• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.3
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• pp.454-467
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• 2019

This study proposed a forest landscape (patch) fragmentation monitoring framework using a cadastral forest land dataset and validated the feasibility of such monitoring. The following results were found. First, the forest landscape has fragmented too quickly. Hence, immediate national monitoring and management are required. Second, forest landscape monitoring should be linked to other survey frameworks. Horizontal fragmentation monitoring based on the forest landscape (geographic information system [GIS] polygons) is insufficient to determine ecological processes. Third, precautionary principle regulation to link forest landscape fragmentation monitoring to assessment systems such as environmental impact analysis or disaster impact analysis should follow.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.84-96
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• 2022

Most of the islands of Korea are distributed in the South and West Sea, and it consists of independent small stream. As a result, the fish community that inhabits the island's stream is isolated from the mainland and other island. This study utilized a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) and a random forest model to analyze the relationship between environmental variables and fish communities inhabiting islands in South Korea. Through the SOM analysis, the fish communities were divided into three clusters, and there were differences in biotic and abiotic factors between these groups. Cluster I consisted of sites with relatively larger island areas and a higher number of species and population. It was found that 15 out of 16 indicator species were included. Meanwhile, the remaining clusters had fewer species and populations. Cluster II, especially, showed the lowest impact from physical variables such as water width and depth. As a result of predicting the species richness using the random forest model, physical variables in habitats, such as stream width and water depth, had a relatively higher importance on species richness. On the other hand, forest area was the most important variables for predicting Shannon diversity, followed by maximum water depth, and gravel. The results suggest that this study can be used as basic data for establishing a stream ecosystem management strategy in terms of conservation and protection of biological resources in streams of islands.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.2
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• pp.280-288
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• 2021

Understanding the occurrence characteristics of pine wilt disease (PWD) is essential for determining a suitable strategy to minimize the damage caused by PWD. Thus, in this study, we characterized various environmental conditions, including meteorological factors, geographical factors, and artificial factors influencing the occurrence of PWD. The occurrence data of PWD from May 2016 to April 2018 and spatial data of various environmental factors, including natural and anthropogenic factors, were collected. We evaluated the relative contribution of the environmental variables on the number of dead pine trees by PWD. In this study, among the 17 natural and anthropogenic factors, the factors affecting the occurrence of dead trees by PWD were verified. The results showed that altitude and temperature from May to August, among natural factors, and distance to building and forest road among anthropogenic factors were the most influential factors on the occurrence of PWD.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.793-801
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• 2022

This study was carried out to provide basic data for logical forest management by developing a site index curve reflecting the current growth characteristics of Cryptomeria japonica stands in Korea. The height growth model was developed using the Chapman-Richards, Schumacher, Gompertz, and Weibull algebraic difference equations, which are widely used in growth estimation, for data collected from 119 plots through the 7th National Forest Inventory and stand survey. The Chapman-Richards equation, with the highest model fit, was selected as the best equation for the height growth model, and a site index curve was developed using the guide curve method. To compare the developed site index curve with that on the yield table, paired T-tests with a significance level of 5% were performed. The results indicated that there were no significant differences between the site index curve values at all ages, and the p-value was smaller after the reference age than before. Therefore, the site index curve developed through this study reflects the characteristics of the changing growth environment of C. japonica stands and can be used in accordance with the site index curve on the current yield table. Thus, this information can be considered valuable as basic data for reasonable forest management.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.2
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• pp.590-593
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• 2006

Timber inventory management includes to measure and update forest attributes, which is crucial information for private companies and public organizations in property assessment and environment monitoring. Field measurement would be accurate, but time-consuming and inefficient. For the reason, remote sensing technology has been an alternative to field measurement from an economic perspective. Among several sensors, LiDAR and Radar interferometry are known for their efficiency for forest monitoring because they are less influenced by weather and light conditions, and provide reasonably accurate vertical/horizontal measurement for a large area in a short period. For example, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and National Elevation Dataset (NED) in the U.S. can provide tree height information and DSM. On the other hand, LiDAR DSM (the first return) and DEM (the last return) can also present tree height estimation. With respect to project site of loblolly pine plantation in Louisiana in the U.S., the accuracy of SRTM C-Band approach estimating tree height was assessed by the LiDAR approaches. In addition, SRTM X-Band and NED were also compared with the results. Plantation year in inventory GIS, which is directly related to forest age, is high correlated with the difference between SRTM C-Band and NED. As a byproduct, several stands of age mismatch could be recognized using an outlier detection algorithm, and optical satellite image (ETM+) were used to verify the mismatch. The findings of this study were (1) the confirmation of usefulness of the SRTM DSM for forest monitoring and (2) Multi-sensors- Radar, LiDAR, ETM+, MODIS can be used for accuracy improvement of forest inventory GIS altogether.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.116-130
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• 2019

In South Korea, forest fire occurrences are increasing in size and duration due to various factors such as the increase in fuel materials and frequent drying conditions in forests. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the damage caused by forest fires by appropriately providing the probability of forest fire risk. The purpose of this study is to improve the Daily Weather Index(DWI) provided by the current forest fire forecasting system in South Korea. A new Fire Risk Index(FRI) is proposed in this study, which is provided in a 5km grid through the synergistic use of numerical weather forecast data, satellite-based drought indices, and forest fire-prone areas. The FRI is calculated based on the product of the Fine Fuel Moisture Code(FFMC) optimized for Korea, an integrated drought index, and spatio-temporal weighting approaches. In order to improve the temporal accuracy of forest fire risk, monthly weights were applied based on the forest fire occurrences by month. Similarly, spatial weights were applied using the forest fire density information to improve the spatial accuracy of forest fire risk. In the time series analysis of the number of monthly forest fires and the FRI, the relationship between the two were well simulated. In addition, it was possible to provide more spatially detailed information on forest fire risk when using FRI in the 5km grid than DWI based on administrative units. The research findings from this study can help make appropriate decisions before and after forest fire occurrences.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.197-206
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• 2010

To provide baseline information essential for assessing environmental impacts of monsoon rainfalls in a mountainous watershed under mixed land use, we investigated spatiotemporal variations in water quality using a combined approach of seasonal water quality survey and intensive storm samplings. Biannual water sampling at nine locations encompassing major land use types showed generally lower electrical conductivity and Cl- concentrations during the typical wet period compared to the dry period, indicating rainfall-induced dilution of dissolved ions. Total metal concentrations, however, were significantly higher during the monsoon period, probably associated with rainfall-induced increases in suspended sediments. Intensive storm sampling during a small monsoon rainfall event (18 mm) and an extreme event (452 mm) showed rapid changes in both suspended sediments and dissolved solutes in an agricultural stream draining the Haean Basin where arable lands have expanded rapidly over the recent decades. By contrast, a nearby forest stream derived from North Korea showed little responses to the small event compared to larges changes during the extreme event. In the agricultural stream total Pb concentrations showed significant positive relationships with suspended sediments. Although limited sampling frequency and locations require a cautious interpretation, the overall results suggest that expansion of agricultural fields in steep mountainous watersheds can increase the susceptibility of soil erosion and its off-site environmental impacts under increasing rainfall variability and extremes.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.44-55
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• 2018

The importance of establishing a greenhouse gas inventory is emerging for policymaking and its implementation to cope with climate change. Thus, it is needed to establish Approach 3 level Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) matrix that is spatially explicit regarding land use classifications and changes. In this study, four types of spatial information suitable for establishing the LULUCF matrix were analyzed - Cadastral Map, Land Cover Map, Forest Map, and Biotope Map. This research analyzed the classification properties of each type of spatial information and compared the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the maps in Boryeong city. Drawn from the conclusions of the quantitative comparison, the forest area showed the maximum difference of 50.42% ($303.79km^2$) in the forest map and 46.09%($276.65km^2$) in the cadastral map. The qualitative comparison drew five qualitative characteristics: data construction scope difference, data construction purpose difference, classification standard difference, and classification item difference. As a result of the study, it was evident that the biotope map was the most appropriate spatial information for the establishment of the LULUCF matrix. In addition, if the LULUCF matrix is made by integrating the biotope, the forest map, and the land cover map, the limitations of each spatial information would be improved. The accuracy of the LULUCF matrix is expected to be improved when the map of the level-3 land cover map and the biotope map of 1:5,000 covering the whole country are completed.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.108-118
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• 2018

Biomass determination of species-specific in forest ecosystem by semi-destructive measures requires the development of allometric equations; predict aboveground biomass observable independent variables such as, Diameter at Breast Height, Height, and Volume are crucial role. There has not been equation of this type in mountain Chuqala natural forest. In this study two species namely, Hypericum revolutum Vahl. & Maesa lanceoleta Forssk. with tree diameter classes (15-20, 20.5-25, and 25.5-35 cm), with the purpose of conducting allometric equations were characterized. Each species assumed considered individually. For the linear model fit the two observed variable DBH, H and V were preferred for the prediction of above ground biomass. The best fitted model choose among the two formed model were identified using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), and $R^2$ and adjacent $R^2$. Based on this the best fit model for Hypericum revolutum Vahl. was AGB=-681.015+4,494.06 (DBH), and for Maesa lanceoleta Forrsk. was. AGB=-936.96+5,268.92 (DBH).

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.98 no.2
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• pp.178-182
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• 2009

A new mixed-effects model was developed that predicts individual-tree total height for Pinus densiflora trees in Gangwon province as a function of individual-tree diameter (cm). The mixed-effects model contains two random-effects parameters. Maximum likelihood estimation was used to fit the model to 560 height-diameter observations of individual trees measured throughout Gwangwon province in 2007 as part of the National Forest Inventory Program in Korea. The new model is an improvement over fixed-effects models because it can be calibrated to a local area, such as an inventory plot or individual stand. The new model also appears to be an improvement over the Forest Resources Evaluation and Prediction Program for the ten calibration trees used in this study. An example is provided that describes how to estimate the random-effects parameters using ten calibration trees.