• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.77-96
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• 2018

We investigated and analyzed three Korean island sites (Bijin-do, Ae-do, and Bogil-do) and one Japanese site (Tachibanayama) of sword-leaf litsea (Actinodaphne lancifolia) forests, known as the climax forest, to discuss the vegetation succession sere of warm-temperature evergreen broad-leaved forests. We then reviewed the literature in Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan to consider the distribution characteristics of evergreen broad-leaved forests, vegetation succession sere, and climax tree species. Although Mt. Tachibana and Ae-do showed the most advanced vegetation structure, the soil and ordination (CCA) analysis indicated that it was not enough to consider that the sword-leaf litsea forest was at the climax stage in the warm-temperature region. The Actinodaphne lancifolia forest is sparsely distributed in Korea and Japan while the common types of vegetation in the warm temperate zone region in East Asia are Machilus spp., Castanopsis spp., and Cyclobalanopsis spp. The vegetation succession sere of the Korean warm-temperature region is thought to have a secondary succession such as Pinus thunbergii, P. densiflora, Q. serrata (early stage) through Machilus thunbergii, innamomum yabunikkei, Neolitsea sericea, Actinodaphne lancifolia (middle stage) to Castanopsis sieboldii, Q. acuta, Q. salicina (climax stage). However, Machilus thunbergii will be the climax species as an edaphic climax in places where there is a strong influence of the sea wind, or it is difficult to supply the seeds of Castanopsis spp. and Cyclobalanopsis spp.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.573-580
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• 2006

A sediment core from the Cheollipo arboretum ($36^{\circ}$ 47' 57'N, $126^{\circ}$ 09' 04') was studied for pollen analysis in order to reconstruct postglacial vegetational change and environmental changes around the central western region of the Korean Peninsula. The record shows four pollen assemblage zones: Zone CHL-I, Quercus stage (ca. 9,300$\sim$6,200 yr BP): zone CHL-II, Quercus-Pinus stage (ca. 6,200$\sim$4,600 yr BP); zone CHL- III, Pinus-Quercus stage (ca. 4,600$\sim$1,160 yr BP): zone CHL-IV and Pinus stage (ca. 1,160 yr BP-present). During the 9,300$\sim$8,500 yr BP, the early Holocene, researchers have guessed a piece of cool-temperate norihern/altimontane mixed coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved forest. Between 8,500$\sim$4,600 yr BP the Quercus dominated the landscape of study area and the established dates of this typical cool-temperate central/montane deciduous broad-leaved forest vegetation might be ca. 6500 yr BP, and then the Pinus developed around the site at ca. 5,700 yr BP. The abrupt increase of Pinus and NAP (non-arboreal pollen) after ca. 1,100 yr BP indicates the vegetation changes due to human activities. From the dynamics of the Chenopodiaceae pollen indicating salt marsh and freshwater pollen flora such as Typha, Trapa, Nymphoides and so forth, we suggest that the tidal flat was altered into freshwater lake around 6,500 yr BP.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.175-182
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• 2006

Because of the phenological variation of vegetation growth in temperate region, it is often difficult to accurately assess the surface conditions of agricultural croplands, grasslands, and disturbed forests by multi-spectral remote sensor data. In particular, the spectral similarity between soil and dry vegetation has been a primary problem to correctly appraise the surface conditions during the non-growing seasons in temperature region. This study analyzes the spectral characteristics of the mixture of dry vegetation and soil. The reflectance spectra were obtained from laboratory spectroradiometer measurement (GER-2600) and from EO-1 Hyperion image data. The reflectance spectra of several samples having different level of dry vegetation fractions show similar pattern from both lab measurement and hyperspectral image. Red-edge near 700nm and shortwave IR near 2,200nm are more sensitive to the fraction of dry vegetation. The use of hyperspectral data would allow us for better separation between bare soils and other surfaces covered by dry vegetation during the leaf-off season.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.46-56
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• 2021

Diatoms have been used in examining water quality and environmental change in freshwater systems. Here, we analyzed molecular profiling of seasonal diatoms in the Han River, Korea, using the hypervariable region of 18S V1-V3 rRNA and pyrosequencing. Physicochemical data, such as temperature, DO, pH, and nutrients showed the typical seasonal pattern in a temperate region. In addition, cell counts and chlorophyll-a, were recorded at high levels in spring compared to other seasons, due to the diatom bloom. Metagenomic analysis showed a seasonal variation in the phytoplankton community composition, with diatoms as the most frequently detected in spring (83.8%) and winter (69.7%). Overall, diatom genera such as Stephanodiscus, Navicula, Cyclotella, and Discostella were the most frequent in the samples. However, a large number of unknown Thalassiosirales diatoms were found in spring (35.5%) and winter (36.3%). Our molecular profiling revealed a high number of diatom taxa compared to morphological observation. This is the first study of diatoms in the Han River using molecular approaches, providing a valuable reference for future study on diatoms-basis environmental molecular monitoring and ecology.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2021

This study analyzed the status of climate-change indicator plants native to the main islands of the Korean peninsula, while elucidating their distribution characteristics. Information on flora from over 129 island locations, comprising more than 100 species of native plants, was collected, compiled into a database, and utilized as raw data. The distribution of 193 climate-change indicator plants was confirmed. The distribution area of broadleaf evergreen trees and ferns, including Mallotus japonicus and Cyrtomium falcatum, was relatively wide. In contrast, the distribution of common northern plants such as Corydalis turtschaninovii and Malus baccata was limited. If global warming persists, northern plant distribution is expected to decrease rapidly in the Korean Peninsula island region, while the northern limit line of the southern plants is expected to migrate further northward. During this process, it is likely that the plant congregation structure and species diversity within the island region will change dynamically. In this study, comparative analyses between species and regions were conducted by assessing the relative frequency of their occurrence, and six types of botanical geographic distribution patterns were noted.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2009

Soil $CO_2$ efflux can vary markedly in magnitude over both time and space, and understanding this variation is crucial for the correct measurement of $CO_2$ efflux in ecological studies. Although considerable research has quantified temporal variability in this flux, comparatively little effort has focused on its spatial variability. To account for spatial heterogeneity, we must be able to determine the number of sampling points required to adequately estimate soil $CO_2$ efflux in a target ecosystem. In this paper, we report the results of a study of the number of sampling points required for estimating soil $CO_2$ efflux using a closed-dynamic chamber in young and old Japanese cedar plantations in central Japan. The spatial heterogeneity in soil $CO_2$ efflux was significantly higher in the mature plantation than in the young stand. In the young plantation, 95% of samples of 9 randomly-chosen flux measurements from a population of 16 measurements made using 72-$cm^2$ chambers produced flux estimates within 20% of the full-population mean. In the mature plantation, 20 sampling points are required to achieve means within $\pm$ 20% of the full-population mean (15 measurements) for 95% of the sample dates. Variation in soil temperature and moisture could not explain the observed spatial variation in soil $CO_2$ efflux, even though both parameters are a good predictor of temporal variation in $CO_2$ efflux. Our results and those of previous studies suggest that, on average, approximately 46 sampling points are required to estimate the mean and variance of soil $CO_2$ flux in temperate and boreal forests to a precision of $\pm$ 10% at the 95% confidence level, and 12 points are required to achieve a precision of $\pm$ 20%.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.267-271
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• 2001

A phytosociological study on the hierarchical classification system of the Rosetalia rugosae, developed at the coastal dunes in the cool-temperate region of Northeast Asia, was carried out. Currently, the Rosetalia rugosae is subordinated to the Rosetea multiflorae which is the highest rank of the mantle vegetation in Northeast Asia, however its hierarchical system is somewhat ambiguous. This study was accomplished by using the syntaxa and hierarchical system of the Rosetalia rugosae and Rosetea multiflorae, and by also using 197 homogeneous relevns of the Rosetalia rugosae in South Korea and Japan in terms of the Zbrich-Montpellier School. For the hierarchical analysis of the Rosetalia rugosae, the constancy, the frequency and the net contribution degree were evaluated. It is estimated that the Rosetalia rugosae and the Rosetea multiflorae are hardly related to reciprocally. Thus, the subordination of the Rosetalia rugosae to the Rosetea multiflorae is comparatively irrational. Accordingly, the syntaxonomical hierarchy of the Rosetalia rugosae must be reconsidered that is correspond to the Viticetea rotundifoliae of the warm-temperate coastal dune shrub vegetation.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.100-100
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• 2018

Zoysia japonica Steud.(Zj) is a typical warm-season Korean lawn grass, which is used in many places such as river banks, roadside and soccer fields in Korea. Recently, it has also been used in school yards and the Saemangeum reclaimed land to reduce water pollution. Although the cultivated area of turfgrass is steadily increasing worldwide, it grows fast requiring frequent mowing and is difficult to grow in shady areas and the cold region. Therefore this study aims searching for useful gene(s) to develop abiotic stress tolerant and dwarf zoysiagrass. We isolated Ycf4 gene based on the sequence from Oryza sativa Japonica through RT-PCR and RACE PCR. Ultimately, open reading frame (ORF) of ZjYcf4 was 558bp long, encoding a protein of 186 amino acid residues. NCBI blast results showed that the ZjYcf4 protein is evolutionarily closely related to Ycf4 protein from Zoysia macrantha and Setaria italica (100% and 98%, respectively). To determine whether ZjYcf4 was involved in environmental stress in wild-type zoysiagrass, expression patterns of the gene were analyzed by real-time PCR under salt, cold and dark conditions. They were analyzed after each stress treatment for 3 hours. In salt and cold stresses, the expression was higher compared to control (3-fold and 1.5-fold, respectively), although there was a 1.6-fold decrease in expression under dark stress treatment. As reported previously, we suggest that ZjYcf4 gene affects abiotic stress such as salt, cold and dark.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 1994

A study was conducted to examine the leaf expansion forms and to analyze the leaf growth in early growing season of 1992 in a temperate deciduous forest in central region of Korea. After the winter bud scale fell off, the expansion forms of 11 woody species were divided into 3 groups, spreading fan form, opening form from half folding, and unrolling form from main vein. The ratios of leaf area at the end of growing season to that of leaf expantion time varied among species, and were related closely to expansion forms. The leaves reached to full size between the third ten days of April and the middle ten days of May, except for a few species. Leaf weight, however, increased steadily during the growing season. Specific leaf area (SLA) increased rapidly for 10-20 days after leaf expansion and decreased rapidly for 10 days after reaching maximum values, and thereafter decreased slowly. The SLA values of trees were smaller than $200cm^2/g$, but those of subtree and shrub were larger than $200cm^2/g$.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.254-259
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• 2004

The wild-type and temperature-sensitive (ts) repressor genes were cloned from the temperate mycobacteriophage L1 and its mutant L1cIts391, respectively. A sequencing analysis revealed that the $131^{st}$ proline residue of the wild-type repressor was changed to leucine in the ts mutant repressor. The 100% identity that was discovered between the two DNA regions of phages L1 and L5, carrying the same sets of genes including their repressor genes, strengthened the speculation that L1 is a minor variant of phage L5 or vice versa. A comparative analysis of the repressor proteins of different mycobacteriophages suggests that the mycobacteriophage-specific repressor proteins constitute a new family of repressors, which were possibly evolved from a common ancestor. Alignment of the mycobacteriophage-specific repressor proteins showed at least 7 blocks (designated I-VII) that carried 3-8 identical amino acid residues. The amino acid residues of blocks V, VI, and some residues downstream to block VI are crucial for the function of the L1 (or L5) repressor. Blocks I and II possibly form the turn and helix 2 regions of the HTH motif of the repressor. Block IV in the L1 repressor is part of the most charged region encompassing amino acid residues 72-92, which flanks the putative N-terminal basic (residues 1-71) and C-terminal acidic (residues 93-183) domains of L1 repressor.