• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.321-349
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• 2016

According to the recent observation by NOAA(US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), 2015 is the warmest year based on global average temperature since 1880. The air temperatures in the Arctic have been rising at almost twice the global average and the extent and thickness of sea ice in the Arctic have declined. And the warming process in the Arctic is accelerating rapidly. These impacts of drastic change in sea ice caused by climate change in the Arctic threaten the eco-system service and biodiversity in the Arctic. This study intends to estimate the economic value on changes in eco-system services and biodiversity of the Arctic caused by climate change. The result of the valuation indicates that the total benefit from improvement of ecosystem in the Arctic ranges from 318.6 billion won to 715.9 billion won per annum. Replication scenarios can be explored into two broad categories in future studies: scenarios in consideration of conflicts of different stakeholders and scenarios based on wider or narrower definition of biodiversity in the Arctic.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2023

Background: The positive effects of Arctic plants on the soil environment and plant-species co-occurrence patterns are known to be particularly important in physically harsh environments. Although three dominant plants (Cassiope tetragona, Dryas octopetala, and Silene acaulis) are abundant in the Arctic ecosystem at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, few studies have examined their occurrence patterns with other species and their buffering effect on soil-temperature and soil-moisture fluctuation. To quantify the plant-species co-occurrence patterns and their positive effects on soil environments, I surveyed the vegetation cover, analyzed the soil-chemical properties (total carbon, total nitrogen, pH, and soil organic matter) from 101 open plots, and measured the daily soil-temperature and soil-moisture content under three dominant plant patches and bare soil. Results: The Cassiope tetragona and Dryas octopetala communities increased the soil-temperature stability; however, the three dominant plant communities did not significantly affect the soil-moisture stability. Non-metric multidimensional scaling separated the sampling sites into three groups based on the different vegetation compositions. The three dominant plants occurred randomly with other species; however, the vegetation composition of two positive co-occurring species pairs (Oxyria digyna-Cerastium acrticum and Luzula confusa-Salix polaris) was examined. The plant species richness did not significantly differ in the three plant communities. Conclusions: The three plant communities showed distinctive vegetation compositions; however, the three dominant plants were randomly and widely distributed throughout the study sites. Although the facilitative effects of the three Arctic plants on increases in the soil-moisture fluctuation and richness were not quantified, this research enables a deeper understanding of plant co-occurrence patterns in Arctic ecosystems and thereby contributes to predicting the shift in vegetation composition and coexistence in response to climate warming. This research highlights the need to better understand plant-plant interactions within tundra communities.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.809-816
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• 2014

Ocean Color products have been used to understand marine ecosystem. In high latitude region, ice melting optically influences the ocean color products. In this study, we assessed optical properties in fjord around Svalbard Arctic sea, and estimated distribution of chlorophyll-a and suspended sediment by using high resolution satellite data, Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI). To estimate chlorophyll-a and suspended sediment concentrations, various regression models were tested with different band ratio. The regression models were not shown high correlation because of temporal difference between satellite data and in-situ data. However, model-derived distribution of ocean color products from OLI showed a possibility that fjord and coastal areas around Arctic Sea can be monitored with high resolution satellite data. To understand climate change pattern around Arctic Sea, we need to understand ice meting influences on marine ecosystem change. Results of this study will be used to high resolution monitoring of ice melting and its influences on the marine ecosystem change at high latitude. KOPRI (Korea Polar Research Institute) has been operated the Dasan station on Svalbard since 2002, and study was conducted using Arctic station.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.53-60
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• 2014

The arctic tundra is an important ecosystem in terms of the organic carbon cycle and climate change, and therefore, detailed analysis of vegetation distribution patterns is required to determine their association. We used grid-sampling method and applied geostatistics to analyze spatial variability and patterns of vegetation within a two-dimensional space, and calculated the Moran's I statistics and semivariance to assess the spatial autocorrelation of vegetation. Spatially autocorrelated vegetation consisted of moss, Eriophorum vaginatum, Betula nana, and Rubus chamaemorus. Interpolation maps and cross-correlograms revealed spatial specificity of Carex aquatilis and a strong negative spatial correlation between E. vaginatum and C. aquatilis. These results suggest differences between the species in water requirements for survival in the arctic tundra. Geostatistical methods could offer valuable information for identifying the vegetation spatial distribution.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.157-172
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• 2002

This work aims to collect a biogeographic informations on the biota, alpine ecosystem, nature reserves, forest ecosystem of North Korea, and also to accumulate a basic data on the current situation and problem of the natural ecosystem of North Korea for the preparation of future cooperation and exchange between South and North Koreas. The obtained findings are as follow. First, North Korean biota contains 18,013 species, and consists of 6,710 plant species, including 3,860 species of vascular plants. Secondly, urgent investigation on the biogeographically important arctic-alpine and alpine plants and ecosystem, those are known to be endangered due to environmental change and global warming, is required. Thirdly, the conservations of diverse nature in North Korea are conducted by the introduction of various systems, such as nature preservation region, reserves for plant, animal and sea bird, and natural monuments. Fourthly, out of 9.5 million hectares of forest, one million hectares have already faced forest denudation, thus caused lots of damages for forest ecosystem. Sharp decline of North Korean forest land are due mainly to the expansion of terraced dry-field farming and deforestation. Recovery of denudated forest land should be approached by both South and North Korean sides to solve the problem of shortage of foods and restoration of natural ecosystem of North Korea.

• Maritime Security
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.151-184
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• 2021

Global warming due to climate change is one of the biggest challenges in the 21st century. Global warming is not only a disaster that threatens the global ecosystem but also an opportunity to reduce logistics costs and develop mineral resources by commercializing Arctic routes. The Arctic paradox, in which ecological and environmental threats and new economic opportunities coexist, is expected to have a profound impact on the global environment. As the glaciers disappear, routes through the Arctic Ocean without passing through the Suez and Panama Canals emerged as the 'third route.' This can reduce the distance of existing routes by 30%. Global warming has also brought about changes in the geopolitical paradigm. As Arctic ice begins to melt, the Arctic is no longer a 'constant' but is emerging as the largest geopolitical 'variable' in the 21st century. Accordingly, the Arctic, which was recognized as a 'space of peace and cooperation' in the post-Cold War era, is now facing a new strategic environment in which military and security aspects are emphasized. After the Cold War, the Arctic used to be a place for cooperation centered on environmental protection, but it is once again changing into a stage of competition and confrontation between superpowers, heralding 'Cold War 2.0.' The purpose of this study is to evaluate the strategic value of the Arctic Ocean from geopolitical and geoeconomic perspectives and derive strategic implications by analyzing the dynamics of the New Cold War taking place in the Arctic region.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.86-94
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• 2023

Climate change is more rapid in the Arctic than elsewhere in the world, and increased precipitation and warming are expected cause changes in biogeochemical processes due to altered microbial communities and activities. It is crucial to investigate microbial responses to climate change to understand changes in carbon and nitrogen dynamics. We investigated the effects of increased temperature and precipitation on microbial biomass and community structure in dry tundra using two depths of soil samples (organic and mineral layers) under four treatments (control, warming, increased precipitation, and warming with increased precipitation) during the growing season (June-September) in Cambridge Bay, Canada (69°N, 105°W). A phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis method was applied to detect active microorganisms and distinguish major functional groups (e.g., fungi and bacteria) with different roles in organic matter decomposition. The soil layers featured different biomass and community structure; ratios of fungal/bacterial and gram-positive/-negative bacteria were higher in the mineral layer, possibly connected to low substrate quality. Increased temperature and precipitation had no effect in either layer, possibly due to the relatively short treatment period (seven years) or the ecosystem type. Mostly, sampling times did not affect PLFAs in the organic layer, but June mineral soil samples showed higher contents of total PLFAs and PLFA biomarkers for bacteria and fungi than those in other months. Despite the lack of response found in this investigation, long-term monitoring of these communities should be maintained because of the slow response times of vegetation and other parameters in high-Arctic ecosystems.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.931-938
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• 2020

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is one of the most abundant proteins in various eukaryotic organisms. TCTPs play important roles in cell physiological processes in cancer, cell proliferation, gene regulation, and heat shock response. TCTP is also considered an important factor in the resistance to oxidative stress induced by dithiothreitol or hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Arctic calanoid copepods have a variety of antioxidant defense systems to regulate the levels of potentially harmful reactive oxygen species generated by ultraviolet radiation in the Arctic marine ecosystem. However, information on the antioxidant activity of TCTP in the Arctic Calanus glacialis is still scarce. To understand the putative antioxidant function of the Arctic copepod C. glacialis TCTP (Cg-TCTP), its gene was cloned and sequenced. The Cg-TCTP comprised 522 bp and encoded a 174-amino acid putative protein with a calculated molecular weight of ~23 kDa. The recombinant Cg-TCTP (Cg-r TCTP) gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli (BL21), and Cg-rTCTP-transformed cells were grown in the presence or absence of H₂O₂. Cg-rTCTP-transformed E. coli showed increased tolerance to high H₂O₂ concentrations. Therefore, TCTP may be an important antioxidant protein related to tolerance of the Arctic copepod C. glacialis to oxidative stress in the harsh environment of the Arctic Ocean.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.164-168
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• 2014

The ecosystem of the Arctic region has been increasingly affected by global warming. Archaeal ammonia monooxygenase alpha subunit coding gene (amoA) which is a key enzyme for nitrification was used to investigate the effect of runoff water of ice melt on microbial community of nitrogen cycle. The archaeal amoA genes at coastal area of Svalbard, Arctic region were PCR-amplified and sequenced after clone library construction. Analysis of archaeal amoA gene clone libraries suggested that the station 188 which is in the vicinity to the area of runoff water harbor lower ammonia-oxidizing archaeal diversity than the station 176 and 184. The average amino acid sequence identity within all archaeal amoA gene clones was 94% (with 91% nucleotide sequence identity). While all the clones of the station 188 were affiliated with Nitrosoarchaeaum clade containing strains isolated from low-salinity and terrestrial environments, about 45% of total clones of the station 176 and 184 were related to marine Nitosopumilus clade. Interestingly, other typical archaeal amoA gene clones of thaumarchaeal I.1b clade frequently retrieved from terrestrial environments was identified at station 188. Microbial community of nitrogen cycle in marine sediment might be affected by input of sediments caused by runoff glacier melt waters.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.291-303
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• 2011

It has actively advanced to study the impact of climate change on ecosystem. This study addresses ABMS (Agent Based Modeling and Simulation) as a methodology of ecosystem research. ABMS would suggest the possibility of practical use in this sector. This study would investigate how the melting speed of glacier in the arctic influences the extinction period of polar bears. The Polar Bears and Glacier Model in this study is expected to contribute to accurate prediction of the polar bear's extinction period. The suggested ABMS could also be applied to the study of various factors of ecosystem in general.