• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.409-426
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to present the raw data for management and conservation of tidal flat by objective surveying and analysing the halophytes and vegetation distributed in Seocheon tidal flat wetland conservation area, Korea. The results are as follows. The numbers of halophytes in this site were summarized as 27 taxa including 13 families, 21 genera, 26 species and 1 variety. In the results of ecologically important species, rare plant was 1 taxa, 10 taxa of the specific plants by floristic region, 1 taxa of naturalized plant and 1 taxa of the plant with approval for delivering oversea. The life form spectrum consisted of therophytes(44.4%), hemicryptophytes(25.9%), geophytes(14.8%), nanophanerophytes(7.5%), chamaephytes and hydatophytes(each 3.7%). The types of vegetation of Seocheon tidal flat wetland conservation area were classified with 17 communities including Vitex rotundifolia community, Suaeda maritima community, Calystegia soldanella community and so forth. In the halophytes composition, section C and E-1 had the largest character species and companion species. In the results of vegetation amount, section C, D, E-1 and E-2 were the highest score, on the other hand, section A and B were the lowest. The final rating was calculated by adding up values of two factors, and section C and E-1 had the highest rating of II. In future, we will survey the whole flora in Seocheon tidal flat, we will offer the help to establishing the conservation plan of coastal plant ecosystem in West Sea.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.157-165
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• 2015

This study investigated and compared sediment properties and macrobenthic community structures within heated effluent plumes at the discharge areas of Kori Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) and Sinkori Nuclear Power Plant (SNPP) in Korea, which have different thermal effluent discharge systems. There were significant differences in sand, clay and organic carbon contents between sediments at the two discharge areas. Species richness and abundance of macrobenthos were higher at the SNPP discharge area than at that of the KNPP, although the values at both areas were comparable to previous studies in coastal areas of eastern Korea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.1006-1013
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• 2014

Wastewater organic compounds, that is, nonylphenolic compounds (NPs) and fecal sterols, were measured in surface sediments from Busan Suyeong Estuary, where two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are located, to assess contamination from municipal effluents. The NPs analyzed were nonylphenol, and nonylphenol mono- and di-ethoxylates, all synthetic endocrine disruptors. The fecal sterols analyzed were coprostanol (COP), cholestanol, and epicoprostanol. Concentrations of NPs in the sediments ranged from 146 to 3,723 ng/g, and those of COP ranged from 366 to 13,018 ng/g. Their detection in all of the sediments analyzed indicates widespread pollution by municipal effluents. The highest concentrations of NPs and COP were detected at stations close to outfalls of WWTPs. Their levels in sediments are categorized in the higher range of those previously reported in Korean coastal areas. Moreover, in comparison with screening values of NPs in the Netherlands, Norway, and Canada, more than 50% of the sampling stations exceeded the guidelines. This indicates that the estuary may be adversely influenced by municipal effluents.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.495-504
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• 1996

The concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) were determined from both seawater and the overlying atmosphere from a station located in the Masan Bay area during a ten-day field campaign period of January 1996. The resulting data were also used to derive saturation ratios (SR) as well as sea-to-air fluxes of DMS. The concentrations and fluxes of DMS for both reservoirs varied extensively over two to three orders of magnitude: DMS in air and seawater were measured at 9 to 4,300 pptv (mean: 600 $\pm$ 1, 170, N=18) and at 0.24 to 10 nM (4.0 $\pm$ 3.4, N=13), respectively, while its fluxes were found from 0.02 to 23 mol $m^{-2} day^{-1} (3.1 \pm 6.8, N=11)$. A comparative analysis between our data and previously reported ones indicate that its atmospheric concentrations are abnormalously high, but its seawater counterparts are slightly lower than expected. In light of high pollution levels of organic-rich materials in and the associated high biological productivity of the study area, the sea-to-air-fluxes derived are notably low relative to those values typically reported from the coastal areas. These complicated features of DMS distributions/fluxes in the study site indicate that the near-by port- based anthropogenic activities from various industrial plants strongly interfere with natural processes leading to the production and release of DMS. It was however striking to find out relatively strong signals of diel cycle in its saturation ratios, concentration gradients between seawater and atmosphere, and the associated fluxes. Although it is yet difficult to provide meaningful explanations for the observed phenomena, the existence of clear diel cycle in some DMS-related parameters suggests that the natural processes may nonetheless exert important controls on the regional cycling of atmospheric sulfur species, of particular DMS.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.39-50
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• 2008

A study on fugitive dust dispersion was conducted at Saemanguem reclaimed area located at the west coastal area of Jeon-buk Province Total reclaimed area is 40,100ha developed by building a 33km long sea dike through Gunsan, Gimje, and Buan. (Land: 28,300ha, Fresh Water Lake: 11,800ha) After this area was completely reclaimed in 2006, there has been high possibility of dust generation and dispersion to the neighboring area. The dust generated at the reclaimed land was composed mainly of minerals with high salinity, and it could make harmful effect on crop production as well on to human's health such as eye irritation and respiratory disease. Especially, when those aerosol particles are reached on the leaves of farm crops, the photosynthesis and respiration of the plants can be under restraint resulting in the decrease of agricultural productivity of the nearby farm areas. Furthermore, highly concentrated salty particles can directly damage the leaf cells. In this study, field experiment has been conducted to regularly measure the locally suspended dust particles and analyze how they were dispersed to the neighboring areas. The collected dust particles were analyzed to examine theirs sizes, concentrations, and components. The SPSS statistical program was also used to separate the dust concentration generated by the reclaimed land from the total dust concentration measured at the measuring locations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2020

National parks and other protected areas often do not adequately protect national biodiversity because they were originally created for socio-economic and/or aesthetic values. The Korean government has committed to expanding the extent of protected areas to fulfill its commitments to the Aichi Biodiversity Convention. To do so, it is necessary to quantify the current levels of biodiversity representation within existing protected areas and to identify additional conservation needs for vulnerable species and ecological systems. In this study, we assess the proportion of species ranges found in South Korea's protected areas, for the species documented in the 3^rd National Ecosystem Survey. We modeled the range distribution of 3,645 species in the following taxonomic groups; plants (1,545 species), mammals (35), birds (132), herptiles (35), and insects (1,898) using the MaxEnt species distribution model and calculated how much of each species' range is within protected areas. On average, 17.4% of plant species' ranges are represented in protected areas, while for mammals and insects an average 12.0% is currently conserved. Conservation representation for herptiles averages 9.3%, while it is 8.6% for birds. Although large proportions of species that have restricted distributions should be represented in protected areas, 17 plant species, two insects (Parnassius bremeri and Lasioglossum occidens), and one bird species (Phylloscopus inornatus) with ranges smaller than 1,000 ㎢ have less than 10% of their ranges within protected areas. Establishing specific conservation goals such as the protection of endangered species or vulnerable taxonomic groups will increase the efficiency of the biodiversity conservation strategies. In addition, lowland coastal areas are critical for biodiversity conservation because the protected areas in South Korea are mainly composed of high mountainous areas.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.184-207
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• 2020

This study aimed to determine candidate areas for tidal current-pumped storage hybrid power plants using GIS-based site selection analysis. The study area is the southwestern sea surrounding Jindo Island in South Korea. Factors to be considered for the site selection analysis were derived considering the design and installation characteristics of the hybrid power plant. Numerical simulation to predict tidal speed was performed using the MOHID(Modelo HIDrodin?mico) and the results were converted into spatial data. Subsequently, a GIS-based overlay analysis method proposed in this study was applied to derive the installation candidate area. A total of 10 regions were identified as candidate sites. Among them, it was determined that the power generator could be installed in relatively wide sea areas in Jindo, Seongnamdo, and Hajodo.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2022

Halophytes are plants that live in harsh environments in coastal regions and are known for their diverse chemical compositions. Limonium tetragonum, a halophyte endemic to Korean shores, is known for its bioactive compounds and is utilized in folk medicine. In this study L. tetragonum extract (LHE) was used to determine and evaluate its anti-osteoporotic properties. Pre-adipocyte and pre-osteoblasts were induced to differentiate along with LHE treatment, and their differentiation was evaluated using differentiation markers. LHE treatment decreased lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes during adipogenesis. Results indicated that the LHE treatment also decreased the levels of key adipogenic transcription factors: PPARγ, SREBP1c, and C/EBPα. Enhancing osteoblastogenesis by LHE treatment was confirmed in osteoblastogenesis-induced MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts. Cells treated with LHE resulted in increased calcification and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity compared with osteoblasts without LHE treatment. Pro-osteogenic and anti-adipogenic effects were also confirmed in D1 murine mesenchymal stromal cells which are capable of differentiation into both adipocytes and osteoblasts. LHE hindered adipogenesis and enhanced osteoblastogenesis in D1 MSCs in a similar fashion. In conclusion, L. tetragonum is believed to possess the potential to be utilized as a nutraceutical ingredient against osteoporotic conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.29-45
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• 2022

For biodiversity conservation, the importance of beta-diversity which is changes in the composition of species according to environmental changes has become emphasized. However, given the systematic investigation of species distribution and the accumulation of large amounts of data in the Republic of Korea(ROK), research on the spatialization of beta-diversity using them is insufficient. Accordingly, this research investigated the applicability of the Generalized Dissimilarity Modeling(GDM) to ROK, which can predict and map the similarity of compositional turnover (beta-diversity) based on environmental variables. A brief overview of the statistical description on using GDM was presented, and a model was fitted using the flora distribution data(410,621points) from the National Ecosystem Survey and various environmental spatial data including climate, soil, topography, and land cover. Procedures and appropriated spatial units required to improve the explanatory power of the model were presented. As a result, it was found that geographical distance, temperature annual range, summer temperature, winter precipitation, and soil factors affect the dissimilarity of the vegetation community composition. In addition, as a result of predicting the similarity of vegetation composition across the nation, and classifying them into 20 and 100 zones, the similarity was high mainly in the central inland area, and tends to decrease toward the mountainous areas, southern coastal regions, and island including Jeju island, which means the composition of the vegetation community is unique and beta diversity is high. In addition, it was identified that the number of common species between zones decreased as the geographic distance between zones increased. It classified the spatial distribution of plant community composition in a quantitative and objective way, but additional research and verification are needed for practical application. It is expected that research on community-level biodiversity modeling in the ROK will be conducted more actively based on this study.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.28-36
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• 2012

Forests are one of the basic assets nearest our daily lives that provide the foundation of life necessities, culture and even survival. These assets pervade local residents' lives as culture and the necessities of life, and they will be handed down to posterity. Therefore, this study was conducted to carry out a field survey on old trees, plant communities and forests in the southern coastal areas in Korea, where not many surveys were not conducted on the forest cultural assets, further examining a possibility that some of the trees should be designated as law-protected. As for the survey of plants, this study investigated 80 different spots of old trees, plant communities and forests, located in 11 cities and counties in Gyengnam Province and Jeonnam Province adjacent to the southern coast of Korea. To measure the health and actual maintenance conditions of old trees and plant communities objectively, the standard of judgment was established through the brain storming of experts. As a result of the field survey, out of all the old trees and plant communities that are not law-protected, this study selected old trees and plant communities that are in good health and likely to pass the standard of designating law-protected trees according to the Established Rule 574 of the Korea Forest Service Regulation. As for the plant community and old trees likely to be law-protected, this study judged that the torreya forest in Naneum Li, Namhae and old trees in 13 spots, in cluding so-called 'Couple Pine Tree' in Pyeongsa Li, Hadong, have a high possibility of being designated as a law-protected plant community and old trees. As for the species of old trees, there were 3 zelkova serrata trees, 3 celtis sinensis persoon trees, 2 pinus densiflora trees, 1 castanopsis cuspidata tree, 1 salix chaenomeloides tree and 1 machilus thunbergii tree found in the survey areas. Overall, this study judged that those old trees and plant communities require a national systematic maintenance by being designated as law-protected ones, and their values should be handed down to posterity as our forest cultural assets.