• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.511-520
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• 2006

The study analyzed the distribution of mammalia per altitude in Gamebong, the highest trail of Juwangsan National Park and confirmed the inhabitation of 22 different species inhabiting in the park. Starting from 200 m to 800 m above the sea level was segmented into 100 m unit. The result of analysis has shown that the Tamias sibiricus is the dominant specie throughout in all segments. Species confirmed to be inhabiting in all segments of research areas were Mustela sibirica, Caproelus pygargus and squirrel. By analyzing the confirmed Field Sign basing from the observation point, it has shown close relations between types of species and population following the increase in altitude (y=-0.0234 + 25.552, $R^2$=0.9296, $F_{0.05}$(1,4)=7.71, p<0.05). However, the result of analysis targeting nine species inhabiting in at least five out of six 100 m segmented units has shown that only two species, Apodemus sgrarius (y=-0.034X+25.2, $R^2$=0.905, $F_{0.05}$(1, 4)=38.169, p<.0.01) and Sciurus vulgaris (y=-0.0154X+ 12.819, $R^2$=0.781, $F_{0.05}$(1, 4)=14.270, p<0.05) were affected by the altitude. Therefore, it is judged that the distribution of species does not follow the altitude variation but follows the food conditions and the structure of habitat. The result of analysis of Box and Whisker Diagram had shown lowest quartile deviation($Q_U-Q_L$) in Nature Restoration Area that is located in $200{\sim}300m$ above the sea level, where hikers are prohibited from entering. In $500{\sim}600m$ above the sea level segment that has similar food environment and trail, it has shown the widest distribution. Further research is required on this segment for the excretion drops of Prionailurus bengalensis, a Grade II class of endangered species, were found on the trails.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.266-279
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• 2019

We investigated the characteristics of fish communities and habitat status of endangered species Rhodeus pseudosericeus in Heuk Stream, a tributary of the Han River, from April to October 2018. During this period, we collected 47 species of 14 families from 10 survey stations using kick nets, cast nets, and long bag set nets. The dominant and subdominant species were Zacco platypus (37.6%) and Z. koreanus (13.8%), respectively. The next most abundant species were Squalidus gracilis majimae (11.1%), Pungtungia herzi (7.7%), Rhodeus pseudosericeus (5.0%), Microphysogobio yaluensis (4.3%), and Hemibarbus longirostris (3.0%). Among the fish collected, 19 species (40.4%) were Korean endemic species. Endangered species were R. pseudosericeus and Acheilognathus signifer while exotic species were Micropterus salmoides and Oncorhynchus mykiss, and land-locked species were Plecoglossus altivelis and Rhinogobius brunneus. The community analysis showed that the dominance and evenness indexes were mostly low and that the diversity and richness indexes were high. Moreover, the river health (index of biological integrity) was mostly excllent (1 site is good, 9 sites are very good). R. pseudosericeus inhabited widely from St. 3 to St. 9 in Heuk Stream, and its population size was large. Age groups for R. pseudosericeus estimated by the frequency distribution of total length in spawning season (April) indicated the 32~45 mm group as 1-year old, the 46~59 mm group as 2-years old, 60~69 mm group as 3-years old, and the 70~89 mm group as 4-years or older. Total length range of male and female was similar, and the sex ratio of female (426) to male (394) was 1 : 0.95. A. signifer, which had been released in Heuk Stream, inhabited from St. 4 to St. 5, but its population size was small. Lastly, this paper discusses a conservation plan for fish in Heuk Stream.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.378-401
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• 2019

This study generated a list of plants in eight sections from the Baekdansa ticket office (874m) to Cheonjedan (1,560m) divided in the interval of 100m above sea level to examine the species diversity patterns and distribution changes of the vascular plants at different altitudes in Taebaeksan National Park. Four site surveys found a total of 385 taxa: 89 families, 240 genera, 345 species, 5 subspecies, 34 varieties, and 1 form. A result of analyzing the change of species diversity along elevational gradients showed that it decreased with increasing elevation and then increased from a certain section. A result of analyzing habitat affinity types showed that the proportion of forest species increased with increasing elevation. On the other hand, the ruderal species appeared at a high rate in the artificial interference section. A result of comparing the proportion of woody and herb plants showed that the woody plants gradually increased with elevation and rapidly decreased in the artificial interference section. On the other hand, the herb plants showed the opposite trend. A result of analyzing the change of distribution of species according to altitude with the DCA technique showed that the vascular plants were divided into three groups according to the elevation in order on the I axis with the boundaries at 900m and 1,300m above sea level. The arrangement of each stand from right to left along the altitude on the I axis with a significant correlation with warmth index (WI) confirmed that the temperature change along the altitude could affect the distribution of vascular plants, composition, and diversity. Therefore, the continuous monitoring is necessary to confirm ecological and environmental characteristics of vegetation, distribution ranges, changes of habitat. We expect that the results of this study will be used as the basic data for establishing the measurement measures related to the preservation of biodiversity and climate change.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.231-243
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• 2022

Anthropogenic disturbances on freshwater ecosystem are known to degrade biodiversity, especially on fish assemblage. In this study, we have conducted fish surveys to identify impact of a bridge construction on fish assemblages. A total of eight study sites were surveyed in the Danjang and the Dong Stream in southern part of South Korea from June to November in 2021. The fish samplings were carried out five times, using cast-nets(10×10 mm mesh size), scoop-nets(4×4 mm, 5×5 mm mesh size), set-nets (10×10 mm mesh size), and fish traps (3×3 mm mesh size), along with the Stream/River Ecosystem Survey and Health Assessment by the Ministry of Environment of Korea and basic water quality measurement. Also, we applied the species diversity index and length-weight relationship regressions on certain species to identify interspecific growth rate differences in accordance with study sites. As a result, a total of 782 individuals, 23 species and 10 families were collected. The dominant species was Zacco Koreanus and relative abundance was 50.89%. When applying the length-weight relationship regressions on certain species, the 'b' value for Z. Koreanus was lower at the downstream points than at the upstream points of the construction site. In addition, when comparing to the results of the past survey, relative density of demersal fish at the upstream and downstream points decreased from 26% to 1.4%, and from 18% to 6.3%, respectively. In conclusion, it is considered that bridge construction negatively affects the habitat of fishes, especially on demersal fishes. Therefore, appropriate conservation efforts such as installation of silt protector and sand sedimentation pond are needed to alleviate the disturbance in habitat such as occurrence of turbidity and destruction of micro-habitats.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2022

Fish assemblage of total 325 of Korean peninsula estuaries were surveyed to analyze the characteristics of community structure and diversity by sea areas for three years from 2016 to 2018. The scale (stream width) of Korean estuaries were various (14~3,356 m), and 68.9% of all estuaries showed salinity of less than 2 psu. Total 149 species classified into 52 families of fish were identified, and the dominant and sub-dominant species were Tribolodon hakonensis (relative abundance, RA, 12.5%) and Mugil cephalus (RA, 9.5%), respectively. The estuary of the Korean Peninsula had different physical and chemical habitat environments depending on the sea area, and accordingly, fish community structure also showed statistically significant differences (PERMANOVA, Pseudo-F=26.69, P=0.001). In addition, the NMDS (nonmetric multidimensional scaling) results showed the patterns that indicating fish community difference by sea areas, even though low community similarity within sea area (SIMPER, 21.79~26.39%). The estuaries of east sea areas were distinguished from the others in the aspects of which, the higher importance of migratory fishes and endangered species, and that of brackish species were characterized at south sea estuaries. However, the estuaries of west sea showed higher importance of species that have a relation with freshwater (primary freshwater species, exotic species), which is the result that associating with the lower salinity of west sea estuaries because of the high ratio of closed estuaries(78.2%). The SIMPER analysis, scoring the contribution rates of species to community similarity, also showed results corresponding to the tendency of different fish community structures according to each sea area. So far, In Korea, most studies on fish communities in estuaries have been conducted in a single estuary unit, which made it difficult to understand the characteristics of estuaries at the national level, which are prerequisite for policy establishment. In present study, we are providing fish community structure characteristics of Korean estuaries in a national scale, including diversity index, habitat salinity ranges of major species, distribution of migratory species. We are expecting that our results could be utilized as baseline information for establishing management policies or further study of Korean estuaries.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.189-203
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• 2024

This study conducted a survey two times at 20 points from April to June and from August to October 2022 to characterize the fish community and reveal the health of the Anyang stream. The survey collected 3,186 individuals belonging to 5 orders, 10 families and 34 species. The dominant species was Zacco platypus (43.4%), followed by Carassius auratus (10.1%), Cyprinus carpio (7.6%), Zacco koreanus (6.2%), Pungtungia herzi (5.2%), Oryzias sinensis (5.1%), Pseudorasbora parva (4.7%), Squalidus gracilis majimae (4.4%), Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (3.5%), Hemiculter eigenmanni (3.3%), Rhodeus ocellatus (1.4%), and Chelon haematocheilus (1.0%). Among the emerged species, 5 species (14.7%), including Rhodeus uyekii, Squalidus japonicus coreanus, and Odontobutis interrupta, were endemic to Korea, and 4 species (11.8%), including Cyprinus carpio (Israeli type), Lepomis macrochirus, Micropterus salmoides, and Poecilia reticulata, were exotic. The fish community analysis showed that the dominance was higher at the upper reaches of the Anyang stream and decreased downstream, and diversity, richness, and evenness were higher in tributary than mainstream. Stream health (fish assessment index, FAI) was generally poor, as it was rated as moderate (C) at seven sites, poor (D) at eight sites, and very poor (E) at five sites. Water quality was evaluated at eight sites, and it was rated as poor (V) at two sites, slightly poor (IV) at one site, moderate (III) at four sites, and slightly good (II) at one site, indicating that the overall water quality was poor and that the water quality had a significant impact on river health and fish habitat. Moreover, it was found that many weirs without fishways were constructed in the Anyang stream and became an obstacle to fish migration. Therefore, a systematic management plan to improve water quality and add fishways is necessary to improve the stream's health and conserve stable fish habitat.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.409-419
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• 2017

Although Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora) forests near temples are valuable as forests of the cultural landscape, they are likely to be deteriorated because of vegetation succession and climate changes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the vegetation structure, the pine vitality, and the site environmental characteristics of the pine forests near temples to identify the correlation between pine tree growth and location environment. We selected Chuneunsa, Wonhyosa, Jeungsimsa, and Taeansa Temples since these four areas still had the healthy pine forests. In all four studied area, the pine trees dominate the canopy layers while the deciduous broadleaf trees mostly inhabited appeared in the lower layers. The growth of pine trees in Jeungsimsa and Wonhyosa areas was not as good as Chuneunsa area where the pine trees tended to be older. We found higher total nitrogen content in soil in Jeungsimsa area than other areas, maybe because of increase in total nitrogen caused by the development of low vegetation in the area. This peculiarity may have led to the pine trees in the area to fall behind the deciduous broadleaf trees in competition for nitrogen nutrient and thus to show deteriorated growth. The altitude and the twig length showed a negative correlation as did the degree of slope and the mean importance percentage of the pine tree. In other words, the growth environment such as soil became poorer when the altitude and the degree of slope increased, and thus the growth amount and dominance of the pine trees were lower. The degree of slope showed a positive correlation with the twig length of the pine tree. Within boundaries of location environment where the pine tree forests were dominant, it seemed that growth of the pine trees was more favorable as the slope was steeper because the trees could avoid competition with deciduous broadleaf trees. On the other hand, the growth of pine trees deteriorated as the electrical conductivity of soil increased; increase in soil nutrients might have accelerated vegetation development of deciduous broadleaf trees and thus aggravated the growth environment of pine trees to negatively affect maintaining the health of the pine tree forests.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.502-513
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• 2016

In this study, heavy metal distributions in the tissues of feral pigeon (Columba livia) were characterized using samples collected from bio-monitoring sites (Hangang Park and Hampyeong Park) of the NESB (National Environmental Specimen Bank), Korea, in order to evaluate the feasibility of feral pigeons as an indicator for the environmental monitoring. Cadmium (Cd) was analyzed to be accumulated in kidneys at higher concentration than in the other tissues. Such trend can also be found in the reviews on the Cd accumulations of the 34 cases including 17 avian species which showed that 31 cases had the highest Cd concentrations in the kidney among tissues. However, lead (Pb) was found to be richest in the bones in this study. 17 cases out of 30 reviewed cases had the highest Pb concentration in bones, whereas other 10 cases showed the highest concentration in kidneys, and 3 cases in livers. Therefore, kidneys together with bones can be a main target organ to test cadmium exposure to different habitat environments depending on physiological traits of birds. Zinc (Zn) was found to be the highest concentration in the pigeon livers of Hangang Park, but not in the bones. In contrast, the 13 cases of 16 reviewed cases had the highest Zn concentration in bones, and the 3 cases in livers. In addition, the heavy metal distribution patterns in relations to the metal accumulation mechanisms (a competition between Pb and Ca, a function of methallothionein protein, and etc.) were discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.305-320
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• 2005

Recently 64 species in Korea have been ranked as rare and endangered taxa by the Ministry of Environment using two categories, I and II. The original threat categories produced by the Ministry of Environment were developed to provide a standard for specifying animals and plants in danger of extinction and has been influential sources of information used in species conservation in Korea. However, the criteria by Ministry of Environment were applied to the whole taxa only by regional boundaries, especially in South Korea, rather than international context, and it also lacked an explicit framework that was necessary to ensure repeatability among taxa because of the absence of quantitative criteria to measure the likelihood of extinction. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has developed quantitative criteria for assessing the conservation status of species. The threatened species categories, the 2000 IUCN Red List, proposed by SSC (Species Survival Commission) of IUCN have become widely recognized internationally. Details of threatened Korean plants, identified by applying the IUCN threat categories and definitions, were listed and analyzed. The number of species identified as threatened was only 34 out of 64 taxa (48.4%), while the rest of taxa were rejected from the original lists. Many of the species (51.6%, 33 taxa) excluded from the original list proposed by Ministry of Environment do not qualify as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable because these taxa were widely distributed either in Japan or in China/far eastern Russia and there is no evidence of substantial decline in these countries. An evaluation of taxa in Korea has been carried out only based on subjective views and qualitative data, rather than quantitative scientific data, such as rates of decline, distribution range size, population size, and risk of extinction. Therefore, the national lists undermine the credibility of threatened species lists and invite misuse, which have been raised by other cases, qualitative estimate of risk, political influence, uneven taxonomic or geographical coverage. The increasing emphasis on international responsibilities means that global scale is becoming more significant. The current listings by Environment of Ministry of Korea should be challenged, and the government should seek to facilitate the resolution of disagreements. Especially the list should be flexible enough to handle uncertainty and also incorporates detailed, quantitative data. It is suggested that the highest priorities for the Red List should be given to endemic species in Korea first. After setting up the list of endemic species to Korea, quantitative data on population size and structure, distributional range, rated of decline, and habitat fragmentation should be collected as one of long term projects for the Red list categories. Transparency and accountability are the most important key factors. Also, species assessors are named and data sources referenced are required for the future objective evaluations on Korean plant taxa.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.28-37
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• 2016

Through the research and analysis on the hydrological environment and soil environment of habitats through documentary and field studies over 14 habitats of Euryale ferox Salisb. within Jeollabukdo, with the objective of acquiring the basic data for forming an environment based on plantation of reservoirs that are composed with Euryale ferox, the following results were obtained. As a result of analyzing the construction period of the habitats of Euryale ferox from a total of 14 places, the average period of duration after construction of all subject reservoirs appeared to be 71.8 years. Moreover, when examining the relationship between the age of reservoirs and eutrophication, it could be judged that at least the eutrophication of subsoil and water environment is not an obstacle to the growth of Euryale ferox grows in habitats that have a reservoir age of approximately 70 years or more. As a result of analyzing the gardening of soil sediment of the Euryale ferox habitats, the component ingredients appeared to be composed of 80.2% of clay, 16.7% of silt and 3.1% of sand, and the soil class pursuant to such was classified as 'heavy clay'. The organic matter contents of soil sediment appeared to be an average of 36g/kg, and there appeared to be no noticeable difference between the habitats and non-habitats of Euryale ferox. The water quality environment of Euryale ferox habitat appeared to be pH 6.5~7.9, concentration of dissolved oxygen to be $1.8{\sim}8.8mg/{\ell}$, concentration of COD to be $6.8{\sim}74mg/{\ell}$, floating materials to be $2.0{\sim}213mg/{\ell}$, total nitrogen to be $0.422{\sim}10.723mg/{\ell}$, and phosphate to be $0.003{\sim}0.126mg/{\ell}$. The average DO concentration of Aedang Reservoir at Jeongeup, Daejeong Reservoir at Imsil, and Myeongdeokji at Gimje with high vitality and green coverage ratio of Euryale ferox appeared to be $3.5mg/{\ell}$, total nitrogen to be $1.33mg/{\ell}$, and concentration of phosphorus-phosphate to be $0.061mg/{\ell}$. When comparing such with the entire average value, the DO and total nitrogen concentration appeared to be rather low, and the phosphorus-phosphate concentration appeared to be higher by two times or more, thus, an in-depth study on the correlation of the vitality of Euryale ferox Salisb. and concentration of phosphorate-phosphorus will be needed in the future.