• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2013

The commercial rearing of polyphagous Indian tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury being practiced on naturally grown primary food plants like Terminalia arjuna, (Arjun) Terminalia tomentosa (Asan), and Shorea robusta (Sal) available in the tropical forests of central India, at times, is seriously affected by the disease- Pebrine, caused by Nosema sp., a microsporidian pathogen. The present investigation on comparative larval, silk gland weight and also cocoon parameters in Pebrine-free and Pebrine-infected ecorace of tasar silkworm Antheraea mylitta Drury (Daba TV), illustrates the tasar silkworm larvae infected with pebrine disease causing heavy losses to the economy of the silk industry.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09b
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• pp.213-217
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• 2003

Antioxidants have been used in cosmetic industry for treatment of aged skin and recently have been also introduced as additives in photoprotection products. In order to determine among the Brazilian botanical species presenting interesting antioxidant activities we have screened several extracts from plants from Rain and Amazonical Tropical Forests, as well as some endemic species, using both TBARs and DPPH methods. Extracts with antioxidant activities were found with Jacaranda caroba, Veloso DL, Spilanthes oleracea (Spilanthes acmella var. oleracea), Orbignya phalerata, Pothomorphe umbellata, Chiococca brachiata and Polypodium lepidopteris. Other extracts such as Camelia sinensis, Sambucus australis, Rosmarinus officinalis L. were also studied, and showed some antioxidant activity.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.105 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2016

Globally, there are more than 2600 species of termites which adapted plenty of terrestrial ecosystems by various strategies such as making termite nest and society. Various studies were recently carried out on termites because they play significant roles in the context of carbon (C) cycle of terrestrial ecosystems. According to the results of previous studies, termite activities influenced the amount of soil organic C, methane emission, and organic matter decomposition. Termite nests, where termite biomass was concentrated, exhibited 1.8 times higher soil organic C concentration than reference soils, and emitted $0.0-6.0kg\;ha^{-1}year^{-1}$ of methane in tropical forests and savannas. Feeding activity of termites, in addition, accelerated coarse woody debris (CWD) decomposition by increasing the surface area to volume ratio of CWD. Especially, CWD decomposition induced by the Rhinotermitidae family appeared to be significant for the C cycle in temperate forests. However, more studies should be conducted on termite-induced CWD decomposition in temperate forests because few studies have dealt with it. The termite-induced CWD decomposition could be measured by preparing disc-shaped CWD samples, excluding access of termites to the CWD samples, and comparing the decomposition rate of the CWD samples with and without the termite exclusion treatment. Studies on the termite-induced CWD decomposition would contribute to further elucidation of the C cycle in temperate forests.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.218-224
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• 2021

This study was conducted to determine the mass-loss rates and the changes in carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of dead woods, which were of following species: Dryobalanops aromatic, D. rappa, and Cratoxylum arborescens. These were dominant tree species in mixed Dipterocarp forests (MDF) and peat swamp forests (PSF) in Brunei Darussalam. In May, 2019, 48 dead wood samples (15 cm×4.8 cm×5 cm) were placed in MDF and PSF sites, and all the samples were collected after 16 months. The effects of species on mass loss were statistically significant (p<0.05); however, no difference was observed in the mass loss obtained from the two forest types (p>0.05). The initial density (g·cm^-3) of the dead woods D. aromatic, D. rappa, and C. arborescens, was 0.64±0.02, 0.60±0.00, and 0.44±0.01, respectively. Also the annual mass loss rate (%) was estimated to be 6.37, 8.17, and 18.53 for D. aromatic, D. rappa, and C. arborescens, respectively. The proportion of dead woods in decay class III was only 25% of C. arborescens samples, which were attacked by wood-feeding invertebrates, such as termites. The C/N ratio decreased significantly in D. aromatic and D. rappa, but the decreasing trend of C/N ratio was not statistically significant in C. arborescens. The results indicate that physical traits of dead woods, such as density, could be one of the main factors causing the decomposition of dead woods initially, as invertebrates such as termites are one of the key decomposers of dead wood in tropical rainforests. In the samples of C. arborescens, which was attacked by invertebrates, nitrogen immobilization occurred to lesser extent as compared to that observed in D. aromatic and D. rappa.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.485-491
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• 2015

This study was conducted to develop stem volume models for the volume estimation of Quercus glauca Thunb. in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. Furthermore, this study validated the developed stem volume models using an independent dataset. A total of 167 trees were measured for their diameter at breast height (DBH), total height and stem volume using non-destructive sampling methods. Eighty percent of the dataset was used for the initial model development while the remaining 20% was used for model validation. The performance of the different models was evaluated using the following fit statistics: standard error of estimate (SEE), mean bias absolute mean deviation (AMD), coefficient of determination (R²), and root mean square error (RMSE). The AMD of the five models from the different DBH classes were determined using the validation dataset. Model 5 (V = aD^bH^c), which estimates volume using DBH and total height as predicting variables, had the best SEE (0.02745), AMD (0.01538), R² (0.97603) and RMSE (0.02746). Overall, volume models with two independent variables (DBH and total height) performed better than those with only one (DBH) based on the model evaluation and validation. The models developed in this study can provide forest managers with accurate estimations for the stem volumes of Quercus glauca in the subtropical forests of Jeju Island, Korea.

• 한국공간정보시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.257-270
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• 2005

Many studies states that improperly uprising of infrastructure may cause leading the forest degradation and canopy reduction in many tropical forest of Asian countries. Other studies revealed that habitat destruction and fragmentation, edge effects, exotic species invasions, pollution are provoked by roads. Similarly, environmental effects of road construction in forests are problematic. Similarly, many researches have been indicated that roads have a far greater impact on forests than simply allowing greater access for human use. Moreover, people using river as means of transportation hence illegal logging and felling cause canopy depletion in many countries. Therefore, it is important to comprehend the study about spatial relation of road, river and suburb followed by temporal change of forest canopy phenomena. This study also tried to examine the effect of road, river and suburb in forest canopy density change of Terai forest of Nepal from you 1988 to 2001. So, Landsat TM88, 92 and 001 and FCD (Forest Canopy Density) mapper were used to perform the spatial .elation of canopy density change. ILWIS (Integrated Land and Water Information System) which is GIS software and compatible with remote sensing data was used to execute analysis and visualize the results. Study found that influence of distance to suburb and river had statistically significance influenced in canopy change. Though road also influenced canopy density much but didn't show a statistical relation. It can be concluded from this research that understanding of spatial relation of factors respect with canopy change is quite complex phenomena unless detail analysis of surrounding environment. Hence, it is better to carry out comprehensive analysis with other additional factors such as biophysical, anthropogenic, social, and institutional factors for proper approach of their effect on canopy change.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.202-211
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• 2019

Oceanic islands are biologically important for their unique assemblages of species and high levels of endemism and are sensitive to environmental change because of their isolation and small species source pools. Habitat destruction caused by human landscape development is generally accepted as the main cause of extinction on islands, with exotic species invasion a secondary cause of extinction, especially on tropical islands. However, secondary impacts of human development (e.g., general degradation through resource use and exotic species introduction) are understudied on temperate islands. To determine secondary impacts of human development on the understory vegetation community, 90 field sites on Ulleung Island, South Korea, were sampled during the summer of 2016. Understory vegetation was chosen as it is a proxy for ecosystem health. Diversity and percent cover of introduced, native, and endemic species were tested against proximity to developed areas and trail usage using a model selection approach. Diversity was also tested against percent cover of three naturalized species commonly found in survey plots. The main finding was that distance to development, distance to town, and trail usage have limited negative impacts on the understory vegetation community within best-supported models predicting native and introduced cover and diversity. However, endemic species cover was significantly lower on high usage trails. While there are no apparent locally invasive plant species on the island at the time of this study, percent cover of Robinia pseudoacacia, a naturalized tree species, negatively correlated with plot diversity. These findings indicate that forests on Ulleung Island are not experiencing a noticeable invasion of understory vegetation, and conservation efforts can be best spent preventing future invasions.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.319-325
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• 2013

This study describes the seasonal distribution of larvae, nymph, and adult life stages for 3 species of ixodid ticks collected by tick drag and sweep methods from various habitats in the Republic of Korea (ROK). Grasses less than 0.5 m in height, including herbaceous and crawling vegetation, and deciduous, conifer, and mixed forests with abundant leaf/needle litter were surveyed at United States (US) and ROK operated military training sites and privately owned lands near the demilitarized zone from April-October, 2004 and 2005. Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann adults and nymphs were more frequently collected from April-August, while those of Haemaphysalis flava Neumann and Ixodes nipponensis Kitaoka and Saito were collected more frequently from April-July and again during October. H. longicornis was the most frequently collected tick in grass habitats (98.9%), while H. flava was more frequently collected in deciduous (60.2%) and conifer (57.4%) forest habitats. While more H. flava (54.1%) were collected in mixed forest habitats than H. longicornis (35.2%), the differences were not significant. I. nipponensis was more frequently collected from conifer (mean 8.8) compared to deciduous (3.2) and mixed (2.4) forests.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.264-274
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• 2020

Background: Climate change has altered the various ecosystem processes including forest ecosystem in Himalayan region. Although the high mountain natural forests including treelines in the Himalayan region are mainly reported to be temperature sensitive, the temperature-related water stress in an important growth-limiting factor for middle elevation mountains. And there are very few evidences on growth performance of planted forest in changing climate in the Himalayan region. A dendrochronological study was carried out to verify and record the impact of warming temperature tree growth by using the tree cores of Pinus roxburghii from Batase village of Dhulikhel in Central Nepal with sub-tropical climatic zone. For this total, 29 tree cores from 25 trees of P. roxburghii were measured and analyzed. Result: A 44-year long tree ring width chronology was constructed from the cores. The result showed that the radial growth of P. roxburghii was positively correlated with pre-monsoon (April) rainfall, although the correlation was not significant and negatively correlated with summer rainfall. The strongest negative correlation was found between radial growth and rainfall of June followed by the rainfall of January. Also, the radial growth showed significant positive correlation with that previous year August mean temperature and maximum temperature, and significant negative correlation between radial growth and maximum temperature (Tmax) of May and of spring season (March-May), indicating moisture as the key factor for radial growth. Despite the overall positive trend in the basal area increment (BAI), we have found the abrupt decline between 1995 and 2005 AD. Conclusion: The results indicated that chir pine planted population was moisture sensitive, and the negative impact of higher temperature during early growth season (March-May) was clearly seen on the radial growth. We emphasize that the forest would experience further moisture stress if the trend of warming temperatures continues. The unusual decreasing BAI trend might be associated with forest management processes including resin collection and other disturbances. Our results showed that the planted pine forest stand is sub-healthy due to major human intervention at times. Further exploration of growth climate response from different climatic zones and management regimes is important to improve our understanding on the growth performance of mid-hill pine forests in Nepal.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.213-222
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• 2019

Climate change has been intensifying and affecting forest ecosystems. Over the years, the intensity and frequency of climate change have increased and the effects of climate change have been aggravating due to cumulative greenhouse gases such as CO₂, which has resulted in several negative consequences, drought being the main threat among all. Drought affects forest ecosystems directly and indirectly. Insufficient soil moisture, due to drought, may affect the growth of plants and soil respiration (SR), and soil temperature may increase because of desiccated soil. In addition, the mortality rate of plants and soil microorganisms increases. As a result, these effects could reduce forest productivity. Thus, in this article, we have presented various research studies on artificial drought using throughfall exclusion, and we have mainly focused on SR, which is significantly related to forest productivity. The research studies done worldwide were sorted as per the main groups of Köppen-Geiger climate classification and intensively reviewed, especially in tropical climates and temperate climates. We briefly reviewed the properties among the exclusion experiments about the temperate climate, which mostly includes Korean forests. Our review is not a proof of concept, but an assumption for adequate investigation of drought effects in the Korean forest.