• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.220-227
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• 2018

Background: To understand the ecological characteristics of floating mat in which endangered species of Iris laevigata and Menyanthes trifoliata inhabit, we surveyed the vegetation and water environments of a floating mat wetland and examined the relations between ecological characteristics of the mat. Results: Although Phragmites australis and Zizania latifolia were found at all experimental quadrats (n = 61) as the major vegetational components of the floating mat wetland, they showed relatively poor growth performances in terms of shoot height (< 2 m) and biomass production (<$300g/m^2$) compared with those in soil-based wetlands because of oligotrophic water condition. The competitiveness and distribution of P. australis and Z. latifolia seemed to be determined by water level difference by micro-topography rather than water chemistry. Conclusion: P. australis and endangered plant species mainly occurred in the area of relatively shallow water, whereas Z. latifolia and deep-water species such as Scirpus fluviatilis mostly inhabit in the area of deep water on the floating mat. Continuously maintained water level and oligotrophic water condition in the floating mat appeared to be important environments for endangered species such as I. laevigata and M. trifoliata.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.142-149
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• 2022

Orchids live with mycorrhizal fungi in mutualism. This symbiotic relationship plays an essential role in the overall life cycle of orchids from germination, growth, settlement, and reproduction. Among the 1000 species of the orchid, the Korean lady's slipper, Cypripedium japonicum, is known as an endangered species. Currently, only five natural habitats of the Korean lady's slipper remain in South Korea, and the population of Korean lady's slipper in their natural habitat is not increasing. To prevent extinction, this study was designed to understand the fungal community interacting in the rhizosphere of the Korean lady's slipper living in the native and artificial habitats. In-depth analyses were performed to discover the vital mycorrhizal fungi contributing to habitat expansion and cultivation of the endangered orchid species. Our results suggested that Lycoperdon nigrescens contributed most to the increase in natural habitats and Russula violeipes as a characteristic of successful cultivation. And the fungi that helped L. nigrescens and R. violeipes to fit into the rhizosphere community in Korean lady's slipper native place were Paraboeremia selaginellae and Metarhizium anisopliae, respectively. The findings will contribute to restoring and maintaining the endangered orchid population in natural habitats.

• Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.67-73
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• 2020

The research status of endangered amphibians in Korea was mainly studied the life-cycle and distribution status of species from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Although a relatively diverse range of studies have been conducted on mackerels, studies on habitat prediction, analysis, change and management are insufficient. WEB, which provides biota information using location information in Korea, is a site operated by the National Bio Resource Center under the Ministry of Environment, but there is no information on endangered species and general species information has also been found to be very scantily. For this research, we secured a database of location information of Narrow-mouth frog, an endangered species, by combining literature and field research, and established a system by applying new technologies and open-based platform technologies that can be easily accessed by non-technical personnel of IT among IT technologies. The system was divided into administrator functions and user functions to prevent indiscriminate sharing of information through authentication procedures through user membership of users. The established system was authorized to show the distance between the current location and the location of the Narrow-mouth frog. Considering the ecological characteristics of the Narrow-mouth frog, which is an endangered species, a radius of 500m was marked to determine the habitat range. The system is expected to be applied to the legal system to change existing protected areas, etc. and to select new ones. It is estimated that practical reduction measures can be derived by utilizing the development plan for reviewing the natural environment. In addition, the deployed system has the advantage of being able to apply to a wide variety of endangered species by modifying the information entered.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.130-141
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• 2021

By reviewing previous literature, we analyzed the food sources of 20 out of 29 endangered fish species from freshwater ecosystems in South Korea. A total of 19 studies reported that food sources of 20 endangered fish species included 20 phyla, 31 classes, 58 orders, 116 families, and 154 genera. Arthropod, insecta, diptera, and chironomidae were the most fed animal food sources according to different resolution of taxa index on phylum, class, order and family. Similarity, bacillariophyta, bacillariophyceae, naviculales, and cymbellaceae were the most fed abundant plant sources. A larger number of fish species were reliant on animal food sources than plant food sources. 18 of the endangered fish preyed on arthropods, whereas only 6 species consumed bacillariophyta. To characterize the feeding groups of the 20 fish species, a hierarchical clustering analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis were conducted. The fish species were divided into two groups: 1) insectivores and 2) planktivores. A network analysis, which associated the link between endangered fishes and food sources, also revealed the same two groups. The highest hub score of food sources was for macroinvertebrates, including diptera (0.47), ephemeroptera (0.42), and trichoptera (0.38), based on the network analysis. Niche breadth was used to calculate the diversity of the food sources. Phoxinus phoxinus (0.57) showed thehighest food source diversity among the fish species, whereas Iksookimia pacifica (0.01) showed the lowest. This study will be utilized for the conservation and restoration of the endangered fish species.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2009

Corylopsis coreana Uyeki is endemic species in the Korean peninsula and is designated a Category Endangered Plant Species by the Wildlife Protection Act of South Korea. We developed the plan and cooperative model within the local community for the species conservation. In order to carry out this plan we first investigated the ecological characteristics of the species. The species shows patterns of discontinuous distribution and is coupled with the unusual feature of only growing on northern exposed slopes. Although Corylopsis coreana is cut the stem every year, many new sprouts are still grown from the root. Natural germination of the seed occurs only on north-facing slopes, but not on south-facing slopes at spring. That is, the species is highly influenced by soil moisture until the seedling stage has been reached. This factor limits the distribution of the species. When saplings are planted on south-facing slopes, they grow well. The information we gathered greatly helped with efforts to draw up conservation plans. In addition, when the information was shared with the local community, builders and residents showed great interest and displayed a will to help with conservation efforts. Therefore, a cooperative model within the local community was drawn up for the conservation of the species. Accordingly this model could be applied at mitigation measure at environment impact assessment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.29-42
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• 2023

As the destruction of habitats due to recent development continues, there is also increasing interest in endangered species. Mankyua chejuense is a vulnerable species that is sensitive to changes in population and habitat, and it has recently been upgraded from Endangered Species II to Endangered Species I, requiring significant management efforts. So in this study, we analyzed the potential habitats of Mankyua chejuense using MaxEnt(Maximum Entropy) modeling. We developed three models: one that considered only environmental characteristics, one that considered artificial factors, and one that reflected the habitat of dominant tree species in the overstory. Based on previous studies, we incorporated environmental and human influence factors for the habitats of Mankyua chejuense into spatial information, and we also used the habitat distribution models of dominant tree species, including Ulmus parvifolia, Maclura tricuspidata, and Ligustrum obtusifolium, that have been previously identified as major overstory species of Mankyua chejuense. Our analysis revealed that rock exposure, elevation, slope, forest type, building density, and soil type were the main factors determining the potential habitat of Mankyua chejuense. Differences among the three models were observed in the edges of the habitats due to human influence factors, and results varied depending on the similarity of the habitats of Mankyua chejuense and the dominant tree species in the overstory. The potential habitats of Mankyua chejuense presented in this study include areas where the species could potentially inhabit in addition to existing habitats. Therefore, these results can be used for the conservation and management planning of Mankyua chejuense.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 2022

Two tree frogs, Dryophytes suweonensis and Dryophytes japonicus, inhabiting Korea, are morphologically similar and share the same habitats. Therefore, they are identified mainly through their calls, especially for males. Dryophytes suweonensis is registered as an endangered (IUCN: EN grade) and protected species in South Korea. Thus, it is necessary to develop a method to rapidly identify and discriminate the two species and establish efficient protection and restoration plans. We identified significant genetic variation between them by sequencing a maternally-inherited mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA region. Based on the sequence data, we designed a pair of primers containing 7bp differences for high resolution melting(HRM) analysis to rapidly and accurately characterize their genotypes. The HRM analysis using genomic DNA showed that the melting peak for D. suweonensis was 76.4±0.06℃, whereas that of D. japonicus was 75.0±0.05℃. The differential melt curve plot further showed a distinct difference between them. We also carried out a pilot test for the application of HRM analysis based on immersing D. suweonensis in distilled water for 30 min to generate artificial environmental DNA(eDNA). The results showed 1.10-1.31℃ differences in the melting peaks between the two tree frog samples. Therefore, this HRM analysis is rapid and accurate in identifying two tree frogs not only using their genomic DNA but also using highly non-invasive eDNA.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2023

We analyzed data of endangered mammals in the 1st grade zone of the Ecological and Natural Map of Korea that were obtained through 202 field surveys over six years. Five endangered mammal species were identified including otters, long-tailed gorals, martens, leopard cats, and flying squirrels. The total number of habitat traces collected was 918, of which 897 traces (97.7%) were excrement types. The total surveyed distance was 697.7 km and there were 2,184 grids of 250×250 m each. Of these grids, 441 or 20.2% were confirmed as habitats of endangered mammals. Moreover, we analyzed results of repeated surveys in the same area by converting them into individual one-time surveys, accounting for 23.1% of the total area. The flying squirrel showed a low correlation with the frequency of field surveys but showed many habitats in a specific season. Leopard cats and martens were correlated with the frequency of field surveys. Results of analysis confirm that the grid method used for establishing the Ecological and Natural Map is unsuitable for the habitat division of flying squirrels, otters, leopard cats, and martens, and it does not reflect the actual habitats of these four species. Therefore, we propose that the concept of the habitat grid of species must be reevaluated and improved, specifically for endangered mammals.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.56-62
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• 2002

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) considers the western/lowland bongo Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus to be a threatened species, and the eastern/mountain bongo Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci an endangered species［1］. Although extinction is considered by many biologists to be a natural process during evolution, the exponential growth of the human population has drastically and prematurely reduced the numbers and genetic diversity of many species［2］. Species have evolved to adapt to a specific habitat or environment that meet their survival needs. Alteration or destruction of their habitat results in a species becoming incapable of adapting and hence becoming threatened with extinction. A widespread scientific and public consensus has emerged suggesting that governments should assign high priority to the maintenance of biological diversity via habitat preservation and management far species conservation［3］. Unfortunately, the loss of biological diversity far surpasses the available conservation resources and species are lost forever on a daily basis［4］. Notwithstanding the focus on habitat preservation and wildlife management, conservation biologists have also become increasingly interested in using the technologies of reproductive and developmental biology to help manage or rescue endangered species［5］.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.1026-1034
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• 2000

As described here, most recently developed methods for improving reproduction performance of domesticated animals such as cattle, swine and chicken have been considered to be also usable for restoring some sorts of endangered and/or extinct wild animals in the very near future. Especially, the techniques for in vitro storage of gametes obtained from dead animals shortly after the death, probably 24 h following the sacrifice are also available for obtaining some of experimental specimens. In case of the endangered animals, nobody will be allowed to use any tissues from the living animals, therefore, e.g., the use of skin tissues from these bodies is another possibility of restoring the living animals. Regarding the use of skin tissues, the most highly usable tools must be the cloning techniques for reviving rare cells from the living body. Most possible techniques for cloning cells is nuclear transfer from rare species to highly relative species, and this is the case of germ cells, e.g., primordial germ cells (PGCs) of avian species. One of the possibilities is the nuclear transfer of Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) to the PGCs of chicken, resulting in the PGCs with transferred nucleus from the ibis. In mammalian species, the same procedure as in the case of birds would be successful, e.g., the removed nucleus from Giant Pandas will be transferred to the cell, such as somatic cells or germ cells from black bears or lesser pandas, leading to the production of transnucleared cells in the body of female black bears. These two cases are most promising techniques for reviving endangered animals in the world, particularly in Asian countries, mainly in China. As a conclusion, possible production of cloned animals carrying transnucleared cells from endangered animals, such as Giant Pandas and Crested Ibis, may be reproduced gradually in the near future. Scientists are, therefore, required to convert the paradigm from domestic animals to wild animals, including endangered and/or extinct animals on the earth.