• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.202-212
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• 2017

Background: To reveal establishment strategy of Sparganium erectum, we tried to find realized niche of adults through field survey and effects of water level on the establishment process through mesocosm experiments. Results: In the field survey, the height and coverage of community living in deeper water were greater than those of community living in shallow water. There was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) in the means of water and soil properties between the two communities. In mesocosm experiments, we found no correlation between water levels and germination rates, but S. erectum seedlings have characteristics of post germination seedling buoyancy when S. erectum seeds germinated in inundation conditions. Shoot height, total leaf length, and survival rates of sinking seedlings in shallow water levels at -5, 0, and 5 cm were higher than those in deeper water levels at 10 and 20 cm. Floating seedlings established in water levels of 3 and 6 cm only. The seedlings could live up to 6 weeks in floating state but died if they were unable to establish. Conclusions: The water level around adult S. erectum communities in the field were different from the water level at which S. erectum seedlings can survive in the mesocosm experiments. The findings provided not only understanding of S. erectum habitat characteristics but also evidence to connect historical links between the early seedlings stage and adult habitat conditions. We suggested the logical establishment strategy of S. erectum based on the data.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.685-694
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• 2018

We measured ecological niche space (ENS) using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of benthic macroinvertebrates to estimate its applicability for large river assessment. In particular, we compared ENSs of selected macroinvertebrates between upper and lower area of Seungchon Weir in Yeongsan River to estimate the impact of weir on biological community. We also measured basic water quality and community indices including benthic macroinvertebrates index (BMI) to estimate their correlations with calculated ENS. ENS was calculated using the Bayesian Stable Isotope in R statistics (package "SIBER"). The results showed that seasonal variations in water quality and community indices were found, but there was no apparent tendency between upper and lower area of the Seungchon Weir in June (before rainy season) and August (after rainy season). However, ENS of benthic macroinvertebrates markedly decreased across the weir in both June and August regardless of changes in water quality. This means the physical change of the stream due to the weir cause decrease of ecological isotopic niche space of benthic macroinvertebrates regardless of water quality, suggesting physical modification by the weir can affect the interaction between habitat condition and macroinvertebrates. Therefore, the ecological isotopic niche space can be a useful supplementary indicator for the river ecosystem assessment.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.658-675
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• 2016

The environmental characteristics of the habitats, the population structures, ecological niche, life traits and the population demography are used as an essential informations to the effective conservation plans about the target species. We first confirmed a total of 37 populations through 12 years of investigation on the extents, and investigated the environmental factors of habitats and the population structures of the 25 cohorts in 12 regions among them. And, we investigated the population dynamics targeting at 8 cohorts in the population of Daegwanryeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do. Along with this, we conducted 4 years of cultivation experiments and how pollinators affect the success of reproduction. The results shows that the Paeonia obovata Maxim. was found in a relatively wide range of habitats. For the population structures of the 25 cohorts, there were considerable differences among cohorts, including a case which showed relative stable structure and an extreme case in which only adults were found. The factor that affected the population dynamics during the investigation was thought as a forest gap created in the tree layer. In the cultivation experiment, seedlings grew well in a less soil organic matter. The seed setting rate and the number of seeds generated by visiting pollinators were higher trends. In conclusion, to understand the distribution of the Paeonia obovata Maxim., there needs to be investigated on the other factors that are involved in dispersal factors other than environmental factors, and thus we suggest the necessity of the research on the dispersal vectors. The current Paeonia obovata Maxim. population was thought as a process of expansion after the rapid reduction of the extents in the past. For the effective conservation of the Paeonia obovata Maxim., an endangered plant, we recommend to understand the species through the spatio-temporal expansion, and maintain the health of the ecosystem based on it.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.96-109
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• 2024

Background: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government initiated the Billion Tree Tsunami Afforestation Project including regeneration and afforestation approaches. An effort was made to assess the distribution characteristics of afforested species under present and future climatic scenarios using ecological niche modelling. For sustainable forest management, landscape ecology can play a significant role. A significant change in the potential distribution of tree species is expected globally with changing climate. Ecological niche modeling provides the valuable information about the current and future distribution of species that can play crucial role in deciding the potential sites for afforestation which can be used by government institutes for afforestation programs. In this context, the potential distribution of 8 tree species, Cedrus deodara, Dalbergia sissoo, Juglans regia, Pinus wallichiana, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Senegalia modesta, Populus ciliata, and Vachellia nilotica was modeled. Results: Maxent species distribution model was used to predict current and future distribution of tree species using bioclimatic variables along with soil type and elevation. Future climate scenarios, shared socio-economic pathways (SSP)2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 were considered for the years 2041-2060 and 2081-2100. The model predicted high risk of decreasing potential distribution under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 climate change scenarios for years 2041-2060 and 2081-2100, respectively. Recent afforestation conservation sites of these 8 tree species do not fall within their predicted potential habitat for SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 climate scenarios. Conclusions: Each tree species responded independently in terms of its potential habitat to future climatic conditions. Cedrus deodara and P. ciliata are predicted to migrate to higher altitude towards north in present and future climate scenarios. Habitat of D. sissoo, P. wallichiana, J. regia, and V. nilotica is practiced to be declined in future climate scenarios. Eucalyptus camaldulensis is expected to be expanded its suitability area in future with eastward shift. Senegalia modesta habitat increased in the middle of the century but decreased afterwards in later half of the century. The changing and shifting forests create challenges for sustainable landscapes. Therefore, the study is an attempt to provide management tools for monitoring the climate change-driven shifting of forest landscapes.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.99-114
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• 2013

Phylogeographic and feeding ecological studies of seven terrestrial mustelid species (Carnivora, Mustelidae), the Japanese marten Martes melampus, the sable Martes zibellina, the Japanese badger Meles anakuma, the ermine or the stoat Mustela erminea, the Japanese weasel Mustela itatsi, the least weasel Mustela nivalis, and the Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica, representing four biogeographic patterns in the Japanese archipelagos (Hokkaido, Honshu-Shikoku-Kyushu, Tsushima, and Hokkaido-Honshu), were reviewed in order to clarify causes for the faunal assemblage processes of those mustelid species in Japan. Here, three main constraints were extracted as important factors on the mustelid assemblage. First, fundamental evolutionary differences maintained by niche conservatism in each ecologically diversified lineage ("evolutionary constraint") would enable the species to co-occur without any major problem (coexistence among Martes, Meles, and Mustela species). Second, "ecological constraints" would force two closely related species to be allopatric by competitive exclusion (Mu. itatsi and Mu. sibirica) or to be sympatric by resource partitions (Mu. erminea and Mu. nivalis). Third and most importantly, "geological constraints" would allow specific species to be embraced by a particular geographic region, primarily deciding which species co-occurs. The allopatric distribution of two Martes species in Japan would have been established by the strong effect of the geological separation in Tsugaru Strait. Elucidating both phylogeny and ecology of co-existing species in a community assemblage is important to know which species possess distinct lineage and which ecological traits are adapted to local environments, fulfilling the requirement of the field of conservation biology that endemism and adaptation should both be considered. The Japanese archipelagos would, therefore, provide valuable insight into the conservation for small carnivoran species.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2002

The progress of environmental science and technology in the developed countries has been rapid in recent years. Particularly remarkable has been the advancement of various pollutant control measures, which have brought the pollution of inorganic factors such as air and water under control. In contrast, diversity of the ecosphere, of which man is a part, is being steadily impoverished and the biological community is getting unvaryingly uniform. These phenomena were brought about by the expansion of artificial environment such as new industrial complexes, transportation facilities and urban development. Man has constructed uniform and artificial environment, believing in the premise of confrontation with nature, to such a scale that the natural environment and biological community have lost their balance. This will increasingly endanger the soundness of the biotic environment of nature, which constitutes the potential foundation both for the survival environment of man as biological entity and for the development of human civilization. In order to guarantee the soundness of man's body, intelligence and sensitivity as wholesome gene pool on the earth and for the future of man, primarily important environmental education is the understanding of how man can everlasting exist in and with the survival environment. In view of this reality, it is vitally important to create ecologically diverse and well-balanced environment with living materials, i.e., vegetation in order to secure lasting survival environment for man. This task is urgently required in highly artificial environment where non-biological materials have forced the impoverishment of the biological community. Therefore, environmental education for the future should not be totally oriented to technology as that in the past nor it is limited to the medical aspect where well-being of human is the sole object of concern. That is to say, environmental education for the future should be one that provides knowledge that human can understand his place based on the ecological concept and thereby make him to have ethical consciousness that he can control his behavior within the reasonable level for ecological niche who he is located.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.137-147
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• 2002

The progress of environmental science and technology in the developed countries has been rapid in recent years. Particularly remarkable has been the advancement of various pollutant control measures, which have brought the pollution of inorganic factors such as air and water under control. In contrast, diversity of the ecosphere, of which man is a part, is being steadily Impoverished and the biological community is getting unvaryingly uniform. These phenomena were brought about by the expansion of artificial environment such as new industrial complexes, transportation facilities and urban development. Man has constructed uniform and artificial environment, believing in the premise of confrontation with nature, to such a scale that the natural environment and biological community have lost their balance. This will increasingly endanger the soundness of the biotic environment of nature, which constitutes the potential foundation both for the survival environment of man as biological entity and for the development of human civilization. In order to guarantee the soundness of man's body, intelligence and sensitivity as wholesome gene Pool on the earth and for the future of man, primarily important environmental education is the understanding of how man can everlasting exist in and with the survival environment. In view of this reality, it is vitally important to create ecologically diverse and well-balanced environment with living materials, i.e., vegetation in order to secure lasting survival environment for man. This task is urgently required in highly artificial environment where non-biological materials have forced the impoverishment of the biological community. Therefore, environmental education for the future should not be totally oriented to technology as that in the past nor it is limited to the medical aspect where well-being of human is the sole object of concern. That is to say, environmental education for the future should be one that provides knowledge that human can understand his place based on the ecological concept and thereby make him to have ethical consciousness that he can control his behavior within the reasonable level for ecological niche who he is located.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.193-200
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• 2008

We obtained quantitative information on leaf unfolding and leaf shedding by observing 45 species of cool temperate deciduous trees in an arboretum over 5 growing seasons. These trees were in leaf (the foliage period) for 207 days on average after 1 April; 50% of leaves had been shed by 192 days after 1 April. Duration from the start of leaf unfolding to 50% leaf shedding was 157 days on average. Leaf unfolding began 35 days on average after 1 April. For leaf unfolding to begin, a$ 51^{\circ}C{\cdot}day$ of cumulated daily mean air temperature above $5^{\circ}C$ from 1 January (modified Kira's warmth index) was needed. Fifty-nine days elapsed between initiation and the final stage of leaf unfolding. The period of net photosynthetic assimilation was 157 days. The species with succeeding- type leaf unfolding associated with the anemochore seed type dominated the early stage of succession, while the species with flush-type leaf unfolding tended to dominate the late stage of succession. Few species were found in regions where late frosts occur after the day when the cumulative temperature for leaf unfolding is achieved. Biological characteristics include time of leaf unfolding, which affects the life history of each species, so that each species occupies its own niche in the stand. We conclude that that leaf phenology, such as timing of leaf unfolding and leaf shedding, is one of the components of each species' ecological characteristics.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1382-1388
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• 2009

Rubus crataegifolius is a shrub species and is primarily distributed throughout Asia and Europe. We collected 550 representative samples of the eleven populations in Korea to estimate leaf variation within species. The 35 morphological characteristics allowed us to resolve well-supported fixed characteristics and variable characteristics. Sixteen of twenty-three quantitative characteristics and five of twelve qualitative characteristics showed significant differences among populations. We argued that the population differentiation can accounted for the variation in phenetic characteristics such as spine in this species, but were less successful in accounting for variation in other traits. Within a polystatistic leaf structure, their morphological differences could be modulated by ecological pressure such as temperature, altitude, duration of sunshine, and solar radiation. The phenogram showed two distinct clades. One was a group in central Korea and the other was a group in the southern regions of Korea. If morphological characteristics in R. crataegifolius populations reflect their ecological niche, morphology should be regarded with caution as the main criterion for population studies in R. crataegifolius.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

Objectives In regard to the social competition hypothesis, depression is viewed as an involuntary defeat strategy. A previous study has demonstrated that adaptation in microenvironments can result in a wide range of behavioural patterns including defense activation disorders. Using a simulation model with evolutionary ecological agents, we explore how the fitness of various defence activation traits has changed over time in different environments with high and low social mobility. Methods The Evolutionary Ecological Model of Defence Activation Disorder, which is based on the Marginal Value Theorem, was used to examine changes in relative fitness for individuals with defensive activation disorders after adjusting for social mobility. Results Our study examined the effects of social mobility on fitness by varying the d-values, a measure of depression in the model. With a decline in social mobility, the level of fitness of individuals with high levels of defense activation decreased. We gained insight into the evolutionary influence of varying levels of social mobility on individuals' degrees of depression. In the context of a highly stratified society, the results support a mismatch hypothesis which states that high levels of defence are detrimental. Conclusions Despite the fact that niche specialization in habitats composed of multiple microenvironments can result in diverse levels of defensive activation being evolutionary strategies for stability, decreased social mobility may lead to a decrease in fitness of individuals with highly activated defence modules. There may be a reason behind the epidemic of depression in modern society.