• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.111-125
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• 2024

The study has examined alterations in groundwater quality by investigating the influence of rainfall on electrical conductivity (EC) and nitrate concentration in the groundwater of the Geum River Basin in South Korea. Mann Kendall and Sen's Slope estimator were employed to analyze the trends and estimate the trend's magnitude. The administrative map of the study area was utilized to assess the trends of these parameters within each administrative region. Seventeen years (from 2005 to 2021) of data on EC, groundwater levels (GWL), precipitation, and six years (from 2015 to 2020) of nitrate concentration data were utilized for this analysis. The results indicate that, in most administrative regions, there has been an increase in nitrate concentration, and EC, whereas precipitation has seen a slight decrease in a downstream and an increasing trend in upstream. The correlation coefficients calculated between these parameters reveal that there is no direct impact of precipitation on nitrate and EC, but a negative correlation was observed between GWL and EC. The most significant increasing trend in nitrate concentration was observed in two districts (Iksan and Gunsan ), which correspond to regions with significant agricultural activity; about 50% of these districts area are used for agricultural activities.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.100-107
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• 2021

Along with an increase in the frequency of high-concentration fine particulate matter in Korea, interest and research on ammonia (NH₃) are actively increasing. It is obvious that agriculture has contributed significantly to NH₃ emissions. However, studies on the long-term effect of fertilizer use on the ambient NH₃ concentration of agricultural land are insufficient. Therefore, in this study, NH₃ concentration in the atmosphere of agricultural land was monitored for 11 months using a passive sampler. The average ambient NH₃ concentration during the total study period was 2.02 ㎍ m^-3 and it was found that the effect of fertilizer application on the ambient NH₃ concentration was greatest in the month immediately following fertilizer application (highest ambient NH₃ concentration as 11.36㎍ m^-3). After that, it was expected that the NH₃ volatilization was promoted by increases in summer temperature and the concentration in the atmosphere was expected to increase. However, high NH₃ concentrations in the atmosphere were not observed due to strong rainfall that lasted for a long period. After that, the ambient NH₃ concentration gradually decreased through autumn and winter. In summary, when studying the contribution of fertilizer to the rate of domestic NH₃ emissions, it is necessary to look intensively for at least one month immediately after fertilizer application, and weather information such as precipitation and no-rain days should be considered in the field study.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.175-183
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• 2016

BACKGROUND: There's a long rainy season during the Summer in Northeast Asia, including Korea. Heavy rainfall during this season causes harm to tree's root, and damped injury in the pear has been continuously reported. Pear Research Institute is breeding damp resistant rootstocks and investigating their mechanisms to relieve damped damages in the pear.METHODS AND RESULTS: Seedlings of Pyrus betulaefolia and P. calleryana were divided into two groups: control and damped, respectively. Damped group was treated by constant irrigation for 77 days and control group was maintained to keep the soil moisture pressure between 0 and -10 kPa. After the treatment, we analysed trees' growth rate, chlorophyll content, amino acids and total phenolic compounds. As a result, P. betulaefolia was sensitive to damped treatment while P. calleryana did not have significant differences between the control and damped treatment. It was observed that total contents for phenolic compounds were dramatically increased in P. betulaefolia while trees' growth rate, chlorophyll b and general amino acid contents were lowered by damping treatment.CONCLUSION: In some pear cultivars, growth habit is suppressed by damped damage. Pyrus calleryana displayed tolerances to damped damage in growth rate and some organic compound contents compared to P. betulaefolia. So we recommend to exploit P. calleryana as a pear rootstock rather than using P. betulaefolia.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 1985

This study was designed to gain practical data on the use of soil conditioners for more efficient water managements and to establish the optimum levels of structural properties for soil conditioning. A sandy loam and a silt loam soil were each treated with two different soil conditioners, hydrophobic Bitumen or hydrophilic Uresol. The perspex tube 34 cm long were packed homogeneously with air dried soil up to 2 cm below the top, then covered over 2 cm of treated or untreated aggregates. The infiltration rate into the soil columns was measured under simulated rainfall condition. The evaporation study was carried out in the wind tunnel, and the changes of soil moisture distribution of the columns following and during the evaporation were determined by a gamma ray scanner. The infiltration rate of water into the soil column was increased to 18.7-50.8% by the Uresol treatment but it was decreased to less than 25% of control by the Bitumen treatment. Evaporation was decreased to 22.0-68.1% by the Bitumen treatment and to 38.7-68.4% by the Uresol treatment. The water use efficiency of Uresol treated column was increased to more than twice as much as that of untreated soil. Aggregate stability and wetting angle were related to water infiltration and evaporation. A positive and highly significant logarismic relationship was found between the infiltration rate and stability index-wetting angle, evaporation rate and instability index-wetting angle. It was considered that the structural stability is more important than wetting angle. This is true because the structural stability is always positively correlated to water saving, however wettability is positively correlated to the infiltration, and negatively correlated to water saving during the evaporation.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.1 s.115
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• pp.73-84
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to analyze long-term temporal trends of water chemistry and spatial heterogeneity for 10 sampling sites of the Yeongsan River watershed using water quality dataset during 1995 to 2004 (obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Korea). The water quality, based on multi-parameters of biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), conductivity, dissolved oxygen (Do), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN) and total suspended solids (TSS), largely varied depending on the sampling sites, seasons and years. Largest seasonal variabilities in most parameters occurred during the two months of July to August and these were closely associated with large spate of summmer monsoon rain. Conductivity, used as a key indicator for a ionic dilution during rainy season, and nutrients of TN and TP had an inverse function of precipitation (absolute r values> 0.32, P< 0.01, n= 119), whereas BOD and COD had no significant relations(P> 0.05, n= 119) with rainfall. Minimum values in conductivity, TN, and TP were observed during the summer monsoon, indicating an ionic and nutrient dilution of river water by the rainwater. In contrast, major inputs of total suspended solids (TSS) occurred during the period of summer monsoon. BOD values varied with seasons and the values was closely associated (r=0.592: P< 0.01) with COD, while variations of TN were had high correlations (r=0.529 : P< 0.01) with TP. Seasonal fluctuations of DO showed that maximum values were in the cold winter season and minimum values were in the summer seasons, indicating an inverse relation with water temperature. The spatial trend analyses of TP, TN, BOD, COD and TSS, except for conductivity, showed that the values were greater in the mid-river reach than in the headwater and down-river reaches. Conductivity was greater in the down-river sites than any other sites. Overall data of BOD, COD, and nutrients (TN, TP) showed that water quality was worst in the Site 4, compared to those of others sites. This was due to continuous effluents from the wastewater treatment plants within the urban area of Gwangju city. Based on the overall dataset, efficient water quality management is required in the urban area for better water quality.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2001

Cheju island depends on a hydrogeologically vulnerable aquifer system as its principle source of drinking water. Most of golf courses are located in the area which is important for the ground water recharge, and pesticides are applied to golf courses often at relatively high rates. Therefore, turf pesticides in golf course should be applied without adversely impacting ground water. In this experiment, downward movement of pesticides was monitored in model greens of golf course, where different adsorbents were layered in 3-cm thickness at 35-cm depth, and effect of the adsorption layer on the leaching loss of pesticides was investigated. Major leachings were observed in the periods of heavy rain and very limited leaching was observed under artificial irrigation. Fenitrothion and triadimefon, which have relatively short persistence and high adsorption coefficient, were found in the leachate in low concentrations only at the first rainfall event, around 20 days after the pesticide application. However, diniconazole, which has a relatively long half-life (97 days), was detected in the leachate during the whole period of experiment and concentration was much higher than those of the other pesticides. Maximum leachate concentrations were 1.9, 10.3, and 84.5 ${\mu}l^{-1}$ for fenitrothion, triadimefon, and diniconazole, respectively. Therefore, in golf course green which allows rapid water percolation and has extremely low adsorption capacity, persistence in soil could be more important factor in determination of leaching potential of pesticides. Total quantity of pesticides leached from the model green was <0.2% for fenitrothion and triadimefon and 1.8% for diniconazole. Adsorption layers significantly reduced pesticide leaching, and active carbon and Orpar were more effective than zeolite. In the model green having adsorption layer of active carbon or Orpar, leaching loss of pesticides was reduced below 0.01% of the initial application.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1388-1393
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• 1968

Higher yield in rice paddies is greatly dependent on adequately balanced and timely supply of water. A majority of rice paddy in Korea is generally irrigated by rainfall, but in many cases it has to be supplemented by artificial irrigation for optimum rice culture. Although the water requirement of rice plant is far higher than that of other crops, submerged condition of rice paddy is not necessarily required. The moisture requirement of rice plant varies with its growing stages, and it is possible to increase the irrigation efficiency through reduction of water loss due to percolation in rice paddies. An experiment was conducted on the effectiveness of economical use of water by different irrigation period and different method of cultivation. The experimental plots were set up by means of randomized block design with three duplications; (a) Alltime submerged (b) Economically controlled, and (c) Extremely controlled. Three different irrigation periods were (a) Initial stage (b) Inter-stage, and (c) last stage. The topsoil of the three plots were excavated to the depth of 30cm and then compacted with clay of 6 cm thickness. Thereafter, they were piled up with the excavated top soils, leveled and cored with clay of 6cm thickeness arround footpath in order to prevent leakage. The results obtained frome the experiments are as follows; (1) There is no difference among the three experiment plots in terms of physical and chemical contditions, soil properties, and other characteristics. (2) Colulm length and ear length are not affected by different irrigation methdos. (3) There is no difference in the mature rate and grain weight of rice for the three plots. (4) The control plot which was irrigated every three days shows an increased yield over the all the time submerged plot by 17 persent. (5) The clay lined plot whose water holding capacity was held days long, needs only to be irrigated every 7 days. (6) The clay lined plot showes an increased yield over the untreated plot; over all the time submerged plot by 18 percent, extremely controlled plot by 18 percent, and economically controled plot by 33 percent.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.8-9
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• 2017

Soybean yield has been low and unstable in Japan and other areas in East Asia, despite long history of cultivation. This is contrasting with consistent increase of yield in North and South America. This presentation tries to describe perspective of breaking stagnation of soybean yield in East Asia, considering the factors of the different yields between regions. Large amount of rainfall with occasional dry-spell in the summer is a nature of monsoon climate and as frequently stated excess water is the factor of low and unstable soybean yield. For example, there exists a great deal of field-to-field variation in yield of 'Tanbaguro' soybean, which is reputed for high market value and thus cultivated intensively and this results in low average yield. According to our field survey, a major portion of yield variation occurs in early growth period. Soybean production on drained paddy fields is also vulnerable to drought stress after flowering. An analysis at the above study site demonstrated a substantial field-to-field variation of canopy transpiration activity in the mid-summer, but the variation of pod-set was not as large as that of early growth. As frequently mentioned by the contest winners of good practice farming, avoidance of excess water problem in the early growth period is of greatest importance. A series of technological development took place in Japan in crop management for stable crop establishment and growth, that includes seed-bed preparation with ridge and/or chisel ploughing, adjustment of seed moisture content, seed treatment with mancozeb+metalaxyl and the water table control system, FOEAS. A unique success is seen in the tidal swamp area in South Sumatra with the Saturated Soil Culture (SSC), which is for managing acidity problem of pyrite soils. In 2016, an average yield of $2.4tha^{-1}$ was recorded for a 450 ha area with SSC (Ghulamahdi 2017, personal communication). This is a sort of raised bed culture and thus the moisture condition is kept markedly stable during growth period. For genetic control, too, many attempts are on-going for better emergence and plant growth after emergence under excess water. There seems to exist two aspects of excess water resistance, one related to phytophthora resistance and the other with better growth under excess water. The improvement for the latter is particularly challenging and genomic approach is expected to be effectively utilized. The crop model simulation would estimate/evaluate the impact of environmental and genetic factors. But comprehensive crop models for soybean are mainly for cultivations on upland fields and crop response to excess water is not fully accounted for. A soybean model for production on drained paddy fields under monsoon climate is demanded to coordinate technological development under changing climate. We recently recognized that the yield potential of recent US cultivars is greater than that of Japanese cultivars and this also may be responsible for different yield trends. Cultivar comparisons proved that higher yields are associated with greater biomass production specifically during early seed filling, in which high and well sustained activity of leaf gas exchange is related. In fact, the leaf stomatal conductance is considered to have been improved during last a couple of decades in the USA through selections for high yield in several crop species. It is suspected that priority to product quality of soybean as food crop, especially large seed size in Japan, did not allow efficient improvement of productivity. We also recently found a substantial variation of yielding performance under an environment of Indonesia among divergent cultivars from tropical and temperate regions through in a part biomass productivity. Gas exchange activity again seems to be involved. Unlike in North America where transpiration adjustment is considered necessary to avoid terminal drought, under the monsoon climate with wet summer plants with higher activity of gas exchange than current level might be advantageous. In order to explore higher or better-adjusted canopy function, the methodological development is demanded for canopy-level evaluation of transpiration activity. The stagnation of soybean yield would be broken through controlling variable water environment and breeding efforts to improve the quality-oriented cultivars for stable and high yield.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.101-105
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• 2010

This study was aimed to understand conidial disperse of the pepper anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum acutatum, elapse time for the disease development, and inoculum potentials on infected fruits. Most (99.2%) conidia of the fungus disseminated from inoculum source on the rainy day, while only 0.8% conidia dispersed on the sunny day. Among the conidia 93.3% were caught under 60 cm height at 30 cm distance; however, conidia were detected at 120 cm height at the distance. Relatively susceptible pepper fruits to anthracnose showed first visible symptoms at 4 days after infection under a mimic field condition. However, it seemed that over 10 days are required for the disease to develop on moderately resistant pepper fruits under unfavorable conditions. The number of conidia formed on a lesion was positively correlated with the lesion size ($R^{2}=0.88$). Over 10 millions of conidia were formed at a normal lesion size 1.5 cm in length. In some large coalesced lesions ca. 4cm in length produced over 100 millions of the fungal conidia. Results further confirmed that the rainfall is the key factor for the inoculum disperse of the pepper anthracnose pathogen, Colletotrichum acutatum, and a long distance dissemination is plausible according to rain and wind intensity. Consequently, rain-proof structures are ideal to avoid the disease, and removal of infected fruits and timely chemical spray are indispensible to reduce the inoculum potential in the field.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.101 no.3
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• pp.333-343
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• 2012

In-stream large wood (LW) has a critical impact on the geomorphic characteristics relevant to ecosystem management and disaster prevention, yet relatively little is known about variations in its dynamics and subsequent export on the watershed-scale perspective in Korea. Here we review variations in the dynamics and subsequent export of LW as a function of stream size, which is appropriate for Korean mountain streams. In upstream channels with narrow bankfull widths and low stream discharges, a massive amount of LW, resulting from forest dynamics and hillslope processes, may persist for several decades on valley floor. These pieces, however, are eventually transported during infrequent debris flows from small tributaries, as well as peak hydrology in main-stem channels. During the transport, these pieces suffer fragmentation caused by frictions with boulders, and stream bank and bed. Although infrequent, these events can be dominant processes in the export of significant amounts of LW from upstream channel networks. In downstream channels with wide bankfull widths and high stream discharges, LW is dominantly recruited by forest dynamics and bank erosion only at locations where the channel is adjacent to mature riparian forests. With the LW pieces that are supplied from the upstream, these pieces are continuously transported downstream during rainfall events. This leads to further fragmentation of the LW pieces, which increases their transportability. With decreasing stream-bed slope, these floated LW pieces, however, can be stored and form logjams at various depositional sites, which were developed by interaction between channel forms and floodplains. These pieces may decay for decades and be subsequently transported as particulate or dissolved organic materials, resulting in the limitation of LW fluvial export from the systems. However, in Korea, such depositional sites were developed in the extremely limited streams with a large dimension and no flood history for decades, and thus it does not be expected that the reduction of LW export amount, which can be caused by the long-term storage. Our review presents a generalized view of LW processing and is relevant to ecosystem management and disaster prevention for Korean mountain streams.