• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.657-663
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the difference in feeding habits of Red-Tongued Viper Snakes, according to available foods sources and areas. The effects of differences in food sources were found on Red-Tongued Viper Snake inhabited in the Jeju Island and its islet Gapado, from May 2006 to Nov. 2010. The food sources for the Red-Tongued viper snake population in the Jeju Island were found to be as follows: Chinese red-headed centipedes (Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans), Jeju Salamanders (Hynobius quelpaertensis), Japanese tree Frogs (Hyla japonica), Narrow-mouthed Toad (Kaloula borealis), Dybowski's Brown Frogs (Rana dybowskii), Black-spotted Pond Frogs (Rana nigromaculata), Smooth Skinks (Scincella vandenburghi), Asian Keelback Snakes (Amphiesma vibakari), Lesser White-toothed Shrews (Crosidura shantungensis), Hallasan Shrews (Sorex caecutiens hallamontanus), and Jeju Striped Field Mice (Apodemus chejuensis). This implies that Red-Tongued Viper Snakes mainly feed on amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. Among these, amphibians occupied the highest portion at 55.2% followed by mammals at 20.7%, centipedes at 13.8%, and reptiles at 10.3%. On the contrary, Red-tongued viper snake population in Gapado only feed on Chinese red-headed centipedes and Smooth Skinks (S. vandenburghi). Since only a small amount of nutrient can be obtained from Chinese red-headed centipeds or Smooth Skinks, this feeding habit for Red-tongued viper snake would adversely effect on the growth or regeneration. The reason why Red-Tongued viper snake population in the Gapado mainly feed on Lizard and Centipedes in spite of relatively various available food sources, might be due to the low density of other food sources in the Gapado. Red-Tongued viper snake could be feeding on foods that are low in quality but are easily accessible, to minimize energy consumption on searching for other more nutritious foods. A snake tends to select the size of its food depending on the size of its own head. The positive correlation was found between the size of the heads of Red-Tongued viper snakes from the Jeju island and the diameter of their foods. The head size was larger in the males than females in viper snake population from the Jeju Island, which might effect on their selection of foods. However, no significant difference was found between the sizes of the head and the food in the Red-Tongued viper snake population from the Gapado. The findings of this study would provide meaningful data, which directly shows that even within the same viper species they choose different available food sources according to their inhabitance. This leads to their growth and adaptation to their environment which is beneficial for sustaining of its population.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.480-489
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• 2021

Climate change poses great threats to wildlife populations by decreasing their number and destroying their habitats, jeopardizing biodiversity conservation. Asiatic salamander (Hynobiidae) species are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to their small home range and limited dispersal ability. Thus, this study used one salamander species, the Korean clawed salamander (Onychodactylus koreanus), as a model species and examined their habitat characteristics and current distribution in South Korea to predict its spatial distribution under climate change. As a result, we found that altitude was the most important environmental factor for their spatial distribution and that they showed a dense distribution in high-altitude forest regions such as Gangwon and Gyeongsanbuk provinces. The spatial distribution range and habitat characteristics predicted in the species distribution models were sufficiently in accordance with previous studies on the species. By modeling their distribution changes under two different climate change scenarios, we predicted that the distribution range of the Korean clawed salamander population would decrease by 62.96% under the RCP4.5 scenario and by 98.52% under the RCP8.5 scenario, indicating a sharp reduction due to climate change. The model's AUC value was the highest in the present (0.837), followed by RCP4.5 (0.832) and RCP8.5 (0.807). Our study provides a basic reference for implementing conservation plans for amphibians under climate change. Additional research using various analysis techniques reflecting habitat characteristics and minute habitat factors for the whole life cycle of Korean-tailed salamanders help identify major environmental factors that affect species reduction.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.76-87
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of and to derive future maintenance-management measures of the constructed alternative habitat for the Kaloula borealis at the University of Seoul, examining the period between 2015-2017. The research was constructed in 2014 and in a $191m^2$ area. The performance evaluation was divided into maintaining the habitat of the target species, maintaining the population and reproduction rates of the target species, maintaining the habitat of the wild species, the resilience of natural ecosystems, and the harmony with the surrounding environment. In terms of maintaining the habitat of the target species, soil collected from the existing habitat of the Kaloula borealis and was the depth was increased to 30cm in the alternative habitat. An artificial water supply was required every year during the supporting the spawning and hatching of other amphibians along with the Kaloula borealis. The sources of water of the alternative habitat were both rain and tap water, as it cannot be maintained naturally. Additionally, the Kaloula borealis thrived because it inhabited the research site and the average temperature was $26.2^{\circ}C$ from April-June, which is when the Kaloula borealis spawns. In terms of maintaining the population and reproduction rates of the Kaloula borealis, they were evaluated to have stable rates of reproduction. In terms of maintaining the habitat of the wild species, studies on vegetation and the structure of the characteristics of prey or predators will be needed. Also, alien species, such as Humulus japonicus and Bidens frondosa needed to be removed to maintain the wetland ecosystem of the wild species. In the assessment of the resilience of the natural ecosystems, the mud was monitored, noting the changes in the depth of water, with steps taken to reduce the leakage of water. The mud collected from the Haneul Pond wetland, which is located around the research site was piled up. Also, partial mowing management and the inducement of a natural vegetation colony was required for vegetation management. It was also necessary to create porous spaces, such as old trees and tree branches to create a habitat with hiding places and feeding and spawning places for small organisms. In terms of the harmony with the surrounding environment, the following threat factors needed to be managed: amphibian roadkill by vehicles and pedestrians and artificial draining due to nearby user access. Based on the monitoring results, alternative habitat management measures presented the promoting various waterside structures, in which amphibians can spawn and hide in, managing the water environment consistently, managing the vegetation, focused on the habitat of the wild species, and managing the surrounding environment for the habitat. The creation of an alternative habitat should be managed through monitoring, reflecting the characteristics of the changes in the site. Also continuing efforts are also needed to improve the habitat of the target species.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

Amphibians are a taxonomic group that ecologically connects terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic ecosystems. They play a very important role in the food chain of the ecosystem. It is known that there are about 5,948 species distributed all over the world, but after the Industrial Revolution, due to industrialization and urbanization, there has been a decrease in species and populations. In particular, it is becoming a factor in exacerbating habitat fragmentation or fragmentation due to artificial canals. In orderto improve the survivalrate of wild animals in artificial canals, escape facilities are installed to reduce it. This study analyzed the slope, height of the escape facility, escape rate, and travel distance in the operating facility for Bombina orientalis, which mainly inhabits near forests. The slope of the escape facility showed a relatively similar escape success rate regardless of height at 50° and 60°, while at 70°, it showed a relatively high escape success rate at only 40cm in height. The success rate of escape from the waterway escape facility in operation was 14.71%, showing a very low utilization rate, and the recognition rate of the artificial canal escape facility was found to be very low as it moved along the side wall of the artificial canal. Therefore, in the case of a waterway escape facility for Bombina orientalis, it is possible to construct it at an angle of 60°, and if the side walls of the artificial canals are built within 60°, Bombina orientalis can move freely in both directions, overcoming the low utilization rate of existing waterway escape facilities. It is expected to minimize the impact of movement and death of artificial canals. In addition, if the spacing between escape facilities is narrowed from the installation standard of 30m and ramps are constructed in both directions upstream and downstream, the escape success rate of amphibians,reptiles, and small mammals otherthan lady frogs is expected to improve.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.773-782
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• 2007

Different isolates of the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produce multiple crystal (Cry) proteins toxic to a variety of insects, nematodes and protozoans. These insecticidal Cry toxins are known to be active against specific insect orders, being harmless to mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Due to these characteristics, genes encoding several Cry toxins have been engineered in order to be expressed by a variety of crop plants to control insectpests. The cotton boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, and the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, are the major economically devastating pests of cotton crop in Brazil, causing severe losses, mainly due to their endophytic habit, which results in damages to the cotton boll and floral bud structures. A cry1Ia-type gene, designated cry1Ia12, was isolated and cloned from the Bt S811 strain. Nucleotide sequencing of the cry1Ia12 gene revealed an open reading frame of 2160 bp, encoding a protein of 719 amino acid residues in length, with a predicted molecular mass of 81 kDa. The amino acid sequence of Cry1Ia12 is 99% identical to the known Cry1Ia proteins and differs from them only in one or two amino acid residues positioned along the three domains involved in the insecticidal activity of the toxin. The recombinant Cry1Ia12 protein, corresponding to the cry1Ia12 gene expressed in Escherichia coli cells, showed moderate toxicity towards first instar larvae of both cotton boll weevil and fall armyworm. The highest concentration of the recombinant Cry1Ia12 tested to achieve the maximum toxicities against cotton boll weevil larvae and fall armyworm larvae were 230 ${\mu}g/mL$ and 5 ${\mu}g/mL$, respectively. The herein demonstrated insecticidal activity of the recombinant Cry1Ia12 toxin against cotton boll weevil and fall armyworm larvae opens promising perspectives for the genetic engineering of cotton crop resistant to both these devastating pests in Brazil.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.425-432
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• 2015

Pollution in the fresh water system in urban area has the adverse effect on the amphibians population. Restoration activity of amphibian in the urban stream has been growing in Korea as well as western country. For successful restoration water quality of urban stream should be sufficient for survival and normal development of amphibian. To monitor the biological safety of surface water in the Tancheon basin, the capital area of Korea, a 6-day exposure Bombina orientalis embryo developmental toxicity assay was examined. The toxicity of surface water of Tancheon mainstream were lower than those of tributaries of Tancheon. The survival rate of embryos negatively correlated with total dissolved solid, turbidity and electrical conductivity whereas the developmental abnormality and growth retardation of embryos was positively correlated with total dissolved solid, turbidity and electrical conductivity. An amphibian developmental toxicity assay would be helpful for the selection of point for construction of habitat and reintroduction of amphibian in interrupted urban stream.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.338-344
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• 2015

In an effort to restore the amphibians in urban freshwater system the characteristics of feeding activity of Rana rugosa living in Gyeonggi-provinces (Yangpyeong-gun and Namyangju-si) was analyzed from 2013 to 2014. The stomach contents of R. rugosa was analyzed non-invasively and compared to organisms captured by sweeping and trapping in their habitat. As a result, Hymenoptera and Cleoptera were primarily preyed by R. rugosa. Particularly, the proportion of Formicidae was more than 98% among the preyed Hymenoptera. Trapped insects in the habitat of R. rugosa's in Namyangju were Hymenoptera (58%, Formicidae 99%), Collembola (17%), Orthoptera (10%) and Diptera (9%) in order in order. In Yangpyeong, trapped insects were Collembola (49%), Orthoptera (14%), Arachnida (9%), Diptera (9%), Cleoptera (7%) and Hymenoptera (3%). Even though Hemiptera and Diptera species are abundant in the streamside zones, R. rugosa could easily hunt Formicidae or Coleoptera on rocks or grassland at streamside. R. rugosa consume small sized ground-insects that are easily found rather than searching for the specific prey. Prey resource of urban stream may be not a limiting factor of R. rugosa inhabitation.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2020

In this experiment, investigated toxicity evaluation of chemicals using Asian toad embryos, along FETAX(Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus) protocol. Asian toad, Bufo gargarizans embryo incubated and investigation of Benomyl(Germicide), Carbofuran(Insecticide) and Thiobencarb(Herbicide) effect by probit analysis. As a result, depends on the concentrations of Benomyl, Carbofuran and Thiobencarb, along mortality and malformation rates were increases and larval body length were decreased. The teratogenic concentration(EC₅₀) of Benomyl, Carbofuran and Thiobencarb were 1.03, 8.74, 4.98mg/ℓ, respectively. And when exposed to Benomyl, larvae responded most sensitively to malformations. Embryo lethal concentration (LC₅₀) Benomyl, Carbofuran and Thiobencarb were 7.26, 560.72, 16.87mg/ℓ, respectively. And Benomyl were at the lowest concentration of lethal the embryos. The teratogenic index(TI) were 7.05 in Benomyl, 64.16 in Carbofuran and 3.39 in Thiobencarb, thus TI values were above 1.5, which is the criterion of teratogenicity. Three of the pesticides used in this study were considered to be a teratogenic substances and Carbofuran was the most potent teratogen. And more specific researches are needed to investigate the effects of pesticides on the embryo development of toads and amphibians and their mechanism.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2008

Bombina orientalis, or Korean fire-bellied toad is belonging to Class Amphinia, Order Anura, Family Bombinatoridae, Genus Bombina. Ecological characteristics, such as small size, slow moving and swimming, gentle attitude to other species, under laboratory and/or wild condition lead the toad as suitable experimental animals with easy handling. Seasonal reproductive biology except breeding season (usually from Apr. to late Jun.) are unknown still caused by sampling methods for hibernating specimens have not been established yet. Most species of amphibian, include B. orientalis, are declined around the world related with global warming, therefore, wild caught specimen for any purposes must be limited controled soon. Even though, some pre-studies of biotope for increasing biodiversity have been reported, construction of an artificial biotope to get natural breeding cycling specimen for study of amphibian reproduction is unique modelling and only trial. In an effort to set year-round sampling for study of reproduction of B. orientalis, we suggest protocols for planning, construction manual and SOP(Standard Operation Process) to manage amphibian biotope. During pilot operation of a designed and constructed biotope, the seasonal acclimation during winter hibernation of B. orientalis were successful. It will be helpful for studying the reproductive biology of wild amphibians in temperate region and allow to get reasonable research conditions in amphibian laboratory.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2000

This study aims at restoring urban forest destructed and eliminated by industrialization, urbanization, and city development and presenting a direction to manage remaining urban forest ecologically. To this end, an experiment zone where Populus tomentiglandulosa T. Lee were selective cutted and a control zone where Populus tomentiglandulosa T. Lee were kept intact were created in Chongdam Park located in Kangnam-ku, Seoul. Then, the structural changes of herbaceous plant species, the growth of targeted woody plants, and the increase of the number of insect and bird species were examined. The conclusions reached in this study are as follows. First, for the sake of ecological restoration and management of urban forest, it is good to selective cutting. Although timing, frequency, and methods may vary depending on the features and types of urban forest, the study revealed that selective cutting contributes to the restoration speed of origin vegetation and the enhancement of biodiversity including plants and insects. Second, as for the correlations of selective cutting and the appearance of plant species, the growth of origin vegetation, and insect distribution, the study showed that the impact of meteorological environment such as brightness is much greater than that of soil environment. Third, in order to manage urban forest, tramping pressure needs to be controlled efficiently. The efficient control of tramping pressure would contribute in the appearance of herbaceous plants. It would also be beneficial in promoting biodiversity of birds by removing the impact of people using routes. Fourth, in order to enhance the overall biodiversity of urban forest, diverse environment needs to be provided. In particular, it is necessary to supply water that is insufficient in urban forest. Providing habitats such as forest wetland performs an important function to amphibians and birds that require water as well as the appearance of aquatic plants and insects. Therefore, ways to introduce water efficiently should be initiated.