• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.389-401
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• 2021

Background and objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the ecological status of six areas around Geumgang River that used to be farmlands before they were restored as a riverine ecobelt. This study aims to analyze the correlation between the location environment and ecological status of the sites to identify the environmental factors affecting them. Methods: The sites are classified into four types according to restoration: terraced paddy fields, flat paddy fields, artificial wetland, and landscape forest. The survey items were divided into land use status, plant ecology, and animal ecology. Results: In terms of plant ecology, terraced paddy fields showed favorable naturality with the rate of native species above 90% and the naturalization index below 10%. In terms of animal ecology, the total number of species found in these areas was biggest in terraced paddy fields, followed by flat paddy fields, artificial wetland, and landscape forest. Regarding species diversity, terraced paddy fields also showed abundant species with an average of 1.05 to 1.09. The results of the correlation analysis showed that the forest area around the sites had the most significant effect on species diversity. The grassland and open water area showed a positive correlation with the total number of animal species and the number of dragonflies, confirming that the marshy grassland had a positive effect. As the cultivated land and urbanized area around the sites increased, it had a negative effect on the distribution of native species and the number of animal species that appeared, and a positive effect on the naturalization index. Conclusion: It is necessary to establish preemption and restoration plans for sites such as grasslands adjacent to the forest and terraced paddy fields in order to promote resilience of the diverse species returning to the purchased lands.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1523-1536
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• 2014

Restoration is the process of reducing or reversing damage to an ecosystem so that it can function in its original manner. However, many restoration programs do not achieve this. In the Nakdong Estuary, the largest migratory nesting site in the center of the East Asian-Australasian flyway, an estuarine barrage was constructed in the 1980s that required site restoration following its completion in 1987 and the expansion of several large industrial complexes(Noksan and Jangrim) and a residential development(Myeongji). The goal of the restoration was to restore the function of the wetland to its pre-disturbance state. To achieve this, a restoration program was designed consisting of three stages. The first stage(1993-1995), saw the construction of three artificial wetlands(Shinhori, Daemadeung, and Eulsuk), the second(2003-2005) involved the dredging and returning of farmed lands to their natural state, and the third(2008-2012) focused on the rehabilitation and vegetation development of the wetlands. However, the project has not achieved all of the desired goals, and it is an example of the lapses in ecological restoration following anthropogenic disturbance. Issues that resulted in an incomplete restoration included the timing of the stages, noncompliance with the restoration plan, not directly monitoring the restoration or continuing the monitoring following completion of the development project, and the political subversion of the restoration plan. For the success of the restoration plan, it is necessary to avoid mistakes such as inconsistent monitoring, unequal levels of stakeholder involvement, and political interference.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2B
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• pp.147-154
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• 2011

Physical habitat assessment models based on Instream Flow Incremental Methodology have been developed as a decision making tool to estimate appropriate discharge for environmental flow and water use management. These models, however, require extensive knowledge on various academic disciplines, complicated input data, and empirical data. We propose a Simplified Habitat (SIMHAB) simulation model for the estimation of physical structure of fish habitat and environmental flow at the planning stage. SIMHAB is applied to a river system for which physical and ecological data are available, and its applicability is investigated. Simulated results appeared to be similar to field survey data and those of such models as PHABSIM and River2D. However, SIMHAB requires much less input data. As such, the proposed model, SIMHAB can easily be applicable to river restoration projects including designing of physical habitat, estimation of environmental flow, and water resource management.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.1-14
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• 2024

Otters, designated as Class I endangered wildlife due to population declines resulting from urban development and stream burial, have seen increased appearances in freshwater environments since the nationwide ban on stream filling in 2020 and the implementation of urban stream restoration projects. There is a pressing need for scientific and strategic conservation measures for otters, an umbrella and vulnerable species in aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, this study predicts potential otter habitats using the species distribution model MaxEnt, focusing on Hwangguji Stream in Suwon, and proposes conservation strategies. Otter signs were surveyed over three years from 2019 to 2021 with citizen scientists, serving as presence data for the model. The model's outcomes were enhanced by analyzing 'river nature map' as a boundary. MaxEnt compared the performance of 60 combinations of feature classes and regularization multipliers to prevent model complexity and overfitting. Additionally, unmanned sensor cameras observed otter density for model validation, confirming correlations with the species distribution model results. The 'LQ-5.0' parameter combination showed the highest explanatory power with an AUC of 0.853. The model indicated that the 'adjacent land use' variable accounted for 31.5% of the explanation, with a preference for areas around cultivated lands. Otters were found to prefer shelter rates of 10-30% in riparian forests within 2 km of bridges. Higher otter densities observed by unmanned sensors correlated with increasing model values. Based on these results, the study suggests three conservation strategies: establishing stable buffer zones to enhance ecological connectivity, improving water quality against non-point source pollution, and raising public awareness. The study provides a scientific basis for potential otter habitat management, effective conservation through governance linking local governments, sustainable biodiversity goals, and civil organizations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.119-133
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to develop riverbed techniques to activating ecological function of hyporheic zone. Hyporheic zone maybe simply defined as an active eco-tone between surface water and groundwater, which facilitates to exchange water, nutrients and aquatic habitat occur in response to variation in discharge and bed geomorphology. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an applied riverbed technique for two years since its installation in the hyporheic zone. The experimental riverbed technique has been implemented on Anyang stream penetrating Anyang city in Gyunggi province. The dimension of the installed structure is 5.0 m in width, 46 m in length. Bottom layer is filled with rip-rap covered with gabion. After the implementation of the technique, the study conducts follow-up monitoring in two years of between 2011 and 2012. The results of follow-up monitoring for two years are as follows:1) In Hydro geomorphic process, the riverbed technique maintains hydraulic stability despite of several flood events in 2011, 2012. 2) After transformation to form pool-and-riffle habitat, for aquatic community composed of freshwater fish, macro invertebrate, and attached algae, the species diversity and population gradually increased. 3) The riverbed technique achieved desired effect on enhancement of ecological function in hyporheic zone.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2003

Connectivity is a quantitative indicator of landscape structure, and connectivity of urban green areas is an indicator of ecological integrity in urban landscapes. The purposes of this study are to assess the connectivity of urban green areas in Seoul, and to develop a method of siting new green areas for better connectivity. Diverse methods for connectivity assessment and indices of connectivity are reviewed and applied to the connectivity assesment of green areas in Seoul. The indices of connectivity of green areas in Seoul turned out to be higher than expected, maybe because many of them are rather evenly distributed, serving as stepping stones, and because there are many riparian corridors, including the Han River. Analysis also shows the optimum location of new green space patches or corridors will be those spots that would link the mainland, or large green areas outside the city, and existing green areas in the city. Restoration of urban streams as ecological corridors will significantly enhance connectivity. Three different scenarios with increasing numbers of new green areas in the city were then prepared. The changes of connectivity were measured and the possible success rates of animal dispersal were simulated. The results revealed that restoration of streams will increase the connectivity and success rates of animal dispersal.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2B
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• pp.193-203
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• 2011

With the recent growth of environmental and ecological interests, various river restoration and habitat environment creation projects are being carried out. For this, the estimation of the habitat flow discharge is important. In U.S. and Europe nations, The instream flow incremental methodology (IFIM) has been used to estimate the habitat discharge. IFIM is the method that can be applied to evaluate the flow discharge for the suitable habitat. To use the IFIM in river, a habitat suitability index(HSI) for the target organism is needed. However, HSIs for only two species of Zacco platypus and Zacco temminckii were proposed from the field monitoring. Thus, for the estimation of the ecological flow rate for a group of fish, the development of the HSIs for various fish are necessary. In this study, physical data such as water level and flow rate, chemical data such as acidity and dissolved oxygen, and life data such as fish types and population are collected in Keum river watershed. Based on the 2,736 field data, HSIs for the following 6 fish are developed: Zacco platypus, Zacco temminckii, Microphysogobio yaluensis, Coreoleuciscus splendidus, Pungtungia herzi, Pseudogobio esocinus. Through the comparison with HSIs in the literature, the developed HSIs are modified. Also, the limits of Froude number, pH, and DO for 6 fish are proposed. The HSIs developed in this study can be utilized as a essential data for performing river project evaluations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.23-32
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to produce basic planning criteria required in ecological restoration and improvement works of streams in rural area through the application of stream assessment methods (water quality, soil environment, and ecological function assessment) at 6 study sites of Han River basin. The investigation results were as followings; 1) There were the evaluation items like a manure use, salt degree, river peripheral tree, which did not fitted to apply to domestic streams, in the SVAP (Stream Visual Assessment Protocol) and NRCS Riparian Assessment that were evaluation models developed in USDA. The area inhabitants with a little knowledge and education personally seems to utilize the evaluation methods through improvement partly with an aspect that evaluation is slightly easy. 2) From the stream assessment results, the construction of diverse pools, large woody debris and isolated backwater pool are needed to improve a few of problems observed at the mostly study sites. The result of NRCS Riparian Assessment showed that the improvement of stream bank vegetative communities is needed by planting tree with deep-binding root masses, and managing of noxious weeds and exotic undesirable plants. 3) Summing up, the assessment results showed that the assessment scores were higher at upstream than downstream, the stream with totally maintenance than that with partly maintenance, the stream with slope bank than that with vertical bank, and the stream with a flood plain than that without a flood plain. So, the direction of stream maintenance projects must be set by consideration of those results.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.831-838
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• 2007

In order to improve the water environment at urban streams in Korea, several river restoration projects have been initiated for past few years. This study evaluates the impact of diverting water application at the riverhead of Onchun stream through the monitoring program for several water quality and ecological parameters. Various water quality parameters and ecological item such as benthic macroinverterates has been investigated between 09/05 and 12/06. Analysis indicates that the application of diverting water from Nakdong river to Onchun stream distinctly improved several water quality parameters such as, PH, BOD, TN, TP and concentrations of heavy metals. Low flow augmentation also improve ecological indicies such as the diversity index of benthic macroinvertebrates. Generally speaking, releasing addition water from head water of Onchun stream improves various water environmental characteristics.

• Journal of Korea Spatial Information System Society
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.27-35
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• 2008

Current re-arrangement of rivers and waterways have been made uniformly ignoring characteristics of individual rivers thereby aggravating artificial river restructuring. On the contrary, quantitative techniques to evaluate the aftermath of artificial river disturbance such as uprising of river bed, intrusion of foreign fisheries, and changes of ecological habitats are not available. To establish such quantitative techniques, analysis of the river changes to evaluate the major causes of the river disturbance and its impacts is essential. Therefore, research for proposing a method which can be applied for the development of techniques to investigate river disturbance according to the major factors for the domestic rivers using airphotos and GIS techniques was preceded. In this study, the study area on the downstream of the river was selected and analysis of river disturbance using preceding method was done to confirm the benefit of analyzing river disturbance using GIS techniques. Trend analysis of the waterway sinuosity and changes of the flow path leaded to detailed verification of the river disturbance for specific location or time period, and this enabled to generate relatively accurate numbers representing sinuosity of the waterway and relevant changes. Also, it is possible to predict the effect on the current re-arrangement of the river and waterway to river flow using the analysis of past river change. It is necessary to establish GIS based proper measures for environmental river restoration using the results from this study and future works.