• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.57-67
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• 2009

In soil and sediment environment, microorganisms play major roles in biochemical cycles of ecological significant elements. Because of its ecological significance, microbial diversity and community structure information are useful as indexes for assessing the quality of subsurface ecological environment and bioremediation. To achieve more accurate assessment, it is requested to gain sufficient yield and purity of DNA extracted from various soil and sediment samples. Although there have been a large number of basic researches regarding soil and sediment DNA extraction methods, little guideline information is given in literature when choosing optimal DNA extraction methods for various purposes such as environmental ecology impact assessment and bioremediation capability evaluation. In this study, we performed a thorough literature review to compare the characteristics of the current DNA extraction methods from soil and sediment samples, and discussed about considerations when selecting and applying DNA extraction methods for environmental impact assessment and bioremediation capability evaluation. This review suggested that one approach is not enough to gain the suitable quantity and yield of DNA for assessing microbial diversity, community structure and population dynamics, and that a careful attention has to be paid for selecting an optimal method for individual environmental purpose.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.2 s.112
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• pp.249-260
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• 2005

Dynamics of phytoplankton community were monthly examined at two sites in Lake Juam from January to December 2003. One site is located near the Dam, an intake tower, where obtain a drinking water resource, the other site is located in the shallow region, Mundeok-bridge, the upstream or effluent part of lake. During the study, there made little the differences in physicochemical factors between two sites, but numbers of species and standing crops of phytoplankton differ remarkably. Totally, 41% of green algae and 35.8% of diatoms were comprised of total phytoplankton species, while 46.3% of dinoflagellates and 27.6% of cyanobacteria contributed in total standing crops of Phytoplankton community. Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginora and diatom Fragilaria crotonensis dominated the Dam site during a warm season, while dinoflagellates Peridinium bipes and Asterionella formosa were at the shallow region during a cold season, respectively. According to the CCA analysis, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand and total phosphate strongly affected the growth of P. bipes with low water temperature. In addition, the increment of total nitrogen and water temperature affected biomass of a cyanobacterium M. aeruginosa. Collectively, it may suggest that the majority of annual primary production of Lake Juam is covered by two dominant species Peridinium bipes in cold season and Microcystis aeruginosa in warm season.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.2 s.94
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• pp.126-132
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• 2001

Urbanization and population increase result in the construction of STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants). Discharge from STPs greatly influences on the water quality in the stream which receives discharges. The decision of STP location should be considered with the discharge capacity of STP and self-purification of river in the water quality perspectively. In this study, a change of dissolved oxygen (DO) in a river being affected by STP discharge was simulated by the STELLA model. Minimum DO was 4.98 ppm in 42.6 km downstream of STP. Approximately, it takes 8days to recover the DO by the self-purification and this location is 340 km down-stream from the STP. If the model run for the consideration of the self-purification without phytoplankton algorithms, minimum DO was 4.92 ppm. It took 0.25 day longer to be the minimum DO than that with the phytoplankton functions. Without the phytoplankton algorithm, it took 11days to recover the DO. This proves the importance of phytoplankton in the self-purification processes. Additionally, the effect of adjacent STP discharge should be considered in the construction of new STP.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.263-271
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• 2015

To evaluate the relationship between dynamics of cyanobacteria and odorous compounds, a monthly monitoring of water quality and phytoplankton were conducted at the three serial lakes (Lake Ui-am, Lake Cheong-pyeong and Lake Pal-dang) in the North Han River for 11 times from May 2014 to March 2015. In the three serial lakes, phytoplankton communities showed that seasonal changes in Bacillariophyceae-Cyanophyceae-Bacillariophyceae. Anabaena and Pseudanabaena were dominant species in August and September 2014. At the same time the odors (Geosmin, 2-MIB) were also detected with high concentration. Relationship between environmental factors and cyanobacterial abundance showed a significant correlation with Anabaena circinalis and geosmin (r=0.983, p<0.01). In the case of Pseudanabaena limnetica showed a significant correlation of total nitrogen (r=0.685, p<0.01) and NO3-N (r=0.723, p<0.01). In addition, similarly Pseudanabaena limnetica and 2-MIB (r=0.717, p<0.01) was high. The odorous compounds appeared in the North Han River water were considered to be a direct relationship with cyanobacteria.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.317-330
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• 2009

To diminish the levels of organic matters, a novel S-CROM (continuous removal of organic matters in the stream system using freshwater bivalve), was developed and applied to the polluted stream discharging from the wastewater treatment plant, Pocheon stream, Pocheon city (Korea). Major pollutants of the stream were human population and industrial wastewaters. The study was conducted at a small dam constructed within the stream, often called 'bo', and designed with four tanks; no mussels and no sediment (negative control), no mussels and sediment (positive control), 30 mussels and sediment (D1), and 60 mussels and sediment (D2). Physicochemical and biological parameters were measured at 12 hours interval (day and night) after mussel stocking. Results indicated that Anodonta woodiana Lea (D2) clearly removed approximately 72% of chl-$\alpha$ and 57% of suspended solids on second day, however, there were no differences in removal activities between animal densities (P>0.5). Dislike a laboratory CROM system, which previously developed, there were no huge release of nutrient ($NH_3$-N and SRP), due perhaps to the higher flow rate and the lower animal density. Therefore, we may suggest that if we can determine the relevant current and the animal density considering the stream state, an S-CROM system has a strong potential to water quality improvement of eutrophic streams. Some characteristics on both CROM and S-CROM were compared.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.234-244
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• 2018

The roadkill that animals die after bumping by vehicles on the roads is acting as a factor to decrease the size of various animal populations. It has also been known to be the biggest artificial causations of Vertebrata deaths not only in urban areas but also protected areas such as national parks. Nevertheless, in the national park areas which are major protected national areas for conservation of national biodiversity and ecological diversity, snake roadkills occur frequently. Up to date, related studies are rare. Therefore, in this study, we described snake roadkill patterns on the roads in six national parks between 2006 and 2015. We identified total 736 snake roadkills compromising 10 different species. Five species, Rhabdophis lateralis, Elaphe dione, Gloydius ussuriensis, Lycodon rufozonatus, Gloydius brevicaudus occupied more than 91.7% of total roadkill cases. Active forager snakes were killed by roadkills more than ambush foragers, and the snake roadkill frequency was the highest in September, a migration period and in August when the young individuals dispersed at between 100 and 799 m altitude areas. Roads where roadkills were frequent lie between forest and hydrosphere or between forest and crop field road sides. Our results could be used to identify the trend of snake roadkills on the roads in national parks, and to establish effective roadkill mitigation measures and policies.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.333-338
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• 2020

Dye markers are used in the study of subterranean termites to determine colony territories and population sizes. Dyes not only allow the study of termite biology, but can also be used for control purposes. Although Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis causes damage to wooden historical properties in Korea, the dye markers have not been applied. Therefore, we evaluated the applicability of Nile Blue A dye for R. s. kyushuensis. Filter papers dyed with concentrations of 0.05%, 0.10%, and 0.25% (w/w) were each fed to termite populations through a no-choice feeding test for 1, 3, or 7 days. After 4 weeks, the survival rate, dyeing rate, and maintenance of dyeing were recorded. The results showed high survival rates with lower dye concentrations and shorter feeding periods. Among the combinations of concentrations and days, high survival rates, dyeing rates, and dyeing maintenance periods were found at concentrations of 0.05% and 0.10% for 3 days of feeding. These maximized the survivorship and visibility. The results from the current study can be applied to investigate the ecology and control of R. s. kyushuensis in both the laboratory and field.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.116-125
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• 2017

Alpine plants with a scarcity of pollinators in harsh environments have been believed to undergo selfing for reproductive assurance; however, contradictory evidence is also available. Snowmelt regimes in alpine areas function to change life history characteristics of alpine plants such as flowering time and duration; yet the effects of snowmelt regimes have never been tested in alpine plants in Korea. This study was conducted to investigate the dichogamy, mating systems, and flowering characteristics of Megaleranthis saniculifolia populations [early and late snowmelt plots (ESP and LSP, respectively)] in a subalpine area of Sobaeksan Mountain in Korea. M. saniculifolia exhibited incomplete protogyny in that despite early maturation of pistils, maturation times of pistils and stamens within flowers were partly overlapped. Control and hand-outcrossing treatments produced significantly higher number of follicles and seeds per flower than autonomous and hand-selfing treatments. Based on the aggregate fruit set, the auto-fertility index (AI) and self-compatibility index (SI) were 0.33 and 0.50, respectively. Snowmelt occurred 10 days earlier in ESP than in LSP, thereby ESP and LSP showed distinct differences with regard to flower longevity and season, but showing no difference in peak flowering dates. We concluded that M. saniculifolia is an incomplete protogynous and largely outcrossing plant requiring pollinator service. Temporal variation in snowmelt time and subsequent changes in flowering characteristics under climate change may further threaten the population persistence of M. saniculifolia which has already been designated as endangered species in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.2 s.107
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• pp.227-235
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• 2004

Fish fauna and community structure were surveyed in the Nakdong River, Gumi City, Kyeongpook province from April 2001 to July 2002. During the surveyed Period, 39 species, 32 genera belonging to 10 families were collected. Cyprinid fish occupied 64.1% (25 species) and cobitid fish had 7.7% (3 species). Fourteen species(35.9%) of observed species were known as endemic species. The exotic fish was Micropterus salmoides (2.5%) . The dominant species were Zacco platypus (relative abundance: 36.7%) and Opsariichthys uncirorstris amurensis (22.7%). Carassius aurafus and Microphysogobio rapidus were numerous (4.0${\sim}$4.3%). The rare species comprising less than 0.15% were Acheilognathus koreensis, Aphyocypris chinensis, Iksookimia longicorpus, Coreoleuciscus splendidus, Rhinogobius giurinus, Sarcocheilichthys variagatus wakiyae, Silurus asotus astus, and Channa argus. It was found that the population density of carnivorous Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis increased drastically in the mid-reach of the Nakdong river since it had been introduced from the other native rivers in the middle 1990s. Gobiobotia nakdongensis inhabit riffle (water velocity : 0.43${\sim}$0.67 m $s^{-1}$) of which the river bed is mainly sand. This species is considered to be in need of conservation. As the result of analyzing fish community in the surveyed area, the species diversity, evenness and dominant indices were 1.008, 0.663 and 0.196 respectively. The findings showed that the tributary, which the waterside plants were abundant and had various habitats, had a higher species diversity (1.112) than the main river (0.787). Sand mining had been disturbing the river ecosystem of the study stations 3, 11, 13 & 14, and these stations showed a quite low species diversity (0.421 ${\sim}$0.574).

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.68-76
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• 2015

There is no willow riparian vegetation in Jeju Island, Korea. Instead, a genetically-isolated population of Adina rubella is found in some parts of the riparian system. We describe its syntaxonomy and synecology. A total of 27 phytosociological relev$\acute{e}$s were collected, 11 relev$\acute{e}$s from 91 sites and 16 relev$\acute{e}$s from the previously published relevant materials. Data were analyzed by traditional Braun-Blanquet method and multivariate PCoA (Principal coordinates analysis). New syntaxa are distinguished, Adinion rubellae all. nov. and its type association Tripogono-Adinetum rubellae ass. nov. with two subassociations, typicum and rhododendretosum poukhanensae. Adino-Rhododendretum poukhanensae Itow et al. 1993 was discarded owing to mismatch of syntaxonomy and syngeography of Adina and Rhododendron phytocoena. The alliance Adinion is Jeju's regional and partly ombrotrophic vegetation occurring in pothole and rock crevice where are independent on ground-water table. We also suggest a revised alliance, Rhododendrion poukhanensae Lee 2004 ex. hoc loco in Korean peninsula, as a corresponding syntaxon to Adinion, which completely differs from Phragmito-Salicion. Finally we pointed out that Adina phytocoena requiring an absolutely monitoring has been threatened by river maintenance project of local government.