• Title/Summary/Keyword: Wildlife Conservation

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Biotop Mapping Using High-Resolution Satellite Remote Sensing Data, GIS and GPS

  • Shin Dong-Hoon;Lee Kyoo-Seock
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.20 no.5
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    • pp.329-335
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    • 2004
  • Biotop map can be utilized for nature conservation and assessment of environmental impact for human activities in urban area. High resolution satellite images such as IKONOS and KOMPSAT1-EOC were interpreted to classify land use, hydrology, impermeable pavement ratio and vegetation for biotop mapping. Wildlife habitat map and detailed vegetation map obtained from former study results were used as ground truth data. Vegetation was investigated directly for the area where the detailed vegetation map is not available. All these maps were combined and the boundaries were delineated to produce the biotop map. Within the boundary, the characteristics of each polygon were identified, and named. This study investigates the possibility of biotop mapping using high resolution satellite remote sensing data together with field data with the goal of contributing to nature conservation in urban area.

Distributional Characteristics and Improvements for Wildlife Protection Areas in South Korea (야생동·식물보호구역 분포 특성과 개선과제)

  • Lee, Gwan-Gyu
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.20 no.5
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    • pp.685-695
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    • 2011
  • Through the analyses of the distribution characteristics and management practices of the wildlife protection areas, this study intends to present basic data for improving the management of protected areas. 1) Based on the aggregate results of the protected areas, the average ratio of the metro-city and provincial areas to the designated protected areas was 1.49%; except for Chungcheongbuk-do (8.83%) and Gyeongsangnam-do (3.43%), most regions showed specified percentages of about 1%, whereby the analysis suggested that the designated protected areas were too small. 2) Considering the fact that most (86.16%) of the wildlife protection areas are in the regions that are of ecological nature level of grade 1, green nature level of grade 8 or better, and of legal conservation regions and districts, it was shown that these reserves are distributed in regions with excellent natural environmental conditions. 3) Designation of protected areas for the protection of wildlife and fish is deemed to be necessary. Although there are 588 wildlife & plant reserves, there are absolutely no designated areas for protecting plant and fish species. 4) Based on the results of an analysis of the current distribution by types, 92.47% of protected areas were concentrated in the mountains, 0.24% in the agricultural lands, and 7.29% distributed in the lakes/rivers/costal areas. 5) As major improvement projects, proposed were: advancement of management systems for protected areas, expanded designation of protected areas, overhaul of managed areas, designation of protected areas for the protection of wild plants and fish, need for management measures for private property and the surrounding areas, need to secure appropriate management personnel and collaboration, locally-adapted management, eco-information-based management, total management of protected areas, etc.

Determining the Specific Status of Korean Collared Scops Owls

  • Hong, Yoon Jee;Kim, Young Jun;Murata, Koichi;Lee, Hang;Min, Mi-Sook
    • Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.136-143
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    • 2013
  • The collared scops owl that occurs in Korea is a protected species but its exact specific status has been questioned. To resolve the species status, a molecular phylogenetic analysis was conducted using two fragments of mitochondrial DNA, cytochrome b (cyt b, 891 bp) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2, 627 bp) genes. Phylogenetic trees of cyt b revealed that all Korean specimens formed a monophyletic group with Japanese scops owl Otus semitorques with very low sequence divergence (d=0.008). We obtained a similar ND2 tree as well (d=0.003); however, the genetic distance between Korean individuals and O. lempiji from GenBank (AJ004026-7, EU348987, and EU601036) was very high and sufficient enough to separate them as species (cyt b, d=0.118; ND2, d=0.113). We also found that Korean species showed high differentiation from O. bakkamoena (AJ004018-20 and EU601034; cyt b, d=0.106; ND2, d=0.113) and O. lettia (EU601109 and EU601033, cyt b, d=0.110; ND2, d=0.117) as well. Therefore, we suggest that the Korean collared scops owl should be designated as Otus semitorques.

Monitoring the Wildlife Use of Culverts and Underpasses Using Snow Tracking in Korea (야생동물의 도로 횡단 특성 분석 -도로횡단구조물 상의 눈 위 발자국 조사를 통하여-)

  • Choi Tae-Young;Lee Yong-Wook;Whang Ki-Young;Kim Seon-Myoung;Park Moon-Sun;Park G-Rim;Cho Beom-Joon;Park Chong-Hwa;Lee Myung-Woo
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.340-344
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    • 2006
  • The objective of this paper was to investigate the potential of road-crossing structures as biological corridors that can overcome wildlife habitat fragmentation caused by road construction. Snow tracking on animal trace adjacent to and under bridges, underpasses, and culverts of eight rural highways in Korea was carried out. A total 89 structures were monitored and the results follow. First, the probability of road crossing increases with the increasing cross sectional size of crossing structures. Second, small to medium sized carnivores such as raccoon dog, leopard cat, and Siberian weasel use all types of structures. Finally, water deer, or large herbivore crossed only under bridges. Consequently, further studies are necessary to identify suitable types of road crossing structures that can mitigate the probability of road-kills and habitat fragmentation of water deer.

A Text Mining Study on Endangered Wildlife Complaints - Discovery of Key Issues through LDA Topic Modeling and Network Analysis - (멸종위기 야생생물 민원 텍스트 마이닝 연구 - LDA 토픽 모델링과 네트워크 분석을 통한 주요 이슈 발굴 -)

  • Kim, Na-Yeong;Nam, Hee-Jung;Park, Yong-Su
    • 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.

Genetic origin identification of Siberian chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus) in pet shops of South Korea

  • Lee, Seo-Jin;Jung, Gil-A;Min, Mi-Sook;Kim, Chuel-Kyu;Lee, Hang;Kim, Chang-Bae;Lee, Mu-Yeong
    • Animal cells and systems
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.161-168
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    • 2011
  • Siberian chipmunks, Tamias sibiricus, are one of several popular companion animals found in the pet shops of South Korea. At present, however, there have been no studies done in South Korea examining their origin even though they could be potential carriers of zoonotic diseases, and are a species of concern for efficient conservation and management strategies. Sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1140 bp) were determined to investigate the origin of Siberian chipmunks sold in four South Korean pet shops through comparison with sequence data from animals of known locality. Nine Siberian chipmunks were collected from pet shops in South Korea, which resulted in nine haplotypes. One (AR) of these coincided with the haplotype previously described. Phylogenetic and network analyses using 53 haplotypes including 45 haplotypes from GenBank showed three phylogenetic groups in South Korea, almost concordant to locality, designated as northern, central, and southern parts as described in a previous study. Of the nine individuals examined from the pet shops, eight were clustered into the northern phylogroup but one (cgrb9153) was grouped with the southern phylogroup, implying that at least the Siberian chipmunks examined in this study did not originate from other countries. It is likely that most individuals sold in the pet shops of Seoul were caught in the wild in Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do, or are maternal descendants of captive-bred individuals originating from the northern part of South Korea. It is recommended that conservation and management units of Korean chipmunks should be examined in further detail.

Three Echinostome Species from Wild Birds in the Republic of Korea

  • Choe, Seongjun;Lee, Dongmin;Park, Hansol;Oh, Mihyeon;Jeon, Hyeong-Kyu;Lee, Youngsun;Na, Ki-Jeong;Kim, Youngjun;Lee, Hang;Eom, Keeseon S.
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.52 no.5
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    • pp.513-520
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    • 2014
  • Three echinostome species, i.e., Patagifer bilobus, Petasiger neocomense, and Saakotrema metatestis, are newly recorded in the trematode fauna of the Republic of Korea. They were recovered from 3 species of migratory birds (Platalea minor, Podiceps cristatus, and Egretta garzetta), which were donated by the Wildlife Center of Chungbuk (WCC) and the Conservation Genome Resource Bank for Korean Wildlife (CGRB). Only 1 P. bilobus specimen was recovered from the intestine of a black-faced spoonbill (P. minor), and characterized by the bilobed head crown with a deep dorsal incision and 54 collar spines. Twenty P. neocomense were recovered from the intestine of a great crested grebe (P. cristatus), and they had a well-developed head crown with 19 spines and 2 testes obliquely located at the posterior middle of the body. Total 70 S. metatestis were collected from the bursa of Fabricius of 1 little egret (E. garzetta). It is characterized by stout tegumental spines covered in the entire leaf-shaped body, posterior extension of the uterus, presence of the uroproct and a well-developed head crown with 12 pairs of collar spines on each side. By the present study, these 3 echinostome species are newly added to the trematode fauna in Korea.

Characteristics of Wintering Bird Communities in the Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar

  • Aung, Hsu Sandar;Kim, Hankyu;Lee, Yohan
    • Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.195-206
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    • 2022
  • Gaining an understanding of bird communities in different habitat types is essential for the conservation of ecologically important habitats. Wetlands possess different types of habitats and provide an important environment for wintering waterbird communities. This study compares avian communities in five different habitat types in the Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary (MWWS), Myanmar. From December 2014 to the first week of February in 2015, bird and habitat data were collected from representative areas of five habitat types (i.e., short grassland, tall grassland, lotus fields, open water areas, and rice fields) at MWWS. We established nine sampling plots in each habitat type, and used the point quadrat method to survey habitats and the point count method to survey birds in the habitats. Simple one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests were used to determine differences between bird communities. We made 95 detections during 19 daily visits to each of the five habitat types. During the survey period, we recorded a total of 10,389 individuals belonging to 52 different bird species, based on 7-min observations at each of the 45 point count stations. Furthermore, we detected significant differences by habitat structure (i.e., vegetation coverage, height, and density; water depth; and plant species diversity) as well as bird communities (i.e., species richness, abundance, and diversity indices). In addition, the detailed analysis of 52 avian species revealed significant differences among 45 species with respect to the mean numbers of observed individuals in the survey habitats. The findings of this study revealed significant differences in the structure and composition of waterbird communities among the five assessed habitat types. Because natural marshes provide preferable habitats for a larger number and greater diversity of birds, relative to rice fields, natural marshes should be prioritized for conservation and restoration in Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary.