Recent conditions in North Sulawesi Province (NSP) have become favorable for the development of tourism. In this paper, we present the recent status of biodiversity and tourism in NSP as a basic consideration towards integrative biodiversity conservation strategy. Overall, biological accounts suggest that NSP is important for the world biodiversity conservation program. NSP's biodiversity makes the area a major nature-based tourism (ecotourism) site in the world. Development of diverse tourism programs in NSP has provided new opportunities for balancing development and conservation of regional ecosystems. However, the excessive tourism growth in some particular areas in NSP has been identified as the primary factor of environmental degradation. Nowadays, biodiversity of North Sulawesi regions are suffering from the number of tourist impacts and facilities. Based on those conditions, tourism planning and development in NSP is needed to formulate a proper strategy to protect the ecosystem and biodiversity from degradation and extinction. This will be a new challenge of sustainable island tourism development and biodiversity conservation in NSP.

$Calotropis$ $procera$ L. is a perennial shrub distributed in saline areas of deserts of South Asia. Salt stress is a very challenging subject in arid and semi-arid areas. Germination stage is very sensitive and many plants do not germinate in saline soil. The objective of this study was identifying the salinity effect on seed germination of $Calotropis$ $procera$ L. The experimental design was a complete randomized block design with NaCl and $CaCl_2$ at five levels of isobar concentrations: 0.0, -0.01, -0.05, -0.1, and -0.15 MPa. Osmotic potential had significant effects ($P$ < 0.01) on germination percentage, germination rate, shoot length, root length, and seedling dry weight. All seedling characteristics decreased with decrease in osmotic potential. Shoot length and root length decreased more than the seedling characteristics. Germination was completely inhibited in -0.1 Mpa. Priming with NaCl and $CaCl_2$ (-0.1 MPa) for four days had significant effects ($P$ < 0.01) on the germination percentages. Priming improved the seedling characteristics in all samples, especially in -0.05 Mpa, but a decrease with decrease in osmotic potential.

This study was conducted with the intention of clarifying the effects of land-use types on a species of ground beetle's richness, abundance, and composition; the study focused on urban landscapes. We also selected the potential bioindicators classifying land-use types; eleven sites were selected from an urban landscape in Korea. Overall, land-use types in urban landscapes did not appear to cause significant decrease in species richness or the abundance of total ground beetle assemblage. According to habitat preferences, several land-use types and distances from the forest significantly affected the species richness and abundance, while the open-habitat species were not affected by these variables. Land-use types were classified into two major groups, forest and non-forest areas, based on ground beetle assemblage; several indicators, such as $Dolichus$ $halensis$ $halensis$ and subfamily Carabinae species, were of particular consideration. In conclusion, environmental change by anthropogenic disturbance can cause different effects on ground beetle assemblages, and forest specialists can be negatively affected.

This study was performed in order to suggest the possibility of tree species classification using high-resolution QuickBird-2 images spectral characteristics comparison(digital numbers [DNs]) of tree species, tree species classification, and accuracy verification. In October 2010, the tree species of three conifers and eight broad-leaved trees were examined in the areas studied. The spectral characteristics of each species were observed, and the study area was classified by image classification. The results were as follows: Panchromatic and multi-spectral band 4 was found to be useful for tree species classification. DNs values of conifers were lower than broad-leaved trees. Vegetation indices such as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil brightness index (SBI), green vegetation index (GVI) and Biband showed similar patterns to band 4 and panchromatic (PAN); Tukey's multiple comparison test was significant among tree species. However, tree species within the same genus, such as $Pinus$ $densiflora-P.$ $rigida$ and $Quercus$ $mongolica-Q.$ $serrata$, showed similar DNs patterns and, therefore, supervised classification results were difficult to distinguish within the same genus; Random selection of validation pixels showed an overall classification accuracy of 74.1% and Kappa coefficient was 70.6%. The classification accuracy of $Pterocarya$ $stenoptera$, 89.5%, was found to be the highest. The classification accuracy of broad-leaved trees was lower than expected, ranging from 47.9% to 88.9%. $P.$ $densiflora-P.$ $rigida$ and $Q.$ $mongolica-Q.$ $serrata$ were classified as the same species because they did not show significant differences in terms of spectral patterns.

Litterfall dynamics in forests are assessed by estimating biomass production and decomposition. However, there have been few studies on how litter dynamics impact the health and management of ecosystems. Here, a new approach to measure and assess ecosystem function is presented based on conventional methods using littertraps, litterbags, and the mass on the forest floor. To assess the status of litter dynamics, the decay rate (k) was estimated from a litterbag experiment, and removal rates ($k_i$) were determined from mass balance on the forest floor at 21 sites on three mountains in South Korea. The $k_3$ (organic mass ratio of $O_i$ and $O_e+O_a$ + A horizons in November) values in an equilibrium state in South Korea were within the range of $k{\pm}0.174$ when considering the annual variation of litterfall production. This study also suggests that sampling sites for these types of studies should be in the middle, not at the ends, of steady slopes on the forest floor.

The sex ratio and spatial structure of different sexes are major components that affect the reproductive success and population persistence of dioecious plants. The differential reproductive costs between male and female plants are often believed to cause a biased sex ratio and spatial segregation of the sexes through slower growth and/or lower female survivorship. In this study, we examined the sex ratio and spatial structure of one population of $Torreya$ $nucifera$ trees in Jeju Island, Korea. We also tested the effects of the current tending actions in relation to tree vitality. At the population level, the sex ratio of the 2,861 trees was significantly biased toward males; however, it also showed considerable variation among different diameter at breast height classes and across habitats according to terrain level (from upper to lower). In 1999, before tree management (tending) began, among the ecological traits examined, only climber coverage correlated with tree vitality. Intensive tending such as climber removal since 1999 clearly enhanced the vitality of the majority of trees, but its effects were more conspicuous in medium-sized trees than in small ones, in upper terrain trees than those in other terrains, and in females than in males. Both male tree domination in small and large trees and tending effects on females are likely to reflect the effects of female reproductive costs regarding growth and/or survivorship. Spatial segregation between males and females was not observed in $T.$ $nucifera$. Habitat heterogeneity created by the forest's rocky ground and its implications regarding sex ratios and spatial structure require further studies.

Salt marsh is an important transitional zone among terrestrial, riverine, and marine ecosystems and is a productive habitat that interacts extensively with adjacent landscape elements of estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Nowadays, in addition to various human activities, a variety of natural processes induce changes in salt marshes. This study aims to provide background information to restore disturbed salt marshes and to propose their ecological restoration using seed banks. The study area is a prepared area for the Gwangyang Container Port located in the southern Korea. This area was formed by accumulating mud soils dredged from the bottom of the forward sea. This land was created in a serial process of preparing the Gwangyang container port and the salt marsh was passively restored by seeds buried in mud soil dredged from seabed. As a result of stand ordination based on vegetation data collected from the land, stands were arranged according to tolerance to salinity in the order of $Suaeda$ $maritima$, $Salicornia$ $europaea$, and $Phragmites$ $communis$ communities on the Axis 1. Landscape structure of the projected area was analyzed as well. Edges of the projected area were divided from the marginal waterway by the dike. Four types of vegetation appeared on the dike: $Alnus$ $firma$ plantation, $Robinia$ $pseudoacacia$ plantation, $Lespedeza$ $cyrtobotrya$ plantation, and grassland. In the more internal areas, two types of vegetation sequences appeared: $Aster$ $tripolium$ community-$Suaeda$ $glauca$ community-$Salicornia$ $europaea$ community sequence and $Aster$ $tripolium$ community-$Suaeda$ $maritima$ community-$S.$ $europaea$ community sequence. Mixed community showed the highest species diversity (H' = 0.86) and $S.$ $europaea$ community showed the lowest (H' = 0.0). Evenness is the highest in Mixed community (J' = 2.26) and the lowest in $S.$ $maritime-S.$ $europaea$ community (J' = 0.0). Several plant communities were successfully established on the land created by mud soil dredged from the bottom of Gwangyang Bay. Moreover, community diversity in this area approached a similar level with those from other studies involving natural salt marshes. Therefore, restoration effect based on community diversity obtained in our study can be evaluated as a successful achievement. In this respect, although most salt marshes in Korea and other places worldwide have been destroyed or disturbed by excessive land use, feasibility of seed bank as a restoration tool is greatly expected.

There are different types of compost used as soil conditioners and fertilizers. Plants can have different responses to different forms of compost. This field study was performed to examine the effects of different types of compost on growth factors of three dry rangeland species (Atriplex, $Atriplex$ $lentiformis$; Saltwort, $Seidlitzia$ $rosmarinus$; Haloxylon, $Haloxylon$ $persicum$) and soil properties. The experiment was conducted in the Fars Province of Iran during the year 2010-2011. Compost applications consisted of compost tea, solid compost (SC), solid and liquid mixture (MX) and no compost as the control. The study was a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. The results showed that all the tested compost applications enhanced the growth traits of all three species. It was also demonstrated that the use of compost significantly increased the organic matter (1% probability level [PL]), nitrogen concentration (5% PL), phosphorous (5% PL) and potassium (5% PL) concentrations of the soil. The soil's pH level was unchanged (range, 7.3 to 7.6), and the sodium concentration was also significantly decreased (1% PL) by the use of compost. The higher responses were observed in canopy volume and soil sodium and the lower were observed in stem diameter and soil pH level. Among the three plants in the study, Atriplex showed the best response to the application of compost. Based on the results of this study, it can be recommended that the best compost application to increase growth and improve soil condition is the mixed compost (MX) for Atriplex and the SC for Saltwort and Haloxylon.

The rapid urbanization in developing countries is accelerating both the depletion and fragmentation of urban green space, despite the known positive effects of green spaces on the environmental conditions in cities and the quality of life of residents. Consequently, there is a need for practical tools that can support the development of networks of urban green spaces. This article presents a study that used a GIS-based least cost path (LCP) analysis to identify the best alternative for developing an urban green space network in the coastal city of Jakarta, Indonesia, which was based on the evaluation of topography and land use characteristics. Pair-wise analysis was used to reduce the sensitivity in the LCP model. The results showed that the coastal wetlands in the northern part of Jakarta and the agricultural fields in the suburban areas of Jakarta play an important role in connecting the green space network. On the other hand, some green spaces in the central part of Jakarta could not be connected by the LCP model. The method used in this study can serve as a tool to support the identification of networks of potential urban green spaces. It can also provide useful information for sustainable urban landscape planning and management in urban ecosystems. However, the inclusion of socio-economic criteria would further improve the model.

Rice paddy fields have been recognized as an alternative habitat for avian wetland foragers, and fish-rice farms have become a new tool in improving the abundance of aquatic animals. However, the use of the habitats by avian foragers, particularly by oriental storks ($Ciconia$ $boyciana$), was not well understood. In the present study, we investigated how a fish-rice farm influenced the abundance of aquatic animals and documented the foraging behavior of the two captive bred oriental storks in a closed semi-natural paddy field. Our results showed that the fish refuge pond (water depth 40 cm) had a higher abundance of fish whereas the areas planted with rice (water depth 20 cm) had more tadpoles and some aquatic insects. The two captive bred oriental storks captured mostly fish and aquatic insects in the rice-planted area and mostly fish in the fish refuge pond. The two oriental storks had higher foraging success and spent more time for foraging in the rice-planted area than in the fish refuge pond. This result suggests that the oriental storks might prefer foraging in the area with fish, aquatic insects, and amphibians under a greater success rate presumably due to shallow water depth in the paddy fields with a fish-rice farm.