• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture International Edition
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• no.2
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• pp.109-113
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• 2004

It is important to consider urban parks and greenery not only from the viewpoint of amenity or aesthetics but also from the viewpoint of biodiversity. In this study, we focused on bryophytes (mosses), and analyzed how existence of artificial structures in urban greeney, such as concrete curbs and stone walls, affect species diversity of bryophytes. Kyoto Gyoen in Kyoto City, western Japan, was selected as the study site. In consideration of kinds of substrates on which bryophytes grow, microhabitats of Kyoto Gyoen were divided into ten types including concrete curbs and stone walls. In each type of microhabitats, we selected the area where bryophyte diversity was highest, and established a quadrat for bryophyte flora survey. Our results showed that the number of bryophyte species and growth forms and the value of diversity indices on concrete curbs or stone walls were higher than the averages of those. The bryophyte species were divided into the four groups by TWINSPAN as follows: Group A (epiphyte species), Group B (rocky species), Group C (roadsides, grassland or forest species), and Group D (waterside species). Bryophytes classified into Group B (rocky species) were mainly recorded on concrete curbs or stone walls. It was considered that the existence of artificial structures (concrete curbs and stone walls) provided favorite habitats for the bryophytes classified into Group B (rocky species), which mainly grows on concrete or rocks, and enhanced species diversity of bryophytes in Kyoto Gyoen.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.779-787
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• 2021

This study analyzes structural landscape changes over a time-series for a small and medium-sized city, Gangneung-Si, based on area and distribution patterns, and according to the type of land cover. Among the types of land cover, the area ratio of urbanized areas increased by 2.02% in the late 2010s as compared to the late 1980s, while there was a decrease of 2.69% in farmland and 0.69% in grassland areas. On analyzing the changes in land cover use by applying the Fragstats program, it was confirmed that landscape changes in urban and management areas were relatively severe according to the Landscape Shape Index, Largest Patch Index, and Aggregation Index. A pattern of concentrated expansion was also found around certain areas. In particular, from the analysis, it was established that the proportion of urbanized area had considerably increased and that the extent of farmland damage to management areas, including planned management areas, was large. Additionally, the Total Core Area generally indicated a reduction in the core areas of farmland and forest within urban and management areas. A medium-sized city showed significant changes besides large cities in terms of landscape structure. The developmental pressure on management areas, in particular, was quite high.

• 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.115-121
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• 2022

The Yezo sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) is a subspecies of sika deer originated from Hokkaido, Japan. This paper is a study on the ecological impact caused by large mammals invading the ecosystem. Two pairs of deer were donated to the Agency for Defense Development in Taean in the late 1980s, and the population expanded to over 280 in 2018. The thermal imaging camera showed that the population ranged from 8 to 53 herds, divided into approximately 10 groups. It was confirmed that some of the herds had escaped the management area and invaded the nearby natural ecosystem, causing damage to cultivated land and natural vegetation. Herds of over 50 individuals have been studied in large grassland areas near drinking water sources such as streams and ponds. In places with excessive deer concentration, 1) feeding damage to herbs, shrubs and sub-trees, 2) tree withering due to antler-rubbing, and their habit of migrating along forest edges 3) excessive soil loss on slopes, 4) destruction of herbaceous layers due to compaction, and finally 5) damage to infrastructure were also investigated. As such, it is expected that the results of this study on the ecological and economic damage of Yezo sika deer can be used to predict the impact of other exotic sika deer in South Korea with similar behavioral characteristics and to establish a management plan.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.558-572
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to classify the types of degraded areas of Mt. Jirisan section in Baekdudaegan and survey the actual condition of each damage type to use it as basic data for the direction of the restoration of damaged areas according to damage type based on the vegetation information of reference ecosystem. The analysis of the Mt. Jirisan section's actual degraded conditions showed that the total number of patches of degraded areas was 57, and the number of patches and size of degraded areas was higher at the low average altitude and gentle slope. Grasslands (deserted lands) and cultivated areas accounted for a high portion of the damage types, indicating that agricultural land use was a major damage factor. The survey on the conditions of 14 degraded areas showed that the types of damage were classified into the grassland, cultivated area, restoration area, logged-off land, and bare ground. The analysis of the degree of disturbance (the ratio of annual and biennial herb, urbanized index, and disturbance index) by each type showed that the simple single-layer vegetation structure mostly composed of the herbaceous and the degree of disturbance were high in the grassland and cultivated land. The double-layer vegetation structure appeared in the restoration area where the pine seedlings were planted, and the inflow of naturalized plants was especially high compared to other degraded areas due to disturbances caused by the restoration project and the nearby hiking trails. Although the inflow of naturalized plants was low because of high altitude in bare ground, the proportion of annual and biennial herb was high, indicating that all surveyed degraded areas were in early succession stages. The stand ordination by type of damage showed the restoration area on the I-axis, cultivated area, grassland, logged-off land, and bare ground in that order, indicating the arrangement by the damage type. Moreover, the stand ordination of the degraded areas and reference ecosystem based on floristic variation showed a clear difference in species composition. This study diagnosed the status of each damage type based on the reference ecosystem information according to the ecological restoration procedure and confirmed the difference in species composition between the diagnosis result and the reference ecosystem. These findings can be useful basic data for establishing the restoration goal and direction in the future.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.105-116
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• 1990

Seungbong Island is situated about 100km away Inchon Port in the western sea of the Korean Peninsula. Field investigations were conducted for two days each from June 30 through July 1, 1981 and from August 20 through 21, 1981. The results obtained are summarized as follows: Plants growing in this island consist of a total of 193 species (70 families, 151 genera, 170 species, 22 varieties and 1 forma). Pinus thunbergii was confirmed to be the dominant species. The natural degree observed in this island was high, as a whole. The coefficient of ferny plants (Pte-Q) is 0.95, lower than grass. Atractylodes japonica Koidz., Miscanthus sinensis Anders. var. purpurascense Rendle, and Rhododendron mucronulatum Turz. are distributed mainly on the forest bed of Pinus thunbergii. The poor distribution of Chenopodium album var. centrorubrum Makino, Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv., Amaranthus mangostanus Linne is considered attributable to the phenomenon of allellopathy caused by a chemical substance secreted from the leaves of Pinus thunbergii. The component ratio of species in this island is lower than that of other islands due probably to the small area of arable land and grassland. The poor growth of plants in the forest of Pinus thunbergii, the dominant species in this island, seems to be attributed to the low relative light intensity of the forest. Seaside plants consisting of a total of 7 species were distributed mainly in the vicinity of sandy beaches. Naturalized plants comprising a total of 11 species were relatively diversified in the number of species.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.553-563
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• 2006

This study aims to produce land-cover maps of Korean peninsula using multi-temporal MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) imagery. To solve the low spatial resolution of MODIS data and enhance classification accuracy, Linear Spectral Mixture Analysis (LSMA) was employed. LSMA allowed to determine the fraction of each surface type in a pixel and develop vegetation, soil and water fraction images. To eliminate clouds, MVC (Maximum Value Composite) was utilized for vegetation fraction and MinVC (Minimum Value Composite) for soil fraction image respectively. With these images, using ISODATA unsupervised classifier, southern part of Korean peninsula was classified to low and mid level land-cover classes. The results showed that vegetation and soil fraction images reflected phenological characteristics of Korean peninsula. Paddy fields and forest could be easily detected in spring and summer data of the entire peninsula and arable land in North Korea. Secondly, in low level land-cover classification, overall accuracy was 79.94% and Kappa value was 0.70. Classification accuracy of forest (88.12%) and paddy field (85.45%) was higher than that of barren land (60.71%) and grassland (57.14%). In midlevel classification, forest class was sub-divided into deciduous and conifers and field class was sub-divided into paddy and field classes. In mid level, overall accuracy was 82.02% and Kappa value was 0.6986. Classification accuracy of deciduous (86.96%) and paddy (85.38%) were higher than that of conifers (62.50%) and field (77.08%).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.31-46
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• 2021

In South Korea, there is a growing domestic need for a biotope map which contains ecological and environmental geographic information of a city. After the production of a Urban Ecological Maps(biotope map) by the Seoul metropolitan government in 2000, Natural Environment Conservation Act was revised in 2017 to make it mandatory for a local government to draw up its own urban ecological map. The aim of the present study was to find out ways to utilize an urban ecological map as a mean of communication between natural environment planning and urban planning sectors in a preliminary stage before introducing a big framework of 'environmental and ecological planning.' The northern area of Incheon metropolitan city was selected as the target area for this study. The major research content includes a comparative analysis of special-purpose zones, urban planning zones, restricted development zones, and conservation forests with focus on biotope types and Grades 1 of 'Biotope Type Assessment.' Farmland biotopes and forest biotopes within an area designated as an urban zone (residential, commercial and industrial zones) need to be redesignated as a zone which can conserve them. Especially considering a high possibility of damage to a large scale of natural green areas, these areas need to be readjusted immediately. If the entire area designated as an urban planning zone is to be developed, it is likely to cause serious damage to natural biotopes in the area (56.2%), including farmland biotope (30.4%), forest biotope (15.0%) and grassland biotope (10.8%), and thus, readjustment is needed. In case of a conservation forest, as it can possibly be damaged by the designation of special-purpose zones, it is necessary to match the designation of conservation forests or a special-purpose zones with their biotope types. In conclusion, we present a variety of thematic maps for utilization of an urban ecological map and propose a phase-specific environmental and ecological plan. Phase 1 is the establishment of a urban plan in consideration of ecological status; Phase 2 is the independent establishment of an environmental and ecological plan by an environment department; Phase 3 is an integrated management of ecological planning system and urban planning system.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.23-38
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• 2022

This study investigates the characteristics and physical habitat requirements for each Bufo gargarizans life history through a literature survey. After deriving variables for each component of Bufo gargarizans, in order to reduce regional deviations from eight previously studied literature research areas for deriving the criteria for variables, a total of 12 natural habitats of Bufo gargarizanss are selected as spatial ranges by selecting four additional sites such as Umyeonsan Ecological Park in Seoul, Wonheungibangjuk in Cheongju in the central region, Changnyeong Isan Reservoir in the southern region, and Mangwonji in Daegu. This study presents Bufo gargarizans SI, a species endemic to Korea, whose population is rapidly declining due to large-scale housing site development and road development, and develops a Bufo gargarizans HSI model accordingly to improve the function of the damaged Bufo gargarizans habitat and to present an objective basis for site selection of alternative habitat. At the same time, it provides basic data for adaptive management and follow-up monitoring. The three basic habitat requirements of amphibians, the physical habitat requirements of Bufo gargarizans, synthesized with shelter, food, and water, and the characteristics of each life history, are classified into five components by adding space and threats through literature research and expert advice. Variables are proposed by synthesizing and comparing the general characteristics of amphibians, among the previously studied single species of amphibians, the components of HSI of goldfrogs and Bufo gargarizans, and the ecological and physical environmental characteristics of Bufo gargarizans. Afterwards, through consultation with an amphibian expert, a total of 10 variables are finally presented by adjacent forest area(ha), the distance between spawning area and the nearest forest land(m), the soil, the distance from the wetland(m), the forest layered structure, the low grassland space, the permanent wetland area(ha), shoreline slope(%), PH, presence of predators, distance from road(m), presence or absence of obstacles. n order to derive the final criteria for each of the 10 variables, the criteria(alternative) for each variable are presented through geographic information analysis of the site survey area and field surveys of the previously studied literature research area. After a focus group interview(FGI) of 30 people related to the Bufo gargarizans colony in Cheongju, a questionnaire and in-depth interviews with three amphibians experts are conducted to verify and supplement the criteria for each final variable. Based on the finally developed Bufo gargarizans HSI, the Bufo gargarizans habitat model is presented through the SI graph model and the drawing centering on the Bufo gargarizans spawning area

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.417-425
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• 2023

As climate change gets severe, the ecosystem acts as an important carbon sink, therefore efforts are being made to utilize these functions to mitigate climate change. In this study, we inventoried and analyzed the previous studies related to carbon storage and flux by ecosystem type (forest, cropland, wetland, grassland, and settlement) and carbon pool (aboveground and belowground biomass, dead wood, Litter, soil organic carbon, and ecosystem) in Korean ecosystems. We also collected the results of previous studies and calculated the average value of carbon storage and flux for each ecosystem type and carbon pool. As a result, we found that most (66%) of Korea's carbon storage and fluxes studies were conducted in forests. Based on the results of forest studies, we estimated the storage by carbon stock. We found that much carbon is stored in vegetation (aboveground: 4,018.32 gC m^-2 and belowground biomass: 4,095.63 gC m^-2) and soil (4,159.43 gC m^-2). In particular, a large amount of carbon is stored in the forest understory. For other ecosystem types, it was impossible to determine each carbon pool's storage and flux due to data limitations. However, in the case of soil organic carbon storage, the data for forests and grasslands were comparable, showing that both ecosystems store relatively similar amounts of carbon (4,159.43 gC m^-2, 4,023.23 gC m^-2, respectively). This study confirms the need to study carbon in rather diverse ecosystem types.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.712-719
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• 2023

This study investigated the diversity of butterfly communities inhabiting agroecosystems and examined the effect of latitude and longitude. The ecological characteristics of butterflies inhabiting rural ecosystems, such as habitat preference and food plant range, were also examined. This study was conducted from 2019 to 2022, selecting 10 locations nationwide and conducting line transect surveys every two weeks for four years, confirming a total of 112 species and 21,901 individuals. There was no difference in the number of species and individuals by region, but there was a clear difference in community composition. The most abundant species in rural ecosystems were Pieris rapae, Polygonia c-aureum, Zizeeria maha, and Colias erate, in that order. There was no significant difference in the number of species and individuals by latitude and longitude, indicating no peninsula effect. Habitat preference showed that butterflies preferring grasslands and forest edges were much more common than those preferring the forest interior, and the food breadth was mostly oligophagous, followed by monophagous and polyphagous. Butterflies inhabiting agroecosystems had ecological characteristics that preferred open spaces such as grasslands and forest edges or relatively diverse foods, due to the similarity of the environmental characteristics of the survey points. Through this study, we believe that continuous monitoring is necessary to determine whether climate change, which is currently underway and habitat change are affecting butterflies in agroecosystems.