• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.203-217
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• 2021

Background: Sea turtles, which are globally endangered species, have been stranded and found as bycatch on the Korean shore recently. More studies on sea turtles in Korea are necessary to aid their conservation. To investigate the spatio-temporal occurrence patterns of sea turtles on the Korean shore, we recorded sampling locations and dates, identified species and sexes and measured sizes (maximum curved carapace length; CCL) of collected sea turtles from the year 2014 to 2020. For an analysis of diets through stomach contents, we identified the morphology of the remaining food and extracted DNA, followed by amplification, cloning, and sequencing. Results: A total of 62 stranded or bycaught sea turtle samples were collected from the Korean shores during the study period. There were 36 loggerhead turtles, which were the dominant species, followed by 19 green turtles, three hawksbill turtles, two olive ridley turtles, and two leatherback turtles. The highest numbers were collected in the year 2017 and during summer among the seasons. In terms of locations, most sea turtles were collected from the East Sea, especially from Pohang. Comparing the sizes of collected sea turtles according to species, the average CCL of loggerhead turtles was 79.8 cm, of green turtles was 73.5 cm, and of the relatively large leatherback turtle species was 126.2 cm. In most species, the proportion of females was higher than that of males and juveniles, and was more than 70% across all the species. Food remains were morphologically identified from 19 stomachs, mainly at class level. Seaweeds were abundant in stomachs of green turtles, and Bivalvia was the most detected food item in loggerhead turtles. Based on DNA analysis, food items from a total of 26 stomachs were identified to the species or genus level. The gulfweed, Sargassum thunbergii, and the kelp species, Saccharina japonica, were frequently detected from the stomachs of green turtles and the jellyfish, Cyanea nozakii, the swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus, and kelps had high frequencies of occurrences in loggerhead turtles. Conclusions: Our findings support those of previous studies suggesting that sea turtles are steadily appearing in the Korean sea. In addition, we verified that fish and seaweed, which inhabit the Korean sea, are frequently detected in the stomach of sea turtles. Accordingly, there is a possibility that sea turtles use the Korean sea as feeding grounds and habitats. These results can serve as basic data for the conservation of globally endangered sea turtles.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.247-256
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• 2001

The purpose of the present study is to prepare the conservation category to establish the Natural Ecosystem Conservation Area(NECA) in Korea. The authors prepared the conservation category for the NECA based on the previous relevant papers and reports. This draft of conservation category was examined by way of the case study. From this, the possible factors are introduced to prepare the final conservation category that can be applied directly in Korean situation for the conservation of natural areas. The present conservation category was prepared based on the possible data, while some factors of which do not possess the adequate raw data at the moment was removed. According to the reference analyses from the previous conservation categories reported in order to prepare the conservation category in the NECA, a total of 27 factors was assessed; 21 for rarity and 15 fur utility and diversity, 13 far size, for both naturalness and human influence, 13 for typicalness 12 and 10 for fragility. From the literature reviews, the categories which quantitatively assessed was 13: 9 for rarity, 8 far human influence, and 5 for size. From the 27 conservation categories assessed, the factors such as rarity, taxonomic distinctiveness and threat was regarded as applicable to the Korean situation. Furthermore, the criteria such as use could be applied further when this is supported by the augmentative research and field studies.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2010

There is a host of habitat assessment systems available to evaluate and grade tidal flat ecosystems in Korea. Nevertheless, we recognize the need to develop a better ecological scheme to improve reliability and accuracy given the importance of using an empirical approach in assigning grades to indicators and the limitation of current systems which evaluate tidal flats on a regional basis. A preferable system would be one that enables habitat mapping within a tidal flat, provides a diagnosis of ecological stress/health, has a high level of ecological relevance, communicability, and statistical robustness, and enables evaluation of diverse habitats within a tidal flat. The following points should be considered in framing such a system. Indicators should discriminate habitat quality into five to seven grades accomodating diverse characteristics and conservation value of a habitat, and the grading should be made from frequency distribution of indicators based on nationwide data.We suggest the following tasks in crafting such a system: i) The decision on selection of indicators should be made based on accuracy of assessment and practical application; ii) effects of physical habitat conditions on variability of indicators should be reflected; and, iii) further works on stress/health indicators should be addressed for adopting a multiple-indicator approach which reduces misdiagnosis.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2018

Scientific investigation of cultural heritage can provide important information to understand the context of the object. To know the characteristics of the material is also an essential part of objects management and conservation. However, the identification and characterization of organic dyes used in archaeological and historical textiles are often limited by the restrictions in sampling. To cope with the difficulties, applications of high-performance techniques of surface analysis, such as Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectra (TOF-SIMS) could be considered as a non or micro-destructive option. This study aims to examine the applicability of TOF-SIMS analysis to the detection of organic dyes from historical textiles. A group of silk fabrics dyed with vegetable dyes were artificially photo-aged to different degrees and analyzed with TOF-SIMS. Molecular and fragment ions from indigo were successfully detected from the aged samples; however, only some fragment ions were observed from gardenia and safflower dyed fabrics. Further studies with actual historical samples with extended examination scope would be necessary to assess the validity of this technique.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.164-171
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• 1994

To investigate the structure of natural forest at Nature Conservation Area in Tokyusan National Park, 29 plots (400$m^2$) set up with random sampling method. Four groups were classified by cluster analysis. High positive correlations was proved between Quernus mongolica and Fraxinus mandshurica, and Symplocos chinensis for. pilosa, and Lespedeza bicola, Acer tschonoskii var. rubripes and Taxus cuspidata, Magnolia sieboldii and Callicarpa japonica, Taxus cuspidata and Abies koreana, and high negative correlations was proved between Quercus mongolica and Acer tschonoskii var. rubripes, Taxus cuspidata, and Lonicera maackii. Species diversity(H') of investigated area was calculated 0.9969~1.2217.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2019

The North Korean laws on natural environments, land and infrastructure were comprehensively analyzed in order to help establish the legal system to solve problems of ecosystem and land management in North Korea. The citizen's environmental rights in North Korean Constitutional Law emphasize the aspect of conservation of the natural environments. The laws on the managements of natural environments and land are relatively integrated in North Korea. In the management of natural environments, ecosystem conservation is centered on designation of natural protected areas. Priority for infrastructure construction is emphasized in land management. The economic and technical support is needed to build advanced legal systems for the conservation of natural environments and ecological land management and to improve their performance of law enforcement.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.124-129
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• 2022

Urban river have been a key pillar in citizens' lives through the healthy urban environment of ecological nature along with the function of this dimension. On the other hand, conflicts are occurring in terms of conservation and use of rivers in the region along with the expansion of infrastructure due to urban densification. Appropriate agreement and coordination are needed for sustainable streams. This study aims to analyze various opinions through public discussion of residents' proposals through the resident participation cooperation budget. User awareness surveys and expert interviews were conducted on six rivers in Eunpyeong-gu. Through this, stable and sustainable preservation of local and small rivers and appropriate and balanced use measures were proposed.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2022

Among the 13 species of otters in the world, only one Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is found in South Korea. In the Korean Peninsula, otter pelts were historically valuable and expensive commodities used for international trade, and otters have long been poached as hunting animals. Recent rapid economic development in South Korea has increased habitat fragmentation and loss, creating a continuing threat to the natural environment. Otters live only in the area of rivers and streams as a family group and are territorial (linear habitat). Due to these limited conditions of otter habitat, the population size of otter is lower than that of onshore mammals. According to recent research, DNA analyses using microsatellite markers have shown that only approximately 7-21 otter individuals inhabit river systems for a length of 50-230 km. Korea's urban streams are associated with many threats that hinder otters from inhabiting them. Many areas around the urban streams are surrounded by high concrete riverbanks, and the risk of roadkill is also high. Nevertheless, ecological restoration projects in the urban rivers will contribute greatly to the stable inhabitation of otters. Detailed otter conservation strategies, such as the elimination of threat factors, improvement of habitat environment, and restoration of food resources and shelter, will provide a positive restoration effect on otter and river ecosystems as well.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to understand the vegetation structure of the Corylopsis coreana habitats in South Korea and their correlation with environmental factors, in order to provide basic data for preparing conservation. A total of 40 vegetation survey plots were established in around Southern region, Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do Province. The cluster analysis revealed four distinct clusters: Quercus mongolica-Pinus densiflora (QmPd), Castanea crenata (Cc), Quercus mongolica (Qm), and Pinus koraiensis (Pk). Among them, the QmPd cluster was selected as the representative community. Soil texture analysis that most areas consisted of loamy soil and were distributed on the northern aspects. The plantation, represented by Pk, exhibited a high content of exchangeable aluminum (5.227±0.342 mg/kg), suggesting the need for soil improvement and monitoring in these habitats. The canopy openness (forest gap) ranged from 11% to 21%, indicating a relatively closed canopy in many survey plots. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis indicated heterogeneous species composition between the QmPd cluster and the Pk cluster (total R² = 0.608).

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2023

The Tibetan Plateau is home to the only alpine crane species, the black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis). Conservation efforts are severely hampered by a lack of knowledge on the spatial distribution and breeding habitats of this species. The ecological niche modeling framework used to predict the spatial distribution of this species, based on the maximum entropy and occurrence record data, allowed us to generate a species-specific spatial distribution map in Ladakh, Trans-Himalaya, India. The model was created by assimilating species occurrence data from 486 geographical sites with 24 topographic and bioclimatic variables. Fourteen variables helped forecast the distribution of black-necked cranes by 96.2%. The area under the curve score for the model training data was high (0.98), indicating the accuracy and predictive performance of the model. Of the total study area, the areas with high and moderate habitat suitability for black-necked cranes were anticipated to be 8,156 km² and 6,759 km², respectively. The area with high habitat suitability within the protected areas was 5,335 km². The spatial distribution predicted using our model showed that the majority of speculated conservation areas bordered the existing protected areas of the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary. Hence, we believe, that by increasing the current study area, we can account for these gaps in conservation areas, more effectively.