• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.228-236
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• 2021

Background: A review of the literature was carried out to study dust and sandstorm (DSS) in terms of its ecosystem processes and relationship to other dryland disasters in Northeast Asia. Drylands are ecosystems that include grasslands, semi-deserts, and deserts, and these types of ecosystems are vulnerable due to their low primary productivity that depends on a small amount of precipitation. Results: Drought, dust, desertification, and winter livestock disasters (called dzud) are unique natural disasters that affect the region. These disasters are related in that they share major causes, such as dryness and low vegetation cover that combine with other conditions, wind, cold waves, livestock, and land-surface energy, to dramatically impact the ecosystem. Conclusions: The literature review in this study illustrates the macroscopic context of the spatial and temporal patterns of DSS according to geography, climate, and vegetation growth in the drylands of Northeast Asia. The effects of ocean climates and human activities were discussed to infer a possible teleconnection effect of DSS and its relations to desertification and dzud.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.177-185
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• 2009

Dryland species and ecosystems have developed unique strategies to cope with low and sporadic rainfall. They are highly resilient and recover quickly from prevailing disturbances such as fires, herbivore pressure and drought. Dryland people have engineered pastoral and farming systems, which are adapted to these conditions and have sustained the livelihoods of dryland people for centuries. In this article, we present the status of potentials and threats to dryland biodiversity and explore options for its conservation and sustainable use. Findings of the research can be summarized as follows: (i) The ecosystem goods and services are highly valued by the community but mechanism for wise use of the resources has disappeared, (ii) forests are under the ownership of the government but the local community is the realistic custodian of the forests through village leaderships and environmental committees; (iii) the immediate major threat to dryland biodiversity held in the forests appears to be the degradation of ecosystems and habitats caused by new and powerful forces of environmental degradation such as large scale irrigation of rice farms, poverty-induced overexploitation of natural resources, and disappearance and ignorance of traditional institutions for management of dryland biodiversity. These new forms of disturbances often overpower the legendary resilience of dryland ecosystems and constitute potentially serious threats to dryland biodiversity. Forests, wetlands and oases all of which are micro hot spots of dryland biodiversity, appear to be particularly vulnerable hence the need to set up some rules and regulations for sustainable utilization of these resources.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• 제5권3호
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• pp.172-180
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• 2011

The transfer of microorganisms is important process for ecosystems. Microorganisms in dryland can transport itself to wetland through atmospheric diffusion, but only few papers reported about the atmospheric bioaerosol present over dryland. We carried out the direct sampling using a tethered balloon over Dunhuang City, China's northwestern dryland. Bioaerosols were collected using a tethered balloon with a bioaerosol collector at 820 m above the ground (1,960 m above the sea level) around noon on August 17, 2007. The bioaerosols were cultured after the collection at Dunhuang Meteorological observatory. Two strains of molds were isolated using the Nutrient agar medium. About 400-bp 18S rRNA partial sequences were amplified by PCR and determined afterwards. The results of a homology search by 18S rRNA sequences of isolates in DNA databases (GenBank, DDBJ, and EMBL) and an observation of the form revealed that two bioaerosols in the convective mixed layer over Dunhuang City were Cladosporium sp. and Aspergillus sp.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제43권2호
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• pp.246-253
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• 2019

Background: Water use efficiency (WUE) is an indicator of the trade-off between carbon uptake and water loss to the atmosphere at the plant or ecosystem level. Understanding temporal dynamics and the response of WUE to climatic variability is an essential part of land degradation assessments in water-limited dryland regions. Alternative definitions of and/or alternative methodologies used to measure WUE, however, have hampered intercomparisons among previous studies of different biomes and regions. The present study aims to clarify semantic differences among WUE parameters applied in previous studies and summarize these parameters in terms of their definition and methodology. Additionally, the consistency of the responses of alternative WUE parameters to interannual changes in moisture levels in Northeast Asia dryland regions (NADRs) was tested. Results: The literature review identified more than five different WUE parameters defined at leaf and ecosystem levels and indicates that major conclusions regarding the WUE response to climatic variability were partly inconsistent depending on the parameters used. Our demonstration of WUE in NADR again confirmed regional inconsistencies and further showed that inconsistencies were more distinct in hyper- and semi-arid climates than in arid climates, which might reflect the different relative roles of physical and biological processes in the coupled carbon-water process. Conclusions: The responses of alternative WUE parameters to drying and wetting may be different in different regions, and regionally different response seems to be related to aridity, which determines vegetation coverage.

• 한국습지학회지
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.24-30
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• 2020

본 연구에서는 습지 조성 및 습지 내 식물에 따른 미세먼지 저감 능력 규명을 통해 습지생태계의 가치에 대하여 새로운 시각의 해석을 제공하고자 하였다. 소형 간이온실(70cm W × 70cm L × 60cm H)로 닫힌계를 형성하였으며, 간이온실 내 메조코즘에 일정 수위가 유지되는 습지(W) 혹은 건조 상태를 유지하는 육상(L) 조건을 조성하였다. 육상과 습지 조건 각각에 식물종 미식재, 단일종 식재 그리고 두 종 혼합 식재의 총 8가지 조건을 4반복씩 조성하였다. 열린계의 메조코즘에서 초기 대기질과 닫힌계로의 전환 1시간 경과한 후의 대기질을 측정하여 공기 정화능을 확인하였다. 각 실험구의 대기질로서 PM2.5, PM10농도를 중점적으로 측정하였으며, 2차 실험에서는 식물체의 건중량을 측정하였다. 닫힌계 형성 1시간 후 습지 환경에서의 PM2.5와 PM10의 감소량은 1차 실험에서 각각 13.7±1.3, 15.0±1.4 ㎍·m^-3hr^-1로 나타났으며, 2차 실험에서는 각각 10.5±2.1, 11.2±2.2 ㎍·m^-3hr^-1로 나타났다. 육지 환경에서의 미세먼지 감소량은 1차 실험에서 각각 13.2±1.3, 13.8±1.5 ㎍·m^-3hr^-1로 나타났으며, 2차 실험에서는 각각 9.2±1.5, 8.8±1.4 ㎍·m^-3hr^-1로 나타났다. 이는 습지의 높은 생산성으로 인한 식물의 생장으로 식물의 조직에 미세먼지 흡착을 통한 저감이나 증산작용을 통한 수분, 또 습지 자체의 수생태계적 특성을 통한 미세먼지 저감 효과가 드러난 것으로 여겨진다. 따라서 습지의 미세먼지 저감 능력은 습지의 또 다른 가치로 볼 수 있으며 이는 미세먼지 문제에 대한 해결방안 중의 하나로 제시될 수 있을 것이다.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.122-142
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• 2012

The importance of rainfed areas and animal agriculture on productivity enhancement and food security for economic rural growth in Asia is discussed in the context of opportunities for increasing potential contribution from them. The extent of the rainfed area of about 223 million hectares and the biophysical attributes are described. They have been variously referred to inter alia as fragile, marginal, dry, waste, problem, threatened, range, less favoured, low potential lands, forests and woodlands, including lowlands and uplands. Of these, the terms less favoured areas (LFAs), and low or high potential are quite widely used. The LFAs are characterised by four key features: i) very variable biophysical elements, notably poor soil quality, rainfall, length of growing season and dry periods, ii) extreme poverty and very poor people who continuously face hunger and vulnerability, iii) presence of large populations of ruminant animals (buffaloes, cattle, goats and sheep), and iv) have had minimum development attention and an unfinished wanting agenda. The rainfed humid/sub-humid areas found mainly in South East Asia (99 million ha), and arid/semi-arid tropical systems found in South Asia (116 million ha) are priority agro-ecological zones (AEZs). In India for example, the ecosystem occupies 68% of the total cultivated area and supports 40% of the human and 65% of the livestock populations. The area also produces 4% of food requirements. The biophysical and typical household characteristics, agricultural diversification, patterns of mixed farming and cropping systems are also described. Concerning animals, their role and economic importance, relevance of ownership, nomadic movements, and more importantly their potential value as the entry point for the development of LFAs is discussed. Two examples of demonstrated success concern increasing buffalo production for milk and their expanded use in semi-arid AEZs in India, and the integration of cattle and goats with oil palm in Malaysia. Revitalised development of the LFAs is justified by the demand for agricultural land to meet human needs e.g. housing, recreation and industrialisation; use of arable land to expand crop production to ceiling levels; increasing and very high animal densities; increased urbanisation and pressure on the use of available land; growing environmental concerns of very intensive crop production e.g. acidification and salinisation with rice cultivation; and human health risks due to expanding peri-urban poultry and pig production. The strategies for promoting productivity growth will require concerted R and D on improved use of LFAs, application of systems perspectives for technology delivery, increased investments, a policy framework and improved farmer-researcher-extension linkages. These challenges and their resolution in rainfed areas can forcefully impact on increased productivity, improved livelihoods and human welfare, and environmental sustainability in the future.