• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.221-231
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• 2023

Great tit (Parus major) is a bioindicator species that can measure environmental changes in urban ecosystems and plays an important role in maintaining health as a representative insectivorous bird. Researchers have utilized artificial nest box surveys to understand the reproductive ecology of the Paridae family of birds, including the Great tits, but it is difficult to conduct a macroscopic study due to spatial and temporal limitations. This study designed and applied a citizen-participatory monitoring of artificial nest boxes project to transcend the limitations of expert-centered monitoring methods. The Suwon Front Yard Bird Monitoring Team installed artificial nest boxes in green spaces in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province and observed the reproductive ecology of the Paridae family through the participation of voluntary citizen surveyors. Participants were recruited through an online survey from February 9 to February 22, 2021, and they directly performed from installation to observation of artificial next boxes from February 23 to August 31, 2021. Online education was provided to the volunteers for the entire monitoring process to lower the entry barrier for non-expert citizen surveyors and collect consistent data, and observation records were collected through a mobile app. A total of 98 citizen surveyors participated in the citizen-participatory monitoring of artificial nest boxes project, and 175 (84.95%) of the 256 distributed artificial nest boxes were installed in green spaces in Suwon City. Among the installed artificial nest boxes, the results of the citizen science project were confirmed for 173 (83.98%), excluding two boxes with position coordinate generation errors. A total of 987 artificial nest box observation records were collected from citizen surveyors, with a minimum of one time, a maximum of 26 times, and an average of 5.71±4.37 times. The number of observations of artificial birdhouses per month was 70 times (7.09%) in February, 444 times (44.98%) in March, 284 times (28.77%) in April, 133 times (13.48%) in May, 46 times (4.66%) in June, 6 times (0.61%) in July, and 4 times (0.41%) in August. Birds using the artificial nest boxes were observed in 57 (32.95%) of the 173 installed artificial nest boxes, and they included Great tit (Parus major) using 12 boxes (21.05%), Varied Tit (Parus varius) using 7 boxes (12.28%), and unidentified birds using 38 boxes (66.67%). This study is the first to consider citizen participation in the monitoring of artificial nest boxes, a survey method for the reproductive ecology of the Paridae family, including Great tits, and it can be utilized as basic data for the design of ecological monitoring combined with citizen science in the future.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.189-211
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• 2009

The importance of searching the weak signal has been increasingly recognized to cope with rapidly changing circumstances as an environmental analysis technique. This study proposed the NEST process for the searching for the weak signal. The NEST (New & Emerging Signals of Trends) is a micro environmental analysis process based on both quantitative and qualitative method. For this, the weak signal Searching Board is developed and traditional methods as global monitoring, trend analysis, brainstorming and delphi method are implemented to NEST. The NEST process is consists of three stage modules; the global monitoring stage in search of seeds information related to the environmental change, the weak signal analysis stage using the weak signal Tracking Board, and the delphi valuation stage for objectifying the final result. The NEST provides the weak signal of the promising technology which can bring new paradigm and the Up-Coming Trends which can lead new trend in the future. These outputs can be used to select promising technology from firm level to national level. The NEST system can be effectively operated as well as in small group so that small and medium innovative firms can develop and execute their own NEST process individually.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 2018

Observations and video documentation of interactions between animals living in dens, cavities, and other enclosed spaces are difficult, but they play an important role in field biology, ecology, and conservation. For example, bird parents visiting nests and feeding their nestlings may provide crucial information for testing of ecological hypotheses and may easily attract attention of participants of citizen-science ecological and conservation projects. Because of the nest concealment of cavity-nesting birds, their behaviors in the nest can only be studied by using video surveillance. Professional wildlife surveillance systems are extremely expensive. Here, we describe an inexpensive video setup that can be constructed with relatively little effort and is more affordable than any previously described system. We anticipate that the relatively low cost of about 250 USD for a battery-operated system is an important feature for citizen-science type of projects and for applications in heavily populated areas where the potential for theft and vandalism may be high. Based on our experiences, we provide methodological advice on practical aspects of using this system in the field for ecological research on birds. We highlight the low cost, easiness of construction, and potential availability to a large number of observers taking part in wildlife monitoring projects, and we offer technical help to participants of such research projects.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2021.10a
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• pp.262-265
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• 2021

The purpose of this development is to prevent accidents in the telephone poles caused by bird nests in advance. It is a sensor node installed on a telephone pole to recognize a bird's nest. This is to remove the bird before it builds a nest and lays eggs. It is in the system that recognizes the bird nest by the change of the distance when the sensor is first installed and the distance value measured thereafter. In this paper, we have designed and tested infrared rays with concrete, iron plate, wood, and plastic bag are targeted. This is an object that can be detected within a telephone pole was tested. The value of the spectrum detected by the spectral reflectance was obtained through a photodiode. Through the standard deviation graph of these values, it became possible to predict the target of the object and measure the distance. As a result of this experiment, target information (concrete, iron plate, wood, plastic bag) about dangerous substances in the telephone pole was acquired through the infrared sensor. Through this, it is expected that it will contribute to the establishment of a safe power grid and a coexistence environment with nature through power grid monitoring.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.648-657
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• 2008

This research was conducted to investigate the breeding density and seasonal food items of the magpies in Jeju Island and the near-manned islets. The examination of nest distribution to determine breeding density was performed during breeding season from February 2006 to April 2008, and that of food items from May 2006 to February 2008. A total of 2,113 nests were found across Jeju Island, the average density was $1.33\;nest/km^2$, and the magpies were distributed up to 600 meters above the sea level. The nest density was the highest in the central areas of Jeju Island, with 688 nests at $3.61\;nest/km^2$, while that in the eastern areas was the lowest, with 214 nests at $0.66\;nest/km^2$. In terms of the number of nests depending on the height above the sea level, 1,172 nests, which was equivalent to the density of $1.85\;nest/km^2$, was observed below 100m and highest among the intervals of height, but 16 nests found at 500-600m were the lowest, corresponding to $0.20\;nest/km^2$. The number of nests found in the manned islets near Jeju Island was eight in Biyang-do with the density of $15.38\;nest/km^2$, nine in U-do with $1.49\;nest/km^2$, and one in Gapa-do with $1.15\;nest/km^2$, whereas none of nests were observed in Mara-do. The contents of stomach consisted of 17 types of prey sources including countless bones, eggshells, plants, and seed, most of which were the individuals of the order Coleoptera. In spring and summer, the foraging frequency for invertebrate animals such as insects was high, but less than 30% in winter. In contrast, the magpies preyed upon plants and seeds at the frequency of 10% and 30%, respectively, in spring, while the foraging frequencies for both of them were 100% in winter and higher than any of other seasons. Eggshells and bones of birds were also detected infrequently. If the density of the magpies, which may play role as the upper predator within the ecosystem, increases, it would be expected to affect directly the reduction of the number of the species and population of endemic animals such as small birds and reptiles, etc. Therefore, it is considered that long-term monitoring for the density of the magpies and precaution is prerequisite to minimize adverse effects on ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.566-574
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• 2022

Heavy metals are one of the dangerous pollutants that threaten urban biodiversity due to their accumulation over a long period without being decomposed in vivo. Accordingly, there is a need for biological monitoring to compare accumulation concentrations in living organisms according to the degree of heavy metal exposure to evaluate heavy metal contamination in the air in urban areas. This study aims to examine the possibility of using nesting materials as heavy metal monitoring samples and determine the effects of heavy metals on Paridae. We installed 54 artificial nest boxes in the research areas that included campus green spaces (14), urban forests (11), and urban parks (29) on a university campus in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam Province. The birds' use rate of artificial nest boxes was 11/14 (78.57%) in campus green spaces, 8/11 (72.72%) in urban forests, and 6/29 (20.68%) in urban parks. Moss materials were collected from collected nests, and the heavy metal accumulation characteristics of each type of urban green space and the effects of heavy metals on the success of fledging of Paridae were compared through heavy metal analysis. The analysis showed that the average concentrations of zinc and lead were 228.08±209.62 ㎍/dry g and 17.67 ± 6.72 ㎍/dry g, respectively. There was no significant difference in zinc concentration for each type of urban green space (Kruskal-Wallis test, p-value=0.28), but lead concentration showed a significant difference (Kruskal-Wallis test, p<0.05^*). Of the 21 Paridae, nests analyzed for heavy metals, fledging of birds was observed in 11 nests (52.38%). Fledging of birds observed in each urban green space type was 7 campus green spaces (77.78%), 6 in urban forests (85.71%), and 1 in urban park (20%), mainly in urban forests and green spaces on campus. Heavy metal concentrations were compared to check the effect of heavy metal accumulation on the successful fledging of Paridae, but there was no statistically significant difference (Zn: W=44, p-value=0.74, Pb: t=0.64676, df =7.2422, p-value=0.54). This study is a basic study using the nesting materials of Paridae as heavy metal monitoring samples, and it is determined that it can be used as basic data for non-invasive biological monitoring.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.645-654
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• 2019

This study was conducted in two breeding seasons in 2017 to identify nesting habits and breeding biology of barn swallows in Daejang-dong village, Bucheon city, suburban Seoul. Among the 77 barn swallow nests studied, there were 34 breeding nests -27 in the first and 12 in the second. The reuse rate of old nests was 51.6%. In addition to tile-roofed houses (20.6%), breeding nests were most common in brick houses (38.2%) and in slate-roofed houses (26.5%). Most breeding nests were in eaves (58.8%) and front doors (32.3%). The average clutch size was $4.8{\pm}0.9$ in the first and $4.3{\pm}0.5$ in the second. The breeding success rate was 75.0% in the first and 58.1% in the second, considering the hatching rate and the fledgling rate. It was found that the rainy season was affected by a lack of food. At least 27 pairs of nestling barn swallows and 127 young barn swallows successfully fledged were estimated to be 181. These results show that Daejang-dong village is an important suburban habitat of the Seoul metropolitan area, and that it can be used to verify the environmental conservation value of rice fields of in the Seoul metropolitan area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 1998.06a
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• pp.79-83
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• 1998

This study was conducted to delineate plume occurred in hazardous waste disposal site. At first, CPT (Cone Penetrometer Test) rig and HydroPunch were used to collect depth-discrete groundwater samples in concerned area. However, it was not capable of sampling the groundwater due to the cone refusal where the residual clay are layered at nominal depth through the aquifer. Alternatively, a number of temporary wells were installed after each of locations was penetrated using a modified steel cone functioned by CPT rig. The samples taken from those of wells were characterized by GCMS and GCFID, which revealed that sulfolane and thiolane were mainly presented. Subsequent analyses performed for the samples taken from permanent nest piezometers consistently demonstrated that possible plume boundary can be presented in the study area where contaminants were found as low as detection limit or levels of not-detectable.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.51-62
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• 2012

Effects of climate change on groundwater system requires understanding the groundwater system in temporal and spatial scales through the long-term monitoring. In this study, the spatio-temporal variations of groundwater were analyzed through the continuous observation of water level, electrical conductivity (EC) and water temperature with automatic data-loggers and sampling in a Gwangneung catchment, Korea, for the four years from 2008 to 2011. Groundwater monitoring were performed at the nest-type wells, MW1 and MW2, located in upsteam and downstream of the catchment, respectively. During the survey period, both the total amount of annual precipitation and the frequency of concentrated rainfall have increased resulting in the elevation of runoff. Water level of MW1 showed no significant fluctuations even during the rainy season, indicating the confined groundwater system. In contrast, that of MW2 showed clear seasonal changes, indicating the unconfined system. The lag-time of temperature at both wells ranged from one to three months depending on the screened depths. Results of chemical analyses indicated that major water compositions were maintained constantly, except for the EC decreases due to the dilution effect. Values of the stable-isotope ratios for oxygen and deuterium were higher at MW2 than MW1, implying the confined system at the upstream area could be locally developed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.155-163
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• 2012

This study was carried out to monitor reproductive responses of great tits in 17 urban forests in Daegu metropolitan city. The reproductive perspectives of great tits were surveyed by using 106 artificial bird nests, of which five or seven nests were set up in every urban forest. A ratio of artificial nests used by great tits for their reproduction was 27.4%. It was showing that forests, where the reproductive response was higher, was located at the edge of the city, or was known as having a good vegetation structure in the urban area. The laying date of a great tit was a little earlier in forests in the middle of the city. It might be dependent on the density of artificial land uses including a residential area and an industrial complex, which are able to increase an urban micro-temperature. Otherwise, natural forests or forest patches nearby natural forests located at the edge of the city were showing that the laying date of great tits was relatively later than the oneee in the forest in the middle of the city. There was a big difference of reproduction perspectives of great tit between the 1st and 2nd reproduction. In the 1st reproduction, a clutch size was larger, while an egg volume was so low. Otherwise, the clutch size was shown so smaller in the 2nd reproduction than in the 1st reproduction, while the egg volume was larger in the 2nd reproduction. It might be due to the survival strategy of a great tit to prepare the winter season for a juvenile. Many variables, regarding to the problem of climate changes, have been linked to the environment of urban area and the bird habitats. Finally, Monitoring a bird reproduction is a valuable work for managing an urban forest as well as for conserving a natural forest.