• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.1-16
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to identify the fragmented points of mountain ranges in Daegu metropolitan city using New Sangyeongpyo (Chart of Mountain Ranges), road system map and GIS spatial analysis, and to prioritize the identified fragmented points for restoration based on quantitative assessment. Moreover, this study proposes restoration plans reflecting the assessment results and characteristics of each fragmented point. The results of this study are summarized as follows: First of all, analysis of the distribution of mountain ranges in Daegu metropolitan city showed that jimaek and semaek in Daegu account for 2% of all mountain ranges in the country, implying that the mountain ranges of Daegu do not hold significant ranking on a national level. However, it was found that numerous fragmented points are appearing due to roads. According to the analysis, 35 fragmented points were identified, of which 15 were found to be restorable. In terms of restoration potential and involved risks, assessment results of the 15 fragmented points indicated that 6 points are at Grade I, 3 points are at Grade II and 6 points are at Grade III. Therefore, a methodology of restoring fragmented mountain ranges was proposed through three suggestions of restoration plans that consider the characteristics of each fragmented points. The results of this study are expected to be highly useful as basic data for effective restoration of mountain ranges in connection with mountain range restorations and relevant projects implemented on a national level in the future.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.739-749
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• 2013

The seasonal and spatial diversity of picocyanobacteria (Pcy) in lakes of the Great Mazurian Lakes (GLM) system was examined by DGGE analysis of molecular markers derived from the 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the ribosomal operon and the phycocyanin operon (cpcBA-IGS). The study of nine lakes, ranging from mesotrophy to hypereutrophy, demonstrated seasonal variance of Pcy. The richness and Shannon diversity index calculated on the basis of both markers were higher in spring and lower in early and late summer. No statistically significant relationships were found between the markers and trophic status of the studied lakes or Pcy abundance. There were, however, statistically significant relationships between the diversity indices and sampling time. The analysis pointed to a different distribution of the two markers. The ITS marker exhibited more unique sequences in time and space, whereas a greater role for common and ubiquitous sequences was indicated by the cpcBA-IGS data. Examination of the Pcy community structure demonstrated that communities were grouped in highly similar clusters according to sampling season/time rather than to the trophic status of the lake. Our results suggest that time is more important than trophic status in shaping the diversity and structure of Pcy communities. The seasonal changes in picocyanobacteria and differences in diversity and community structures are discussed in the context of well-established ecological hypotheses: the PEG model, intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH), and horizontal gene transfer (HGT).

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.491-502
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• 2012

The world's food production systems are becoming an area of great concern for both human and ecological health. Research has identified that one of the greatest threats to sustainability is conventional industrial agricultural systems and the high energy and material cost they require to function. The organic food movement is contributing as promising alternative to the current dominant model. Over the last 50 years it has developed into the most visible brand for a healthier and more environmentally sustainable food system. However, to achieve its full potential there are still a number of hurdles which must be overcome to make organic products a more viable and appealing option for consumers. This paper provides an overview of key research that has been conducted on why consumers are buying organic products, what they are buying and what is preventing them from purchasing more. It concludes that the key challenge is for the organic food movement to convince existing consumers of the superior 'value' of its products. In addition there are a number of methodological issues associated with analysing the market for organic products as well as issues of limited distribution, intermittent availability and high prices that are currently preventing increases in sales. Recognition and management of these barriers could contribute to more effective targeted research into consumer food purchasing motivations and subsequently the development of more sophisticated marketing strategies that assist in maintaining integrity with consumers and fending off challenges from conventional as well as other complementary food systems such as local food movement. And finally to achieve these market growth strategies the organic food movement will need to cope with its diverse constituency - ranging from global corporates through to local production and consumption - and provide attractive opportunities to individuals and business at all stages in supply chain whilst retaining credibility with government to ensure ongoing policy support.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.313-323
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• 2014

Significant alteration in the microbial community can occur across reclamation areas suffering subsidence from mining. A reclamation site undergoing fertilization practices and an adjacent coal-excavated subsidence site (sites A and B, respectively) were examined to characterize the bacterial diversity using 454 high-throughput 16S rDNA sequencing. The dominant taxonomic groups in both the sites were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Betaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes. However, the bacterial communities' abundance, diversity, and composition differed significantly between the sites. Site A presented higher bacterial diversity and more complex community structures than site B. The majority of sequences related to Proteobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Chloroflexi, Nitrospirae, Firmicutes, Betaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, and Anaerolineae were from site A; whereas those related to Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, Gammaproteobacteria, Nitriliruptoria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Phycisphaerae originated from site B. The distribution of some bacterial groups and subgroups in the two sites correlated with soil properties and vegetation due to reclamation practice. Site A exhibited enriched bacterial community, soil organic matter (SOM), and total nitrogen (TN), suggesting the presence of relatively diverse microorganisms. SOM and TN were important factors shaping the underlying microbial communities. Furthermore, the specific plant functional group (legumes) was also an important factor influencing soil microbial community composition. Thus, the effectiveness of 454 pyrosequencing in analyzing soil bacterial diversity was validated and an association between land ecological system restoration, mostly mediated by microbial communities, and an improvement in soil properties in coal-mining reclamation areas was suggested.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2016.05a
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• pp.188-188
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• 2016

The Mekong which is one of the world's most significant rivers plays an extremely important role to South East Asia. Lying across six riparian countries including China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and being a greatly biological and ecological diversity of fishes, the river supports a huge population who living along Mekong Basin River. Therefore, much attention has been focused on the giant Mekong Basin River, particularly, the soil erosion and sedimentation problems which rise critical impacts on irrigation, agriculture, navigation, fisheries and aquatic ecosystem. In fact, there have been many methods to calculate these problems; however, in the case of Mekong, the available data have significant limitations because of large area (about 795 00 km2) and a failure by management agencies to analyze and publish of developing countries in Mekong Basin River. As a result, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) model in a GIS (Geographic Information System) framework was applied in this study. The USLE factors contain the rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, slope length, steepness, crop management and conservation practices which are represented by raster layers in GIS environment. In the final step, these factors were multiplied together to estimate the soil erosion rate in the study area by using spatial analyst tool in the ArcGIS 10.2 software. The spatial distribution of soil loss result will be used to support river basin management to find the subtainable management practices by showing the position and amount of soil erosion and sediment load in the dangerous areas during the selected 56- year period from 1952 to 2007.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.193-204
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• 1983

The Jinyang Lake is dammed up Nam River, and surrounded by Jinju city and four counties; Jinyang, Sanchong, Hading, and Sachon in kyongsang-Nam-Bo, Korea. The areas around this man-made lake have been known as an endemic focus of clonorchiasis in Korea. The present study was first aimed to know the distribution of freshwater mollusks including medically important snails, and larval trematodes shed from Parafossarulus manchouricus and Semisulcospira libertina. In addition to above studies, water analyses in each snail habitat were carried out in order to figure out a part of their environmental factors. This malaco-ecological survey was done at the sirs areas around upper, middle and lower parts of the lake for 4 months, August-November, 1983. Total nine species of freshwater mollusks were collected throughout the study: 4 species of gastropods: Semisulcospira libertina, Cipangopaludina chinensis, Parafossarulus manchouricus and Radin auricularia, and 5 species of bit.alves; Unio dcuglasiae, Ancdonta woodiana, Lamprotula gottschei, Corbicula yuminea and Limncperma lucustris. Out of nine species of freshwater mollusks, three species of gastropods; S. Zibertina, p. manchouricus and R. auricularia were medically important in terms of the transmission of digenetic trematodes to humans. P. manchouricus and R. auricularia were mainly collected from the shallow ponds and the irrigation channels with the muddy basin, but S. libertine and the bivalves were only collected from the stream of Nam River where the gravels and rocks were dominant. The levels of dissolved oxygen (D.O.) and biochemical oxygen demand \(B.O.D._5)\ of the water specimens sampled from the study areas ranged from 6.0 to 9.6 ppm and from 0.4 to 1.6 ppm respectively. As a result, it is considered that water system around the Jinyang Lake might be relatively clean without any heavy pollution of aquatic microorganisms and organic materials during the period of this study. On the other hand, eight metalic constituents from the water samples were also assayed, and all metalic ions detected were remarkably low below the legal criteria. However, calcium ion in the water samples from the habitats of P. manchouricus was considerably higher than others. Infection rates of digenetic trematodes in the snails were 6.9% in P. manchouricus and 4.8% in S. libertine, respectively. P. manchouricus snails harboring with thc cercariae of Clonorchis sinensis were only 0.14% among the snails examined, and other trematode cercariae except cercaria of C. sinensis were: furcocercus cercariae, cercaria of Loxogenes liberum type I and II. S. libertine snails parasitized with the cercariae of Metagonimus yokogawai were 1, 5% out of the snails examined, and no cercaria of Paragonimus westermani was found in S. libertine snails in the present study. Digenetic trematode cercariae other than M. yokogawai observed in S. libertina snails were: Cercaria yoshidae (B type) , Cercaria cristata, Cercaria innominatum, Cercaria of Centrocestus formosanus and Cercaria nipponensis.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.80-92
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• 2015

Some of alien plants, which were introduced from foreign countries, have caused problems in Korea. Invasion of these alien plants in the ecosystem threatens the habitat of endemic species, reducing biodiversity, and causing a disturbance in the ecological system. In urbanized areas of campus universities, a diverse range of organisms were found and a comparison between the sites, near roads or housing sites were made because the campuses provided a large biotope. Although the campus had been exposed to interferences like gardening, it was also a place for most organisms to live in an active floating population due to free access. This research investigated the flora of alien plants that appeared in Beakseok University, Sangmyung University, Hoseo University and Dankook University, and relationship between the distribution of alien plants and the campus and green areas and distance from the highway. The total number of plant species and naturalized species found in the four universities was 189 and 43 species. Those of Dankook University were 136 and 35 species, Hoseo 108 and 25 species, Sangmyung 103 and 31 species, and Baekseok 97 and 26 species, respectively. The abundance of natural plants for each respective university tended to be higher as it became closer to the highway. Also, the closer the walking distance to the university, the greater the tendency for the degree of similarity to be higher. As a result, we may conclude that the distribution of alien plants and anthropogenic activities may be closely related.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.175-189
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to analyze characteristics of distribution of amphibian species and the affecting ecological factors. For the study, habitat environment factors were determined and applied to a habitat suitability model for the data collected from the Seom River in Hoengseong County and Wonju City, Gangwon Province, Korea between March 2013 to October 2013. The analyzed amphibian species were Rana nigromaculata, Hyla japonica, Rana dybowski, and Rana rugosa Temminck and Schlegel, and a logistic regression model was used with the pseudo-absence data. The result of the model analysis suggests that the major factors for Rana nigromaculata are distance to vegetation and rock and that for Hyla japonica is waterway. Rana dybowski and Rana rugosa Temminck and Schlegel have similar habitat characteristics, but the latter is shown to be dominant due to its wider habitat preference. According to the species richness model, the analyzed amphibian species are shown to have tendency to move between valleys or streams. This study quantitatively analyzed habitat environment characteristics using species distribution model, however, there is a limitation in terms of analysis on food factor and connectivity with other species. Combined with additional density or habitat analysis on birds or fish, this study can lead to more comprehensive analysis on biological environment factors.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.267-276
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• 2019

The Gonggeomji Reservoir is a historical irrigation facility built in the 8th century and designated as a wetland protected area by Ministry of Environment, Korea. In order to collect the baseline data necessary for developing a sustainable conservation strategy, we investigated the classification of actual vegetation, the vegetation distribution and the floristic structure of the vegetation in the Gonggeomji Wetland Protection Area. In the whole protection area, a total of 26 plant communities were classified including the wetland, riparian, grassland, forest, farmland, and orchard vegetation. According to the results of detrended correspondence analysis, the structure of wetland vegetation was mainly affected by water depth and human disturbance. In reservoir wetlands, floating vegetation such as Utricularia vulgaris var. japonica, Trapa japonica, and emergent vegetation such as Nelumbo nucifera, Typha spp. completely covered the water surface. Since 2014, the reservoir wetland has been terrestrialized with the expansion of emergent and hygrophytic plants. For the sustainable conservation and restoration of wetland protected areas, it is necessary to naturalize the topography and wetland vegetation, recovery the hydrologic system, and restore ecosystem connectivity from wetlands to forests.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.360-367
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• 2010

The genetic diversity and structure of P. tongkangensis in 5 populations from 3 regions was investigated using 56 markers derived from 6 ISSR primers. Genetic diversity at the species level (P=94.6, SI=0.377, h=0.240) was substantial considering the limited distribution and small size of populations. Genetic differentiation among regions (12%) and among populations (13%) in the region was not clearly evident, which suggested a moderate level of gene flow among adjacent populations. The Mantel test revealed a significant correlation between genetic differentiation (${\Phi}_{ST}$) and geographic distance among populations. This was supported by cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). The significant difference in marker band frequency at many loci and their fixation in opposite directions in the smallest and most isolated population SC were considered due to genetic drift. Therefore, the genetic diversity of P. tongkangensis could be compromised if the distribution area or the size of the population was further reduced. In particular, small and isolated populations could be at great risk of extinction. Considering this, the unique habitats of P. tongkangensis should be protected and the reduction of population size should be closely monitored. Conservation efforts including the seeding and planting of seedlings should be done carefully based on their genetic and ecological traits. Our data support the argument that establishing an integrated management system for the efficient conservation of P. tongkangensis is critical.