• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.95-107
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• 2016

The gold-spotted pond frog(Pelophylax chosenicus) classified as an Anura in Amphibia is sharply decreasing due to various changes of habitats environment, and designated as IUCN Red List Threatened species(VU; Vulnerable) internationally and domestic endangered species Class-II; therefore, it's in urgent need of the research on habitats restoration of the gold-spotted pond frog in order to prevent its extinction. This study was carried out to verify the effect after restoration by introducing the inhabitation elements deducted by the literature research and a field survey on the habitats for the gold-spotted pond frog in danger of regional extinction in the urban area of Ansan city, Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Accordingly, the capacity for bio-species was increased by expanding the area of habitats into $11,845m^2$, and securing the place for hibernation and corridors and discharge within the habitats, etc. As a result of the monitoring the number of individuals increased by 9.5 times as the reproductive success rate of the gold-spotted pond frog got higher, and by virtue of improvement in the habitats, biodiversity increased to 183 species(4 species of amphibians and reptiles, 4 species of mammals, 17 species of birds, 53 species of insects(terrestrial/Benthic), 4 species of fish, and 102 species of plants). It might be possible to verify the restoration effect of the habitats through continuous monitoring, and suggest the restoration model on the habitats for continuously survivable the gold-spotted pond frog in the urban area by deducting the matters to be improved.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.133-139
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• 2008

Urban streams are degrading functional role due to development and pollution. This study chose the representative stream of Do-rim and identified flora and fauna. The ecological survey aimed at identifying indicator of urban streams for measuring urban healthiness and we discussed the possibility of wetland conservation area. From the beginning of Dorim stream to An-yang mixture we were successfully identified 113 species of plants, 9 of mammals, 23 of birds, 4 of amphibians, 2 of reptiles and 2 of fish species. Terrestrial insects were 71 species. The wetland vegetation is quite various and we suggested 4 different vegetation zones (aquatic vegetation zone, emergent zone, riparian-meadow zone, riparian-woodland zone) depending on distance from the flowing water stream and vegetation characteristics for urban stream management.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.161-172
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• 2010

As the interest on biodiversity has increased around the world, researches about evaluating potential for habitat are also increasing to find and comprehend the valuable habitats. This study focus on comprehending the significance of stream in evaluating habitat's potential. The purpose of this study is to evaluate habitat potential with applying stream as a main variable, and to comprehend the relationship between the variables and habitat potential. Basin is a unit that has hydrological properties and dynamic interaction with ecosystem. Especially, biodiversity and suitability of habitat in basin area has direct correlation with stream. Existing studies also are proposing for habitat potential evaluation in basin unit, they applied forest, slope and road as main variables. Despite stream is considered the most important factor in basin area, researchers haven't applied stream as a main variable. Therefore, in this study, three variables that can demonstrate hydrological properties are selected, which are, riparian distance, stream order and land use disturbance, and evaluate habitat potential. Habitat potential is analyzed by using Maxent (Maximum entropy model), and vertebrate's presence data is used as dependent variables and stream order map and land cover map is used as base data of independent variables. As a result of analysis, habitat potential is higher at riparian and upstream area, and lower at frequently disturbed area. Result indicates that adjacent to stream, upstream, and less disturbed area is the habitat that vertebrate prefer. In particular, mammals prefer adjacent area of stream and forest and reptiles prefer upriver area. Birds prefer adjacent area of stream and midstream and amphibians prefer adjacent area of stream and upriver. The result of this research could help to establish habitat conservation strategy around basin unit in the future.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.293-304
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• 2020

Background and objective: This study was carried out to assess the relationship between the internal and external environments and the ecological items in five sites with a high level of artificial use intensity prior to the establishment of Geumgang River riparian ecological belts. Methods: The sites were classified into forest type, cultivated land type and urbanized type in accordance with their respective locational types. Ecological items including plant ecology such as proportion, naturalization index and urbanization index of native species were analyzed and animal ecology such as the number of species and population of wild birds, amphibians and reptiles, mammals, and butterflies and dragonflies, which are indicator insects, were investigated. In addition, species diversity indices of wild birds, butterflies and dragonflies found in all the subject lands were computed. Results: Among the plant ecological items, the ratio of native species in the forest type was higher than 90%, which was a satisfactory level, while the naturalization and urbanization indices were less than 10%. The number of species in the animal ecological characteristics was reduced in the order of forest type, cultivated land type and urbanized type. As the results of correlation analysis, the internal area of the planted area showed a negative correlation with the total of individuals. The area of grasslands showed a positive correlation with the number of dragonfly species and the total number of individuals, thereby illustrating that wet grasslands have positive effects. The area of surrounding forests, as an external environment, had a negative correlation with the urbanization index (UI) but a positive correlation with the inhabitation of butterflies and the total number of species. Conclusion: The results confirmed the need for more diversified special compositions including planted land, grassland, wetland, bodies of water and waterways within the subject land in the wetland ecological belt along with the need for surrounding forest location and preservation from the perspective of purchase and restoration of land for enhancement of wider biodiversity in the future.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.237-254
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• 2021

Background: Some of the introduced alien species introduced settle, multiply, and spread to become invasive alien species (IAS) that threaten biodiversity. To prevent this, Korea and other countries legally designate and manage alien species that pose a risk to the environment. Moreover, 2160 alien species have been introduced in South Korea, of which 1826 animals and 334 plants are designated. The inflow of IAS can have negative effects such as ecosystem disturbance, habitat destruction, economic damage, and health damage to humans. To prevent damage caused by the inflow of IAS in advance, species that could potentially pose a risk to the environment if introduced in South Korea were designated as alert alien species (AAS). Results: The designation criteria were in accordance with the "Act on the Conservation and Use of Biological Diversity" and the "Regulations on the Ecological Risk Assessment of AAS and IAS" by the National Institute of Ecology. The analysis result of risk and damage cases indicated that mammals affect predation, competition, human economic activity, virus infection, and parasite infection. Birds have been demonstrated to affect predation, competition, human economic activity, and health. It was indicated that plants intrude on the ecosystem by competing with native species with their high-population density and capacity to multiply and cause allergic inducement. Interestingly, 300 species, including 25 mammals, 7 birds, 84 fishes, 28 amphibians, 22 reptiles, 1 insect, 32 spiders, 1 mollusk, 1 arthropod, and 99 plants, are included in the list of AAS. Conclusions: AAS designation plays a role in preventing the reduction of biodiversity by IAS in South Korea and preserving native species. Moreover, it is determined to provide considerable economic benefits by preventing socio-economic losses and ecological damage.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2011

Vitellogenin (Vg) is the precursor of vitellin (Vn), which is the major yolk protein in nearly all oviparous species, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, and most invertebrates. It is one of the most important factors during reproduction, and numerous studies have shown that Vg genes are markers of the reproductive cycle and effecter genes induced by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Previously, we isolated two distinct cDNAs encoding vitellogenin homologs Pj-Vg1 and Pj-Vg2 from Pandalus shrimp Pandalopsis japonica. In this study, full-length genomic sequences of Pj-Vg1 and Pj-Vg2 were determined using a PCR-based genome walking strategy. Isolated Pj-Vg1 and Pj-Vg2 genes were 11,910 and 11,850 bp long, respectively. Both Pj-Vg genes had 15 exons and 14 introns, and the splicing sites were also the same, suggesting that they arose via gene duplication. The similar structural characteristics of decapod Vg genes suggest that they are all orthologs that evolved from the same ancestral gene. Analysis of Pj-Vg1 and Pj-Vg2 expression revealed that the relative copy numbers of Pj-Vg1 and Pj-Vg2 were similar in the hepatopancreas, whereas Pj-Vg2 transcripts were also detected in the ovary. Expression of both Pj-Vg genes was induced in hepatopancreas of mature individuals, whereas only Pj-Vg2 transcripts were upregulated in the ovaries from mature animals, suggesting that both Pj-Vgs are important for oocyte development. A strong positive correlation was found between Pj-Vg1 and Pj-Vg2 transcripts in the same individual, indicating they are under the same control mechanisms. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between ovarian and hepatopancreatic Pj-Vg2 transcripts, suggesting that its dual expression is regulated by similar physiological conditions. Knowledge of the similarities and differences between the two vitellogenin-like genes, Pj-Vg1 and Pj-Vg2, would help us to understand their roles in reproduction and other physiological effects.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 1999

This study is one of the processes to build the artificial wetlands in the urban area. The purpose of this study was to survey biotic or physical environments, and to review modelling techniques to find out the ecological structure and function. Case study site was the Bangdong wetland in the north west side of Taejon metropolitan city. The number of species of insects decreased during monitoring. But the number of individuals of insects decreased abruptly after increasing. And then biodiversity index dropped and dominance index increased. So the structure of biotopes was affected by weather conditions. And in the restricted area such as urban area, the changes of insects were affected sensitively by not physical but environmental changes. As for birds, the number of species was reduced a little, but the number of individuals increased abruptly. And dominance index increased slowly. The changes of water depth and increase of temperature affected the habitat condition of vegetations and birds, so the dominance index of specific species increased. In urban areas it is necessary to continue management for water environmental changes, such as the depth and area of water. The number of species of fishes was reduced a little, but the number of individuals increased abruptly. And dominance index and biodiversity index decreased slowly. But the water environments was so changeable that it is difficult to explain current status as some specific trends. The number of species of reptiles and amphibians changed little, but the number of individuals increased abruptly. And dominance and biodiversity were not changed. The changes of water depth and temperature affected the habitat of every species the environmental changes affected.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.176-179
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• 2018

To restore the connectivity of fragmented habitats, 415 wildlife crossings have been built between 1998 and 2014 in South Korea. However, their effect on wildlife conservation is still in doubt. As a first step to examine the effectiveness, our study aims to assess compliance with the guideline for wildlife crossing construction and management, developed by the Ministry of Environment Korea that provides fundamental information to understand the status and the problem of wildlife crossings in Korea and thus to provide practical guidance for the improvement. According to our survey, the Korea National Park Service complied with the guideline best (62.5%) while local government followed the guideline least (46.1%). In addition, the compliance rate was the highest for wildlife crossings in national roads (53.6%) followed by highways (53.2%) and local and municipal roads (52.2%). For the overpass wildlife crossings, the compliance rates for installation of an escaping facility in the drainage and prevention of pedestrian and vehicle access were particularly low. In case of underpass wildlife crossings, small ditches for amphibians and reptiles were not sufficient, and the linkage between wildlife fences and underpass were weak. In order to ensure the effectiveness of wildlife crossings, the effort to increase the compliance rate with the guideline is critical, and mandating the guideline could be a practical way to enforce the compliance.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.289-293
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• 2022

Blastocystis is a genus of unicellular heterokont parasites belonging to a group of organisms known as Stramenopiles, which includes algae, diatoms, and water molds. Blastocystis includes several species that habitat in the gastrointestinal tracts of organisms as diverse as humans, farm animals, birds, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and cockroaches. It is important to public health and distributed globally, but its prevalence in dogs in Korea has not been reported to date. Here, we collected 787 canine fecal samples and assessed Blastocystis infection by age, sex, region, season, and diarrhea symptoms. We determined Blastocystis subtypes using phylogenetic analyses based on 18S rRNA gene sequences. We identified, 10 Blastocystis positive samples (1.3%). A higher proportion of infected dogs was asymptomatic; however, infection rates did not significantly differ according to region, age, sex, and season. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Blastocystis sp. identified belonged to 4 subtypes (STs), ST1, ST5, ST10, and ST14, thus revealed the genetic diversity of Blastocystis sp. in dogs Korean. This is first report on the presence of Blastocystis sp. in dogs Korean. This study revealed a lower infection rate than expected and differed from previous studies in STs. Further studies are warranted to observe the national infection status of Blastocystis in dogs and the genetic characteristics of this genus.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.65-77
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• 2014

The ecosystem of Jaemin stream, flowing into the center of Gongju-si, had been damaged by low water quality and lack of water quantity of the steam. However, after applying the SSB (Sustainable Structured wetland Biotop) system to the flood plain and the upstream of Jaemin stream, the efficiency of ecological water purification and ecological restoration are as follows. Through the constant maintenance and monitoring from year 2009 to year 2013 after restorative design and construction the average influent concentration of BOD5 was 4.2 mg/L, and the average effluent concentration was 1.8 mg/L, reaching ecological water purification rate of 57%. As for the T-N, the average influent concentration was 9.983 mg/L, and the average effluent concentration was 6.303 mg/L, showing the rate of 37%. For the T-P, the average influent concentration was 0.198 mg/L, and the average effluent concentration was 0.098 mg/L, being the rate of 51%. The vegetation of Jaemin stream monitored for 2 years after the restoration was composed of 51 species in 28 families which show high ratio of planted native species. As for the animals in the site, 5 species in 3 families of reptiles and amphibians, 34 species of 23 families of birds, and 3 species in 2 families of mammals were monitored, indicating that the bio-diversity of the site has improved, as well.