• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.307-322
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• 2020

This study was conducted to obtain information relevant to resolving problems related to artificially introduced plants in ecological restoration projects. We investigated artificially introduced plants and plants growing naturally from its surroundings in the active restoration sites of the Ecosystem Conservation Fund Return Project (ECFRP) of the Ministry of Environment and the Civilian Control Zone Forest Restoration Project (CCZFRP) of the Korea Forest Service. We also analyzed the characteristics of native, exotic, and cultivated plants in addition to their Raunkiaer's life forms. Furthermore, we compared the planted areas and inhabited areas, as well as the characteristics of the habitats of native plants among the planted plants. We found that among the plants planted in the ECFRP, 50.4% were native, 6.8% were exotic, and 42.9% were cultivated. Meanwhile, in the CCZFRP, 78.6% were native, 21.4% were exotic. We also noted that many native plants were found in the planted areas that were far from their habitats. In addition, we identified many native plants that were planted in areas judged to have characteristics different from that of their natural habitat. In the case of Raunkiaer's life forms, the planted plants showed high ratios of megaphanerophytes (MM) and microphanerophytes (N), while the invasive plants showed high ratios of therophytes (Th) and hemicryptophytes (H). When restoring the ecosystem, the ratio of planting native plants should be higher than that of exotic or cultivated plants. Moreover, the habitats and ecological characteristics should be considered when selecting native plants to enhance the effect of ecological restoration.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.587-602
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• 2017

Correlations of soil and leaf nutrients and growth of young 'Enterprise' apple (Malus ${\times}$ domestica Borkh.) trees were analyzed with tree damage, such as Japanese beetle (JB; Popillia japonica Newman)-damaged leaves, vole damage to trunk, tree mortality, and weed density in a certified organic orchard in warm and humid environment of Southern USA. Interaction treatments of four mulch and three fertilizers were applied around trees as follows: mow-and-blow (MB), shredded paper (SP), wood chips (WC), and green compost (GC) as a mulch, with no fertilizer (NF), poultry litter (PL), and commercial organic fertilizer (CF) as a fertilizer applied in April. Vole damage to trunk and weed density were little correlated with mineral nutrients and tree growth. JB-damaged leaves were highly stimulated to 26.5% in GC-treated plots while tree mortality were increased by MB treatments. Biomass production per tree was approximately 3,700 g on the WC- and GC-treated plots, which was two times higher than those values observed on the other two mulch plots. JB-damaged leaves tended to get worse when nutrients in soil and leaf increased through the correlation analysis, with a strong positive relationship ($r^2=0.585$) observed between JB-damaged leaves and trunk cross sectional area, a vegetative indicator. Tree mortality was more negatively associated with nutrient contents and growth of trees than those of soil nutrients. Wood chips was considered for a local organic mulch materials to increase organic matter contents and to produce healthy young trees in Southern USA, with control insect, such as beetle, and vole density in an orchard habitat.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 2016

To assess the effects of environmental factors on the sustainability of cultured ark shell Scapharca broughtonii production, we investigated the habitat characteristics of shellfish-farming bays (Gangjin Bay, Yeoja Bay, Keoje Bay and Deukryang Bay). We measured the physiochemical parameters (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, chemical oxygen demand and Chlorophyll a) and the geochemical characteristics (chemical oxygen demand, ignition loss, C/N ratio and C/S ratio). Surface sediments were collected from several shellfish-farming bays to examine the geochemical characteristics of both the benthic environment and heavy metal pollution. The grain sizes for Gangjin Bay, Yeoja Bay and Keoje Bay were similar, at the ratio of silt and clay in comparison with Deukryang bay of it. The C/N ratio was more than 5.9, reflecting the range arising from the mix of marine organisms and organic matter. The C/S ratio (more than 4.2) showed that the survey area had anoxic or sub-anoxic bottom conditions. The index of accumulation rate (Igeo) of the metals showed that those research areas can be classified as heavily polluted, heavily to moderately polluted, or more or less unpolluted, respectively. We suggested that the growth of ark shell Scapharca broughtonii in the shellfish-farming bay was effected by the various environmental conditions.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.207-215
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• 2017

Body scales directly exposed to external environments can be an important factor to understand various characteristics of a species such as habitat features, life history and basic ecology. In this study, we compared size and morphology of dorsal, outermost dorsal, keeled dorsal and ventral scales of total nine snake species in Korea; Oocatochus rufodorsatus, Elaphe dione, Rhabdophis tigrinus, Amphiesma vibakari, Dinodon rufozonatum, Hierophis spinalis in the Colubridae and Gloydius ussuriensis, G. brevicaudus, G. saxatilis in the Viperidae. The morphological characteristics of the scales seem to well reflect foraging modes and moving activity of both families. Uniquely D. rufozonatum had a diamond shape dorsal scale and had the greatest and smallest value of the ratio of width/length of dorsal and ventral scales, respectively. O. rufodorsatus, D. rufozonatum and H. spinalis did not have keeled dorsal scales and E. dione had keel on the few of dorsal scales. In addition, morphological characteristics of scales of three viper species were closely consistent with previously known phylogenetic relationships.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.171-177
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• 2017

A callus-mediated regeneration protocol for sea-milkwort, an endangered coastal plant species in South Korea, is reported here. The explants of in vitro-plantlets generated from a node culture revealed distinguishable responses in callus induction depending on genotype, explant source, light condition, and 2,4-D concentration. Especially, continuous darkness exclusively facilitated callus induction from explants prior to other treatments. The calli initiated on the media with 2,4-D ranging from 0.1 mg/L to 3.0 mg/L in the dark vigorously proliferated when subcultured on the same media in continuous darkness. Given 1.0 mg/L zeatin in addition to darkness to the calli of the 'Pistachio' genotype, normal adventitious shoots were only regenerated from nodular structures that formed earlier from the calli at the frequency of 24.4 percent. Regenerated shoots easily grew into plantlets with roots and green color on a phytohormone-free MS medium under lighted condition, that were used for node culture as plant materials. Node culture effectively multiplied plantlets in accordance with protocol by Bae et al. (2016). Acclimatized plantlet clusters developed mature plant clusters under inland environment, followed by flowering the following April. Results were merged with node culture protocol suggested by Bae et al. (2016), which, as an in vitro propagation system for sea-milkwort, may contribute to natural habitat restoration.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.107-113
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• 2017

Background: As the habitat changes in Korea due to climate change, the emergence of disease-mediated vectors is increasing rapidly. Thus for the surveillance of mosquito- and chigger mite-borne disease, their seasonal prevalence and species composition were investigated at seven locations in Daegu, Gunwi and Sangju. Methods: Mosquitoes were collected twice every month from five collection sites using a black light and BG sentinel traps in Daegu and Gunwi from April through November. Chigger mites were investigated twice per month from wild rodents caught with Sherman live traps in Gunwi and Sangju from April through May and September through November. Results: A total of 2,361 female mosquitoes were collected. Cowshed (626 individuals, Trap index (TI) 44.7) and Kyungpook National University campus (846 individuals, TI 60.4) in Daegu had the highest number of mosquitoes in the black light and BG sentinel trap, respectively. The mosquitoes were collected more by BG sentinel trap than the black light trap. Nine mosquito species were trapped, and the Culex pipiens complex was the most commonly mosquito (1,397 individuals, 59.2%), followed by Anopheles sinensis (554 individuals, 23.5%). Anopheles sinensis (531 individuals, 51.9%) and Culex pipiens complex (1,142 individuals, 85.4%) were the most mosquitoes from black light and BG sentinel trap, respectively. In terms of seasonal prevalence, the highest abundance was in July, with 824 individuals collected. In chigger mites, eighty-one wild rodents of five species that are hosts of chigger mites were collected; among them, 53 and 25 individuals of Apodemus agrarius and Crocidura suaveolens, respectively were trapped. Leptotrombidium pallidum was a dominant species, with 2,467 individuals collected (67.8%). Conclusions: The mosquito was the dominant species in Culex pipiens complex and the highest in July and August. Apodemus agrarius was most abundant in wild rats and Leptotrombidium pallidum was dominant in the collected chigger mites.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.263-270
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• 2019

Background: The gelada baboon, Theropithecus gelada Ruppell, 1835, is an endemic primate of the central and western highlands of Ethiopia occurring between altitudes of 1800-4400 m. Variability in activity time budget between the two gelada social units, i.e., one-male units (OMUs) and all-male units (AMUs), has not been studied previously. Thus, the present study was an effort to understand intra- and inter-variations in group size and daily activity time budget in gelada baboon OMUs and AMUs at Guassa Community Conservation Area, Central Ethiopia. The instantaneous sampling method was used in the data collection. Results: Both OMU and AMU groups allocated more time for feeding (OMUs = 36.96%; AMUs = 35%) followed by moving (OMU = 25.8%; AMUs = 27%). Grooming was the most frequent social activity in both family groups (OMUs = 8.56%; AMUs = 11.81%). OMUs and AMUs did not show significant variation between themselves in the time budget and temporal distribution of their daily activities. However, the overall variation in the time budget allocated for daily activities within OMUs and AMUs was statistically significant (p < 0.05%). The different age and sex groups in OMUs (i.e., immature, sub-adult females, subordinate males, adult females, and alpha males) showed statistically significant variation in their time budget allocation for the daily activities (p < 0.05) except for feeding and moving. Alpha males had the highest proportion of resting (32.14%) and aggression (31.92%). Immature individuals were responsible for > 90% of the time budget recorded for playing while adult females showed the highest frequency of grooming. Group size of OMUs ranged between 5 and 15 individuals (mean ± SD = 11.25 ± 1.95). Adult females comprised the highest number within OMUs (mean = 4.5) followed by immature individuals (mean = 3). The group size of AMUs ranged from 4 to 8 (mean ± SD = 6.6 ± 1.5). Conclusion: Our results showed that the gelada baboon spent less time on foraging compared to previous studies at the Simien Mountains and Debre-Libanos area. We suggested this variation could be explained based on higher forage quality at Guassa Community Conservation Area resulting from better conservation of the habitat.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2013

BACKGROUND: Today, environmentally friendly farming has become an important feature of agricultural policy. It promotes or sustains farming systems which protect and enhance the environment. This study was conducted to compare benthic invertebrate communities in an organic and a conventional paddy field in South Korea. METHODS AND RESULTS: Benthic invertebrates were collected at 11 regions of a rice paddy from June to August, 2009, 2010 and 2011. These comparisons undertaken using a community assessment approaches such as the number of individuals and species and community composition. Generally, the larger number of individuals and species of benthic invertebrates was observed in an organic paddy than in a conventional paddy field. Organic paddy fields could supported the wider range of species and abundance in aquatic invertebrates comparing to conventional paddy fields. Carrying capacity to support larger numbers of invertebrates also tends to be higher in organic paddy than in conventional paddy field. Specially, organic farming regions surrounded by forests were high quality habitat for benthic invertebrates than other surrounded regions such as grassland. CONCLUSION(S): We concluded that organic farming was more advantaged to benthic invertebrates than conventional farming. In order to improve biodiversity in rice paddy field, farming regimes without agricultural chemicals are recommended. The effect of organic management on biodiversity and abundance of benthic invertebrates could be maximized across highland farmland.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.72-81
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to develop a multi-metric Lentic Ecosystem Health Assessment (LEHA) model and apply model to dataset sampled from Daechung Reservoir in September 2005. The metrics were composed of 11 parameters such as physical, chemical and biological variables. The metric attributes of $M_1{\sim}M_8$ followed after the model of biological integrity using fish assemblages that previously adapted in lotic ecosystems, while the metrics of $M_9{\sim}M_{11}$ were added on the basis of literature. The metric of $M_9$ reflected habitat conditions in the littoral zone and the metric of $M_{10}$ reflected chemical conditions of the reservoir. For the application of regression analysis of long-transformed conductivity [$Log_{10}$(Cond)] against $COD_{Mn}$, based on 150 sampling sites at Korean reservoirs, showed that the variation of conductivity was explained 77.4% [$COD_{Mn}=4.42{\times}Log_{10}(Cond)-5.43;\;R^2=0.774$, p<0.01, n=150] by the variation of $COD_{Mn}$. The metric of $M_{11}$ was based on Tropic State Index (TSI), based on chlorophyll-${\alpha}$ concentrations (Chl-${\alpha}$). Analysis of TSI $(Chl-{\alpha})$ showed that above 50 was estimated "1", $40{\sim}50$ was estimated "3" and below 40% was estimated '5'. Overall, velues of LEHA in the reservoir averaged 30.5, indicating a "fair${\sim}$poor condition", which is judged by the criteria of U.S. EPA (1993). More studies such as metric numbers and attributes should be done for the application of the model.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.303-317
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• 2007

The fish community of small freshwater ecosystems gets easily disturbed by direct or indirect human induced disturbances during the period of urbanization. Urbanization is one of factors that generate changes in stream and influences fish fauna in developed countries. This study was conducted in Busan Metropolitan City from 2001 to 2004. In order to investigate the fish community, the city was divided into 3 parts, eastern, central and western. A total of 3,206 individuals of 46 species from 19 families were collected from 55 sites. The dominant species was Rhynchocypris oxycephalus, whereas Zacco temminckii was the subdominant species. Cluster analysis was conducted using primary freshwater fish species collected from each stream. As a result of the analysis, study sites were well differentiated into 3 parts. Two species of Z. temminckii and R. oxycephalus represented the upper part of the stream and Carassius cuvieri, Acheilognathus rhombeus, Hemiculter eigenmanni and Micropterus salmoides represented the middle and lower parts of the stream. When compared with previous studies, fish community of the eastern part of the Busan city where urbanization is in progress, showed similar patterns to the central part. At the time of the habitat restoration of fish fauna in stream, appropriate selection of fish species should be made through analysis of stream character and biogeographic distribution of fish, and long-term monitoring is also needed for sustaining the management of fish fauna.