• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.330-335
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• 2019

Apharyngostrigea ibis (Trematoda: Strigeidae) were obtained from the small intestine of two black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) and three grey herons (Ardea cinerea jouyi) between July 2006 and September 2018 in Daejeon metropolitan city and Kangwon province, Republic of Korea. The body is covered with a relatively thick cuticle, devoid of spines, and bipartite. The body measures at 2.3-3.33 × 0.86-1.20 mm, and the fore-body is ventrally concave. The oral sucker leads into a short esophagus that is devoid of a muscular pharynx. The worm was studied with a scanning electron microscope for the first time resulting in the detection of a pair of lappets located at the bilateral portion of the oral sucker. This is the first record of A. ibis in the Republic of Korea.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.357-363
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• 2011

To examine factors affecting feeding efficiency of grey herons (Ardea cinerea), the foraging behavior was studied at a reservoir in Asan city, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea during the breeding seasons (from April to July) of 2006 and 2007. Four factors (age of foraging birds, time of day, breeding stage, and microhabitat type) were analyzed. Adults were more efficient foragers than recently fledged juveniles, and they had a higher success rate than juveniles. About half of the adults caught large prey, whereas most juveniles caught only small prey. Adult grey herons had different feeding efficiency according to the breeding stage. Pecking and capture rates were high during the late period (fledging stage), and biomass intake rates were high during the early (incubating stage) and late periods. However, time of day had no significant effect on foraging activity of adult grey herons. Feeding activities of adult grey herons also showed significant variation among microhabitat types. Pecking and capture rates were higher in the submerged plants area, but capture success rate and biomass intake rate were not different according to microhabitat type.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2017

This study aims to provide the basic habitat data for the alternative breeding sites of Family Ardeidae including Ardea cinerea, Egretta alba modesta, Egretta intermedia, Egretta garzetta, Bubulcus ibis and Nycticorax nyciticorax. Species numbers, flight directions for detecting foraging grounds and current vegetation structure were investigated nesting at Gunsan urban forest area. Data were collected over a period of 10 weeks, from 15 June - 31 August 2014. The total nest and population of Family Ardeida were 684 and 1,712 respectively. Percentage of birds observed flying in 8 major compass directions were as follows. 57.27% of all birds were observed flying northwest, 22.09% were observed flying south and 13.40% were flying north. For possible foraging areas, to the northwest, there are Geumgang river tidal flats, and to the south, paddy fields and streams within 2km. Flying directions by species (${\chi}^2=287.18$, P<.001, Cramer's V=0.12) and by seasons(${\chi}^2=839.94$, P<.001, Cramer's V=0.19) showed significant difference statistically. In relation between species and directions, 60.31% and 24.05% of Bubulcus ibis and 59.40% and 23.00% of Ardea cinerea were observed flying northwest and south respectively. Vegetation in the sites consist of an overstory of 3 to 7 species. At site 1, Pinus thunbergii was the dominant species and site 2, Chamaecyparis obtusa. Understory vegetation is composed of shrubs, saplings and small trees of Chamaecyparis obtusa, Quercus acutissima, Smilax china and Platycarya strobilacea. Egrets and herons usually nested at the dense population and canopy overlayed forest, and especially branches and leaves of smallwood with less than 10cm of breast height diameter were relatively severely damaged due to the nesting and excreta.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.282-288
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• 2019

We investigated the changes in the population size and inter-specific space usage for breeding in mixed breeding sites of the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), grey heron (Ardea cinerea), great egret (Ardea alba modesta) and intermediate egret (Egretta intermedia) in Gammul-myeon, Goesan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea, in 2016-2017. These species bred in two adjacent habitats (site A and site B). The number of breeding pairs of all species and the size of the breeding area at site B increased in 2017. In 2017, great cormorants at site B occupied the breeding sites previously occupied by the other species in 2016, while the grey heron and great egret occupied the sites around the great cormorant breeding site. The heights of nest trees and nests of great cormorant and grey heron did not differ temporally, but these heights in site B were significantly higher than those in site A for great cormorants. For great egrets, these greatly decreased in site B in 2017. Thus, the great cormorant either moved to favourable nest sites for breeding success or selected nest sites used by the herons in the previous year. Further studies of these two possibilities are necessary.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.242-248
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• 2020

An intestinal strigeiid trematode, Apharyngostrigea pipientis, was detected from Ardea cinerea jouyi, Egretta intermedia and Nycticorax nycticorax between July, 2006 and June, 2020 in Daejeon metropolitan city and Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea. It was observed with a light and scanning electron microscope (SEM), and molecularly analyzed with 18S rRNA genes. The infection rate of the strigeiid trematode was 25.9% (7/27). The body is cylindrical in whole mount, greatly elongated in outline and shows a strong dorsal curvature. The overall measurements are: length 4.1-4.8 mm; fore-body 1.00-1.20 mm by 0.8-0.9 mm; hind-body 3.2-3.6 mm by 0.43-0.46 mm. The body is covered by a relatively thick cuticle, devoid of spines. The oral sucker leads into a short esophagus that is devoid of a muscular pharynx. The holdfast organ is enormously developed. The vitelline follicles distributed dorsal wall of fore-body and hind-body. This strigeiid trematode especially differs from other species of genus Apharyngostrigea in morphology. Although these A. pipientis are several morphological distinctions from Apharyngostrigea cornu, the partial sequence of 18S rRNA showed the sequence homology of A. pipientis (99.9%) and A. cornu (99.8%), and this result revealed their conspecific relationship between A. cornu and A. pipientis. This is the first report of A. pipientis in the Republic of Korea.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.237-244
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• 2007

We investigated the foraging habitat preferences of herons and egrets in an agricultural area in Asan city, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea. In the study area, rice fields were the most abundant habitat type (86.8%) and total suitable feeding habitat was greater in the northern area (59.0%) than the southern area (22.5%) of the colony. Most feeding herons and egrets were located in the northern area of the colony. The number of feeding individuals in a given area was related to the available feeding area (Pearson correlation, r=0.773, p<0.001 for field habitats; r=0.901, p<0.001 for freshwater habitats). Feeding habitat preferences differed among species. Grey herons (Ardea cinerea), great egrets (Egretta alba), and black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) used reservoirs and ditches. However, intermediate egrets (E. intermedia) and cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) were dependent on rice fields. The little egret (E. garzetta) was a habitat generalist using all types of habitats. The two largest species, grey herons and great egrets, fed at deeper site than little egrets and foraged in deeper sites in reservoirs than in ditches (${\chi}^2-test,\;{\chi}^2{_3}=26.6$ and p<0.001 for grey herons, ${\chi}^2{_3}=17.5$ and p<0.001 for great egrets). All species displayed seasonal changes in feeding habitat use and these changes were related with changes in availability of feeding habitats.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.89-99
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• 2020

This study was conducted as a basic research to create a sound and vital ecological environment in the city compared to the appearance characteristics of Gap stream(G-stream), which are the main stream of Banseok stream(B-stream), by analyzing the characteristics of waterbirds, including Wild Spot-billed Duck (S-Duck), that live in B-stream built as ecological stream. The waterbird survey was conducted by the line census for 3.2km, Jukdong-bridge to Jamiseon-bridge, from January to August 2018. The analysis of the survey was conducted with Relative species density(RD) of the emerging waterbird species, the Species diversity and Density Per Unit area for 100㎡(DPU). The waterbird survey results of B-stream was conducted 65 times. The five types of water birds that appeared during the survey were Spot-billed Duck(Anas poecilorhyncha), Teal(Anas crecca), Little Egret(Egretta garzetta), Great Egret(Egretta alba), and Grey Heron(Ardea cinerea). As a result, for S-Duck at B-stream, RD was 89.9%, monthly species diversity was simple as 0.3801 in January, 0.5943 in February and 0.3501 in August. The DPU of the S-Duck was 0.165/100㎡ in the B-Stream survey section which was 4.9 times higher than the main stream section, G-stream. The non-freezing zone of the city's small stream is expected to play an important role as a winter stop for wild birds such as S-Duck during the freezing period of the huge stream. For this reason, considering the ecological characteristics of wild waterbirds such as S-Duck when creating ecological stream, a: space and linear selection of waterways which can minimize the impact of natural enemy and increasing the number of walkers, b: management water-friendly plants in the low flow channel, c: arrangement walking-bicycle road will be necessary.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Environment and Ecology Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.86-96
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• 2006

To provide some ecological informations for protection and management of mixed heronries, their distribution, breeding species and individuals, and site characteristics that may be important to heron ecology were investigated in Jeollanam-do during 2005 breeding season. During the study, 17 mixed heronries, containing a total of six ardeid species were found. Of them, Great Egret(Egretta alba) and Grey Heron(Ardea cinerea) bred in most sites(both 92%) and were most numerous(36.3%, 31.0% respectively). Many of heronries(53.3%) were located within the bamboo forest. Other site characteristics were as follows: the mean area of heronry was $2346m^2$ with range of $500-7,000m^2$, the mean distance between nearest two heronies was 18.1km with range of 5.6-40.4km, the mean distance to nearest village was 297m with range of 10-2,000m, the mean gradient of the topography was $18^{\circ}$ with range of $2^{\circ}{\sim}40^{\circ}$, and 40.0% of heronries were located in the eastern slope.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.135-151
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• 2017

Waterbirds were surveyed once a week from Oct. 2015 to Apr. 2016 to study the conditions of temperature of staying waterbirds on Wonju-Stream. The population staying on Wonju-Stream was in inverse proportion to the temperature change; birds increased as the temperature went down, and showed the highest peak counts on the 16th(27-Jan) survey, which was the lowest in temperature. decreasing as the temperature rose. The total population of Wonju River water birds increased with increasing freezing rate in proportion to the freezing rate of nearby reservoirs and tributaries. To clarify the relation of the numbers of the birds to temperature fluctuation, the correlation of the first period of wintering (1st~16th) and that of the later period(17th~27th) as well as the whole period was surveyed, based on the 16th which was the lowest in temperature. While most wintering waterbirds showed a negative correlation to the temperature, Egretta garzetta, Phalacrocorax carbo, and Ardea cinerea were positive in temperature relativity. Anas poecilorhyncha was in the highest relation to temperature fluctuation showing (7D/H3A(r=-0.960, P<0.000000001)) at 1-16 correlation(Cor.), with the whole wintering waterbird species showing the maximum correlation at 4D/LA in the every correlation(1~27Cor.(r=-0.942, P<0.01), 1~16Cor.(r=-0.947, P<0.01), 16~27Cor.(r=-0.958, P<0.01)). Each waterbird showed the correlation to the temperature variation(AT, HT, LT) and th duration(1D~7D) depending on the species differently. Most species demonstrated a bigger correlation to the lowest temperature rather than to the highest temperature. During the first half period of the wintering with the temperature falling it showed a high correlation to the temperature at the duration of 4D~7D, While it was for D1~D3 during the next half period.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.104-116
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• 2019

Background: The composition of wild bird populations in temperate zones greatly varies depending on phenological changes rather than other environmental factors. Particularly, wild birds appearing in wetlands fluctuate greatly due to the crossover of species arriving for breeding during the summer and for wintering. Therefore, to understand the changes to species composition related to phenology, we conducted this basic analysis of populations to further the cause of the protection of wetland-dependent wild birds. Methods: It is wrong to simply divide a wild bird population investigation into seasons. This study identifies species composition and indicator species that change along with seasons. Wetlands to be surveyed are protected by natural monuments and wetland inventory and are in a state close to nature. In order to identify as many species as possible in wetlands, a survey was conducted in both shallow and deep wetlands. The water depth varied in these areas, ranging from 0.2 to 2.0 m, allowing for both dabbling and diving ducks to inhabit the area. Surveys were conducted using line-transect and distance sampling methods and were conducted at intervals of 2 weeks. The survey was conducted under the following three categories: the eco-tone and emergent zone, the submergent zone, and the water surface. The survey was conducted along a wetland boundary by observing wild birds. A PC-ord program was used for clustering, and the SAS program was used to analyze the changes in species composition. The data strongly indicates that day length is the main factor for seasonal migration periods, despite the fact that climate change and increasing temperatures are often discussed. Results and conclusions: The indicator species for determining seasons include migrant birds such as Ardea cinerea, Alcedo atthis, Anas penelope, and Poiceps ruficollis, as well as resident birds such as Streptopelia orientalis and Emberiza elegans. Importantly, increases in local individual counts of these species may also serve as indicators. The survey results of seasonal fluctuations in temperate zones shows that spring (April to June), summer (July to September), autumn (October), and winter (November to March) are clearly distinguishable, even though spring and summer seasons tend to overlap, leading to the conclusion that additional research could more clearly identify fluctuation patterns in species composition and abundance in the study area.