• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.39-61
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• 2002

Bacteria and fungi are fundamental biotic components of natural biogeochemical cycles for metals and metalloids and play important roles in dissolution, precipitation, oxidation and reduction processes. Some processes catalyzed by microorganisms also have important applications in environmental biotechnology in the areas of ore leaching and bioremediation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.323-331
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• 2003

Bacteria and fungi are fundamental biotic components of natural biogeochemical cycles for metals and metalloids, and play important roles in dissolution, precipitation, oxidation and reduction processes. Some processes catalyzed by microorganisms also have important applications in environmental biotechnology in the areas of ore leaching and bioremediation.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 2020

In the forest ecosystems, litterfall is an important component of the nutrient cycle that regulates the accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM), the input and output of the nutrients, nutrient replenishment, biodiversity conservation, and other ecosystem functions. Therefore, a profound understanding of the major processes (litterfall production and its decomposition rate) in the cycle is vital for sustainable forest management (SFM). Despite these facts, there is still a limited knowledge in tropical forest ecosystems, and further researches are highly needed. This shortfall of research-based knowledge, especially in tropical forest ecosystems, may be a contributing factor to the lack of understanding of the role of plant litter in the forest ecosystem function for sustainable forest management, particularly in the tropical forest landscapes. Therefore, in this paper, I review the role of plant litter in tropical forest ecosystems with the aims of assessing the importance of plant litter in forest ecosystems for the biogeochemical cycle. Then, the major factors that affect the plant litter production and decomposition were identified, which could direct and contribute to future research. The small set of studies reviewed in this paper demonstrated the potential of plant litter to improve the biogeochemical cycle and nutrients in the forest ecosystems. However, further researches are needed particularly on the effect of species, forest structures, seasons, and climate factors on the plant litter production and decomposition in various types of forest ecosystems.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

Nitrate (NO₃^-) plays an important role in aquaculture and ecosystems in the Korea Strait. Observational data propose that ocean currents are crucial to NO₃^- budget in the Korea Strait. However, assessment of budget by currents and biogeochemical processes has not yet been investigated. This study examines seasonal and spatial variations in NO₃^- budget by currents and biological processes in the Korea Strait from 2011 to 2019 using a physical-biogeochemical coupled model. Model results suggest that current-driven net supply of NO₃^- is consumed by uptake of phytoplankton in the Korea Strait. Advective influx is driven by the Tsushima warm current and the influx by the Jeju warm current is approximately one third of it. All of the influxes are transported out to the East Sea through the Korea Strait, of which two third passes through the western channel and the rest through the eastern channel. Annual mean NO₃^- net transport show that currents supply NO₃^- year round except for January, but the budget by biogeochemical processes consumes it every season except for winter.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.136-147
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• 2004

Different model formulations in available models were compared with Microplankton-Detritus (MPB) model, and well documented FDM and ERSEM models were the candidate for these comparison. Different formulations in both candidate models were expressed in terms of MPD parameterization. Even though there are differences in the control of autotroph growth among models, it was found that some of the more important microplankton parameters expressed incomparable terms have broadly similar values in all the models. However, an important difference was proved to be the direct contribution of microheterotrophs to the Detritus compartment in FDM and ERSEM, whereas in MPD microplankton biomass passes to Detritus only by way of mesozooplankton grazing.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.392-405
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• 2019

Biogeochemical processes play an important role in ocean environments and can affect the entire Earth's climate system. Using an ocean-biogeochemistry model (NEMO-TOPAZ), we investigated the effects of changes in albedo and wind stress caused by phytoplankton in the equatorial Pacific. The simulated ocean temperature showed a slight decrease when the solar reflectance of the regions where phytoplankton were present increased. Phytoplankton also decreased the El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) amplitude by decreasing the influence of trade winds due to their biological enhancement of upper-ocean turbulent viscosity. Consequently, the cold sea surface temperature bias in the equatorial Pacific and overestimation of the ENSO amplitude were slightly reduced in our model simulations. Further sensitivity tests suggested the necessity of improving the phytoplankton-related equation and optimal coefficients. Our results highlight the effects of altered albedo and wind stress due to phytoplankton on the climate system.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.83-97
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• 2022

The Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica is one of the most affected regions by climate change, but it is one of the least studied realms due to difficulties in access. Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) launched a research project in the Amundsen Sea in 2010 using the icebreaker research vessel (IBRV) Araon and has been conducting various research initiatives. In this paper, previous researches derived from the Amundsen Sea Embayment by Korean researchers are introduced. Through previous studies, researchers have been able to interpret the environmental and biogeochemical changes according to the inflow Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) and provide information for climate models. In particular, researches using radiocarbon isotopes (¹⁴C) were introduced to understand the physical and biogeochemical mechanisms of the carbon cycle in the Amundsen Sea. Opportunely, with the construction of a second icebreaker research vessel, the direction for systematic and long-term polar data acquisition can be presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.149-150
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• 2017

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.325-334
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• 2008

A biogeochemical model was used to estimate air-sea $CO_2$ exchange over the East China Sea. Since fresh water discharge from the Changjiang River and relevant chemistry were not considered in the employed model, we were not able to produce accurate results around the Changjiang River mouth. This factor aside, the model showed that the East China Sea, away from the Changjiang River mouth, takes approximately $1.5{\sim}2\;mole\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ of $CO_2$ from the atmosphere. The model also showed that biological factors modify the air-sea $CO_2$ flux by only a few percent when we assumed that biological activity increased two-fold. Therefore, we can argue that the biological effect is not strong enough over this area within the framework of the current phosphate-based biological model. Compared to the preindustrial era, in 1995 the East China Sea absorbed $0.4{\sim}0.8\;mole\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ more $CO_2$. If warming of the sea surface is considered, in addition to the increase in atmospheric $CO_2$ concentration, by 2045 the East China Sea would absorb $0.2{\sim}0.4\;mole\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ less $CO_2$ compared to the non-warming case.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.219-228
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• 2013

To understand characteristics of biogeochemical corrosion for the metal canisters that usually contain the radioactive wastes for a long-term period below the ground, some metal materials consisting of cast iron and copper were reacted for 3 months with D. desulfuricans, a sulfate-reducing bacterium, under a reducing condition. During the experiment, concentrations of dissolved metal ions were periodically measured, and then metal specimen and surface secondary products were examined using the electron microscopy to know the chemical and mineralogical changes of the original metal samples. The metal corrosion was not noticeable at the absence of D. desulfuricans, but it was relatively greater at the presence of the bacterium. In our experiment, darkish metal sulfides such as mackinawite and copper sulfide were the final products of biogeochemical metal corrosion, and they were easily scaled off the original specimen and suspended as colloids. For the copper specimen, in particular, there appeared an accelerated corrosion of copper in the presence of dissolved iron and bacteria in solution, probably due to a weakening of copper-copper binding caused by a growth of other phase, iron sulfide, on the copper surface.