• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.648-656
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• 2010

Global warming brings changes of natural ecosystems and affects on the plant growth response. Quercus acutissima and Q. variabilis are taxonomically similar and dominant native species in deciduous forests in South Korea. In order to understand the growth response of Q. acutissima and Q. variabilis to global warming condition, we cultivated the seedling of the two oak species in ambient condition(control) and treatment with elevated $CO_2$(700~800ppm) and increased air temperature(approximately $3^{\circ}C$ above than control). Then we measured the growth characteristic among them and analyzed the relationship between two species using PCA ordination. Stem length and total plant weight of Q. acutissima were significantly affected by elevated $CO_2$ concentration and increased air temperature. Stem diameter and weight of Q. variabilis were significantly affected by elevated $CO_2$ concentration and increased air temperature(p<0.05). The variation characteristics of Q. acutissima were changed more than Q. variabilis by elevated $CO_2$ concentration and increased air temperature. These result suggested that Q. acutissima was more sensitive to global warming situation than Q. variabilis in central region of Korea. PCA ordination showed that two species were arranged by two distinct groups based on 10 characters by elevated $CO_2$ and increased air temperature.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.81-96
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• 2009

This study has found out the status of the environment ecology(topography structure. land-use, flora, plant community structure, wildbird) in 10 uninhabited islands(i.e. Kei island, Hadon island, Sangdon island, Daewa island, Hwanggang island, Naebi island, Oebi island, Prickly castor-oil tree island, Tongin island, Yuk island), Namhae-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Moreover, It has suggested ways of improving the environment ecology status by classifying the type of environment ecology about the degree of use and damage that based on the results of environment ecology survey. According to the results of topography structure survey, the survey site altitude was ranged within 1m$\sim$25m, otherwise, the radient was classified the rock area(.i.e. slope of less than $5^{\circ}$ the dead level) and the slope area where is steep slope. Moreover, there was showed evenly a variety of aspect. Land-use were divided the field(Kei island), dry native grasslands(Hadon island), naturalized grasslands(Sangdon island), Pinus thunbergii community(Dacwa island, Hwanggang island, Naebi island, Yuk island), the rock area(Oebi island, Prickly castor-oil tree island, Tongin island). As the results of flora survey, the number of plant species were 30$\sim$115 species and the naturalized species were found 2$\sim$12 species in each site. The results of plant community structure analysis, The dominant species were Pinus thunbergii and Pinus densiflora were in upper tree layer, furthermore, it were Pinus thunbergii, Eurya japonica, Prunus sargentii, Celtis sinensis, Morus bombycis, ect. in cannopy tree layer. In shrub layer, the dominant species were Rosa multiflora, Rubus crataegifolius, Parthenocissus tricuspidata, etc. The status of wildbird bird, had been found 42 species 938 individuals, especially, there were Bubo bubo kiautschensis(natural monument No. 324) and Haematopus ostralegus osculans(natural monument No. 326). According to these synthetic results, we are able to classify the 5 types of environment ecology such as the natural coast forest that composed of Pinus thunbergii and Pinus densiflora(Daewa island, Hwanggang island, Naebi island, Oebi island, Tongin island, Yuk island), the field in vegetation area(Kei island), vegetation succession area of fallow field type(Hadon island), vegetation damage area by the forest fire and disturbance elements(Prickly castor-oil tree island), dominant naturalized species grassland by grazing cattle(Sangdon island).

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.853-860
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• 2003

Plants sequester atmospheric CO$_2$, a major agent of climate change, during the growing periods and mitigate its rising accumulation in the atmosphere. Pinus densiflora and Quercus mongolica are the native tree species dominant in the temperate forests of Korea. This study quantified the annual CO$_2$ uptake by the two species at forest sites in Chuncheon in the middle of the country. The quantification was based on seasonal measurements of CO$_2$ exchange rates under natural conditions by an infrared gas analyzer over the growing season (1999). The monthly CO$_2$ uptake per unit leaf area ranged from 1.6-6.7 mg/d㎡/h for P. densiflora and from 3.7-8.9 mg/d㎡/h for Q. mongolica, with a maximum in mid-summer. An equation for each species was generated to estimate easily the annual CO$_2$ uptake by total leaf area per tree, which subtracted the CO$_2$ release (i.e. respiration) by leaves and woody organs from the gross CO$_2$ uptake (diurnal uptake and release by leaves). Annual CO$_2$ release by leaves and woody organs accounted for 58-73％ of the gross CO$_2$ uptake across tree specimens. Annual CO$_2$ uptake per tree increased with increasing dbh (stem diameter at breast height) for the study diameter range, and was greater for Q. mongolica than for P. densiflora in the same dbh sizes. This was mainly associated with a greater total leaf area in the former. For example, the annual CO$_2$ uptake by one tree with dbh of 25 cm was 35.6 kg/yr for P. densiflora and 47.9 kg/yr for Q. mongolica. The results from this study can be applied to evaluate an atmospheric CO$_2$ reduction of woody plants by forest type and age class.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.356-362
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• 2007

The rhizobacterial diversity associated with 9 native plant species inhabiting coastal sand dunes in Tae-an area, Chungnam Province, was studied using the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting analysis over three times from October 2003 to March 2004. One dominant band commonly occurred in all of the rhizosphere samples, which was identified as that of Lysobacter enzymogenes. The other common bands included those derived from species of Pseudomonas and Bacillus. It was notable that L. enzymogenes was dominant in all of the 9 plant species and such dominance was consistent throughout the whole sampling period, which confirms the previous study by Lee et al. (2006a). The Bacillus bands were detected in all of the three samplings, and those of Pseudomonas were notable in the samples of December 2003. By the DGGE analysis alone, the significance of Lysobacter to the sand dune plants is not clear. However, considering their presence in healthy plants and the dominance in all plant species, Lysobacter may have positive roles in the survival or growth of the plants in sand dune area.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.446-455
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• 2004

The ichthyofauna and community structure in Hongcheon river, Korea, was investigated from April to October 2002. During the surveyed period, 52 species belonging 11 families were collected. There were 23 Korean endemic species (44.23%), including Rhodeus uyekii, Acheilognathus signifer, A. yamatsutae, Coreoleuciscus splendidus, Koreocobitis rotundicaudata and Silurus microdorsalis. Dominant species were Zacco platypus (20.38%), and subdominant species were Z. temmincki (19.62%). Also, Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (8.45%), Pungtungia herzi (8.01%), C. splendidus (6.63%) were numerous. Of the 6 introduced fishes in Hongcheon river Carassius cuvieri, Lepomis macrochirus and Micropterus salmoides were originated from foreign countries but Anguilla japonica, Gymnogobius urotaenia, Rhinogobius giurinus were introduced from other native river systems. According to the fish distribution, the fish community of Hongcheon river was divided into 4 groups by principle component analysis (PCA).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.248-258
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• 2020

The vaginal microbiota may be important for pregnancy prognosis because vaginal dysbiosis during pregnancy appears to be related to preterm birth (PTB) or pregnancy loss. Previous reports have indicated that a Lactobacillus-poor microbial flora in the vagina and intrauterine infection by diverse anaerobes ascending from the vagina are associated with undesirable delivery outcomes. However, no research has involved the use of pyrosequencing analysis to examine vaginal microbiota profiles or their potential associations with high-risk pregnancy in Korean women. Vaginal swabs were collected from 500 Korean women for the identification of community state types (CSTs). Of these, 137 samples were further analyzed using a Roche/454 GS Junior pyrosequencer. Three distinct CSTs were identified based on the dominant vaginal microbes: CST I (Lactobacillus crispatus dominated), CST III (Lactobacillus iners dominated), and CST IV (with diverse species of anaerobes). Twelve of the 67 pregnant women had undesirable pregnancy outcomes (four miscarriages and eight PTBs). The dominant microbe in the vaginal microbiota of women who gave birth at full-term was L. crispatus. In contrast, L. iners was the dominant vaginal microbe in women who miscarried. Most (n = 6/8) vaginal microbiota profiles of women who experienced PTB could be classified as CST IV, with diverse bacteria, including anaerobic vaginal species. The present study provides valuable information regarding the characteristics of the vaginal microbiota of Korean women related to high-risk pregnancy. Investigation of the vaginal microbiotic structure in pregnant Korean women is necessary to enable better prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.84-101
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• 2004

This study presents an ecological management plan for wildbird habitat conservation, an nature-friendly enhancement of bio-diversity using the riverside of the Tancheon Ecosystem Conservation Area in Seoul by analyzing environmental and ecological characteristics. As a result of analyzing actual vegetation, vegetation type was classified into 34 types. Humulus japonicus association covers an area of 441,568.6㎡(31.44％), and Artemisia princeps var. orientalis association covers an area of 89,690.1㎡(6.39％). Sandy plain as valuable wildbird habitat covers an area of 89,965.9㎡(6.4％). 125 taxa including 34 families, 93 genera, 107 species, and 18 varieties were recorded and the number of naturalized plants were 41 taxa at the survey site. Total naturalized index(NI) and urbanized index(UI) were recorded as 32.8％, and 15.5％. As a result of analyzing the herb plants association structure by surveying 8 belt-transects, the humid native plants was dominant in the partially adjacent revetment edge and damp riverside. On the other hand, naturalized plants was so extensively dominant that it was necessary to establish an ecological management plan. The observed wildbirds belonged to 50 species, 6,118 individuals, and 7 restricted species by law, which were Accipiter gentilis, Falco tinnunculus, Buteo hemilasius, and Buteo buteo. Oriolus chinensis,Hirundo rustica, and Alcedo atthis. The ecological administration plan for Tancheon Ecosystem Conservation Area as follows: in ecological land-use planning, the conservation area(695,518.5㎡) has native woody and herb vegetation and sandy plain with water as an wildbird habitat. The restoration area(653,702.7㎡) has a naturalized plants distribution are with artificial revetment. The nature-friendly Riverside Area(55,414.9㎡) was an easily approached area with damaged riverside vegetation, and a safe area to wildbird habitat. In riverside restoration planning, the artificial riverside should be restored to its natural riverside vegetation, and the artificial embankment should be restored with edge shrubs for wildbird habitat or revegetated for natural riverside landscape. For naturalized plants management planning, we selected naturalized plant species to be weeded out, and suggested an application method for ecological management.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 1999

Current data on reproductive characters of endemic and native species are essential to provide a strategy for the conservation of these species. Red pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb. & Zucc.) is one of the dominant, native tree species in Korea, but its reproductive ecology is not well-known. In 1997, the pattern of variation in cone and seed yields contributing to the conservation of declining populations of red pines was examined. Plant height and dbh were measured, and several new cones were collected from each tagged tree after counting the number of cones on each tree. For a subset of cones sampled, the number of fertile scales, the number of seeds at three development stages (early/late aborted, and filled seed), seed wing size, wing color, and individual filled seed mass were measured. The three sites which differed significantly in mean plant size also differed in mean cone and seed production per plant. However further analyses showed that most variation in characters examined occurred among plants within sites, but not among sites. An average of 90% of the potential seeds on the cones aborted at an early developmental stage, demonstrating that early abortion is a major factor affecting the number of filled seeds per cone. Individual seed mass was the only character which exhibited significant variations among sites as well as among trees within sites. Individual seed mass was overall negatively correlated with both the percentage of late abortion and the number of old cones per plant, suggesting that both the past and current years' reproductive activities have caused variations in seed mass. The potential dispersal distance of red pine seeds is quite large. However, wing loading was correlated with seed mass and number in a complex pattern across the sites. Distribution of seeds with varied colored wings differed among sites and among trees within sites. These results suggest that red pines at different sites might possess different strategies to cope with selection pressures acting during the final phase of reproduction, from seed dispersal to establishment. Then the ‘fitted’ red pine trees at each site should be identified and managed to conserve or restore populations.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.238-248
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• 2010

We performed field investigations at six stations in Buk Stream of Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do, Korea, from May to September 2009 to understand the stream's fish fauna and community structure. In the survey, 31 species belonging to 20 families were collected. Dominant species by number was Zacoo koreanus (30.0%), and subdominant species were Pungitius kaibarae (9.4%) and Rhynchocypris steindachneri (9.3%). In biomass, the dominant species was Tribolodon hakonensis (35.5%), and subdominant species were Z. koreanus (22.5%) and Cobitis pacifica (7.5%). Eight Korean endemic fish species and two endangered species (P. kaibarae and Pungitius sinensis) were collected. In addition, four anadromous fish species (T. hakonensis, Oncorhynchus masou masou, O. keta, Gasterosteus aculeatus) and two amphidromus fish species (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis and Gymnogobius urotaenia) were observed. Interestingly, we verified the existence of several fish species in Buk Stream where they have not lived before. Those species were previously reported to live only in rivers that run into the western and southern sea of Korea. Five of those species (Zacoo koreanus, Z. platypus, Silurus microdorsalis, Liobagrus andersoni and Coreoperca herzi) were reported in Buk Stream in the 1980s. The other species (Pungtungia herzi, Pseudorasbora parva, Squalidus multimaculatus, Misgurnus mizolepis, Koreocobitis rotundicaudata, Silurus asotus and Odontobutis interrupta) have been introduced since the 1990s.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2013

This study investigated mammal fauna in the sabbatical area of Mt. Unmun, Kyungsangbuk-do from December, 2007 to September, 2009. A total of 24 species belonging to 11 Families, 6 Orders, were identified in the survey area. Dominant species were as follows: Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis), Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus), Korean mole (Mogera wogura), and East Asian field mouse (Apodemus peninsulae). Especially, four Legal Protection Species specified as National Monument (NM) and Endangered Species (ES) found in this survey were as follows: Flying squirrel (Petromys volans; NM #328 and ES level II), Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra; NM #330 and ES level I), Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis; ES level II) and Marten (Martes flavigula; ES level II). These results on the geographical distribution of various mammal species and Legal Protection Species indicate that this area is a valuable ecosystem for native mammal species. On the other hand, many feral cats were also found and specified as a management species. The results of this study show that further long-term investigation and management plan are needed to protect against harmful species and maintain the native ecosystem of Mt. Unmun.