• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.456-464
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• 2016

Korea established an inventory of 1,916 sites of inland wetlands during a nationwide investigation from 2000 to 2010. If inland wetlands is included in or near various protected areas designated by the government, it can be selected as a wetland to be managed with priority. This study evaluated the aspect of management of inland wetlands by analyzing the correlation between locations of national protected areas and inland wetlands. As a result, it was shown that a considerable percentage of current inland wetland was located in areas that were designated and managed as protected areas by the government, as they had a high value of natural environment protection (527 sites, 31.61 %). When the range was widened to a radius of 1 km for protected areas, 959 sites were included and 57.53 % of sites were located in or nearby the protected areas. Among them, 46.79 % of sites were distributed up to or within a 1 km radius of waterside areas and rivers; it accounted for 81.33 % of wetlands located in protected areas. Therefore, it was found that locations of current inland wetlands were mostly in contact with rivers. The results of overlay analysis were classified into high, medium and low; the correlation of location with inland wetlands was analyzed through the analysis of separation distance of various protected areas. The number of wetlands located in areas of a 'high' value of protection was 998 (59.87 %); 289 sites (17.34 %) were distributed in areas of a 'low' value of protection. This implies that these wetlands are located in artificial areas and are more exposed to environmental pressures. Thus, these wetlands could be determined as inland wetlands, which we considered for the establishment of measures to prevent damage.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.448-455
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• 2016

Diffuse pollution management in Korea initiated by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) resulted to the construction of pilot facilities termed Best Management Practices (BMPs). Twelve BMPs installed for the diffuse pollution management in the Kyung-An Stream were monitored since 2006. Data on the mass loading, removal efficiency, maintenance activities, etc. were gathered and utilized to conduct the evaluation of long-term performance of BMPs. The financial data such as actual construction, design and maintenance cost were also collected to evaluate the lifecycle cost (LCC) of BMPs. In this study, most of the maintenance activity was focused in the aesthetic maintenance that resulted to the annual maintenance cost of the four BMP types was closely similar ranging from 8,483 $/yr for retention pond to 8,888 $/yr infiltration system. The highest LCC were observed in constructed wetland ($418,324) while vegetated system had the lowest LCC ($210,418). LCC of BMPs was not so high as compared with the conventional treatment facility and sewage treatment plant. On the other hand, the relationship of removal efficiency on unit cost for TSS and TN was significant. This study will be used to design the cost effective BMP for diffuse pollution management and become models for LCC analysis.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2016

In this study we analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution and preferred habitat type of the Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) based on the 3rd National Ecosystem Survey. Kentish plovers were observed in 97 maps out of a total 842 maps (11.8%) between 2006 and 2012, mainly along the western and southern coasts of Korea. They were also observed in the eastern coast of Korea, inland rivers (Han, Geum, Nakdong, Seomjin, and Yongsan River), the western and eastern coast of Jeju island, and Daecheong Island in the Yellow Sea. The observations were mainly made during the spring breeding season and migration seasons in spring and autumn. The occurrence of kentish plovers was positively influenced by the area of water and wetland according to the middle classification level of land cover type analysis and the area of coastal wetlands in the detailed classification level of land cover types. Most (90%) of the kentish plovers recorded maps had coastal wetlands. Kentish plovers were known to be susceptible to change of habitat. As the occurrence of kentish plovers could be associated with the habitat-change of coastal wetlands and it is possible to estimate the number of individuals, it is recommended that kentish plovers be used as a bioindicator species for the ecological assessment of ecosystem in intertidal zones.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2019

Recently, Low impact development techniques, a form of nature-based solutions (NBS), were seen cost-efficient alternatives that can be utilized as alternatives for conventional stormwater management practices. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an infiltration trench (IT) and a small constructed wetland (SCW) in treating urban stormwater runoff. Long-term monitoring data were observed to assess the seasonal performance and cite the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing the facilities. Analyses revealed that the IT has reduced performance during the summer season due to higher runoff volumes that exceeded the facility's storage volume capacity and caused the facility to overflow. On the other hand, the pollutant removal efficiency of the SCW was impacted by the winter season as a result of dormant biological activities. Sediment data also indicated that fine and medium sand particles mostly constituted the trapped sediments in the pretreatment and media zones. Sediments in SCW exhibited a lower COD and TN load due to the phytoremediation and microbiological degradation capabilities of the system. This study presented brief comparison LID facilities equipped with pre-treatment zones. The identified factors that can potentially affect the performance of the systems were also beneficial in establishing metrics on the utilization of similar types of nature-based stormwater management practices.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.50-64
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• 2009

The freshwater lakes located at the fringe of urban cities are a habitat for diverse organisms. However, they are facing severe danger of environment deterioration and water pollution caused by reckless development of the area. In this study, an ecological management plan was suggested to promote the biodiversity through appointing management area based on the research and analysis data of flora and fauna as well as maintain biodiversity and harmonize utilization of freshwater lakes such as Duryang Reservoir at Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do. Base on the data of ecological research and analysis, this study conducted research on biotope assessment, wild life habitat assessment and presence of protected species. As a result, the ecosystem conservation area including multi-layer structured natural forests, waterside and wetland that are home to various species and the edge area with high habitat diversity were recognized as highly preservable regions. Management areas were ecologically disturbed region, highly polluted commercial district and damaged waterside caused by fishing. Proactive management must be implemented through vegetation management such as vegetation transition and shrub planting as well as establishing pollutant management system. The deterioration of waterside and forest vegetation of freshwater lake has a direct influence on biodiversity and water quality. Therefore, the conservation area and development area should be totally separated from each other, and the development area must be restored and managed strictly.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2012

Typha angustifolia has ecological characteristics of clonal growth similar to Phragmites australis. The plant spreads byclonal growth and seed dispersal. In this study, for the three stands which have different settlement age at the Baksilji wetland in Korea, genetic diversity was estimated by random amplification of polymorphic DNA analysis to evaluate the change in genetic diversity of T. angustifolia during stand development in the same population. Stand (ST) 1 was the oldest and ST 4 was the youngest. ST 5 was in a small ditch out of the Baksilji. Although the ST 1, ST 2, and ST 3 did not differ significantly in vegetational or physical environment, the genetic diversity estimated according to Nei's gene diversity (h) and the Shannon index (i) increased in the order of ST 1 < ST 2 < ST 3 contrary to formative age. The genetic diversity of ST 4 was much higher than that of the other three stands. ST 4 has similar abiotic environmental conditions with slight T. angustifolia dominance, and seems to be in the early establishment stage. ST 5 differed from the other stands in vegetational and soil environments, which can result in stressful cattail conditions. Even though the ST 5 stand was not younger than the ST 4 stand, ST 5 showed the highest genetic diversity. Our results indicate that after early settlement of the T. angustifolia population, genetic diversity within the species decreased over time and that the decreasing pattern of genetic diversity within T. angustifolia stands is not likely to occur under stressful conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.55-64
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• 2017

The problem of the population number of honeybees that is decreasing not only domestically but also globally, has a great influence on human beings and the entire ecosystem. The habitat of honeybees is recognized to be superior in urban environment rather than rural environment, and predicting for habitat assessment and conservation is necessary. Based on this, we targeted Cheonan City and neighboring administrative areas where the distribution of agricultural areas, urban areas, and forest areas is displayed equally. In order to predict the habitat preferred by honeybees, we apply the Maxent model what based on the presence information of the species. We also selected 10 environmental variables expected to influence honeybees habitat environment through literature survey. As a result of constructing the species distribution model using the Maxent model, 71.7% of the training data were shown on the AUC(Area Under Cover) basis, and it was be confirmed with an area of 20.73% in the whole target area, based on the 50% probability of presence of honeybees. It was confirmed that the contribution of the variable has influence on land covering, distance from the forest, altitude, aspect. Based on this, the possibility of honeybee's habitat characteristics were confirmed to be higher in wetland environment, in agricultural land, close to forest and lower elevation, southeast and west. The prediction of these habitat environments has significance as a lead research that presents the habitat of honeybees with high conservation value of ecosystems in terms of urban space, and it will be useful for future urban park planning and conservation area selection.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.454-466
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• 2013

To evaluate the organic matter and trace metal pollution in intertidal sediment of the coastal zone, various geochemical parameters (grain size, ignition loss [IL], chemical oxygen demand [COD], acid volatile sulfide [AVS], and metals [Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Mn, Hg, and As]) were measured for the intertidal surface sediment of the mainland and islands between Mokpo and Haenam in the southwestern coast of Korea. The surface sediments consist mainly of finer sediments, such as mud and silt. The concentrations of IL, COD, and trace metals in intertidal sediment were relatively high in the shoreline of the mainland than in that of islands and those in some stations exceeded the sediment quality guidelines (SQGs). Moreover, the concentrations of IL, COD, and trace metals (except As) in sediment showed relatively good positive correlations with mean grain size, indicating that the concentrations of organic matter and trace metals in intertidal sediment of the study region are dependent on grain size of sediment. Pollution evaluation for trace metals using geochemical assessment techniques, such as enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, and SQGs, suggested that the intertidal sediments in the study region show light pollution with Cr and moderate pollution with As. More extensive interdisciplinary studies are required to determine the potential causes of As pollution in intertidal sediment.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2016

Sewerage supply in rural community is the important for water quality protection of water system such as river, lake and wetland. And characteristic of small scale wastewater system that have wide range of inflow and concentration in sewage should be considered for stable operation of small scale wastewater treatment plant. In this research, characteristics of flow ratio (flow / designed flow), effect on treatment efficiency of small scale wastewater treatment plant and assessment of optimal flow ratio were conducted through analysis on operation result of 18 small scale wastewater treatment plant in Bong-hwa gun. As a result, flow ratio shows the higher value during summer. However pollutants concentration in sewage was shown the higher concentration during autumn and winter. Treatment of small scale wastewater treatment plant is increased when flow ratio increased, and nutrient treatment efficiency is more sensitive to change of flow ratio than organic compound and suspended solids. According to this research result, it need to be maintained flow ratio 0.8 over value for stable treatment efficiency of small scale wastewater treatment plant.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.168-177
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: In recent year, there has been great concern regarding agricultural land uses and their importance for the conservation of biodiversity. Rice fields are managed unique wetland for wildlife, especially waterbirds. A comprehensive monitoring of the waterbird assemblage to understand patterning changes was attempted for rice ecosystem in South Korea. This rice ecosystem has been recognized as one of the most important for waterbirds conservation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Biweekly monitoring was implemented for the 4 years from April 2009 to March 2010, from April 2011 to March 2014. 32 species of waterbirds were observed. Self-organizing map (SOM) and random forest were applied to the waterbirds dataset to identify the characteristics in waterbirds distribution. SOM and random forest analysis clearly classified into four clusters and extract ecological information from waterbird dataset. Waterbird assemblages represented strong seasonality and habitat use according to waterbird group such as shorebirds, herons and waterfowl. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that the combination of SOM and random forest analysis could be useful for ecosystem assessment and management. Furthermore, we strongly suggested that a strict management strategy for the rice fields to conserve the waterbirds. The strategy could be seasonally and species specific.