• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

In this study, we aimed to quantify the population size and spatial distribution of three predatory Scarites species in coastal sand dunes. In June and August 2014, 252 pitfall traps were utilized to conduct a trapping web analysis at three distinct sites with varying vegetation dominance values. Scarites sulcatus had the largest estimated population in a 10 m² area with a habitat density of 36.6 in a Vitex rotundifolia community area (site B) in the June survey. In contrast, Scarites aterrimus had the largest population size with a habitat density of 2.9 in a Calystegia soldanella community area (site A) in the August survey. Spatial distribution analysis revealed that S. sulcatus dominated the Vitex rotundifolia community without preference for a particular site, whereas S. aterrimus and Scarites terricola pacificus were primarily observed on the beach. The results indicated that the three Scarites species in the Sohwang coastal sand dune region exhibited differences in their spatial and temporal distributions in the coastal dune ecosystem in order to avoid competition and predation. In conclusion, our findings can be utilized to estimate the population density of the genus Scarites on the Korean Peninsula. The outcomes of this study will contribute to estimating insect population densities on the Korean Peninsula and developing investigative assessment methodologies.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.181-193
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• 2018

The present study was conducted to analyze the quality of the habitats of Abies koreana WILS. by using the InVEST model based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique and to evaluate the economic value by estimating the carbon fixation. Abies koreana WILS., an original biological species of South Korea, may be an essential element in establishing the national biological sovereignty in the future. The subjects of the present study were the national parks in Mt. Halla, Mt. Jiri, and Mt. Sobaek, which are the habitats of Abies koreana WILS. As suggested by previous studies as a limitation of the InVEST model, the utilization of the data from relevant international publications as the input data, due to the lack of the domestic input data, may decrease the accuracy of the modeling. Therefore, the AHP technique was applied for the input data. The modeling was performed with reference to the years of 1980, 1990, and 2000 for the scenario analysis. The result of the modeling showed that the habitat quality was changed most in the national park in Mt. Halla, as the habitat quality score was decreased from 0.96 in 1980 to 0.97 in 1990 and 0.94 in 2000. In the national part of Mt. Sobeak, the habitat quality was changed most in the sub-alpine zone, as the habitat quality score was decreased from 0.98 in 1980 and 0.98 in 1990 to 0.97 in 2000. The habitat quality was best conserved in the national part in Mt. Jiri, as the habitat quality score was 0.98 in 1980, 0.99 in 1990, and 0.99 in 2000. The estimated economic loss by the change of the habitat quality was 19,280,000 USD for Mt. Halla and 8,030,000 USD for Mt. Sobeak. In the present study, the habitat quality of the Abies koreana WILS, the original species of South Korea, was evaluated and the economic value of the ecological services provided by the habitats was estimated quantitatively. The result showed that the ecosystem service model may be used to qualitatively analyze the quality of a habitat located in a specific region and to estimate the economic value quantitatively. The objective evaluation of ecosystem services demonstrated in the present study may be applied to promote sustainable utilization of natural resources and conservation of the ecosystem by predicting the changes that may be caused by external factors including the development of preservation areas.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1141-1152
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• 2013

Insect fauna were surveyed in 2011 at Ungok wetland, Obeygol, located in Gochang, Jeonbuk, Korea. In total, 149 species belonging to 11 orders and 57 families were surveyed. Among them, Lepidopterans composed 23.5% (35 species) of the total insect numbers surveyed, comprising the most abundant group, and followed by Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Odonata with a composition of 22.1% (33 species), 17.4% (26 species), and 10.1% (15 species), respectively. Bothrogonia japonica Ishihara was the most dominant species, and followed by Gastrophysa atrocyanea Motschulsky and Celastrina argiolus (Linnaeus). Phytophagous insects accounted for 60 percent of the total species. Dominance index was the highest in spring by 0.21. Diversity, richness, and evenness indices were the highest in summer by 4.07, 11.84 and 0.96, respectively. In the study area, the legally-protect species were grouped into five groups; 9 export-restricted species, 17 endemic species, 28 indicator species, 1 climate-sensitive biological indicator and 3 southern characteristic species. Additionally, twenty forest insect pest species were surveyed, belonging to 5 orders and 15 families. Therefore, it is required to conduct long-term monitoring and appropriate management based on the ecological characteristic of the habitats to continuously conserve and maintain of wetland.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2011

Decision making in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Consultation on the Coastal Area Utilization (CCAU) is footing on the survey reports, thus requires concrete and accurate information on the natural habitats. In spite of the importance of reporting the ecological quality and status of habitats, the accumulated knowledge and recent techniques in ecology such as the use of investigated cases and indicators/indices have not been utilized in evaluation processes. Even the EIA report does not contain sufficient information required in a decision making process for conservation and development. In addition, for CCAU, sampling efforts were so limited that only two or a few stations were set in most study cases. This hampers transferring key ecological information to both specialist review and decision making processes. Hence, setting the effective number of sampling stations can be said as a prior step for better assessment. We introduced a few statistical techniques to determine the number of sampling stations in macrobenthos surveys. However, the application of the techniques requires a preliminary study that cannot be performed under the current assessment frame. An analysis of the spatial configuration of sampling stations from 19 previous studies was carried out as an alternative approach, based on the assumption that those configurations reported in scientific journal contribute to successful understanding of the ecological phenomena. The distance between stations and number of sampling stations in a $4{\times}4$ km unit area were calculated, and the medians of each parameter were 2.3 km, and 3, respectively. For each study, approximated survey area (ASA, $km^2$) was obtained by using the number of sampling stations in a unit area (NSSU) and total number of sampling stations (TNSS). To predict either appropriate ASA or NSSU/TNSS, we found and suggested statistically significant functional relationship among ASA, survey purpose and NSSU. This empirical approach will contribute to increasing sampling effort in a field survey and communicating with reasonable data and information in EIA and CCAU.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.182-191
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• 2023

This study was carried out to identify the distribution and growth characteristics and evaluate the conservation status of the Michelia compressa Maxim., a rare and endangered wild plant II, in the habitats in Korea. A total of 314 individuals were found in the natural habitats of Heuksan Island and Jeju Island and were divided into four populations. About 45.9% (144 individuals) were distributed in the range of 401m~500m above sea level. The average height of trees was 2.7(±4.8)m, the diameter at breast height was 12.6(±13.9)cm, and the number of branches was 1.0(±0.5) on average. 54.3% of the sapling individuals of M. compressa were distributed within a radius of 30 m from the mother tree, 25.8% were distributed between 31 m through 40 m, and most (90.1%) were distributed within a radius of 60 m. The fact that sapling individuals of M. compressa are not identified even around some mature individuals and appear only in extremely limited areas is estimated to be closely related to the growth conditions as well as the environment of the natural habitats. The dispersal of M. compressa is presumed to be related to the birds and natural seedlings because water puddles, a resting place for birds beyond the range of natural seedlings, characterize its habitats. The IUCN Red List evaluation criteria at the regional and national level of M. compressa corresponds to the Critically Endangered category, and the domestic population under the category of "CR B2ab(v); C2a(i); D."

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.219-230
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• 2013

Species distribution modeling is one of the most effective habitat analysis methods for wildlife conservation. This study was for evaluating the suitability of species distribution to distance between forest patches in Seoul city using tits. We analyzed the distribution of the four species of tits: varied tit (Parus varius), marsh tit (P. palustris), great tit (P. major) and coal tit (P. ater), using the landscape indexes and connectivity indexes, and compared the resulting suitability indexes from 100m to 1,000m. As factors affecting to the distribution of tits, we calculated landscape indices by separating them into intra-patch indices (i.e. logged patch area (PA), area-weighted mean patch shape index (PSI), tree rate (TR)) and inter-patch indices (i.e. patch degree (PD), patch betweenness (PB), difference probability of connectivity (DPC)), to analyze the internal properties of the patches and their connectivity by tits occurrence data using logistic regression modeling. The models were evaluated by AICc (Akaike Information Criteria with a correction for finite sample sizes) and AUC (Area Under Curve of ROC). The results of AICc and AUC showed DPC, PA, PSI, and TR were important factors of the habitat models for great tit and marsh tit at the level of distance 500~800m. In contrast, habitat models for coal tit and varied tit, which are known as forest interior species, reflected PA, PSI, and TR as intra-patch indices rather than connectivity. These mean that coal tit and varied tit are more likely to find a large circular forest patch than a small and long-shaped forest patch, which are higher rate of forest. Therefore, different strategies are required in order to enhance the habitats of the forest birds, tits, in a region that has fragmented forest patches such as Seoul city. It is important to manage forest interior areas for coal tit and varied tit, which are known as forest interior species and to manage not only forest interior areas but also connectivity of the forest patches in the threshold distance for great tit and marsh tit as adapted species to the urban ecosystem for sustainable ecosystem management.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.143-147
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• 2016

BACKGROUND: Rice fields are one of the most important habitats for various bird species. The list of bird species occurred in rice fields in Korean peninsula have been documented. However, information of listed bird species is included not only rice fields but also other wetland habitats such as lakes, tidal flats and rivers. Therefore, the study was conducted to clarify the status of bird observed in rice fields of Korea.METHODS AND RESULTS: Birds using rice fields defined as birds which forage or rest on rice paddies, levees, ditches and farming roads. Birds using rice fields recorded as total 124 species belonging to 40 families. Anatidae and Scolopacidae were the best represented family, followed by Ardeidae, Accipitridae, Motacillidae and Emberizidae; 50% of species belonged to these six families. 18 of 124 endangered wild species, which designated threatened at the national scale, found in this study regions.CONCLUSION: Despite interest in birds using rice fields of Korean peninsula, knowledge of birds and rice fields there is extremely limited. We need more studies to understand and conserve for birds in rice fields of Korea.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.161-171
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• 2023

The medium-large cladoceran species Simocephalus spp. predominantly occur in habitats with developed aquatic vegetation. Accordingly, due to Simocephalus' high contribution to zooplankton community biomass in the lake's littoral zone and wetland habitats, estimating their biomass is important to understand the matter cycling based on biological interactions within the aquatic food web. In this study, we reviewed the length-weight regression equations used previously to estimate Simocephalus biomass, directly measured S. serrulatus' body specification (length, width and area) and their biomass(dry weight) using instruments such as a microscopic digital camera and a microscale, and performed regression analysis between each other. When S. serrulatus biomass was estimated using the equation (Kawabata and Urabe, 1998) presented in 『Biomonitoring Survey and Assessment Manual』, Korea, errors between estimates and measures were relatively large compared to the S. serrulatus species-specific biomass estimate equation developed by Lemke and Benke (2003). In addition, both equations showed not only increasing trends in error (estimate-measure) with increasing S. serrulatus' body length, but also in error variance among similar-sized individuals. The results of regression analysis with dry weight by body specifications indicated that the most appropriate equation for estimating the biomass of S. serrulatus was derived from the width-dry weight exponential regression equation (R²=0.9555). The review and development study of such species-specific biomass estimation equations for zooplankton can be used as a tool to understand their role and function in aquatic ecosystem food webs.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.97-111
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• 2021

This study was conducted to develop a habitat type classification system and its map based on the ecological characteristics of species, spatial type, vegetation, topography, and geological conditions preferred by species. To evaluate the relationships between species and their habitats in Korean national parks, we prepared a classification standard table for systematic classification of habitat types. This classification system divides habitats into 6 low-level and 59 mid-level ecological classes based on habitat structure. The mid-level system divided forest ecosystems into 20 subtypes, stream and wetland ecosystems into 8 types, coastal ecosystems into 7 types, arable land into 6 types, development land into 9 types, and 1 type of marine ecosystem. A habitat classification map was drawn utilizing square images, detailed vegetation maps, and forest stand maps, based on the above habitat classification system, and it covered 1,461 plots spanning 21 national parks. The habitat classification system and survey protocol, which consider domestic habitat conditions, should be further developed and applied to habitat assessment, to enhance the utility of this study.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.319-332
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• 2016

Alien turtles belonging to Genus Trachemys have been designated as Invasive Alien Species since 2001 and their import has been banned in Korea. However, current status of import and distribution of the other alien turtles have not been reported. In this study, we aimed to investigate the taxa of alien turtles introduced into Korea, to assess their potential risks to the natural ecosystems and to suggest the future management directions of them in Korea. We identified 73 species of alien turtles belonging to 9 families. Since 2008, more than 6,000 kg of turtles have been imported annually and widely distributed through the pet shops, traditional markets and individual transactions. From the survey of natural habitats, we found that 8 species belonging to 3 families including Chrysemys picta, Pseudemys concinna, P. nelsoni, P. peninsularis, P. rubriventris, Mauremys sinensis, Macrochelys temminckii and Trachemys scripta have inhabited in 12 study sites. Out of 73 alien turtles, the potential adverse impacts of 13 species to ecosystems are serious when we considered status of designation of invasive alien species in other countries. For the management of alien turtles, it is required to register alien turtles in the import list and share general information such as import purpose, distribution and management condition among relevant authorities. The breeders and distributors must be obliged to identify turtles and to record management. The government must check transfer and migration of turtles periodically to prevent their introduction and spread into natural environments. The change of alien turtle populations in natural habitats should be monitored and their management plan should be developed to control the alien turtles in areas where the impacts are significant.