• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.345-353
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• 1994

Litter production and decomposition were investigated for 2 years in the oak, Quercus acutissima, and the pitch pine, Pinus rigida, stands in the vicinity of Kongju, Chungnam Province. Litter production was measured with litter trap at monthly basis. Litterbag method was used for the measurement of litter decomposition. Litter producion continued throughout the year, but showed a peak in autumn. Second peak in May or June was caused by falling of bud scales and reproductive organs. Average litter production in the oak and the pitch pine stands were $567.1g{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}yr^{-1}\;and\;653.2g{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}yr^{-1}$, respectively. Litter production in this study area were higher than those in other reports. Nutrient concentrations in litter were the highest in summer when the least litter production occurred, and the lowest in autumn when the greatest litter production occurred, except for calcium in the oak stand. Nutrient concentrations of the oak litter were higher than those in the pitch pine litter. After 1 year, % remaining mass of oak and pitch pine litter was 43.6% and 58%, respectively. After 21 months elapsed, % remaining mass of oak and pitch pine litter was 22.2% and 33.2%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.110-117
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• 2016

Litter fall is a source of nutrients and carbon transfer in terrestrial ecosystems. Litter decomposition provides nutrients needed for plant growth, sustains soil fertility, and supplies $CO_2$ to the atmosphere. We collected the leaf litter of evergreen broadleaf tree, Camellia japonica L., and carried out a decomposition experiment using the litterbag method in Ju-do, Wando-gun, Korea for 731 days from Dec 25, 2011 to Dec 25, 2013. The leaf litter of C. japonica remained 42.6% of the initial litter mass after experiment. The decay constant (k) of C. japonica leaf litter was $0.427yr^{-1}$. The carbon content of C. japonica leaf litter was 44.6%, and the remaining carbon content during the decomposition tended to coincide with the changes in litter mass. The initial nitrogen and phosphorus content was 0.47% and 324.7 mg/g, respectively. The remaining N in decaying litter increased 1.66-fold in the early decomposition stage, then gradually decreased to 1.18-fold after 731 days. The content of P showed the highest value (1.64-fold of initial content) after 456 days, which then fell to a 1.15-fold after 731 days. The remaining Ca, K, Mg and Na content in C. japonica leaf litter tended to decrease during decomposition. The remaining K showed a remaining mass of 8.9% as a result of rapid reduction. The initial C/N and C/P ratio of C. japonica leaf litter was 94.87 and 1368.5, respectively. However, it tended to decrease as decomposition progressed because of the immobilization of N and P (2.78 and 2.68-fold of initial content, respectively) during the leaf litter decaying. The study results showed that N and P was immobilized and other nutrients was mineralized in C. japonica leaf litter during experimental period.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.887-892
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• 2011

This study was to find out influence of heavy metal concentration in plant on microbial activities during decomposition of Artenmisia princeps var. orientalis and Equisetum arvense collected from an abandoned mine and control site in Cheongyang-gun Chungcheongnam-do. Microbial respiration rate showed the highest value at the time of the first collection, and then tended to decline over time. The highest microbial respiration rate appeared in leaf litters with low heavy metal contents, and A. princeps var. orientalis and E. arvense collected and decomposed at the control site showed the fastest decomposition rate. For both A. princeps var. orientalis and E. arvense, litters with low heavy metal content appeared to have higher microbial biomass. There was apparent quantitative correlation between decomposition rate and cumulative respiration rate of leaf litters, and between decomposition rate and microbial biomass of leaf litters. Thus, the study result showed that leaf litter with higher heavy metal content had a negative impacts on the growth and activity of microbial decomposer during decomposition processes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.1-8
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• 2002

서울근교에 존재하는 소나무림은 낙엽활엽수림으로 바뀌고 있다. 그러므로 서울근교의 산림에 대한 조사는 자연 식생형 산림 특히 소나무 복원에 그 시사점을 줄 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 서울근교에 존재하는 8개 산의 15개 지소를 선정하여 그곳에 존재하는 식생형을 파악하고, 토양의 물리적 특성을 조사하여 산림 복원 시 고려할 토양 특성을 확인하고자 하였다. 8개 산에서 선정된 15개 조사지소는 소나무군락, 소나무-낙엽활엽수군락, 낙엽활엽수군락으로 나누어 물리적 토양 특성을 조사하였다. 소나무의 평균 중요치는 소나무군락에서 137이었으며 소나무-낙엽활엽수군락에서는 8이었다. 평균 바위분포 면적-토양 깊이-경사는 소나무군락에서 26-22-31, 소나무-낙엽활엽수군락에서 7-53-32, 낙엽활엽수군락에서 14%-34cm-$28^{\circ}$로 나타났다. 소나무군락, 소나무-낙엽활엽수군락, 낙엽활엽수군락의 임상 및 토양에 존재하는 총 유기물량은 각각 2490, 1757, and $2107g/m^2$로 조사되었다. L층에서의 유기물량은 모든 군락 유형에서 비슷하였으나, F층과 H층에서는 매우 다르게 나타났다 : F층은 소나무군락에서 가장 발달하였고 H층은 낙엽활엽수군락에서 가장 발달하였다. 통계처리 결과는 바위분포 면적, 고도, 경사, 사면은 군락의 유형과 유의한 관련성을 보여주지 않았으나, 토양의 깊이, 자갈의 함량, 세사와 미사의 함량은 군락의 유형에 따라 다름을 보여주었다. 본 연구는 소나무군락의 토양이 자갈과 세사의 높은 함량과 관련이 있으며, 이에 따라 H층의 발달이 미약하게 나타남을 보여 주었다. 그러므로 2-10mm의 자갈이 40% 이상되는 장소에는 분해가 덜된 유기물과 소나무를 사용할 때 복원의 성공가능성이 높으며, 자갈의 함량이 30% 이하이며 모래의 함량이 50% 이상인 장소에는 분해된 유기물의 함량을 높이고 낙엽활엽수를 이용하는 것이 복원성공 가능성이 높음을 시사한다.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.3 s.99
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• pp.172-180
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• 2002

Leaf litter breakdown rates of the Phragmites australis, Zizania latifolia and Typha angustifolia were determined at the lower Nakdong River from Nov. 1998 to Sept. 1999. The relationship between leaf litter breakdown of three and abundance of aquatic invertebrates was investigated. Aquatic invertebrates collected in the litterbags were 11 family, 11 species (mean density: $222\;ind./m^2$ , n = 792), and Chironomidae was dominant. Mean density of Chironomidae in the litterbags were different according to the aquatic plant species: Z. latifolia ($180\;ind./m^2$, n = 264) T. angustifolia ($187\;ind./m^2$, n = 264) P. australis ($95\;ind./m^2$, n = 264). The breakdown of Z. latifolia was the shortest, and that of T. angustifolia was shorter than P. australis. Overall, the breakdown rate at floating layer was faster than that of submerged layer in all of three species and differences of the breakdown rate between open bags and closed three species and differences of the breakdown rate between open bags and closed bags were not found.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2010

We measured net primary productivity, annual accumulation of organic carbon and leaf decomposition of Salix community in the flood plain of the Han River and the Nakdong River. Net primary productivity, annual accumulation of organic carbon of the Salix community were 22.5ton/ha/yr(16.7ton/ha/yr-31.2ton/ha/yr) and 9.7ton C/ha/yr(7.5ton C/ha/yr-14.0ton C/ha/yr) respectively, which showed the highest values among the woody plant communities reported in the Korea. It means that planting Salix in the flood plain of the river is the best way to remove carbon dioxides. The faster leaf decomposition occurred around, under and the herb of Salix community in order. Leaf decomposition rate of Salix was higher than that of mesophytes, but lower than that of hydrophytes.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2005

In a forest ecosystem, the major source of soil carbon input is from litterfall and its decomposition. To understand the effect of litterfall and litter decomposition on seasonal variation of soil respiration and litter decomposition rates were measured in temperate deciduous forest in Korea. Annual litterfall collected from litter trap (1m x 1m) were 147.5 ± 8.2g Cm/sup -2/ yr/sup -1/ in 2003. About 47% of litterfall were Quercus serrata leaf followed by Carpinus laxiflora leaf (27 %), Carpinus cordata leaf (7 %), and others, such as other leaf, bark, branch, and acorn, were 20%. The decomposition rate was the highest in C. cordata (33.03%, k = 0.46), followed by C. laxiflora (25.73%, k = 0.30), and Q. serrata (24.17%, k = 0.28). The continuous measurement of soil respiration from January 2004 to December 2004 was carried out using AOCC (Automatic Open-Closed multi-Chamber system). The annual soil respiration rate was 629.6g Cm/sup -2/ yr/sup -1/ and the litter decomposition was 30.0g Cm/sup -2/ yr/sup -1/. The portion of litter decomposition rate on soil respiration rate was about 5%. From January to February, when the soil respiration rate was the lowest, about 11 % of soil respiration (7.4 ± l.4g Cm/sup -2/ month/sup -1/) were effected by litter decomposition rate (0.8g Cm/sup -2/ month/sup -1/). The highest soil respiration rate (111.5 ± 16.2g Cm/sup -2/ month/sup -1/) and litter decomposition rate (11.4g Cm/sup -2/ month/sup -1/) were showed in July to August. According to the regression analysis between soil respiration rate and litter decomposition, the soil respiration rate were related to litter decomposition with the correlations (r = 0.63).

• 한국생태학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.113.1-113.1
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• 1999

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.455-463
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• 2022

To understand functional changes of forest ecosystems due to climate change, correlation between decomposition rate of leaf litter, an important function of forest ecosystems, and microclimatic factors was analyzed. After 48 months elapsed, percent remaining weight of Quercus mongolica leaf litter was 27.1% in the east aspect and 37.0% in the west aspects. Decay constant of Q. mongolica leaf litter was 0.33 in the east aspect and 0.25 in the west aspect after 48 months elapsed. Initial C/N ratio of Q. mongolica leaf litter was 38.5. After 48 months elapsed, C/N ratio of decomposing Q. mongolica leaf litter decreased to 13.43 in the east aspect and 16.72 in the west aspect. Average air temperature and soil temperature during the investigation period of the research site were 8.2±9.0 and 9.1±9.3 in the east and 8.5±7.4 and 9.3±7.3℃ in the west aspect, respectively, with the west aspect showing higher air and soil temperatures. Soil moisture showed no significant difference between east and west aspects (average soil moisture: 19.4±11.0% vs. 20.5±5.7%). However, as a result of analyzing the correlation between decomposition rate and microclimatic factors, it was found that the decomposition rate and soil moisture has a positive correlation(r=0.426) in the east aspect but not in the west aspect. Our study shows that the correlation between decomposition rate and microclimatic factors can be significantly different depending on the direction of the aspect.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.565-572
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• 2006

This study examined the decomposition of blades and culms of aquatic emergent plant species, Zizania latifolia, Phragmites communis and Typha angustata, which were the most frequent in Lake Paldang. The experiment was carried out from July to December, 2005 in fresh water of lake Paldang using litter bag method. The litter bags had 1.2 mm mesh size and were suspended at 1 m depth of water surface. Remaining mass of blades and culms of each species after 97 days was 21.2% and 22.6% of initial mass in Z. latifolia, 32.5% and 56.4% in P. communis and 44.7% and 38.1 % in T. angustata, respectively. The plant tissue having high N concentration and low C/N exhibited the faster decay rate than the others. However, the tissue of high content of lignin, cellulose, lignin:N, and cullulose:N showed a slow decomposition rate. Water temperature was the most effective environmental factor on the emergent macrophyte litter decomposition in aquatic ecosystems. According to the water temperature, DO, $NO_3^-$-N, and total phosphate concentration were changed in the linear way. The mass loss of plant tissue of emergent macrophytes showed positive relationship with P concentration in water. The experiments on the decomposition of the litter using different mesh sized litter bag did not show significant differences between them. The results suggest that the decomposition of emergent macrophytes in fresh water of lake Paldang, which showed features of lentic and lower part of a stream, was affected by microbial activities better than the micro-invertebrates such as shredders.