• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.177-186
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• 2023

Background: Inner Mongolia, desertification is happening due to climate change and land use alterations. In order to evaluate desert restoration effectiveness, this study compares number of species and species diversity in restored (with planted trees), unrestored area, and the reference ecosystem (Ref-E, typical steppe and woody steppe). Results: The Ref-E had the most plant species (64 taxa), while the unrestored area had the fewest (5 taxa). Among restored areas (restored in 2012, 2008, 2005), older restoration sites had more species (18-42). Similarly, species richness (3.93-0.41) and diversity (1.99-0.40) were highest in the Ref-E and lowest in unrestored areas, with older restored sites having higher values. Conclusions: More plant species and diversity in older restoration areas suggest progress toward ecosystem stabilization, approaching the Ref-E. Therefore, tree planting in Inner Mongolia's Hulunbuir semi-arid desert is a successful restoration effort.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.422-429
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• 2013

It is generally known that the increase of the Earth surface temperature due to the global warming together with the land desertification by rapid urban development has caused severe climate and weather change. In desert or desertification land, it is observed that there are always severe flooding phenomena, even if desert sand has the high porosity, which could be believed as the favorable condition of rain water infiltration into ground water. The high runoff feature causes possibly another heavy rain by quick evaporation with the depletion of underground water due to the lack of infiltration. The basic physics of desert flooding is reasonably assumed due to the thermal buoyancy of the higher temperature of the soil temperature than that of the rain drop. Considering the importance of this topic associated with water resource management and climate disaster prevention, no systematic investigation has, however, been reported in literature. In this study, therefore, a laboratory scale experiment together with the effort of numerical calculation have been performed to evaluate quantitatively the basic hypothesis of run-off mechanism caused by the increase of soil temperature. To this end, first, of all, a series of experiment has been made repeatedly with the change of soil temperature with well-sorted coarse sand having porosity of 35% and particle diameter, 2.0 mm. In specific, in case 1, the ground surface temperature was kept at $15^{\circ}C$, while in case 2 that was high enough at $70^{\circ}C$. The temperature of $70^{\circ}C$ was tested as this try since the informal measured surface temperature of black sand in California's Coachella Valley up to at 191 deg. $^{\circ}F$ ($88^{\circ}C$). Based on the experimental study, it is observed that the amount of runoff at $70^{\circ}C$ was higher more than 5% compared to that at $15^{\circ}C$. Further, the relative amount of infiltration by the decrease of the surface temperature from 70 to $15^{\circ}C$ is about more than 30%. The result of numerical calculation performed was well agreed with the experimental data, that is, the increase of runoff in calculation as 4.6%. Doing this successfully, a basic but important research could be made in the near future for the more complex and advanced topic for this topic.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.701-724
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• 2003

Since the late 19th century, the location and characteristics of Lop-Nor lake have been a major theme of debates among the scholars(Prejevalsky, Richthofen, Kozlov, Hedin, Huntington, Stein, Chen etc.) who have been interested in Inner Asia. In the 1980s the problem to find the exact location and characteristics of Lop-Nor lake was finally solved by the investigation group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Ironically, it was possible to find the solution by drying up of the lake due to the change of land use and the expansion of irrigation system in Tarim basin. Specially the excessive development of this area for agricultural use by the Xinjiang Production-Construction Army Corps since 1949 must have influenced on drying up of Lop-Nor lake. Furthermore it can be observed to be the very similar situation to Lop-Nor lake in many areas of Chinese Inner Asia Frontier. According to this finding, it may be proposed that human factors played an important role in the changes of Lop-Nor lake over the previous years too. This study can give an insight on the ecological interpretation of Inner Asian history and the environmental interpretation of the rising nationalism in this area.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.91-104
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• 2017

The purposes of this study were to analyze high school students' understanding about the Earth system and systems thinking process, and to develop science writing programs designed to assess students' understanding about themes of Earth Science such as global warming, volcanoes, and desertification. A total of 8 $11^{th}$ grade students from general high schools participated in the writing program and draw the causal maps. The methods of this study are as follows. First, DAET-C was used to investigate the way of students' understanding about the Earth systems. What the students' best understood was the component of the Earth systems followed by the interaction of the Earth systems and the scientific literacy of Earth science. Second, feedback circulations on the causal maps were found in four students in global warming section, one student in volcanic eruption section, and four students in desertification section, which means that systems thinking was not largely employed by the students. Consequently, the student participants understood that the global change was happening in correlation with complex concepts and factors, but they were short of using systems thinking in their science study. Therefore, the result of this study suggests that more studies be conducted to develop systems thinking in Earth Science learning through science writing programs.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.101-111
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• 2011

The Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project in China is similar to the 'The 10-year National Greening Project' of Korea, and is one of the great strategic policies that started in order to develop the people, resources and the environment by the central government of China. Using the ecosystem recovery as the slogan, The Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project of China has a long history of 70 years, but the accomplishments has been insignificant when compared to the long history. The Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project was not a trend due to the societal and economical issues of China, but with the increasing interest on the environmental protection in the late 1990s the extent of the ecosystem is gradually increasing. The most difficult, yet most important matter of the Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project, is that it must consider the ecosystem with the economy. The farmers want financial gains in a short term, and the government aims is gaining cost-benefit over a long period which is why a rational the Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project of the central government in China is most important. In order for the Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project of China to develop further in the future, the standardization and distinction of the economic compensation policy is most urgent. Other than this, a new policy and the government interest on the livelihood of the farmers after the completion of the Returning Land for Farming to Forestry Project are needed, and there must be a clear and fair policy enactment environment so that the opinions of the farmers can influence the policy in the policy enactments.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.249-256
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• 2015

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels and types of nitrogen fertilizer on seedlings and soil chemical properties in a semi-arid area, Mongolia. 2-year-old Populus sibirica and 4-year-old Ulmus pumila seedlings were planted in May 2014. Six treatments with three levels of nitrogen (low-level: urea $5g\;tree^{-1}$; medium-level: urea $15g\;tree^{-1}$, ammonium sulfate $33g\;tree^{-1}$, urea $15g\;tree^{-1}$ with potassium phosphate $10g\;tree^{-1}$; high-level: urea $30g\;tree^{-1}$) were applied and for the medium-level of nitrogen, different types of fertilizer were treated. Survival rate, root collar diameter (RCD) growth rate, leaf nitrogen concentration of seedlings, and soil chemical properties were determined in August 2014. The seedling survival rate of both species decreased as the level of nitrogen increased. This result can be explained by water stress caused by nitrogen fertilization in arid regions. The RCD growth rate of P. sibirica was significantly decreased by the treatment of high-level of nitrogen due to excessive nitrogen fertilization, and was increased by the treatment of ammonium sulfate due to sulfur which might promote nitrogen uptake. The leaf nitrogen concentration of P. sibirica did not change by the treatment of low-level of nitrogen, and was increased by the treatment of medium-level of nitrogen. There were no significant differences in the RCD growth rate and the leaf nitrogen concentration of U. pumila among the six treatments. None of soil chemical properties was affected by nitrogen fertilization. Overall, the low-level of nitrogen showed no effect on seedlings and soil chemical properties, except on survival rate of U. pumila and the high-level of nitrogen was considered excessive fertilization. Continuous monitoring of medium-level nitrogen fertilization including the ammonium sulfate, which increased early growth of seedlings, would be needed to elucidate the effect of fertilization on seedling growth and soil properties in a semi-arid region.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.2
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• pp.330-344
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• 2022

While deforestation and forest degradation has continued globally, global society has been making efforts to prevent deforestation towards sustainable development. Reforestation in developing countries is linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as climate change mitigation, conservation of biodiversity, eradication of poverty and upholding of human rights. Forest official development assistance (ODA) restores the global forest land, and increases the public benefit. Bilateral forest ODA projects of the Republic of Korea have gradually increased and most of those projects have currently been concentrated in Asian countries. Selecting recipient countries for forest ODA requires more comprehensive approach since the global goals for sustainable development has been widely adapted to ODA strategic plans. We proposed potentially promising countries that are eligible for receiving 'Green ODA' in perspective of economic, social and environment to implement reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+), conserving biodiversity, and combating desertification. As a result, the study suggests that forestry cooperation could be expanded from Asian countries more toward South America and African countries. In addition, we emphasized the need to promote convergence and integration with green technology to fundamentally solve the negative impacts of deforestation such as food, energy, water resource shortages, and forest fires. We advocated expanding bilateral ODA in the forestry sector through diversification of project activities, financial sources, and participants. Our study can contribute to the provision of basic information for establishing long-term strategies to expand bilateral cooperation in the forestry sector.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2003

The deterioration of agricultural environment, which is characterized by dryness and desertification of land, is one of the main reasons which explain the recent decrease of land productivity. To solve these environmental problems, it is very important to make clear the mechanism between soil, water, vegetation and temperature. The main objective of this study is to provide a soil surface information, which represent a soil reflectance spectrum, by remote sensing technology. The soil reflectance of the soil was measured using a spectro-radiometer in the wavelength range from 300nm to 1100nm. The results suggest that the reflectance properties of soils are related to their mineral composition and soil moisture. Increasing soil moisture resulted in an decrease in the rate of reflectance which leads to parallel curves of soil reflectance spectra.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2008

Social and scientific changes, i.e., global warming, desertification, pollution, biodiversity, bioenergy, plant variety protection, biotechnology, timber demand, reforestation in North Korea, and etc., were reviewed for new strategy of forest tree breeding in Korea. Diversified breeding goals, globalization of breeding target species, multidisciplinary research approaches, manpower networking, establishment of new administrative and research units in KFS and KFRI were proposed. Principles suggested for new tree breeding strategy are: 1) multi-disciplinary approach in settlement of objectives, breeding methods, and etc., 2) expansion of target trees including foreign species, 3) fulfillment of both domestic and international demands for forest tree breeding, 4) establishment of breeding program well-grounded on genetic resources conservation, 5) acknowledgement of breeding products (i.e., variety, technique, gene, and etc.) as goods, and 6) provision of more research opportunities for young scientists. Lastly, ongoing tree breeding project in Indonesia and NTFP R&D Center at the College of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Kangwon National University were introduced as examples of desirable breeding projects based on target species diversification, multidisciplinary approach, and manpower networking.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.201-211
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• 2008

According to IPCC fourth assessment report in 2007, global mean temperatures have risen by 0.74 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years. Moreover, in the recent 25 years, global mean temperatures have risen by 0.45 degrees Celsius, which is 2.4-times larger than those in the past 100 years. The evidences for climate change, such as sea level rise, arctic glacier melt, and desertification in Asia, have occurred and increased over the globe. In Korea, because regional climate has been changed, types of agriculture and fishery should be replaced. And as precipitation pattern behave differently from the past decades, water management would be more difficult, furthermore, atmospheric environment, related to concentrations for ozone, sulfate, etc., could be worse. Nevertheless, we have only focused on greenhouse gas reduction duty for the Convention of Climate Change. Fortunately, in the fourth plan on climate change, we have planned to manage climate change more actively since 2007. In Korea, the emission of carbon dioxide has increased about 1.9-times more, from 311million ton in 1990 to 591million ton in 2004. And also about 2 ppm rise every year for concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As a result, ecosystem, quality of water and atmosphere would be affected. Here, the emission of greenhouse gases over the globe is examined, and the effect of greenhouse gases for climate change is reviewed from the results of previous studies. In addition, the countermeasures of mitigation and adaptation on climate change were discussed for the understanding.