• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.69-78
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• 2007

Constructed wetlands and other aquatic systems have been successfully used for waste and wastewater treatment in either temperate or tropical regions. To treat waste or wastewater in a sustainable manner, the integrated eco-engineering designs are explained in this paper with 2 case studies: (i) a combination of vertical-flow constructed wetland (CW) with plant irrigation systemfor fecal sludge management and (ii) integrated CW units with landscaping at full-scale application for domestic wastewater treatment. The pilot-scale study of fecal sludge management employed 3 vertical-flow CW units, each with a dimension of $5{\times}5{\times}0.65m$ (width ${\times}$ length ${\times}$ media depth) and planted with cattails (Typha augustifolia). At the solid loading rate of 250 kg total solids (TS)/$m^2.yr$ and a 6-day percolate impoundment, the CW system could achieve chemical oxygen demand (COD), TS and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) removal efficiencies in the range of 80 - 96%. The accumulated sludge layers of about 80 - 90 cm was found at the CW bed surface after operating the CW units for 7 years, but no clogging problem has been observed. The CW percolate was applied to 16 irrigation Sunflower plant (Helianthus annuus) plots, each with a dimension of $4.5{\times}4.5m$ ($width{\times}length$). In the study, the CW percolate were fed to the treatment plots at the application rate of 7.5 mm/day but the percolate was mixed with tap water at different ratio of 20%, 80% and 100%. Based on a 1-year data of 3-crop plantation were experimented, the contents of Zn, Mn and Cu in soil of the experimental plots were found to increase with increasing in CW percolate ratios. The highest plant biomass yield and oil content of 1,000 kg/ha and 35%, respectively, were obtained from the plots fed with 20% or 50% of the CW percolate, whereas no accumulation of heavy metals in the plant tissues (i.e. leaves, stems and flowers) of the sunflower is found. In addition to the pilot-scale and field experiments, a case study of the integrated CW systems for wastewater treatment at Phi Phi Island (a Tsunami-hit area), Krabi province, Thailand is illustrated. The $5,200-m^2$ CW systems on Phi Phi Island are not only for treatment of $400m^3/day$ wastewater from hotels, households or other domestic activities, but also incorporating public consultation in the design processes, resulting in introducing the aesthetic landscaping as well as reusing of the treated effluent for irrigating green areas on the Island.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.118-131
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• 2018

The forest vegetation of Juwangsan National Park, which is famous for its towering scenic valleys, was syntaxonomically described. The study adopted the $Z{\ddot{u}}rich$-Montpellier School's method emphasizing a matching between species composition and habitat conditions. A combined cover degree and the r-NCD (relative net contribution degree) were used to determine a performance of 265 plant species listed-up in a total of 52 phytosociological $relev{\acute{e}}s$. Nine plant communities were classified through a series of table manipulations, and their distribution and actual homotoneity($H_{act}$) were analyzed. Syntaxa described were Carex gifuensis-Quercus mongolica community, Athyrium yokoscense-Quercus mongolica communiy, Arisaema amurense-Quercus serrata community, Lespedeza maximowiczii var. tomentella-Quercus variabilis community, Tilia rufa-Quercus dentata community, Carex ciliatomarginata-Carpinus laxiflora community, Aristolochia manshuriensis-Zelkova serrata community, Onoclea orientalis-Fraxinus mandshurica community, and Carex humilis var. nana-Pinus densiflora community. A zonal distribution was reviewed and the altitude of about 700 m was the transition zone between the cool-temperate central montane zone (Lindero-Quercenion mongolicae region) and southern submontane zone (Callicarpo-Quercenion serratae region). Only 19 taxa were associated with r-NCD 10% or more, most of which were tree species occurring in the Lindero-Quercenion and some of which was a member of open forests. Species composition of forest vegetation was much less homogeneous, showing the lowest $H_{act}$. Nearly natural forests and/or secondary forests in the Juwangsan National Park were defined as a regional vegetation type, which reflects much stronger continental climate in the Daegu regional bioclimatic subdistrict, rhyolitic tuff predominant, and wildfire interference.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.495-501
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• 2006

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of thinning on soil properties and seed productivity in the 25-year-old Cryptomeria japonica and 30-year-old Chamaecyparis obtusa seed orchards in which thinning had been performed 4 years prior to the study. To this end, soil properties, cone and seed characteristics, seed production (kg/ha), and nutrient contents in seeds and cones were studied by 4 different thinning intensities (0, 20, 40, and 60%). Soil properties were not significantly different between the two orchards. Meanwhile, electric conductivity, total nitrogen, and $K^+$ concentration in the soil of C. obtusa seed orchard were significantly different among 4 different thinning intensities (p<0.05), while only $Ca^{2+}$ concentration in the C. japonica seed orchard was different (p<0.05). In the C. obtusa seed orchard, cone productivity increased with the increase of thinning intensities (p<0.05), whereas that in the C. japonica seed orchard did not show any significant differences. Both of the two seed orchards showed a tendency that seeds become bigger and heavier with the increase of thinning intensities, but any significant differences were not found. Seed production (kg/ha) in the C. obtusa seed orchard significantly increased with the increase of thinning intensities, while that of the C. japonica seed orchard decreased. Nutrient contents in seeds and cones did not show any significant differences among different thinning intensities in both of the two seed orchards.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.52-63
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• 2019

This study analyzed the characteristics of vegetation structure of the camphor tree (Cinnamomum japonicum) community in the area of mount Tachibana, Kasuya county, Fukuoka Prefecture designated as a special natural monument in Japan. The survey showed overwhelming dominance of canopy tree in the canopy layer (about 30 m in tree heights and 92.79 cm in average breast height diameter) but no appearance in the understory layer or the shrub layer. In the understory layer and the shrub layer, Castanopsis sieboldii, Machilus thunbergii, Neolitsea sericea, and Cinnamomum yabunikkei, which were the competing species to the canopy layer and the late-successional species in the warm temperate climate zone, were mainly distributed. Moreover, the species diversity was generally low, indicating the vegetation characteristics that was not typical of evergreen broad-leaved forests. This is presumably because camphor trees were actively planted, protected, and cultivated to produce camphor which was valuable in the past. Although this site has not been artificially managed for the past 90 years as the raw materials of camphor have not been collected, vegetation transition did not proceed, which is unique. It is probably due to the fact that camphor was overwhelmingly dominant in the canopy layer so that the inflows of species were restricted, and young tree germination did not occur due to the allelopathy effects of camphor trees.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.139-146
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• 2008

To clarify the relationship between the timing and the duration of flowering among populations, plants, and individual flowers, the dates of flower budding, flowering and deflowering were monitored for ten woody species from March 1 to June 30, in 2005, 2006 and 2007, in temperate deciduous forests at three sites of Namsan, and individual plants from seven woody species were monitored from March 1 to May 31, in 2006. Total durations of flower budding, flowering, and deflowering varied among the plant species. Three durations of these phenological stages of Stephanandra incisa were the longest (74 days, 109 days, and 101 days, respectively), and those of Prunus serrulata var. spontanea were the shortest (7 days, 7 days, and 4 days, respectively). For each species, phenological durations varied among years but were similar among the study sites in the same year. There was no relationship between flowering time and flowering duration on the population level. On the plant level, the duration of flower budding was over 11 days in all specie; S. incisa had the longest duration (73.3 days), and that of Styrax japonica was long as well (29.0 days), while that of Prunus leveilleana was the shortest (11.3 days). The longer the mean flower budding duration, the greater the difference among the plants within a species. The flowering duration of for S. incisa was 92.2 days, while that of Forsythia koreana was 27.2 days. The flowering durations of all other species were $10{\sim}20$ days. The deflowering duration was 92.0 days in S. incisa and <15 days in all other species. Differences among the plants in deflowering duration were smaller than those of the other phenological stages. In the species that flowered in April, the correlation coefficient between the flowering duration and the first flowering date was negative and significant. However, in the species that flowered in May, the correlation between flowering duration and the first flowering date was not significant. For individual plants of all species except for S. alnifolia, the earlier the flowering time, the longer the flowering duration. Differences between flowering time and flowering duration across years were significant in six species.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.425-436
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• 2015

The carbon cycle came into the spotlight due to the climate change and forests are well-known for their capacity to store carbon amongst other terrestrial ecosystems. The annual organic carbon of litter production, forest floor litter layer, soil, aboveground and belowground part of plant, standing biomass, net primary production, uptake of organic carbon, soil respiration, etc. were measured in Mt. Worak in order to understand the production and carbon budget of Quercus serrata forest that are widely spread in the central and southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The total amount of organic carbon of Q. serrata forest during the study period (2010-2013) was 130.745 ton C ha^-1. The aboveground part of plant, belowground part of plant, forest floor litter layer, and organic carbon in soil was 50.041, 12.510, 4.075, and 64.119 ton C ha^-1, respectively. The total average of carbon fixation in plants from photosynthesis was 4.935 ton C ha^-1 yr^-1 and organic carbon released from soil respiration to microbial respiration was 3.972 ton C ha^-1 yr^-1. As a result, the net ecosystem production of Q. serrata forest estimated from carbon fixation and soil respiration was 0.963 ton C ha^-1 yr^-1. Therefore, it seems that Q. serrata forest can act as a sink that absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. The carbon uptake of Q. serrata forest was highest in stem of the plant and the research site had young forest which had many trees with small diameter at breast height (DBH). Consequentially, it seems that active matter production and vigorous carbon dioxide assimilation occurred in Q. serrata forest and these results have proven to be effective for Q. serrata forest to play a role as carbon storage and NEP.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.155-163
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• 2014

Adonis multiflora is a spring ephemeral herb growing in temperate deciduous forests. To determine the flowering properties of a natural population of A. multiflora, air temperature, flowering time, and flower-falling were monitored from February 2009 to May 2011. The A. multiflora population in this study started flowering in early March and ended it in mid-April. The average flowering duration of a flower was 14.4 days in 2009 and 19.6 days in 2011. The average duration of flower-falling was between 3.4 days and 4.2 days for three years. Cumulative flowering rate (CFR) was correlated with year day (YD), year day index (YDI), and Nuttonson's index (Tn), with correlation coefficients (CC) of over 0.9 at the 1% significance level; CC value between CFR and YD was the largest and that between CFR and YDI was the smallest. However, at the 5% significance level, CFR was closely related with Tn more than any other factors. The CCs between flowering times of two years in each plant were high and significant at 1% level. The YD value of flowering time of a flower was inversely related to its flowering duration significantly for three years. In a given plant, when more flowering started early, the flowering duration was longer. The first flower blossomed on 73.4 YD in 2010 and 78.9 YD in 2011, and remained for 16.7 days in 2009 and 27.4 days in 2011, respectively; the fifth flower developed on 92.5 YD in 2010 and 96.6 YD in 2011, and remained for 8.0 days in 2009 and 14.6 days in 2011. The YD differences between the flowering times of two flowers decreased in the order of inflorescence.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.165-175
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• 2014

A natural population of Adonis multiflora, a spring ephemeral herb growing in temperate deciduous forests, was studied to determine the seed production characteristics. Plant size, flowering time, and seed number were monitored from February 2009 to May 2011 in main growing season (i.e., from March through May). The biomass rates of the shoot and the root in the A. multiflora population were 22-24% and 76-78%, respectively, and the biomass of the root was proportional to that of the shoot. The flowering rate was 60% in the plants with 1 to 2 g of shoot biomass, and 100% in the plants with >2 g of shoot biomass. In the plants with root biomass between 4 and 6 g, the flowering rate was 43% and, in the plants with the root biomass over 8 g, it was 100%. The shoot biomass was a better predictor of the flower production probability than the root biomass. The number of flowers and seeds was closely correlated to shoot biomass at 1% significance level. The size of the plant that produced seed excessively instead of the shoot biomass in one year typically decreased in the next year and vice versa. The flowering time and its duration were closely related to the number of faithful seeds but not to that of total seeds. The number of faithful seeds was proportionate to flowering duration and inversely proportionate to flowering time (year day, YD). In a plant, the number of faithful seeds noticeably decreased with the inflorescence (i.e., order of flower in a plant), and this difference between the two successive flowers was significant at the 1% level between the first and the third flower in 2009 and 2011 but not between the third and the fourth. However, the number of total seeds was mostly similar in the first through the fourth flower for all three years.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.167-176
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• 2008

Atmospheric N deposition has far-reaching impacts on forest ecosystems, including on-site impacts such as soil acidification, fertilization, and nutrient imbalances, and off-site environmental impacts such as nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emission. Although chronic N deposition has been believed to lead to forest N saturation, recent evidence suggests that N retention capacity, particularly in the forest floor, can be surprisingly high even under high N deposition. This review aims to provide an overview of N retention processes in the forest floor and the implications of changing C-N interactions for C sequestration. The fate of available N in forest soils has been explained by the competitive balance between tree roots, soil heterotrophs, and nitrifiers. However, high rates of N retention have been observed in numerous N addition experiments without noticeable increases in tree growth and soil respiration. Alternative hypotheses have been proposed to explain the gap between the input and loss of N in N-enriched, C-limited systems, including abiotic immobilization and mycorrhizal assimilation, both of which do not require additional C sources to incorporate N in soil N pools. Different fates of N in the forest floor have different implications for C sequestration. N-induced tree growth can enhance C accumulation in tree biomass as observed across temperate regions. C loss from forests can amount to or outweigh C gain in N-saturated, declining forests, while another type of 'C-N decoupling' can have positive or neutral effects on soil C sequestration through hampered organic matter decomposition or abiotic N immobilization, respectively.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.1027-1037
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the flora of Mt. Bongrae in Busan from February 2004 to May 2005. The flora in the surveyed area were identified 291 taxa that belonged to 82 families, 201 genera, 251 species, 35 varieties, and 5 forms. Among them, evergreen broad trees were identified 21 taxa, naturalized plants 30 taxa, especial plants decided by Ministry of Environment 24 taxa. By the vegetation of each slope, in northeast slope, it was dominated such as Pinus thunbergii community, Chamaecyparis obtusa community, Amorhpa fruticosa community, Trachelospermum asiaticum var. intermedium-Hedera rhombea community, north-northeast slope, it was distributed both Pinus thunbergii community and board-leaved tree community. In the southwest slope of coast site, it was presented plantation plants, according to altitude distributed such as natural vegetation, evergreen broad trees, warm-temperate plants. In southeast slope, it was to represent secondary vegetation such as Alnus firma community as a forest fire. Underside was mainly to search herbs such as naturalized plants and cruciferous family as a vegetable garden. In northwest slope, it was searched trees such as Pinus thunbergii community, Lindera obtusiloba, Styrax japonca, Prunus sargentii, Aralia elata, Zanthoxylum piperitum, Akebia quinata and herb layer such as Osmunda japonica, Allium thunbergii, Liriope platyphylla, Corydalis ochotensis, Scilla scilloides, Viola orientalis. Around the top, it was distributed such as Rhododendron mucronulatum-Rhododendron schlippenbachii community, Carpinus coreana, Viburnum erosum, Sorbus alnifolia.