• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.239-248
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• 2016

The habitat, age and spawning characteristics of the Korean eastern spined loach, Iksookimia yongdokensis, were investigated to obtain baseline data for its ecological characteristics in the Chuksancheon (stream), Yeongdeok-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. The difference between the habitats of juveniles (0+) and 1~4 year old loaches was that juveniles mainly inhabited sandy bottoms (substratum particle size $0.6{\pm}1.44\;cm$) with very slow velocities of water current ($2.4{\pm}2.09\;cm/sec$) and low depths ($29.2{\pm}7.57\;cm$), whereas 1~4 year old loaches inhabited pebble and cobble bottoms (substratum particle size 5.5~6.1 cm) with relatively fast velocities of water current (3.8~4.6 cm/sec) and deep depths (50~70 cm). The age groups for I. yongdokensis (female) estimated by the frequency distribution of total length in the spawning season (July) indicated that the 35~64 mm is 1-year old, the 65~94 mm group is 2-year old, the 95~119 mm is 3-year old, and the 120~145 mm is more than 4-year old. The sex ratio (♂/♀) was 0.69, and females were 10~30 mm larger than males. The lamina circularis at the base of the pectoral fins in males, a secondary sexual characteristic, formed at the 13th month after hatching. The spawning season according to the gonadosomatic index (GSI) was June to July with water temperatures of $20{\sim}25^{\circ}C$. The average number of eggs was $2,292{\pm}618$, with a diameter of $1.46{\pm}0.02\;mm$ for mature eggs.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.36-51
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• 2012

The demand for a climatological dataset with a regular spaced grid is increasing in diverse fields such as ecological and hydrological modeling as well as regional climate impact studies. PRISM(Precipitation-Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model) is a useful method to estimate high-altitude precipitation. However, it is not well discussed over the optimization of PRISM parameters and DEM(Digital Elevation Model) resolution in South Korea. This study developed the PRISM and then optimized parameters of the model and DEM resolution for producing a gridded annual average precipitation data of South Korea with 1km spatial resolution during the period 2000-2005. SCE-UA (Shuffled Complex Evolution-University of Arizona) method employed for the optimization. In addition, sensitivity analysis investigates the change in the model output with respect to the parameter and the DEM spatial resolution variations. The study result shows that maximum radius within which station search will be conducted is 67km. Minimum radius within which all stations are included is 31km. Minimum number of stations required for cell precipitation and elevation regression calculation is four. Optimizing DEM resolution is $1{\times}1km$. This study also shows that the PRISM output very sensitive to DEM spatial resolution variations. This study contributes to improving the accuracy of PRISM technique as it applies to South Korea.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.359-369
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• 2015

Stream ecosystems are highly valued natural resources, however, stream environments are currently under threat in several respects. We evaluated vegetation and ecological characteristics according to different revetment types. The distribution of vegetation differed with revetment type, with a 42~45 taxa found in natural revetments, and 23~38 taxa in vertical revetments. Thus, natural revetments host more diverse vegetation than vertical revetments. We also found more plants belonging to the families Labiatae and Cyperaceae growing in natural revetments than in vertical revetments. We proposed that habitat space be apportioned to introduce annual plants as part of stream restoration projects. And, we identified 7 families and 18 taxa of naturalized plants, majority taxa were either biennial or perennial. Moreover, naturalized ratio was higher in vertical(14.3%) than natural(12.1%), we proposed a plan to promote and improve natural streams and revetments. Furthermore, we applied a waterfront evaluation method developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA-NRCS, which confirmed that stream health can be improved in most regions by controlling naturalized plants and ensuring shrub and tree growth. We adopted a new method to remove naturalized plants and establish natural revetments to ensure shrub and tree growth to aid in small-stream restoration and improvement. In future studies, we hope to develop methods for small-stream restoration projects in rural areas.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.1181-1187
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• 2003

Hibiscus hamabo, called "Hwang-geun", growing about 3m in height is a deciduous shrub or subtree of Malvaceae. Because the number of these species is very limited in the world, the Ministry of Environment has designated H. hamabo as a preserved plant. The Korea Forest Service also protects it strictly by law since H. hamabo is an out-of-the-way plant and possibly may be exterminated soon in Korea. Investigation for distribution and ecological characteristics of the habitat for H. hamabo was carried out on Soan Island. Two wild H. hamabo were found at the forest edge (equation omitted) along the sea coast located in the southern part of Soan Island and this was the first report in the Korean academic world. These two wild H. hamabos were growing in a naturally inhibited area. The diameters at the base were 12cm and 15cm. The Tree heights were 150cm and 210cm and the number of branches of each wild H. hamabo was 4 and 7. However, the present condition of these plants was not good. Environmental conditions of the naturally inhibited area of H. hamabo were very mild because it is located at the edge of the forest and is always sunny during the daytime since the slope of the inhibited area is facing South. The ground drained very well since the soil was made of gravels and sand. Because the percent of vegetation of the subtree layer where H. hamabo was growing was 40%, the cover degree and sociability of flex crenata trees and Eurya japonica were found to be high. In the naturally inhibited area of H. hamabo, a dominant value of Rubus parvifolius in the lower part of the herb layer was very high and many plants in Compositae, such as Artemisia princeps var. orientalis and Erigeron annuus, were also present. A dominant value of liana, such as Vitis thunbergii var. sinuata, Rosa multiflora, Clematis terniflora and Hedera rhombea, and Gramineae plants that rhizomes were well developed and aggressively propagated, such as Miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens, Phragmites communis, Spodiopogon cotulifer and Oplismenus undulatifolius which were surveyed as high, too. These results imply that H. hamabo might be exterminated soon through a natural selection if the proper management of the naturally inhibited area of H. hamabo is not conducted continually.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.151-159
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• 2007

We studied the optimal ranges of water and soil characteristics for wetland plants, particularly Scirpus tabernaemontani (softstem bulrush) and Typha latifolia (broadleaf cattail), which are dominant species with potential for restoration of Korean wetlands. We observed vegetation in S. tabernaemontani and T. latifolia communities from the mid to late June, 2005, and measured characteristics of water environments such as water depth (WD), temperature (WT), conductivity (WC), and concentration of several ions $(NO_3{^-}-N,\;Ca^{2+},\;Na^+,\;Mg^{2+},\;and\;K^+)$, and characteristics of soil environments such as soil texture, organic matter (loss on ignition, LOI), conductivity, and pH. The S. tabernaemontani community was accompanied by Zizania latifolia (Manchurian wildrice), Persicaria thunbergii (Korean persicary), Actinostemma lobatum (lobed actinostemma), and Beckmannia syzigachne (American slough grass), while the T. latifolia community was accompanied by P. thunbergii, T. angustifolia (narrowleaf cattail), and Glycine soja (wild soybean). We defined the optimal range for distribution (ORD) as the range that each plant was crowded. The optimal range of water characteristics for the S. tabernaemontani community was a $WD\;10{\sim}50cm,\;WT\;24.0{\sim}32.0^{\circ}C,\;WC\;100{\sim}500{\mu}S/cm,\;{NO_3}{^-}-N\;0{\sim}60ppb,\;K^+\;0.00{\sim}1.50ppm,\;Ca^{2+}\;7.50{\sim}17.50ppm,\; Na^+\;2.50{\sim}12.50ppm,\;and\;Mg^{2+}\;3.00{\sim}7.00ppm$. In addition, the optimal range of soil characteristics for the S. tabernaemontani community was a soil texture of loam, silty loam, and loamy sand, $LOI\;8.0{\sim}16.0%,\;pH\;5.25{\sim}6.25$, and conductivity $10{\sim}70{\mu}S/cm$. The optimal range of water characteristics for the T. latifolia community was a $WD\;10{\sim}30cm,\;WT\;22.5{\sim}27.5^{\circ}C,\;WC\;100{\sim}400{\mu}S/cm,\;{NO_3}{^-}-N\;0{\sim}60ppb,\;K^+\;0.00{\sim}1.50ppm,\;Ca^{2+}\;0.00{\sim}17.50ppm,\;Na^+\;0.00{\sim}12.50ppm,\;and\;Mg^{2+}\;0.00{\sim}5.00ppm$, and the optimal range of soil characteristics for the T. fatifolia community was a soil texture of loam, sandy loam, and silty loam, LOI $3.0{\sim}9.0%,\;pH\;5.25{\sim}7.25$, and conductivity $0{\sim}70{\mu}S/cm$.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.103 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2014

Genetic diversity and genetic structures were estimated in seven natural populations of Phellodendron amurense Rupr in South Korea using ISSR markers. The average of polymorphic loci per primer and the proportion of polymorphic loci per population were 4.5 and 78.8% respectively with total 27 polymorphic loci from 6 ISSR primers. The Shannon's diversity index(I) was 0.421 and the expected heterozygosity($H_e$) was 0.285, which was similar to the heterozygosity (hs =0.287) inferred by Bayesian method. In AMOVA, 7.6% of total genetic variation in the populations was resulted from the genetic difference among populations and the other 92.4% was resulted from the difference among individuals within populations. Genetic differentiation(${\theta}^{II}$) and inbreeding coefficient(f) for total population were estimated to be 0.066 and 0.479 by Bayesian method respectively. In Bayesian clustering analysis, seven populations were assigned into three groups. This result was similar to the results of genetic relationships by UPGMA and PCA. The first group included Hwachoen, Gapyeong, Bongpyeong and Yongpyeong population, and the second included two populations in Sancheong region. Muju population was discretely assigned into the third group in spite of the geographically short distance from the Sancheong region. There was no significant correlation between genetic relationship and geographic distribution among populations in Mantel's test. For conservation of the phellodendron trees, it would be effective to consider the findings resulted from this study with ecological traits and life histories of this species.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.19-32
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• 2004

This study was conducted to evaluated musculoskeletal subjective symptoms and the degree of stress of industrial workers to present fundamental materials of preventive oriental medicine for improving their health and quality of life. During the medical examination with oriental medicine method, presence of subjective symptoms of musculoskeletal pain, Psychosocial Well-being Index(PWI) and life style were checked by using questionnaire method in 474 industrial workers. The collected data were analyzed with crosstabs, ANOVA and T-test. The results were as follows; 1. In general differences according to musculoskeletal subjective symptoms, education level of high school graduation had significantly higher distribution than that of below middle school or above university graduation in the pain present group. 2. In the musculoskeletal subjective symptoms and the degree of stress, all of Factor1, Factor2. Factor3, Factor4. and PWI had higher score in pain present group than in pain free group and the difference was statistically significant. 3. According to degree of stress and general character of subjects, single and education level of high school graduation had high score in Factor2, Factor3 and PWI. Factor1 and Factor3 was high in income group of low 1.49 million won. Factor2, Factor4, and PWI was high significantly in income group of 1.50 - 2.99 million won. In job type, manufacturing worker group had significantly high score in Factor3. 4. In degree of stress and life style difference, there was significant difference in PWI score in the field of alcohol chinking, smoking, exercise, obesity except sleeping hours. In the present study. as a result, it is found out that musculoskeletal subjective symptoms present group had higher score in psychosocial stress across the fields than symptom-free group and it is recommended that continuous studies on the relationship of job-related musculoskeletal disorders and psychosocial stress should be performed for improvement and prevention of mental and physical health of industrial worke

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.288-294
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• 2013

Recently, sustainable production of biofuel using algal biomass is being pursued because of its enormous potential. First and foremost, securing superior strains to develop an efficient production system for algal biodiesel through screening or genetic improvement of microalgae is necessary. The genus of Botryococcus is regarded as one of the superior microalgae for biodiesel production due to its ability to accumulate high amounts of lipids and hydrocarbons. However, its low growth rate is a bottleneck for large-scale production and commercialization. The purpose of this study is to obtain indigenous Botryococcus strains which possess high lipid content and biomass productivity. The Botryococcus sp. was isolated from the Seobu Reservoir in Jeju Island and identified as Botryococcus sudeticus J2 by comparative analysis of 18s rRNA gene and ITS regions. The biomass productivity and lipid content of B. sudeticus J2 were 0.116 g $L^{-1}day^{-1}$ and 40.1% of dry wt., respectively. This was higher than the value of B. braunii UTEX 572, which is widely regarded as a superior strain among Botryococcus species. The relatively high growth rate of B. sudeticus J2 was achieved under a light intensity of 240 ${\mu}mol$ photons $m^{-2}s^{-1}$ with ambient air spargingwhen compared to 120 ${\mu}mol$ photons $m^{-2}s^{-1}$ with 2% $CO_2$ supply. In summary, it is likely that the isolated B. sudeticus J2 can be used for the mass cultivation and biodiesel production.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.spc
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• pp.57-65
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• 2014

Spatial and temporal distributions of zooplankton were measured in an oligotrophic pumped storage-type hydroelectric reservoir which was composed of two reservoirs exchanging water daily, with water going up at night and going down during the day. Repetitive diel disturbance of the water column can be a unique feature of this reservoir system. Chl-${\alpha}$ concentration was highest in the early winter season. Phytoplankton density was lower in summer monsoon due to high flushing rate on rainy days. The zooplankton density was higher in the smaller upper reservoir possibly due to lower fish density in the upper reservoir. In the seasonal variation a time gap was observed between the phytoplankton bloom and the zooplankton bloom (particularly a rotifer, Keratella cochlearis). It is likely to that Keratella production is partially supported by heterotrophic food sources than phytoplankton. The dominance of a mixotrophic dinoflagellate (Peridinium bipes f. ocultatum) might have complicated the trophic relationship between phytoplankton and zooplankton. Our results provide some ecological information of zooplankton community in a highly disturbed alpine reservoir ecosystem relying on mostly allochthonous organic matter.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.320-333
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• 2016

This study was carried out to elucidate the development of unprecedented water-bloom caused by a single species of colonial green algae Eudorina elegans in the upstream area of the Seungchon weir located in the Yeongsan River from late April to May 2013. The Yeongsan River is typically regulated system and the waterbody is seriously enriched by both external and internal sources of nutrients. Seasonal algal outbreaks were highly probable due to various potential factors, such as the excessive nutrients contained in treated wastewater, slow current, high irradiation and temperature, in diatom (winter), green algae (spring) and bluegreen algae (summer). Spring green-tide was attributed to E. elegans with level up to $1,000mg\;m^{-3}$(>$50{\times}10^4cells\;mL^{-1}$). The bloom was exploded in the initial period of the algal development and after then gradually diminished with transporting to the downstream by the intermittent rainfall, resulting in rapid expansion of the distribution range. Although the pulsed-flows by the weir manipulation was applied to control algal bloom, they were not the countermeasures to solve the underlying problem, but rather there still was a remaining problem related to the impact of pulsed-flows on the downstream. The green-tide of E. elegans in this particular region of the Yeongsan River revealed the blooming characteristics of a colonial motile microalga, and fate of vanishing away by the succeeding episodic events of mesoscale rainfall. We believe that the results of the present study contribute to limno-ecological understanding of the green-tide caused by blue-green algae in the four major rivers, Korea.