• Animal cells and systems
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.223-229
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• 2000

Limbs and supporting structures of an organism experience a full weight of its own when it lands from water, because neutral buoyancy in the aquatic habitat will be no longer available in the terrestrial world. Metamorphosis of anuran amphibians presents 8 good research model to examine how this transition from non-loading to weight-loading affects development of motor capacity at the time of their first emergence on land. Our video analysis of the transitional anurans, Rana catesbeiana, at Gosner stage 46 (the stage of complete transformation) demonstrated that the take-off speed increased 1.23-fold after the first six hours of weight-loading on the wet ground. It did not increase further during the following three days of loading, and was close to the level of mature frogs with different body mass. During development of larvae in deep water with no chance of landing through metamorphosis, both tension and power of a hindlimb anti-gravity muscle increased 5-fold between stages 37 and n. However, the muscle contractility increased more rapidly when the larvas could access the wet ground by their natural landing behavior after stages 41-42. Muscle power, one of major factors affecting locomotory speed, was 1.29-fold greater in the loaded than in the non-loaded larvae at the transitional stage. Thus, weight-loading had a potentially significant effect on the elevation of motor capacity, with a similar extent of increment in locomotory speed and muscle power during the last stages of metamorphosis. Such a motor adjustment of the froglets in a relatively short transitional period would be important for effective ecological interactions and survival in their inexperienced terrestrial life.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.38-50
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• 2010

Expressways are often upgraded by widening the lanes and/or by reshaping the roads to be more linear for faster travel time. However, during the process of improving the route of the expressways, the areas where the old expressways used to be are often unused and abandoned. When these neglected sites are left alone, they often become dump sites causing pollution and impacting the surrounding environment. Therefore, it is important to restore the abandoned expressway sites to its full natural beauty. In this study, the abandoned expressway at the Soksa interchange in Pyungchang county, located in Kangwon province was studied for establishing the model of ecological restoration project. Considering the characteristics of the site, the target flora species was chosen to be Quercus species and the target fauna species as amphibians. After the target species were carefully chosen, each species' habitat requirements were studied in order to figure out the appropriate methods toward habitat restoration specifically for these species. In addition, to determine the most efficient method toward restoration of abandoned expressways, the study utilized the planting hole techniques, the crack techniques, and the colonization techniques. In terms of the spatial organization, public education program is incorporated at the main entrance area and the programs for experimenting, and developing vegetation and habitat restoration techniques are placed in the vicinity. In the master plan-to provide natural ecosystem at the site-ASCON (asphalt concrete) was removed first, then plans for restoration including species' habitat restoration were established. Furthermore, the project included plans for improving water quality polluted through non-point source considering the surrounding nearby road and farm lands. Finally, the study established a planning process that will experimentally apply to the abandoned expressway restoration method. In the future, there will be a continuous monitoring of the methods applied to verify if the restoration methods are effective. Also, new restoration techniques should be available according to a variety of abandoned expressways' characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.161-172
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• 2010

As the interest on biodiversity has increased around the world, researches about evaluating potential for habitat are also increasing to find and comprehend the valuable habitats. This study focus on comprehending the significance of stream in evaluating habitat's potential. The purpose of this study is to evaluate habitat potential with applying stream as a main variable, and to comprehend the relationship between the variables and habitat potential. Basin is a unit that has hydrological properties and dynamic interaction with ecosystem. Especially, biodiversity and suitability of habitat in basin area has direct correlation with stream. Existing studies also are proposing for habitat potential evaluation in basin unit, they applied forest, slope and road as main variables. Despite stream is considered the most important factor in basin area, researchers haven't applied stream as a main variable. Therefore, in this study, three variables that can demonstrate hydrological properties are selected, which are, riparian distance, stream order and land use disturbance, and evaluate habitat potential. Habitat potential is analyzed by using Maxent (Maximum entropy model), and vertebrate's presence data is used as dependent variables and stream order map and land cover map is used as base data of independent variables. As a result of analysis, habitat potential is higher at riparian and upstream area, and lower at frequently disturbed area. Result indicates that adjacent to stream, upstream, and less disturbed area is the habitat that vertebrate prefer. In particular, mammals prefer adjacent area of stream and forest and reptiles prefer upriver area. Birds prefer adjacent area of stream and midstream and amphibians prefer adjacent area of stream and upriver. The result of this research could help to establish habitat conservation strategy around basin unit in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-62
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• 2020

This study was conducted as a basic study to develop the HSI(Habitat Suitability Index) model of Pelophylax chosenicus based on the research on the ecological and habitat status of Pelophylax chosenicus and the literature research on the HSI model. The habitat variables of Pelophylax chosenicus are the altitude of the spawning pond, the habitat area, the distance from wetland, the soil(aptitude grade for paddy field), the place for eating such as paddy field and wetlands(land cover) and the distance from Predator(Lithobates catesbeianus) distribution area. Based on the existing literature of Pelophylax chosenicus, the results of field surveys and expert opinions, the SI(Suitability Index) model and HSI model were developed and applied to the site to examine the applicability of the HSI model. As a result of application, SI 4 and SI 5 with varying SI values seem to have a major influence on the HSI. In addition, it is considered that the HSI model is an arithmetic mean of SI models, which has a major impact on HSI. The HSI model can be an important basis for the habitat evaluation and restoration model of Pelophylax chosenicus. In particular, it is highly applicable to the selection and evaluation of alternative habitats for Pelophylax chosenicus.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.257-266
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• 2023

Amphibian populations are declining globally, pushing many species to the brink of extinction. To promote biodiversity and sustainable management, countries are actively researching amphibian reproductive ecology. Sperm cryopreservation is a crucial assisted reproductive technology that aids in preserving the genetic diversity of amphibians. However, because amphibian sperm cells are sensitive to osmotic stress, the optimal cryopreservation method therefore differs from species to species. This literature review offers an overview of the significance of developing cryopreservation techniques for amphibian conservation and highlights the need to create optimal cryopreservation methods and the introduction of long-term monitoring (e.g., fertilization success and offspring reproduction) to advance cryopreservation technology development. This review can be used as basic research data for amphibian conservation methods.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.205-220
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• 2023

This study aimed to analyze the needs and interests of the public on endangered wildlife using complaint big data. We collected 1,203 complaints and their corresponding text data on endangered wildlife, pre-processed them, and constructed a document-term matrix for 1,739 text data. We performed LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) topic modeling and network analysis. The results revealed that the complaints on endangered wildlife peaked in June-August, and the interest shifted from insects to various endangered wildlife in the living area, such as mammals, birds, and amphibians. In addition, the complaints on endangered wildlife could be categorized into 8 topics and 5 clusters, such as discovery report, habitat protection and response request, information inquiry, investigation and action request, and consultation request. The co-occurrence network analysis for each topic showed that the keywords reflecting the call center reporting procedure, such as photo, send, and take, had high centrality in common, and other keywords such as dung beetle, know, absence and think played an important role in the network. Through this analysis, we identified the main keywords and their relationships within each topic and derived the main issues for each topic. This study confirmed the increasing and diversifying public interest and complaints on endangered wildlife and highlighted the need for professional response. We also suggested developing and extending participatory conservation plans that align with the public's preferences and demands. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using complaint big data on endangered wildlife and its implications for policy decision-making and public promotion on endangered wildlife.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.657-663
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the difference in feeding habits of Red-Tongued Viper Snakes, according to available foods sources and areas. The effects of differences in food sources were found on Red-Tongued Viper Snake inhabited in the Jeju Island and its islet Gapado, from May 2006 to Nov. 2010. The food sources for the Red-Tongued viper snake population in the Jeju Island were found to be as follows: Chinese red-headed centipedes (Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans), Jeju Salamanders (Hynobius quelpaertensis), Japanese tree Frogs (Hyla japonica), Narrow-mouthed Toad (Kaloula borealis), Dybowski's Brown Frogs (Rana dybowskii), Black-spotted Pond Frogs (Rana nigromaculata), Smooth Skinks (Scincella vandenburghi), Asian Keelback Snakes (Amphiesma vibakari), Lesser White-toothed Shrews (Crosidura shantungensis), Hallasan Shrews (Sorex caecutiens hallamontanus), and Jeju Striped Field Mice (Apodemus chejuensis). This implies that Red-Tongued Viper Snakes mainly feed on amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. Among these, amphibians occupied the highest portion at 55.2% followed by mammals at 20.7%, centipedes at 13.8%, and reptiles at 10.3%. On the contrary, Red-tongued viper snake population in Gapado only feed on Chinese red-headed centipedes and Smooth Skinks (S. vandenburghi). Since only a small amount of nutrient can be obtained from Chinese red-headed centipeds or Smooth Skinks, this feeding habit for Red-tongued viper snake would adversely effect on the growth or regeneration. The reason why Red-Tongued viper snake population in the Gapado mainly feed on Lizard and Centipedes in spite of relatively various available food sources, might be due to the low density of other food sources in the Gapado. Red-Tongued viper snake could be feeding on foods that are low in quality but are easily accessible, to minimize energy consumption on searching for other more nutritious foods. A snake tends to select the size of its food depending on the size of its own head. The positive correlation was found between the size of the heads of Red-Tongued viper snakes from the Jeju island and the diameter of their foods. The head size was larger in the males than females in viper snake population from the Jeju Island, which might effect on their selection of foods. However, no significant difference was found between the sizes of the head and the food in the Red-Tongued viper snake population from the Gapado. The findings of this study would provide meaningful data, which directly shows that even within the same viper species they choose different available food sources according to their inhabitance. This leads to their growth and adaptation to their environment which is beneficial for sustaining of its population.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.76-87
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of and to derive future maintenance-management measures of the constructed alternative habitat for the Kaloula borealis at the University of Seoul, examining the period between 2015-2017. The research was constructed in 2014 and in a $191m^2$ area. The performance evaluation was divided into maintaining the habitat of the target species, maintaining the population and reproduction rates of the target species, maintaining the habitat of the wild species, the resilience of natural ecosystems, and the harmony with the surrounding environment. In terms of maintaining the habitat of the target species, soil collected from the existing habitat of the Kaloula borealis and was the depth was increased to 30cm in the alternative habitat. An artificial water supply was required every year during the supporting the spawning and hatching of other amphibians along with the Kaloula borealis. The sources of water of the alternative habitat were both rain and tap water, as it cannot be maintained naturally. Additionally, the Kaloula borealis thrived because it inhabited the research site and the average temperature was $26.2^{\circ}C$ from April-June, which is when the Kaloula borealis spawns. In terms of maintaining the population and reproduction rates of the Kaloula borealis, they were evaluated to have stable rates of reproduction. In terms of maintaining the habitat of the wild species, studies on vegetation and the structure of the characteristics of prey or predators will be needed. Also, alien species, such as Humulus japonicus and Bidens frondosa needed to be removed to maintain the wetland ecosystem of the wild species. In the assessment of the resilience of the natural ecosystems, the mud was monitored, noting the changes in the depth of water, with steps taken to reduce the leakage of water. The mud collected from the Haneul Pond wetland, which is located around the research site was piled up. Also, partial mowing management and the inducement of a natural vegetation colony was required for vegetation management. It was also necessary to create porous spaces, such as old trees and tree branches to create a habitat with hiding places and feeding and spawning places for small organisms. In terms of the harmony with the surrounding environment, the following threat factors needed to be managed: amphibian roadkill by vehicles and pedestrians and artificial draining due to nearby user access. Based on the monitoring results, alternative habitat management measures presented the promoting various waterside structures, in which amphibians can spawn and hide in, managing the water environment consistently, managing the vegetation, focused on the habitat of the wild species, and managing the surrounding environment for the habitat. The creation of an alternative habitat should be managed through monitoring, reflecting the characteristics of the changes in the site. Also continuing efforts are also needed to improve the habitat of the target species.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.15-32
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• 2003

The ecological study on seven wetlands of Haman area in Kyungsangnamdo, Korea, was carried out. In especial, the biological data of the sites were unknown. In this study, water quality including water temperature, pH, DO, COD, T-N, T-P, SS were tested. On the survey of plants and animals, vegetation and flora were investigated and the fauna of insects, fish, and amphibians were studied on each wetland. Water of wetland Oksu was heavily polluted and wetlands Pyungy and Dodulyangy were relatively clean. The water pollution was most severe in winter at all of the wetlands. Plant communities were classified into 9 natural communities and 1 artificial community. On the vegetation, wetland Sugok showed the highest plant taxa, and 41 families, 78 species and 16 varieties were classified. There was remarkable difference in number of plant taxa. The difference may be caused by the variances of wetland sizes, the influence from terrestrial environment. Wetland Sugok showed most rich insect fauna, and 10 orders, 76 families 224 species and 1082 individuals were identified. The species diversity was 2.05 and the species richness was 73.49. Wetland Ddun showed poor insect fauna, and 6 orders, 23 families, 29 species and 81 individuals were identified. Total collected fish were 4 orders, 7 families and 11 species. The fish fauna was most rich in wetlands Oksu and Pyungy, but poor in wetland Unan. Total collected amphibians were 2 orders, 3 families and 4 species.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

Amphibians are a taxonomic group that ecologically connects terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic ecosystems. They play a very important role in the food chain of the ecosystem. It is known that there are about 5,948 species distributed all over the world, but after the Industrial Revolution, due to industrialization and urbanization, there has been a decrease in species and populations. In particular, it is becoming a factor in exacerbating habitat fragmentation or fragmentation due to artificial canals. In orderto improve the survivalrate of wild animals in artificial canals, escape facilities are installed to reduce it. This study analyzed the slope, height of the escape facility, escape rate, and travel distance in the operating facility for Bombina orientalis, which mainly inhabits near forests. The slope of the escape facility showed a relatively similar escape success rate regardless of height at 50° and 60°, while at 70°, it showed a relatively high escape success rate at only 40cm in height. The success rate of escape from the waterway escape facility in operation was 14.71%, showing a very low utilization rate, and the recognition rate of the artificial canal escape facility was found to be very low as it moved along the side wall of the artificial canal. Therefore, in the case of a waterway escape facility for Bombina orientalis, it is possible to construct it at an angle of 60°, and if the side walls of the artificial canals are built within 60°, Bombina orientalis can move freely in both directions, overcoming the low utilization rate of existing waterway escape facilities. It is expected to minimize the impact of movement and death of artificial canals. In addition, if the spacing between escape facilities is narrowed from the installation standard of 30m and ramps are constructed in both directions upstream and downstream, the escape success rate of amphibians,reptiles, and small mammals otherthan lady frogs is expected to improve.