• Journal of Species Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.100-103
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• 2012

Nutria Myocastor coypus is one of a well known invasive riparian mammal found species around world from North America to Eurasia and Africa. In South Korea, feral nutrias inhabit areas from the Nakdonggang and Namgang (River) to their tributaries and Upo Wetland where they have had devastating effects on environment. Nevertheless, there has been little research about nutrias in Korea. This study is to analyze the genetic structure of the nutria population in the Upo Wetland and identify the origin of the source populations. Twenty individuals from the Upo Wetland were genotyped using 25 microsatellite loci. When compared with another introduced population, that of the Blackwater Nation Wildlife Refuge in U.S., the Upo population contains considerable genetic variations. Tests for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and Bayesian clustering analysis suggest the Upo population is genetically structured and has at least two source populations. This preliminary study presents the need for further in-depth studies about this species which should combine genetic and ecological studies.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.397-406
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• 2013

Wetland conservation plan has been established to protect ecologically important wetlands based on vegetation integrity, spatial distribution of endangered species, but recently more demands are concentrated on the landscape ecological approaches such as topological relationship, neighboring area, spatial arrangements between wetlands at the broad scale. Landscape ecological analysis and graph theory are conducted to identify spatial characteristics related to core nodes and weak links of wetland networks in Nakdong basin. Regular planar model, which is selected for wetland networks, is applied in the Nakdong basin. The analysis indicates that 5 regional groups and 4 core wetlands are extracted with 15km threshold distance. The IIC and PC values based on the binary and probability models suggest that the wetland group C composed of main stream of Nakdong river and Geumho river is the most important area for wetland network. Wetland conservation plan, restoration projected of damaged and weak links between wetlands should be proposed through evaluating the node, links, and networks from wetlands at the local to the regional scale in Nakdong basin.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2019

Wetlands that provide diverse ecosystem services, such as habitat provision and hydrological control of flora and fauna, constitute ecosystems through interaction between wetlands existing in a wetlandscape. Therefore, to evaluate the wetland functions such as resilience, it is necessary to analyze the ecological connectivity that is formed between wetlands which also show hydrologically dynamic behaviors. In this study, by defining wetlands as ecological nodes, we generated ecological networks through the connection of wetlands according to the dispersal model of wetland species. The characteristics of these networks were then analyzed using various network metrics. In the case of the dispersal based on a threshold distance, while a high local clustering is observed compared to the exponential dispersal kernel and heavy-tailed dispersal model, it showed a low efficiency in the movement between wetlands. On the other hand, in the case of the stochastic dispersion model, a low local clustering with high efficiency in the movement was observed. Our results confirmed that the ecological network characteristics are completely different depending on which dispersal model is chosen, and one should be careful on selecting the appropriate model for identifying network properties which highly affect the interpretation of network structure and function.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.189-198
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• 2020

Wetlands, which provide various ecological services, have been regarded as an important nature-based solution for, for example, sustainable water quality improvement and buffering of impacts from climate change. Although the importance of conserving wetlands to reduce the impacts of various perturbations (e.g., changes of land use, climate, and hydrology) has been acknowledged, the possibility of applying these efforts as a nature-based solution in a macro-scale (e.g., landscape) has been insufficient. In this study, we examine the possibility of ecological network analysis that provides an engineering solution as a nature-based solution. Specifically, we analyzed how land use change affects the structural and functional characteristics (connectivity, network efficiency, and clustering coefficient) of the ecological networks by using the ecological networks generated by multiple dispersal models of the hypothetical inhabiting species in wetlandscape. Changes in ecological network characteristics were analyzed through simultaneously removing wetlands, with two initial conditions for surface area, in the zones where land use change occurs. We set a total number of four zones of land use change with different wetland densities. All analyses showed that mean degree and network efficiency were significantly reduced when wetlands in the zones with high wetland density were removed, and this phenomenon was intensified especially when zones contained hubs (nodes with high degree). On the other hand, we observed the clustering coefficient to increase. We suggest our approach for assessing the impacts of land use change on ecological networks, and with additional analysis on betweenness centrality, we expect it can provide a nature-based engineering solution for creating alternative wetlands.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.104-116
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• 2019

Background: The composition of wild bird populations in temperate zones greatly varies depending on phenological changes rather than other environmental factors. Particularly, wild birds appearing in wetlands fluctuate greatly due to the crossover of species arriving for breeding during the summer and for wintering. Therefore, to understand the changes to species composition related to phenology, we conducted this basic analysis of populations to further the cause of the protection of wetland-dependent wild birds. Methods: It is wrong to simply divide a wild bird population investigation into seasons. This study identifies species composition and indicator species that change along with seasons. Wetlands to be surveyed are protected by natural monuments and wetland inventory and are in a state close to nature. In order to identify as many species as possible in wetlands, a survey was conducted in both shallow and deep wetlands. The water depth varied in these areas, ranging from 0.2 to 2.0 m, allowing for both dabbling and diving ducks to inhabit the area. Surveys were conducted using line-transect and distance sampling methods and were conducted at intervals of 2 weeks. The survey was conducted under the following three categories: the eco-tone and emergent zone, the submergent zone, and the water surface. The survey was conducted along a wetland boundary by observing wild birds. A PC-ord program was used for clustering, and the SAS program was used to analyze the changes in species composition. The data strongly indicates that day length is the main factor for seasonal migration periods, despite the fact that climate change and increasing temperatures are often discussed. Results and conclusions: The indicator species for determining seasons include migrant birds such as Ardea cinerea, Alcedo atthis, Anas penelope, and Poiceps ruficollis, as well as resident birds such as Streptopelia orientalis and Emberiza elegans. Importantly, increases in local individual counts of these species may also serve as indicators. The survey results of seasonal fluctuations in temperate zones shows that spring (April to June), summer (July to September), autumn (October), and winter (November to March) are clearly distinguishable, even though spring and summer seasons tend to overlap, leading to the conclusion that additional research could more clearly identify fluctuation patterns in species composition and abundance in the study area.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.50-55
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• 2014

This study is aimed at classifying the syntaxa of Ceratopteris thalictroides dominant community on the Nakdong River, and to collect basic data for research of habitat. The communities were carried out by using the Z.-M. School's method and numerical classification technique. The result of syntaxa was classified three communities such as Persicaria japonica-Ceratopteris thalictroides community, Lindernia procumbens-Ceratropteris thalictroides community, and Limnophila indica-Ceratopteris thalictroides community. The ordination analysis displayed the vegetation types with respect to complex environmental gradients. After ordination and clustering analysis, the effective humidity, soil stability, trampling effects, anthropogenic effects and flooding frequency were identified as the important factors deciding the vegetation pattern. It was pointed out to establish a long-term ecological site for protecting such vulnerable vegetation against overexploitation and global climate change.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.168-177
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: In recent year, there has been great concern regarding agricultural land uses and their importance for the conservation of biodiversity. Rice fields are managed unique wetland for wildlife, especially waterbirds. A comprehensive monitoring of the waterbird assemblage to understand patterning changes was attempted for rice ecosystem in South Korea. This rice ecosystem has been recognized as one of the most important for waterbirds conservation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Biweekly monitoring was implemented for the 4 years from April 2009 to March 2010, from April 2011 to March 2014. 32 species of waterbirds were observed. Self-organizing map (SOM) and random forest were applied to the waterbirds dataset to identify the characteristics in waterbirds distribution. SOM and random forest analysis clearly classified into four clusters and extract ecological information from waterbird dataset. Waterbird assemblages represented strong seasonality and habitat use according to waterbird group such as shorebirds, herons and waterfowl. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that the combination of SOM and random forest analysis could be useful for ecosystem assessment and management. Furthermore, we strongly suggested that a strict management strategy for the rice fields to conserve the waterbirds. The strategy could be seasonally and species specific.