• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.163-172
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• 2007

In this study, fish fauna and stream characteristics were surveyed during October-November 2003 in 31 small streams, which are small sub-tributaries of Geum River. The small streams were classified into 4 types of steep mountainous (SM), mountainous-flatland (MF), flat land (FL), and agricultural watercourse (AW) streams, and their types were categorized by features of stream width, water depth, bottom substrate, riparian vegetation, and landuse patterns. The fishes collected during this survey were identified 4 families and 8 species. Dominant family was Cyprinidae, and the most dominant species was Rhynchocypris oxycephalus with 73% (419 individuals) of the total. Only one species of R. oxycephalus was observed in the all five steep mountainous streams, which was surrounded by 100% forest area and had no point-and non-point pollution sources. The observed frequency of R. oxycephalus (as a relative proportion of species) showed a significant positive correlation (r=0.754, p<0.001, n=31) with the substrate composition of bedrock and boulder, indicating that the species prefer the bedrock and boulder rather than the sand or small pebble. Evidently, all five steep mountainous streams were judged as excellent condition (1st rank) according to the criteria of biological water quality, the Ministry of Environment, Korea. This result was accord with a general tendency of the species in most upper stream of the Koreas streams. One family and one species were found at the steep mountainous types and 4 families 6 species were at the mountainous-flatland. Four families 8 species were found at the flat land, which showed most diverse habitat, and 2 families 2 species were collected agricultural watercourse. These study results of 1st-order streams suggest that R. oxycephalus was considered as one of 1st rank ecological indicator species, and that the dominant area should be protected from various pollutions and disturbances.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.24-36
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• 2021

Countries around the world, including the Republic of Korea, are participating in efforts to preserve biodiversity. Concerning species, in particular, studies that aim to find potential habitats and establish conservation plans by conducting habitat suitability analysis for specific species are actively ongoing. However, few studies on mid- to long-term changes in suitable habitat areas are based on accumulated information. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the time-series changes in the habitat suitable area and examine the otters' changing pattern (Lutra lutra) designated as Level 1 endangered wildlife in Gangwon-do. The time-series change analysis used the data on otter species' presence points from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th national natural environment surveys conducted for about 20 years. Moreover, it utilized the land cover map consistent with the survey period to create environmental variables to reflect each survey period's habitat environment. The suitable habitat area analysis used the MaxEnt model that can run based only on the species presence information, and it has been proven to be reliable by previous studies. The study derived the habitat suitability map for otters in each survey period, and it showed a tendency that habitats were distributed around rivers. Comparing the response curves of the environmental variables derived from the modeling identified the characteristics of the habitat favored by otters. The examination of habitats' change by survey period showed that the habitats based on the 2nd National Natural Environment Survey had the widest distribution. The habitats of the 3rd and 4th surveys showed a tendency of decrease in area. Moreover, the study aggregated the analysis results of the three survey periods and analyzed and categorized the habitat's changing pattern. The type of change proposed different conservation plans, such as field surveys, monitoring, protected area establishment, and restoration plan. This study is significant because it produced a comprehensive analysis map that showed the time-series changes of the location and area of the otter habitat and proposed a conservation plan that is necessary according to the type of habitat change by region. We believe that the method proposed in this study and its results can be used as reference data for establishing a habitat conservation and management plan in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.104-123
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• 2002

The flora survey on Chungnyeongsan and Seorisan was conducted 6 times from 1998 to 2000.817 taxa such as 112 families 415 genera 688 species 1 subspecies 116 varieties 12 forma were recorded. Dominant species in investigated areas was Quercus mongozica and some deciduous broad-leaved species, such as Quercus sp., Acer sp., Fraxinus sp., Carpinus sp., etc. were codominant species in these areas. Pinus koraiensis and Larix teptozepis plantations were also found in these areas. The 16 taxa of rare plants protected by Forestry Service were found in these areas and among them 10 taxa were new populations which had not been recorded in these areas. Discovery of Erunthis stellata, Aconitum koreanum, Paeonia japonica, Scopotia japonica and Acunthopanax senticosus populations indicate that these areas could be regarded as very important one in a biogeographical aspect. Endemic plants were listed 35 taxa and among them 22 taxa including Corydalis maculata, Ulmus macrocarpa, Scrophutaria horuiensis, Cirsium setidens, etc. were new one. Naturalized plants were listed 39 taxa and among them 30 taxa were new one. Lower naturalized index(NI) and higher urbanized index(UI) were recorded compared to those of neighbored areas. There were many kinds of threatening factors fur the plant resources in survey areas, so it is necessary to limit the number of visitors and to introduce the natural relaxation system.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1984

Taxonomical studies of the genus Acer in Korea (8 species, 3 varieties and 1 forma) were studied by the morphological characteristics of stipules. The results obtained were summarized as follows; 1) The stipules of the genus Acer were arranged oppositely with 4 - 10 stipules consisting of simple leaf, compound leaf and unifoliate compound leaf. The venation of stipules were cladodromous, basal reticulate, fibrous and palmately netted vein. The trichoma of stipules were glandula hair, glandular pubescent, sericeous, pilous, vinous, velutinous, tomentose, ciliate and lanate. As the morphological characteristics of stipules in the genus Acer established a strong point in the identification of species. 2) The species in the genus Acer in Korea were classified into six groups; (1) ginnala group (A. ginnala), (2) koreanum group (A. koreanum, A. japonicum, A. pseudosieboldianum var. koreanum), (3) mono group (A. mono, A, palmatum var. sanguineum, A. palamtum var. dissectum, A. palmatum var. dissectum f. aosidare), (4) negundo group (A. negundo), (5) palmatum group (A. palmatum), (6) platanoides group (A. platanoides, A. truncatum) by the morphological characteristics of stipules, 3) The stipules of platanoides group and negundo group were the least evolved types among the species in the genus Acer. 4) The stipules in the genus Acer were made the inner buds that were metamorphosed to the protected functional aspect by the evolution of petiols.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.188-201
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• 2017

Based on a total of 272 vegetation data collected by the ZM school phytosociological study method, the composition and structural characteristics of the forest vegetation in the Sogwang-ri forest genetic resource reservoir located in Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do were compared using the table comparison method and the TWINSPAN method, And their ecological characteristics were analyzed. The types of forest vegetation were classified into 7 types, and it was divided into two major groups, 'Slope and Ridge type', which characterized by Quercus mongolica, Pinus densiflora for. erecta, Lespedeza bicolor etc. and 'valley and concave slope', which characterized by Cornus controversa, Fraxinus mandshurica, Morus bombycis, Hydrangea serrata for. acuminata etc. The hierarchy of the vegetation unit was 2 community groups, 4 communities, and 6 subcommunities. The structural characteristics such as the total percent cover, species importance value, species diversity of the constituent species per unit area($/100m^2$) of each type of forest vegetation were also identified. In order to understand the spatial distribution of forest vegetation, 1/5,000 large-scale physiognomic vegetation map was created by the uppermost dominant species. The composition and structural characteristics of Geumgang pine(P. densiflora for. erecta) forest, which is a core community of protected area by natural and anthropogenic influences, appear as a subtype of Quercus mongolica forest, which is a potential natural vegetation, Appropriate maintenance measures seemed urgently needed.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.114-122
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• 2002

This study investigated the species composition and distribution of woody plants, and flora of vascular plants of Cheonjiyeon where is located in the most southern region of Korea. Twenty-nine taxa of trees were distributed in the valley, and of these, deciduous broad-leaved trees were 13. Of the total number of 2,547 trees, 1,429 were deciduous broad-leaved trees and remainder was broad-leaved evergreen. Deciduous broad-leaved trees covered 48.7% of the tree canopy while evergreen broad-leaved trees covered only 42.3%. The total number of shrub taxa was 37 with more evergreen shrub taxa than deciduous. Evergreen shrubs occupied 64.4％ of shrub canopy while deciduous shrubs covered only 35.4％. The result of the investigation of flora showed that there are 446 taxa of flora including 114 families, 320 genera, 397 species, 1 subspecies, 39 varieties, and 9 forma. Of these, two species, Rubus hongnoensis Nakai and Lycoris chejuensis K. Tae et S. Ko, are endemic plants of Jeju Island. The flora includes 17 taxa of rare plants that are distributed only in Jeju Island in Korea. Also, the flora includes 1 taxon, Elaeocarpus sylvestris (Loureiro) Poiret var. ellipticus (Thunb.) Hara, of Korean natural monument, 2 taxa, Psilotum nudum (L.) Griseb. and Crypsinus hastatus (Thunb.) Copeland, of legally protected wildlife and plants, 38 taxa of naturalized plants, and 75 taxa of introduced plants.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2022

The debate of South-North transboundary rivers must be expanded from the existing cooperation in water resources towards cooperation within ecosystem conservation. Regarding the Han and Imjin rivers confluence water system, the nature of the estuarine ecosystem must be conserved considering the aspect of climate change. Furthermore, the agenda of maintaining continuous inter-Korean communication and cooperation should focus on ecosystem conservation, including conserving migratory species that inhabit both Koreas. Notably, within the Han and Imjin rivers confluence, transboundary rivers are abundant legally protected species such as Grus vipio, Anser fabalis, Anser cygnoides, Platalea minor, Lutra lutra, Prionailurus bengalensis which suggests a strong need for a debate regarding habitat conservation. This study analyzed the ecosystem conditions and environmental aspects within the confluence of Han and Imjin rivers. In addition, this study provided step wise approach of ecosystem conservation that consider conditions for potential direct inter-Korean cooperation. The inter-Korean cooperation mentioned in this study will be developed into legitimate cooperation once the results from monitoring the ecosystem of transboundary rivers, awareness raising are exchanged.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.67-84
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• 2023

In some areas of the Republic of Korea, the designation and management of conservation areas do not adequately reflect regional characteristics and often impose behavioral regulations without considering the local context. One prominent example is the Busan EDC area. As a result, conflicts may arise, including large-scale civil complaints, regarding the conservation and utilization of these areas. Therefore, for the efficient designation and management of protected areas, it is necessary to consider various ecosystem factors, changes in land use, and regional characteristics. In this study, we specifically focused on the Busan EDC area and applied machine learning techniques to analyze the habitat of regional species. Additionally, we employed Explainable Artificial Intelligence techniques to interpret the results of our analysis. To analyze the regional characteristics of the waterfront area in the Busan EDC district and the habitat of migratory birds, we used bird observations as dependent variables, distinguishing between presence and absence. The independent variables were constructed using land cover, elevation, slope, bridges, and river depth data. We utilized the XGBoost (eXtreme Gradient Boosting) model, known for its excellent performance in various fields, to predict the habitat probabilities of 11 bird species. Furthermore, we employed the SHapley Additive exPlanations technique, one of the representative methodologies of XAI, to analyze the relative importance and impact of the variables used in the model. The analysis results showed that in the EDC business district, as one moves closer to the river from the waterfront, the likelihood of bird habitat increases based on the overlapping habitat probabilities of the analyzed bird species. By synthesizing the major variables influencing the habitat of each species, key variables such as rivers, rice fields, fields, pastures, inland wetlands, tidal flats, orchards, cultivated lands, cliffs & rocks, elevation, lakes, and deciduous forests were identified as areas that can serve as habitats, shelters, resting places, and feeding grounds for birds. On the other hand, artificial structures such as bridges, railways, and other public facilities were found to have a negative impact on bird habitat. The development of a management plan for conservation areas based on the objective analysis presented in this study is expected to be extensively utilized in the future. It will provide diverse evidential materials for establishing effective conservation area management strategies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2003

The urban stream include the channel and its adjacent banks, or hillslopes and it consists of various landscape elements. The riparian ecosystem is important to people. Its water is extracted for irrigation and drinking supplies. Biodiversity and many wetland species are protected here. The riparian ecosystem is diverse and needs to be preserved well. So, it is necessary to measure the features of the urban stream accurately to figure out the change of the riparian ecosystem. However, the traditional Electronic Distance Measurement(EDM) surveying is difficult to measure the curvilinear features of the stream - e, g, angle, curve. The beacon Differential Global Positioning System(DGPS) can handle to measure the curvilinear shape. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to measure the change of the river bed in urban stream accurately using realtime beacon DGPS, and ultimately to provide the basic data for identifying the change of the river ecosystem.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.103-114
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to examine Japonica rice farming of China. Asian rice is divided into Japonica and Indica species. Japonica rice represents only less than 20% of Chinese rice output, but it can compete with Korea rice in both price and quality. The rise of income level has expanded the scale of production of Japonica rice in China. China’s adhesion to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has forced Chinese policy makers to face their obligations and responsibilities such as abolishing subsidies on agricultural exports. But being member of the WTO entry also helps China exercise and enhance its influential place in the global economy. Because of geographical proximity and the fact that Korea is ranked second among countries with which China still has a trade deficit, China may seek and plead for an opening of the protected Korean rice market to stabilize prices and prevent excess supply of Chinese rice. Though Korean rice farmers feel that prices are still low, Chinese rice remains far cheaper than Korean rice with the price gap is still on the rise. In anticipation of such fierce competition, Korea must carefully review its current policies and closely follow the evolution of rice production, marketing, and trade in China. This study also suggests some of the possible research using more recent data that should be conducted in the future.