• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1009-1021
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• 2016

The community structure and abundance of epilithic biofilm were bimonthly examined to know spatial and temporal patterns of biofilm biomass and taxonimical composition at the two study sites, Gosapo and Gyeokpo with different degrees of wave exposure levels from November 2010 to September 2011. Biomass was estimated by using chlorophyll a contents (Chl a), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and vegetation index (VI). Cyanobacteria such as Aphanotece spp. predominated in the proportion of 57.53% at Gosapo and of 61.12% at Gyeokpo and they are abundant in mid shore and in summer at both study sites. The diatoms Navicula spp., Achnanthes spp. and Licmophora spp. were common species and they showed an increasing trend from high to low shore. NDVI, VI, and chl a contents were the greatest at mid shore for Gosapo (0.44, 3.05, $24.56{\mu}g/cm^2$) and at low shore for Gyeokpo (0.41, 2.73, $17.98{\mu}g/cm^2$). NDVI, VI, and chl a content were all maximal in January and minimal in March at the both sites. Average NDVI, VI, and chlorophyll a contents of biofilms were greater at Gosapo (0.43, 2.89, $22.84{\mu}g/cm^2$) than Gyeokpo (0.38, 2.48, $15.48{\mu}g/cm^2$).Of three shore levels(high, mid, and low) Chl a contents were positively correlated with NDVI and VI at the two study sites indicating that non-destructive NDVI and VI values can be used in stead of destructive Chl a extraction method. In conclusion, epilithic biofilm was more abundant seasonally in winter, vertically in mid and low intertidal zone, and horizontally at wave exposed shore than in summer, at high and sheltered shore in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.558-568
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• 2021

Poor supervision and tourism activities have resulted in forest degradation in islands in Korea. Since the southern coastal region of the Korean peninsula was originally dominated by warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved forests, it is desirable to restore forests in this region to their original vegetation. In this study, we identified suitable areas to be restored as evergreen broad-leaved forests by analyzing the environmental factors of existing evergreen broad-leaved forests in the islands of Jeollanam-do. We classified forest lands in the study area into six vegetation types from Sentinel-2 satellite images using a deep learning algorithm and analyzed the tolerance ranges of existing evergreen broad-leaved forests by measuring the locational, topographic, and climatic attributes of the classified vegetation types. Results showed that evergreen broad-leaved forests were distributed more in areas with a high altitudes and steep slope, where human intervention was relatively low. The human intervention has led to a higher distribution of evergreen broad-leaved forests in areas with lower annual average temperature, which was an unexpected but understandable result because an area with higher altitude has a lower temperature. Of the environmental factors, latitude and average temperature in the coldest month (January) were relatively less contaminated by the effects of human intervention, thus enabling the identification of suitable restoration areas of the evergreen broad-leaved forests. The tolerance range analysis of evergreen broad-leaved forests showed that they mainly grew in areas south of the latitude of 34.7° and a monthly average temperature of 1.7℃ or higher in the coldest month. Therefore, we predicted the areas meeting these criteria to be suitable for restoring evergreen broad-leaved forests. The suitable areas cover 614.5 km², which occupies 59.0% of the total forest lands on the islands of Jeollanamdo, and 73% of actual forests that exclude agricultural and other non-restorable forest lands. The findings of this study can help forest managers prepare a restoration plan and budget for island forests.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.26-37
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• 2015

Halophyte distribution pattern and area in the Suncheon-bay and Beolgyo estuary coastal wetlands were analyzed using KOMPSAT-2 landsat images were taken in 2008 and 2009, and field investigations were fulfilled for confirming the precise boundaries of individual halophyte areas. The salt-marsh vegetation in those areas can be classified mainly into two dominant communities: Suaeda japonica-dominant and Phragmites communis-dominant communities. In order to identify sedimentary characteristics, tidal-flat surface leveling and sedimentary facies analysis had been conducted. The sedimentary facies of marsh area are mostly silty clayey and clay facies with a little seasonal change and its slope is very gentle (0.0007~0.002 in gradient). Phragmites communis and Suaeda japonica communities were distributed in the mud-flat zone between 0.7 m and 1.8 m higher than MSL (mean sea level): zone of 1.1~1.8 m in the former and zone of 0.7~1.3 m in the latter. In the Suncheon-bay estuarine wetland, on the basis of 2009 distribution, Phragmites communis-dominant and Suaeda japonica-dominant communities are about $0.79km^2$ and $0.22km^2$ in distribution area, respectively. On the other hand, Bulgyo estuarine marsh shows that the distribution areas of Phragmites communis-dominant and Suaeda japonica-dominant communities are about $0.31km^2$ and 0.031km2 in distribution area, respectively. Individual 105 and 60 dominant community areas and their distribution patterns can be well defined and indicated in the Suncheon-bay and Bulgyo estuarine marshes, respectively. The distribution pattern and area of hylophyte communities analyzed in this study based on 2008/2009 satellite images would be valuable as a base of future monitoring of salt-marsh related studies in the study area which is the most important salt-marsh research site in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.14-25
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• 2010

This study was carried out to investigate the soil salinity and salt spray drift of the indigenous windbreak trees, and its main purpose was to provide basic data for the selection of salt-tolerant trees in the saline coastal region in the South Sea of Korea. The soil salinity($EC_{1:5}$)was $0.18dSm^{-1}$, which was an average degree of the whole areas of investigation whose salinity degree ranged from $0.05dSm^{-1}$ to $0.58dSm^{-1}$. The level of soil salinity gradually decreased as it moved farther inland, except the belt I. The level of decreasing soil salinity was found to be in the following order: belt II, belt III, belt I, belt IV. The degree of soil salinity was $EC_{1:5}$ $0.22dSm_{1:5}$, $0.22dSm_{1:5}$ $0.19dSm^{-1}$ and $0.13dSm^{-1}$ respectively. The total 110 taxa, which consisted of 45 families, 74 genus, 101 species, and 9 varieties, were found to be tolerant to both soil salinity and salt spray drift. The trees that grow in the highest degree of salinity($EC_{1:5}$ $0.50dSm^{-1}$)were Parthenocissus tricuspidata(Siebold & Zucc.), Planch and Lonicera japonica Thunb. The next group of trees that grow in the high degree of salinity ranging from $EC_{1:5}$ 0.41 to $0.50dSm^{-1}$ was Cudrania tricuspidata(Carr.) Bureau ex Lavall$\acute{e}$e, Rubus parvifolius L., Zanthoxylum schinifolium(Siebold & Zucc.), Hedera rhombea(Miq.) Bean., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Quercus serrata Thunb., Callicarpa dichotoma(Lour.) K. Koch, and so on. The woody species which grew in the entire belts were Pueraria lobata(Willd.) Ohwi and Vitis flexuosa Thunb., and Vitex rotundifolia L. f. which was known to be highly tolerant to salt spray drift was found only in belt I. The woody species with high important value(IV) were Zelkova serrata(Thunb.) Makino., Celtis sinensis Pers., Koelreuteria paniculata Laxmann, Mallotusjaponicus(Thunb.) Muell. Arg., Trachelospermum asiaticum(Siebold & Zucc.) NAKAI, and Pueraria lobata(Willd.) Ohwi. These species were classified as native windbreak trees that are comparatively more tolerant to salt spray drift than other kinds.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.437-445
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• 2012

The study performed the implementation monitoring of the revegetation methods applied to the test-bed of Simgok Stream in Incheon to identify the effect of water level and inundation period on the vegetation coverage of the stream bank revegetation methods. The categories of monitoring included the plant species and plant coverage for each method, physicochemical property of soil, water level and water quality. The result of monitoring revealed that plant growth conditions of all revegetation methods of each stream bank were good in the first survey as of May 2010. However, in the second survey of June 2011 when inundation period was less than a week, plant growth conditions and coverage of revegetation methods were partially bad. In the third survey as of August 2011 when inundation period was longest as 8 weeks during survey period, most vegetations did not survive except for Phragmites communis. But plant species number and plant coverage were increased gradually in the forth survey as of October 2011 when inundation period was less than 2 weeks so water level decreased more than that of third survey. Accordingly, the correlation analysis among number of plant species and plant coverage on stream bank, which applied revegetation method, water level and inundation period was performed for quantitative analysis. The result revealed that number of plant species and plant coverage has a negative correlation with water level and inundation period, but inundation period had higher correlation with plant occurrence than water level.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.374-384
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• 1999

Benthic marine algal flora and community structure of Yongho-dong area in Pusan, Korea were investigated seasonally in intertidal and subtidal zones by a quadrat method along 5 transect lines from July 1996 to April 1997. In this area, a total of 99 species including 3 blue-green, 13 green, 26 brown and 57 red algae was found. Among them, 33 taxa, together with dominant Ulva pertusa and Corallina pilulifera, occurred throughout the year. Enteromorpha spp. and Ulva spp. vertically distributed in upper and middle zone, while Simphyocladia latiuscula, Chondria crassicaulis, Corallina pilulifera and Sargassum sup. in lower zones. Biomass per unit area exhibited a wide range of variation, from 1,241 g/$m^2$(spring) to 1,648 g/$m^2$(summer) in fresh weight. Maximum and minimum species diversity were recorded in spring and autumn, respectively. Results of the UPGAM cluster analysis suggest that the examined 5 sites can be divided into two groups, sites exposed to open sea (transects 1, 2, 3) and comparatively sheltered sites (transects 4, 5) faced with the Pusan Harbor. The former group is represented by large brown algae, Sargassum and Hizikia, while Ulva pertusa and Lomentaria species are mainly found in the latter group. A calcareous alga, Corallina pilulifera occurred dominantly in both groups throughout the year. In conclusion, number of species in this area was remarkably reduced as compared to the previous data. This result may suggest probably more change of algal vegetation in future, considering the physical and chemical pollutions loaded in the coastal marine environment of this area.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.745-759
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• 2013

The characteristics of meteorological conditions and air pollution were investigated in a valley city (Yangsan) on bad visibility days (from 05:00 to 09:00 LST) of the cold half year (November 2008 to April 2009). This analysis was performed using the hourly observed data of meteorological variables (temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, and 2 m and 10 m temperature) and air pollutants ($NO_2$, $SO_2$, $PM_{10}$, and $O_3$). In addition, visibility data based on visual measurements and a visibility meter were used. The bad visibility days were classified into four types: fog, mist, haze, and the mixture (mist+haze). The results showed that the bad visibility days of the four types in the valley city were observed to be more frequently (about 50% of the total study period (99 days except for missing data)) than (27%) those near coastal metropolitan city (Busan). The misty days (39%) in the valley city were the most dominant followed by the hazy (37%), mixture (14%), and foggy days (10%). The visibility degradation on the misty days in Yangsan was closely related to the combined effect of high-level relative humidity due to the accumulation of water vapor from various sources (e.g. river, stream, and vegetation) and strong inversion due to the development of surface radiative cooling within the valley. On the hazy days, the visibility was mainly reduced by the increase in air pollutant (except for $O_3$) concentrations from the dense emission sources under local conditions of weaker winds from the day before and stronger inversion than the misty days. The concentrations of $NO_2$, $PM_{10}$, and $SO_2$ (up to +36 ppb, $+25{\mu}g/m^3$, and +7 ppb) on the hazy days were a factor of 1.4-2.3 higher than those (+25 ppb, $+14{\mu}g/m^3$, and +3 ppb) on the misty days.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.4
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• pp.534-545
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• 2010

To examine 1) rainfall pattern (i.e., type and intensity) regulating surface erosion on hillslopes in postwildfire area and 2) its effect on variation in sediment yield along the gradient of severity wildfire regimes and elapsed years, we surveyed the amount of sediment yield with respect to daily or net-effective rainfall in 9 plots in eastern coastal region, Republic of Korea. Before field investigation, all plots classified into three groups: low-, mixed- and high-severity wildfire regimes (3 plots in each group). We found that, with decreasing wildfire regimes and increasing elapsed years, the rainfall type regulating surface erosion changed from daily rainfall to net-effective rainfall (considering rainfall continuity) and its intensity increased continuously. In general, wildfires can destroy the stabilized forest floors, and thus rainfall interception by vegetation and litter layer should be reduced. Wildfires can also decrease soil pores in forest floors, and thus infiltration rates of soil are reduced. These two processes lead to frequent occurrence of overland flows required to surface erosion, and sediment yields in post-wildfire areas should increase linearly with increasing rainfall events. With the decreasing severity wildfire regimes and the increasing elapsed years, these processes should be stabilized, and therefore their sediment yields also decreased. Our findings on variations in sediment yields caused by the wildfire regimes and the elapsed years suggest understanding of hydrogeomorphic and ecologic diversities in post-wildfire areas, and these should be carefully examined for both watershed management and disaster prevention.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_1
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• pp.1111-1124
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• 2021

Mudflats are crucial for understanding the ecological structure and biological function of coastal ecosystem because of its high primary production by microalgae. There have been many studies on measuring primary productivity of tidal flats for the estimation of organic carbon abundance, but it is relatively recent that optical remote sensing technique, particularly hyperspectral sensing, was used for it. This study investigates hyperspectral sensing of chlorophyll concentration on a tidal flat surface, which is a key variable in deriving primary productivity. The study site is a mudflat in Geunso bay, South Korea and field campaigns were conducted at ebb tide in April and June 2021. Hyperspectral reflectance of the mudflat surfaces was measured with two types of hyperspectral sensors; TriOS RAMSES (directionalsensor) and the Specim-IQ (camera sensor), and Normal Differenced Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Contiuum Removal Depth (CRD) were used to estimate Chl-a from the optical measurements. The validation performed against independent field measurements of Chl-a showed that both CRD and NDVI can retrieve surface Chl-a with R² around 0.7 for the Chl-a range of 0~150 mg/m² tested in this study.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.623-634
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• 2000

This study was conducted to analyze the patterns associated with the short-term variability of CO$_2$ concentrations over 24-h scale within and across the Korean Peninsula. In the course of our study, we compared the data sets obtained from Moo-Ahn (MAN) station located in the far western coastal area of Korea with those determined from major background observatory stations around the world from the periods of Aug. 1995 to Dec. 1997. The mean CO$_2$ concentration of the MAN area for the whole study periods, when computed using the daily mean values, was found out to be 374.5${\pm}$6.6 ppm (N=884); seasonal mean values were found out to be 378${\pm}$5.2 (spring: N=181), 372${\pm}$10.2 (summer: N =210), 372${\pm}$7.2 (fall: N=243), and 376${\pm}$5.4 ppm (winter: N=206). When the data from MAN was compared with those of major background stations, the effects of both daily and seasonal components appear to vary distinctively across different stations. Those effects are expected to reflect the mixed effects of various factors which include: seasonal pollution patterns, weather conditions, vegetation, and so forth. Based upon this comparative analysis, we suspect that the MAN area is under the strong influence of anthropogenic source processes relative to all the other stations under consideration. If that is not the case, the existence of enhanced CO$_2$ level may be rather ubiquitous phenomena in Korea. More detailed inspection of CO$_2$ behavior from various respects is strongly desired in the future.