Sphaeropleales, and Stephanodiscales. However, all zoo and phytoplankton were not observed after starving except Schizopyrenida and Rotifera. In Levin's niche breadth analysis, the Bi index of A. woodiana is 0.3, which was higher than A. acaeformis(0.14) and U. douglasiae (0.21), indicating that they feed on various food sources. The niche overlap of A. acaeformis was measured as 0.78 in A. woodiana, 0.7 in U. douglasiae showing a relative high value compared to other bivalves. The trophic level of A. acaeformis, A. woodiana, and U. douglasiae based on the food source information were investigated as 2.0, 2.0, and 2.5, respectively. The results of the previous study on the trophic level using stable isotopes showed 1.8 to 2.4 values were similar to the results of this study. These results suggest that DNA metabarcoding can be an effective analyzing tool for the gut content in the bivalves.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.212-220
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• 2022

An estuary is a water ecosystem with a high abundance of the species diversity, due to a variety of complex physicochemical factors of the area where freshwater and ocean mixed. The identification of Corbicula species in the estuary environments is difficult because of various morphological characteristics. In this study, we provide taxonomic information on Corbicula species with taxonomic difficulties using morphological and genetic analysis. This study was conducted on clams from the Seomjin River-Gwangyang Bay, one of the major production area of marsh clam in Korea. As a result, we characterized Cytocrome C Oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of the Corbicula. The 636 bp nucleotide sequences of COI have 98% homology among Corbicula species collected from 2 sites of Seomjin River-Gwangyang Bay. The phylogenetic analysis with 17 species of Corbicula indicated that most of the species collected from Seomjin River-Gwangyang Bay were brackish water clam (Corbicula japonica), and only one Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea). The evolutionary distance between C. japonica and C. fluminea was less than 0.003. Therefore, it was confirmed that C. japonica is phylogenetically closely related to C. fluminea. In 9 species of Cyrenidae, phylogenetic tree was classified into three lineages. These results will be used as an important data for an identification of clam species by providing genetic information for Corbicula species with a morphological diversity.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.406-413
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• 2023

Captive breeding and reintroduction are crucial strategies for conserving endangered species populations. However, fish raised in predator-free environments, show a lack of recognition of predationrelated stimuli such as chemical and visual signals. It is critical to recognize chemical signals from injured conspecifics, also known as alarm signals, and the order or shape of predators to indicate the spread of predation risk in the habitat. We conducted a laboratory experiment to determine and adjust the optimal exposure period to induce appropriate anti-predator behavior response to different types of stimuli (Chemical, Visual and Chemical+Visual) for the endangered species Microphysogobio rapidus. Our results demonstrate that predator avoidance behavior varies depending on the types of stimuli and the duration of predation risk exposure. First, the results showed captive-breed M. rapidus show lack of response against conspecific alarm signal (Chemical cue) before the predation risk exposure period and tend to increase response over predation risk exposure time. Second, response to predator (visual cue) tend to peak at 48 hours cumulative exposure, but show dramatic decrease after 72 hours cumulative exposure. Finally, response to the mixed cue (Chemical+visual) tend to peak prior to the predation risk exposure period and show reduced response during subsequent exposure periods. This experiment confirms the lack of responsiveness to conspecific alarm signals in captive-bred M. rapidus and the need for an optimal nature behavior enhancement program prior to release of endangered species. Furthermore, responsiveness to predator visual signal peak at 48 hours cumulative exposure, suggest an optimal predation risk exposure period of up to 48 hours.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.137-147
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• 2017

The identity of toxin producers remains only hypothesis unless there were identified by strain isolation and analytical confirmation of both the cyanotoxin production and the genetic identity of the monoculture. The purposes of this study were to identify a morphologic and phylogenetic classification in Aphanizomenon flos-aquae strains isolated from the Nakdong River and to investigate the potential ability of the strains to produce toxins such as saxitoxin and cylindrospermopsin using target genes. The 16S rRNA and sxtA, sxtI, cyrA, cyrJ genes were analyzed on two strains (DGUC001, DGUC003) isolated from the Nakdong River. Morphological features of the strains were observed a shape of aggregated trichomes in parallel fascicles which can reach up to macroscopic size and a hyaline terminal cell without aerotope. In addition, the 16S rRNA phylogenetic analyses showed that the strains were identified as the same species with high genetic similarity of 98.4% and grouped within a monospecific andsupported cluster I of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae selected from GenBank of the NCBI. The cyrA and cyrJ genes encoding for the cylindrospermopsin-biosynthesis were not detected in the present study. The sxtA gene was in detected both the two strains, whereas the sxtI gene which had been suggested as a suitable molecular marker to detect saxitoxin-producing cyanobacteria was not found both the strains. Thus, the two strains isolated from Nakdong River were identified as the same species of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae Ralfs ex Bornet et Flahault 1888, the two strains were confirmed as potential non-producing strains of the saxitoxin and cylindrospermopsin.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.229-237
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• 2015

This study aims to offer basic data to effectively preserve and manage pine forests using more precise pine forests' distribution status. In this regard, this study predicts the geographical distribution change of pine forests growing in South Korea, due to climate change, and evaluates the spatial distribution characteristics of pine forests by age. To this end, this study predicts the potential distribution change of pine forests by applying the MaxEnt model useful for species distribution change to the present and future climate change scenarios, and analyzes the effects of bioclimatic variables on the distribution area and change by age. Concerning the potential distribution regions of pine forests, the pine forests, aged 10 to 30 years in South Korea, relatively decreased more. As the area of the region suitable for pine forest by age was bigger, the decreased regions tend to become bigger, and the expanded regions tend to become smaller. Such phenomena is conjectured to be derived from changing of the interaction of pine forests by age from mutual promotional relations to competitive relations in the similar climate environment, while the regions suitable for pine forests' growth are mostly overlap regions. This study has found that precipitation affects more on the distribution of pine forests, compared to temperature change, and that pine trees' geographical distribution change is more affected by climate's extremities including precipitation of driest season and temperature of the coldest season than average climate characteristics. Especially, the effects of precipitation during the driest season on the distribution change of pine forests are irrelevant of pine forest's age class. Such results are expected to result in a reduction of the pine forest as the regions with the increase of moisture deficiency, where climate environment influencing growth and physiological responses related with drought is shaped, gradually increase according to future temperature rise. The findings in this study can be applied as a useful method for the prediction of geographical change according to climate change by using various biological resources information already accumulated. In addition, those findings are expected to be utilized as basic data for the establishment of climate change adaptation policies related to forest vegetation preservation in the natural ecosystem field.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.40-50
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• 2011

We study the characteristic and total flux of non-point pollutants such as total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved nutrients, total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) in the storm water runoff from urban streams and sewer outlets of Banweol Industrial Complex around Shihwa Lake. The concentrations of non-point pollutants were generally increased with increasing of the duration and intensity of rainfall. Mean TSS concentration of Ansan stream was higher than that of sewer outlets but mean concentrations of COD, TP and TN were approximately 2~5 times higher of sewer outlet than of urban stream. TSS showed statistically positive relationships with COD and TP but it had negative correlation with dissolved nutrients. There was a significant correlation between total flux of non-point pollutants in the storm water runoff and total basin area of each sewer outlet, showing that the highest runoff flux was observed at 3rd sewer outlet which represents the largest basin area from Banweol industrial complex. Total runoff fluxes for TSS, COD, TP and TN in this study were 187,536 kg, 17,118 kg, 922 kg, 13,519 kg, respectively. Given the basin area of sewer outlet in Banweol industrial complex which corresponds only 3% from total catchment area around Shihwa Lake, enormous amount of non-point pollutants will be entered into Shihwa Lake without any treatment. It is necessary to manage and reduce of various non-point sources and pollutants because the runoff of nonpoint pollutants during storm events should be deteriorating the water quality of Shihwa Lake. Our results provides useful informations on the development of best managements practices (BMPs) for effective implementation of total pollution loads management system of Shihwa Lake.