• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.782-788
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• 2016

To check the possibility of using natural extracts for cosmetic substances, we tested the bioactive effects of 11 crude extracts originating from native plants grown in the Republic of Korea on anti-oxidant and anti-wrinkle activities. When DPPH scavenging activities were measured, the crude extracts of Vitex rotundifolia, Scirpus triangulatus, S. wichurae, S. tabernaemontani, and Aeschynomene indica assays had more than 70% of DPPH scavenging activities at 100 μg/ml concentration. The data from the hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay revealed that the crude extracts from the 10 species, except for Eleocharis mamillata var. cyclocarpa, could scavenge more than 90% at 1,000 μg/ml concentration. The crude extract of V. rotundifolia had the highest xanthine oxidase scavenging activity at a 1,000 μg/ml concentration. Based on the four anti-oxidant assays, the crude extracts of V. rotundifolia, S. triangulatus, S. wichurae, S. tabernaemontani, and A. indica were shown to have excellent anti-oxidant capacities overall. In addition to the anti-oxidant capacities, the crude extract from S. wichurae exhibited high collagenase inhibitory activity, therefore, it could be a promising candidate for a cosmetic ingredient with anti-oxidant and anti-wrinkle qualities. The results of this study indicate that many wild plants native to the Korea Peninsula can be used as excellent natural substances for cosmetics based on their bioactive effects.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.81 no.1
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• pp.53-65
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• 1992

For elucidating effective methods of restoration of forest recreational sites where management goals are maintaining naturalness and conserving natural ecosystem, seeding, fertilization and soil surface treatment were used for four years at the devastated forest-floor. For restoration of forest-floor vegetation, factorial experiment was used with a split plot design(main plot : fertilization, subplot : soil surface${\times}$seeding) and a randomized complete block design (fertilization${\times}$seeding) at the Kwanaksan Aboretum, Anyang, Kyonggido. Results were summarized as follows : Soil surface softening with tipping and ripping and straw-mat mulching (70% coverage) treatment was effective on germination, survival and growth of seeded vegetation at devastated forest-floor. Especially, straw-mat mulching treatment was effective on soil surface stabilization and seedling's survival at eroded soil surface, while complete soil surface softening treatment was effective on germination, survival and early growth of tree species of late-successional series. Introducing seeds of native species of pioneer or early-successional series, with good growth capability in barren soil was effective on rapid restoration in devastated forest-floor with its soil surface previously compacted and its surviving seeds washed away. When the seeding and straw-mat mulching after partial soil surface softening with tipping and ripping treatment were employed, it took about three years to restore the devastated forest-floor where surface erosion had been undertaken for an extended period of time and where naturally surviving seeds of native species had been washed away. Softening treatment of soil surface was effective for about two years, and seeding and soil surface treatment increased number of seedlings and improved soil surface environment through fixing of movement of the fallen leaves. Fertilizing effect was not oberserved, mainly due to seeding exposure and poor physical condition including soil surface erosion, low soil water potential and drought, etc, at the field experimental site. However, application of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers was effective on seedling survival of the species in late-successional series, while lime application adversely affected the seedling survival.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.86 no.4
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• pp.430-434
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• 1997

Axillary bud explants from 3-year-old seedlings of Forsythia saxatilis N., rare and endangered species in Korea, were cultured on Murashige and Skoog's medium. The effect of various cytokinins(BAP, kinetin, and zeatin) at the different concentration(0.2, 0.5 and 1.0mg/L) was tested. Although an apparent shoot proliferation was not observed, zeatin showed slight promotional effect on normal shoot and leaf development. Both shoots and adventive roots could be induced simultaneously when the explants were cultured on the medium with kinetin, but adventive rooting was gradually reduced according as BAP and zeatin concentrations increased. Axillary shoot growth was promoted by the etiolation treatment. Shoot proliferation has been maintained more than three years with consecutive subculture. Rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized in the artificial soil mixture and showed normal growth after transplantation into field.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.237-246
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• 2015

Heavy metal pollution in soil, such as lead contamination, has become an area of interest in Korea because of urbanization and atmospheric deposition from neighboring countries. Therefore, in this research, eco-physiological responses such as chlorophyll contents, antioxidant enzyme activity, photosynthetic rate, biomass and phytoaccumulation abilities were investigated for 4 commonly used native roadside tree species to suggest suitable tree species to cope with lead contamination. The target species, Ginkgo biloba, Prunus yedoensis, Zelkova serrata and Chionanthus retusus showed lead toxicity by significant changes of chlorophyll contents and antioxidant enzyme activities on treatments over 200 mg Pb/kg. However, biomass and photosynthetic rates only showed significant responses of plants in the highest level (5,000 mg/kg) treatment. Especially, G. biloba did not show any significant changes of antioxidant enzyme activity, photosynthetic rate, and biomass even in the highest level treatment. In low level - environmentally realistic treatments, G. biloba and P. yedoensis showed the highest phytoaccumulation rate of lead from soil. Selecting and planting species like G. biloba which have good phytoaccumulation abilities and resistance to lead contamination by further research will be required to deal with emerging lead contamination.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.10-19
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• 2000

Due to the urbanization, concentrated population, and limited land exploitation in the modern society, the environment surrounding that we live in is getting polluted more and more, and it has become hard even to let urban children experience the nature. This research was conducted to help people recognize the importance of our natural resources through the environmental education of elementary school and to use school's practical open-space for the Indigenous Plants education. The results of this study are as follows : First, the status of a plant utilization in our institutional education : There were 362 species totally of 124 species of Trees, 156 species of Herbs, 63 species of Crops, and 19 species of Hydrophytes which appear in the elementary school text book. Of all, the most frequently appearing species of tree were the Malus pumila var. dulcissima, Pinus densijlora, Citrus unshiu, Diospyros kaki. Second, the effect of plant education using the land around schools : The result of research on the open-space of the 19 elementary schools located in Mapo-gu showed that most of the species planted are the Juniperus chinensisrose, Hibiscus syriacus. Pelargonium inquinans in the order of size, and the plants appearing in text book were grown in the botanical garden organized in 7 schools. Especially most of the Indigenous Plants were being planted in botanical garden, and Pinus densijlora, Abeliophyllum distichum, Polygonatum var. plurijlorum, Liriope platyphylla and so on. Last, the result of this research on recognition of Environment, Planting education and Indigenous plants : It showed that educational necessity of students and teachers about environment and Indigenous Plants was more than 80%. The management of botanical garden was conducted by some teachers and managers. The results of this study suggested that we needed the reconstruction of curriculum, the efficient application of plant education for effectiveness of using school environment and monitoring continually and construction information sources for the better environment education in the elementary schools.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.163-178
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• 2023

This study was conducted to understand the vegetation characteristics of Cheongwansan Provincial Park through the analysis of the plant community structure and to build data necessary for the continuous management and protection of Cheongwansan Provincial Park. The TWINSPAN and DCS analyses of the plant community structure of 63 survey districts in Cheongwansan Provincial Park identified eight colonies, including Cryptomeria japonica Community (I), Chamaecyparis obtusa-Pinus densiflora Commuity (II), P. rigida-P. densiflora Community (III), mixed coniferous and broad-leaved Community (IV), P. densiflora Community (V), deciduous broad-leaved such as Quercus spp. Community (VI), Q. mongolica-P. densiflora Community (VII) and P. thunbergii Community (VIII). The colonies can be grouped into afforestation communities (I, II, and III) dominated by C. obtusa, C. japonica, and P. rigida and natural forest communities (IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII) dominated by native species. Although Cheongwansan Provincial Park is a provincial park area that can represent natural ecosystems and landscapes, the rate of artificial forests is higher than that of other provincial parks. Most of the artificial forest communities are expected to maintain their current state, but since native species such as Machilus thunbergii, Neolitsea sericea, and deciduous broad-leaved, which are warm-temperate trees introduced through surrounding natural forests, appear in the lower layer, it is determined that it is possible to induce succession to natural forests suitable for climatic characteristics through management, and monitoring for continuous management is also necessary. Deciduous broad-leaved such as Quercus spp. Copete with P. densiflora in most natural forest communities. The vegetation series in the warm-temperate region of Korea appears to be in the early stages, and it is believed that the succession to Q. serrata or Q. mongolica, which appears next to coniferous in the series, is in progress. However, M. thunbergii and N. sericea, which appear in the middle stage of the succession in the warm-temperate region, have started to appear, and since Jangheung-gun belongs to the warm-temperate region considering the climate characteristics, the eventual succession to the warm-temperate forests dominated by evergreen broad-leaved is also expected. In this study, we built vegetation data from Cheongwansan Provincial Park, which lacks research on vegetation. However, since vegetation research in Cheongwansan Provincial Park is still insufficient, it is believed that further research should be continuously conducted to establish forest vegetation data and observe vegetation changes.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.638-647
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• 2010

This study was performed in order to analyze influences the actual vegetation between the communities of Pinus densiflora and Quercus mongolica in southern Korea to the species composition of the seed bank in the top soil. The soil samples were collected from the studied plots and transported to the Experimental Glasshouse at Department of Landscape Architecture, Yeungnam University and examined the germinated species individual numbers with species composition and germinated individual numbers by species. The overall germination status was the highest in the herbaceous layers than the layers of tree, sub-tree and shrub, respectively. There were no significantly different between numbers of species and individuals and between actual vegetation and seed bank in the two communities. The woody species marked in the seed bank as a pioneer or edge species than in the two communities which are in the stage of mid or late successional species. Although the plant species in the herbaceous layers was highly influenced to the species composition of the seed bank, but no significantly different was showed within the same forest zone and latitudes of Korean peninsula. As the pioneer or edge species of the actual vegetation possibly will be higher the buried in the top soil layer and this phenomenon will influence overall species composition in the seed bank population.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.438-444
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate temperature effect on seed germination behaviors and seed viability changes by drying periods of three Ulmus species (Ulmus davidiana var. japonica (Rehder) Nakai, U. pumila L., and U. parvifolia Jacq.) distributed in Korea. Statistical analysis showed that temperature had a significant effect on mean germination time in three Ulmus species, but its effect on germination percentage was only shown in U. parvifolia (p<0.01). U. davidiana var. japonica and U. pumila germinated relatively consistent in all temperature conditions, especially the latter showed high germination behaviors in low temperatures (10-15$^{\circ}C$). U. parvifolia germinated well in high temperature (25$^{\circ}C$), while this species rarely germinated in low temperature conditions (10-20$^{\circ}C$). The results confirm that seeds of U. pumila and U. parvifolia are orthodox seeds which can be stored under 4-8% moisture condition, and U. davidiana var. japonica seed is recalcitrant seed which is difficult to store for a long time. In conclusion, these differences of the germination behaviors for three Ulmus species seem to be adaptive regimes of their natural habitats, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.311-325
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• 2023

This study was conducted to analyze the habitat suitability of the major honey trees including Kalopanax septemlobus Koidz., Prunus spp., Tilia spp., and Styrax obassia Siebold & Zucc. indigenous to mountain Gariwang and Yumeong using the machine learning approach (i.e., MaxEnt model). The AUC values of the model predictions were mostly above 0.7, and the results of the response curves showed that the environmental drivers that had effects on the habitat suitability of the major honey trees were elevation, mean annual precipitation, and mean annual temperature. These results indicate that climatic drivers along the elevation gradient are the main environmental drivers in explaining the distribution patterns of the major honey trees. In addition, the results of the response curves of Prunus spp. and Styrax obassia Siebold & Zucc. differed slightly in terms of slope and mean annual solar radiation as the main environmental drivers. The results of this study will be valuable for the establishment of honey tree forests and management plans for the natural and artificial forests in South Korea, as well as for the mapping the distribution of honey trees. Further studies at different regional levels, reflecting biotic drivers, will be needed to expand the production of honey and pollen at different strata and to produce honey annually.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.679-690
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• 2008

The objectives of this study are to investigate and analyze the vegetation structure and population dynamics of Berchemia racemosa habitats in the Weolmyung park in Gunsan city, and base on that to seek the ecological habitat conservation plan for the Berchemia racemosa. In results, the Berchemia racemosa habitats are located at $81{\sim}93$ meters above the sea level, in steep seaside slope of a mountain. The soil texture are silt loam mainly and soil pH were $4.1{\sim}5$. The vascular plants in the Berchemia racemosa habitats has been analyzed as 61 taxa; 33 families, 51 genera, 54 species, 6 varieties, and 1 forms. Berchemia racemosa as a Specific plant species by floral region was the class V. Berchemia racemosa habitats were classified into 7 vegetation communities of Quercus serrata community(A1), Alnus firm a community(A2), Platycarya strobilacea community(A3), Robinia pseudoacacia community(A4) and 3 Pinus densiflora communities(B1, B2, B3). The importance value of Berchemia racemosa were 30%(A1), 15%(A2), 27%(A3), 65%(A4), 18%(B1), 45%(B2) and 35%(B3) on shrubs layer and 12, 27, 20, 18, 11, 18, 21 % on herb layer. The constant companion species with Berchemia racemosa were Stephanandra incisa and Ligustrum obtusifolium. Total 103 populations appear in the 7 Berchemia racemosa habitats. Their spatial distribution pattern were clumped for the most part. The average height was 133cm, the root color diameter was 4.4cm and the ramification branch number was 9.4. From the results of this study, it is suggested the continued monitoring and the active protection measures for the Berchemia racemosa habitats.