• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.97-107
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• 2015

Wetlands constitute a transitional zone between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and have unique characteristics such as frequent inundation, inflow of nutrients from terrestrial ecosystems, presence of plants adapted to grow in water, and soil that is occasionally oxygen deficient due to saturation. These characteristics and the presence of vegetation determine physical and chemical properties that affect decomposition rates of organic matter (OM). Decomposition of OM is associated with activities of various extracellular enzymes (EE) produced by bacteria and fungi. Extracellular enzymes convert macromolecules to simple compounds such as labile organic carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S) that can be easily taken up by microbes and plants. Therefore, the enzymatic approach is helpful to understand the decomposition rates of OM and nutrient cycling in wetland soils. This paper reviews the physical and biogeochemical factors that regulate extracellular enzyme activities (EEa) in wetland soils, including those of ${\beta}$-glucosidase, ${\beta}$-N-acetylglucosaminidase, phosphatase, arylsulfatase, and phenol oxidase that decompose organic matter and release C, N, P, and S nutrients for microbial and plant growths. Effects of pH, water table, and particle size of OM on EEa were not significantly different among sites, whereas the influence of temperature on EEa varied depending on microbial acclimation to extreme temperatures. Addition of C, N, or P affected EEa differently depending on the nutrient state, C:N ratio, limiting factors, and types of enzymes of wetland soils. Substrate quality influenced EEa more significantly than did other factors. Also, drainage of wetland and increased temperature due to global climate change can stimulate phenol oxidase activity, and anthropogenic N deposition can enhance the hydrolytic EEa; these effects increase OM decomposition rates and emissions of $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ from wetland systems. The researches on the relationship between microbial structures and EE functions, and environmental factors controlling EEa can be helpful to manipulate wetland ecosystems for treating pollutants and to monitor wetland ecosystem services.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.174-181
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• 1998

In four citrus grow of Satsuma mandarin (rootstock of trifoliate orange) including two grove of organical management and two groves of conventional management, spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal(AM) fungi were identified and seasonal changes in spore density in soils and AM colonization of citrus roots were investigated. AM colonization in weeds found in the groves were also examined. Three species of Glomus (G.deserticola, G. vesiculiferum, G. rubiforme ) and one unknown species of Acaulospora were observed in all of the groves. Annual mean density of AM fungal spores were in the range of 10,000${\sim}$40,000 per 100g soil with more spores in the organically-managed groves. The least spores were observed in December in all groves, and the most spores in April in the organically-managed groves while in February or April in the conventionally- managed. Annual mean AM colonization more 27% of citrus root were observed in the organically-managed with the high peaks in April and October and the minimum in August, while mean colonization less than 15% in the conventionally-managed with the peak in February and the minimum in different times depending on groves and years. AM colonization corresponded to a sigmoidal curve consisting of a laf phase during winter and a subsequent increase in spring, then succeeded by a maximum, and then a decrease at the end of vegetation. Fungal spore density and AM colonization showed a parallel pattern during the sample period. The seasonality appeared to be related more to the phenology of the plant than to the soil factors. Generally more spore density and AM colonization were found in organically managed groves. AM colonization was not correlated with available P and organic matter content in soil in this field investigation. Among sixteen weed species found in the groves, Astrogalus sinicus of Leguminosae, Portulaca oleracea of Portulacaceae showed high colonization in all groves and they can be considered as a source of inoculumn and host plants for propagation of AM fungi.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2016

Deutzia paniculata is an endemic species to the Korean Peninsula. Despite of importance for conservation, the population structure and habitat characteristics of D. paniculata have not been determined yet. We analyzed the ecological characteristics of the species based on the literature review and field survey. Field survey was conducted on May to October 2014 during which 11 quadrats of size $15{\times}15m$ were studied in six regions. Each of the quadrats were further divided into $5{\times}5m$ small quadrats and population characteristics were recorded. The population and habitat characteristics were analyzed, including species abundance (density and coverage), demographic attributes (flowering rates and fruiting plants), vegetation (structure, species composition), light availability (transmitted light and canopy openness) and soil characteristics (temperature and humidity). We found that D. paniculata mainly distributed in Gyeongsangdo (including Taebaek in Gangwondo) along a broad elevational range of 290~959 m (mean: 493 m) above sea level. In preferred habitat the species grows within the slope range of $7^{\circ}$ and $35^{\circ}$ with the average of $16^{\circ}$. D. paniculata was generally distributed on talus deposits and low adjacent slopes. The average number of individual plants per small quadrat was 12.5 with the mean density $0.5stems\;m^{-2}$. The vegetative reproduction was frequent in D. paniculata and mean flowering rate was as low as 15%. Altogether 138 taxa were found in whole observation area with the dominant tree species mainly spring ephemerals, such as Cornus controversa (importance value: 25.5%) and Fraxinus rhynchophylla (importance value: 15.8%). Although, C. controversa usually grows on steep slopes and F. rhynchophylla mostly distributed at high-altitudes, however, both species distributed in disturbed environments and among talus deposits. Thus based on our results, we concluded that D. paniculata is a disturbance-prone species, primarily existing in habitats subjected to natural disturbances, such as floods. The species occurs less at anthropogenically disturbed sites, thus there is no apparent threat to the populations and habitat of D. paniculata.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.570-579
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• 2015

Lindera sericea, which belongs to genus Lindera in the Lauraceae family, is labeled under Least Concerned (LC) among Korean rare plants, floristics specific species IV grade and also flagpole species of the Mudeung National Park. It is distributed in Mt. Mudeung, Mt. Cheonbong and Mt. Chogye within gradients from $12^{\circ}$ to $51^{\circ}$. The slope area is from northeast to northwest sides and the altitude range of distribution site is between 220 m and 533 m. The vascular plants in the quadrate where Lindera sericea were studied were identified as a total of 72 taxa; 37 families, 54 genera, 66 species, 5 variants and 1 forma. Among the floristics specific species, IV grade species was Lindera sericea and III grade species were Stewartia pseudocamellia and Acer palmatum. Korean endemic species were Stewartia pseudocamellia and Carex okamotoi. As for the vegetation group, Quercus mongolica and Q. serratak - Lindera sericea, Styrax japonicus populations were found in Mt. Mudeung area where Lindera sericea appeared, Stewartia pseudocamellia-Lindera sericea and Sasa borealis populations were found in Mt. Cheonbong areas, Carpinus laxiflora - Lindera sericea and Sasa borealis populations were found in Mt. Chogye area, and Stewartia pseudocamellia-Lindera sericea and Sasa borealis populations were found in Songgwangsa area. A total number of 662 Lindera sericea individuals were examined. The number of trees with 1 trunk including younger individuals was 353 (53.32%), and the number of trees with 2 to 5 stems was 270 (40.79%). The number of trees with the greatest number of sprouts was 27. Of 662 trees in total, the total number of sprouts was 1,198. Among these, 699 trees (58.34%) were between 50 cm and 150 cm in height. The tallest tree was 585 cm. The most common root-collar diameter of sprouts (992, 82.81%) was under 1 cm, followed by the sprouts with collar diameter from 1.0 to 1.5 cm(156, 13.2%). Among them, the largest root-collar diameter was 3.2 cm. This Lindera sericea specimen had the tallest trunk (565 cm) which was torn lengthwise on one side. Its root and breast parts were decayed by 50% and 25 respectively. Some branches of the three trunks that were more than 4 m in length were dead in the apical portion. Therefore, it is proposed that the Korean Lindera sericea maintains an apical dominance tree type while showing morphological adaptation as a typical shrub because it autonomously decays some branches and trunks over a certain height while increasing the number of its sprouts.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.431-440
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• 2014

To propose the improvement and management plans to strengthen the pollutant removal efficiency of dam reservoir's constructed wetlands(CWs), the operation status and configuration of CWs (including water depth, operational flow, water flow distribution, residence time, and pollutant removal efficiency, aspect ratio, open water/vegetation ratio etc.) were analyzed in 10 major wetlands constructed in dam reservoirs. The pollutant concentrations in the inflows of the studied CWs were lower than those of American and European constructed wetlands. Especially, organic matter concentrations in all of inflows were below 3 mg/L(as BOD) due to advanced treatment of sewage disposal plant and an intake of low concentration water during dry and normal seasons. The average removal efficiency of total nitrogen(TN) and total phosphorus(TP) for 10 CWs ranged from 7.6~67.6%(mean 24.9%) and -4.9~74.5%(mean 23.7%), respectively, showing high in wetlands treating municipal wastewater. On the other hand, the removal efficiency of BOD was generally low or negative with ranging from -133.3 to 41.7%. From the analysis of the operation status and configuration of CWs, it is suggested that the low removal efficiency of dam reservoir's CWs were caused by both structural (inappropriate aspect ratio, excessive open water area) and operational (neglecting water-level management, lack of facilities and operation for first flush treatment, lake of monitoring during rainy events) problems. Therefore, to enable to play a role as a reduction facility of non-point source(NPS) pollutants, an appropriate design and operation manuals for dam reservoir's CW is urgently needed. In addition, the monitoring during rainy events, when NPS runoff occur, must be included in operation manual of CW, and then the data obtained from the monitoring is considered in estimation of the pollutant removal efficiency by dam reservoir's CW.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.196-206
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• 2012

Studies of seasonal changes in $C_3/C_4$ mixed communities are rare, particularly in Asian summer monsoon climate zones. In our present study, seasonal changes in the profile and coverage of $C_3$ and $C_4$ plants were investigated in 2009 in Haenam, Yeongdong and Cheorwon regions of South Korea (all at different latitudes). The aim was to estimate the impacts of temperature and sunshine duration on species composition and transition timing of the $C_3$ and $C_4$ plants. From our results, the number of $C_3$ plants was found to increase from early spring to mid-May, and then decrease again until September in the Haenam and Yeongdong regions, but continuously increase from early spring to September in the Cheorwon region under relatively low summer temperatures. On the other hand, the number of $C_4$ plants increased from June or July to September in all three regions. These seasonal changes in species number and ratio have a direct impact upon species diversity which is highest when there are no dominant species. The relative coverage and relative summed dominance ratio (SDR') of the $C_3$ plants decreased from spring to autumn, but increased for the $C_4$ plants during this time in an exponential fashion with increasing accumulated temperature and sunshine duration. The transition timing from $C_3$ to $C_4$ plants occurred when the sum of sunshine duration for the days with daily mean temperature above $5^{\circ}C$ was 1017 hrs for the SDR'.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.447-459
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• 2009

This study is intended to provide basic date for the efficient management of Pinus densiflora community by analyzing ecological characteristics of Pinus densiflora inhabiting Byeonsanbando National Park. According to investigations, P. densiflora community and P. densiflora-Quercus community are widely distributed, occupying 40.3% of the total area. 21 sites ($400m^2$per site) are selected for TWINSPAN analysis, and the result indicates that the whole community of P. densiflora and P. densiflora-Quercus can be classified into 8 types, and the age of P. densiflora is 40-50 years, which is similar to that of deciduous broad-leaved trees. The 8 community types are: P. densiflora community which competes with Quercus variabilis; P. densiflora community in which Fraxinus sieboldiana and Quercus serrata grow in the understory layer; P. densifloa community in which Q. serrata grow in the understory layer and Smilax china var. microphylla in the shrub layer respectively; P. densifloa community in which P. densiflora and F. sieboldiana grow in the understory layer; P. densiflora community which competes with Q. serrata and Carpinus tschonoskii; P. densiflora community which competes with Q. variabilis and Q. serrata; P. densiflora community in which Prunus sargentii grow; P. densiflora community in which Abies holophylla grow. P. densiflora community which competes with Q. variablis and C. tschonoskii seems to be in a stage of succession to deciduous broad-leaved community. The analysis indicates that Shannon diversity index is 0.2756-1.3879. It also indicates that there is a negative correlation between P. densiflora and Q. variabilis and C. tschonoskii; there is a positive correlation between P. densiflora and F. sieboldiana and Rhododendron schlippenbachii. These investigations show that the transformation of vegetation is already under way. There is a possibility that ecological succession can take place in 30.4% of the total area from P. densiflora to Quercus and deciduous broad - leaved trees. Therefore, it is recommended that the preservation and maintenance of P. densiflora be implemented by taking control of competing species which undermine the stability of P. densiflora forest community.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.384-391
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• 2019

Nutrients in stormwater runoff have raised concerns regarding water quality degradation in the recent years. Low impact development (LID) technologies are types of nature-based solutions developed to address water quality problems and restore the predevelopment hydrology of a catchment area. Two LID facilities, infiltration trench (IT) and infiltration planter (IP), are known for their high removal rate of nutrients through sedimentation and vegetation. Long-term monitoring was conducted to assess the performance and cite the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing the facilities in nutrient removal. Since a strong ionic bond exists between phosphorus compounds and sediments, reduction of total phosphorus (TP) (more than 76%), in both facilities was associated to the removal of total suspended solids (TSS) (more than 84%). The efficiency of nitrogen in IP is 28% higher than IT. Effective nitrification occurred in IT and particulate forms of nitrogen were removed through sedimentation and media filters. Decrease in ammonium- nitrogen (NH₄-N) and nitrite-nitrogen (NO₂-N), and increase in nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃-N) fraction forms indicated that effective nitrification and denitrification occurred in IP. Hydrologic factors such as rainfall depth and rainfall intensity affected nutrient treatment capabilities of urban stormwater LID facilities The greatest monitored rainfall intensity of 11 mm/hr for IT yielded to 34% and 55% removal efficiencies for TN and TP, respectively, whereas, low rainfall intensities below 5 mm resulted to 100 % removal efficiency. The greatest monitored rainfall intensity for IP was 27 mm/hr, which still resulted to high removal efficiencies of 98% and 97% for TN and TP, respectively. Water quality assessment showed that both facilities were effective in reducing the amount of nutrients; however, IP was found to be more efficient than IT due to its additional provisions for plant uptake and larger storage volume.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.75-81
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• 1973

The morphological, physical, and chemical properties of Sonjeong series derived from acidic crystalline rocks are presented. Also it deals with the genesis and classification of the Songjeong series. Morphologically these soils have brown to dark brown loam A horizons and yellowish red to red clay loam Bt horizons with moderate, medium subangular blocky structure and thin patchy clay cutans on the ped faces. C horizons are very deep, yellowish red to yellowish brown fine sandy loam or sandy loam with original rock structure. Physically distribution of particle size indicates that clay increases with depth up to argillic horizons but below the argillic horizons clay content decrease. The moisture holding capacity is fairly good in Songjeong soils. Chemically soil reaction is strongly to very strongly acid throughout the profile and content of organic matter is less than 1 per cent except A horizons. Cation exchange capacity ranges from 5 to 9 me/100g of soils and base saturation is less than 35 per cent throughout the profile. The natural fertility of Songjeong soils are usually low. It needs lime, organic matter, and heavy application of fertilizer for the crop land. These soils occur temperate and humid climate under coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forest vegetation. Songjeong soils are classified as Red-Yellow Soils. Characteristically Songjeong soils are similar to Red-Yellow Podzolic soils in the United States but lack of A2 horizons and are quite liket Red-Yellow Soils of the Japan. According to new classification system which is 7th approximation of USDA Songjeong soils can be classified as fine loamy, mesic family of Typic Hapludults and in the FAO/UNESCO project World Soil Map as Orthic Acrisols.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.323-332
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• 2003

This study was carried out to provide information for the present status of soil pollution near abandoned old-zinc mining area through analysis of bound form and 0.1 N-HCl extractable concentrations of heavy metals in soils and plants. Feasibility of endemic plants for phytoremediation was evaluated by the investigation of vegetation in soils. Cd contents of the selected samples near old-zinc mining soils ranged from 0.2 to $42mg\;kg^{-1}$. Nonagricultural soils near the mining area contained great amounts of Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cu than the paddy and upland soils. Some Korean wild plants, Artemisia princeps, Artemisia montana, Erigeron canadensis, and Pueraria thunbergiana, were found to grow vigorously in the studied area. Among them, Artemisia princeps was selected as a possible phytoremediator for cleaning heavy metal contaminated soils. Artemisia princeps contained about 43 and $52mg\;kg^{-1}$ of Cd in their root and shoot as dry weight, respectively. Average contents of Cd in the rhizosphere soil, $15.68mg\;kg^{-1}$, was slightly higher than the soil-root interface soils, $14.1mg\;kg^{-1}$. Sequential extraction of Cd contaminated soils showed that average $2.4mg\;kg^{-1}$ (about 7%) of cadmium existed as exchangeable form and the average amounts increased as follows : adsorbed < organically bound < exchangeable << oxide carbonate << sulfide residual fractions. Amendment of organic by-product fertilizer in metal-contaminated soils promoted the growth of roots significantly as compared with the other treatments containing chemical fertilizer.