• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.48-54
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• 2008

Forest fires occur the world over, with large-scale fires constantly breaking out. A suppressant a type of forest fire chemical is widely used to respond to fires rapidly and effectively. In general, suppressants used for fires have been divided into dry powder, liquid, foam, and gel type, according to physical form and use. This study has conducted toxicity tests relating to phytotoxicity(Pinus densiflora seed germination rate and mortality of containerized seedling), and soil organism toxicity(earthworm acute toxicity tests), of these suppressants, with the loaded stream suppressant for direct forest fire extinguishing a Loaded Stream and foam concentrates generally being used in Korea. From the results of the tests, the loaded stream and the foam concentrate had an effect on the toxicity levels. In the case of the loaded stream type, it was observed that toxicity indicating a 100% lethality rate was found among all toxicity test methods. Therefore, it is determined that forest ecology environmental toxicity impact assessments related to the suppressant used to extinguish forest fires are necessary in the near future.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.77-92
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• 1997

To know of the biological basic method that can improve the environment of the organisms that inhabit at Deokjin Park. We studied the flora and the fauna in Deokjin Park on June, 1996. The study was surveyed and researched according to the items floras, phytoplanktons, insects and vertebrates. The floras are composed of eleven varieties, one forma, eighty-three species, eighty-four genera and forty-nine families. In the lake of Deokjin Park, the dominant species were Nelembo nucifera and Spirodela polyrhiza. The authors thought that those species be artificially excluded in winter for the improvement of the quality of water. The phytoplanktons were composed of forty genera, eighteen families, ten orders and six classes. Among those, Anacystis(=Microcystis) and Anabaena that make eutrophication, were distributed in the lake of Deokjin Park. The fauna of insects were composed of forty-one species, thirty families and eleven orders. The authors observed seven species of fish, two species of amphibian, three species of reptile, seven species of the bird and one species of mammal. Among those, Bull-frog and Blue-turtle as exotic species must be excluded by artificial methods for the other native organisms of the lake of Deokjin Park.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.21-32
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• 2023

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) plays a pivotal role in predicting the potential environmental impacts of proposed developments and planning appropriate mitigation measures to minimize effects on species. However, as concerns over biodiversity loss rise, there's ongoing debate about the efficacy of these mitigation plans. In this study, we utilized data from EIAs and post-environmental impact surveys to understand the trends in biodiversity during construction and operation phases. By examining 30 urban development projects, we categorized species richness indices of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles into pre-construction, during construction, and post-construction operational stages. The biodiversity trends were analyzed based on the rate of change in these indices. The results revealed three distinct biodiversity change patterns: (A) An initial increase in biodiversity indices post-development, followed by a gradual decline over time; (B) a sustained increase in biodiversity as a result of mitigation measures; and (C) a continuous decline in biodiversity post-development. Furthermore, all species exhibited a higher rate of biodiversity decline during the construction phase compared to the operational phase, with mammals showing the most significant rate of change. Notably, the biodiversity change rate during operation was generally lower than during construction. In particular, mammals seemed to be most influenced by mitigation measures, displaying the smallest rate of change. This study provides empirical evidence on the efficacy of mitigation measures and deliberates on ways to enhance their effectiveness in minimizing the adverse impacts of urban development on biodiversity. These findings can serve as foundational data for addressing terrestrial biodiversity reduction.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.201-210
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• 2007

Pollution by chemical substances such as POPs, EDCs and PBTs in the ecosystem has become more complex and varied, increasing the possibility of irreversible damage to human health or the ecosystem. It is necessary to have a exposure assessment in a multi-media environment for various chemical substances is required for efficient management. This study applied MUSEM(Multi-media Simplebox-systems Environmental Model), a multimedia environmental model that can simultaneously evaluate the possibility of exposure of hundreds of chemical substances in order to efficiently manage chemical substances that can have negative impact on human health or ecological environment through environmental contamination. MUSEM executed the modeling for Japan by setting all 47 prefectures of japan as the regional area for 62 chemical substances and the rest of the territory of japan, excluding regional area, as the continental area and made the estimation of concentration among environment media in each administrative area and made the sensitivity analysis on Tokyo area. The results of simulation for chemical distribution showed that most of the target chemicals located in water region. The result of sensitivity analysis for octanol-water partition rate showed that the concentration change of soil in urban/industrial area and sediment in freshwater was high. In the case of sensitivity analysis for degradation rate showed that the concentration change of freshwater, soil in urban/industrial area, and sediment in freshwater was high.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.318-326
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• 2023

The floristic target species (FTS) has been widely used as a important tool for environmental assessment in Korea. Here the floristic district is a key criterion for the selection and evaluation of FTS. The aim of this study is to clarify the intellectual meaning of the floristic district i.e. a sort of phytogeographical subunit. We reviewed 7 main literatures related to the floristic district. Nakai's 1919 Ulleungdo flora survey report was first to mention a region and/or province in terms of general geographical divisions. In 1977, the floristic district map of the Korea vascular plants was first described by Oh. In 1978, Lee & Yim proposed a new floristic district map dividing the central and southern regions, and the district boundaries have been adjusted by many other researchers. In the end, the floristic district map modified slightly from Lee & Yim's map was nationally recognized in 2018. However, the boundaries of floristic districts were inconsistent, both in their setting and adjustment, as well as the indicator species of the district. No basis for this inconsistency could be confirmed. We concluded that all district maps depend on arbitrary lines drawn a priori, and finally proposed the following two ecological strategies to ensure the effectiveness and practicality of the FTS as a scientific means for environmental impact assessment and national flora evaluation: (i) designing to achieve the flora list and the floristic district based on nativeness of plant distribution, (ii) constructing a habitat-based floral monitoring system.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.529-536
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• 2015

This study was performed to provide important basic data for the preservation and management of Scopura laminata, a species endemic to Korea, by elucidating the spatial characteristics of its present, potential, and future distribution areas. Currently, this species is found in the Odaesan National Park area of South Korea and has been known to be restricted in its habitat due to its poor mobility, as even fully grown insects do not have wings. Utilizing the MaxEnt model, 20 collection points around Odaesan National Park were assessed to analyze and predict spatial distribution characteristics. The precision of the MaxEnt model was excellent, with an AUC value of 0.833. Variables affecting the potential distribution area of S. laminata by more than 10% included the range of annual temperature, seasonality of precipitation, and precipitation of the driest quarter, in order of greatest to least impact. Compared to the current potential distribution area, no significant difference in the overall habitable area was predicted for the 2050s or 2070s. It was, however, demonstrated that the potential habitable area would be reduced in the 2050s by up to 270.3 km from the current area of 403.9 km; further, no potential habitable area was anticipated by the 2070s according to our predictive model. Taken together, it is anticipated that this endemic species could be significantly affected by climate changes, and hence effective countermeasures are strongly warranted for the preservation of habitats and species management.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 1992

This paper deals with the estimation of population ecological parameters, including growth parameters, survival rates, instantaneous coefficient of natural mortality and age at first capture, of the small yellow-croaker, Pseudosciaena Polyactis in Korean waters, which determine fluctuations in stock abundance. For describing the growth of the small yellow croaker, von Bertalanffy growth equation was recommended for the purpose of stock assessment, although the Gompertz model yielded the closest fit. The survival rate (S) of the croaker was estimated to be 0.219 (variance=0.0000262), and the instantaneous coefficient of natural mortality (M) was 0.4 $year^{-1}$. From the estimates of S and M, the instantaneous coefficient of fishing mortality (F) was calculated to be 1.11$year^{-1}$ implying an impact from fishing three times that of natural mortality. Finally, the age at first capture $(t_{c})$ was estimated to be 0.602.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.542-554
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• 2015

Grain size, the content of ignition loss (IL), and the concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), acid volatile sulfide (AVS), and trace metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, As, and Hg) in surface sediments from the Taehwa River estuary, Ulsan, were measured to evaluate pollution levels and potential ecological risks of organic matter and trace metals in estuarine sediment. The mean grain size (Mz) of sediments in the study region ranged from $-0.8-7.7{\varphi}$ (mean $2.8{\pm}2.4{\varphi}$). Surface sediments in the upstream region of the Taehwa River were mainly composed of coarse sediments compared to the downstream region. The concentrations of IL, COD, AVS and trace metals in the sediment were much higher at downstream sites of Myeongchon Bridge in the vicinity of industrial complexes than at upstream sites of those in the vicinity of the residential areas due to the anthropogenic input of organic matter and trace metals by industrial activities. On the basis of several geochemical assessment techniques [sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index ($I_{geo}$), pollution load index (PLI) and ecological risk index (ERI)], the surfaces sediments in the study region are not highly polluted for trace metals, except for As. However, the higher concentrations in downstream study regions of the Taehwa River could impact benthic organisms including shellfish (i.e. Manila clam) in sediments.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.296-302
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• 2004

After the Rio declaration on environment and development in 1992, developed countries are undertaking 'environmentally sustainable transportation (EST)' projects. To meet the needs for EST, current transportation policies in Korea are rapidly reforming and one of its concerns is modernizing and upgrading railway freight system. Planning new railroad construction projects is increasing and subsequent environmental impact assessment (EIA) demands improvements, especially in both the EIA and decision making systems. In this paper, we discuss the present status of EIA for railroad construction projects, especially, by analyzing the EIA documents accumulated for last six years. The EIA for railroad construction projects .accounts for only $4.9\%$ of total project EIAs during 1998-2003. However, the portion is gradually increasing. Major environmental concerns for EIA in railroad construction projects were geomorphological and ecological changes, protection of rare organisms, air pollution, water quality, wast management, noise, etc. We also compared the characteristics of environmental impacts of railroad construction with those of vehicle road construction. The result shows that railroad construction usually requires 3${\~}$4 times longer tunnels and bridges for a given length than vehicle road construction. In addition, the amounts of geomorphological and ecological changes (road-cutting, embankment, devegetation, etc.) in railroad construction were generally less than $40\%$ of those in vehicle road construction. In order to develop environmentally friendly railway systems, monitoring studies for environmental impacts of railroads such as habitat fragmentation and road kills, dispersal of alien plants, tunnelling effects on groundwater and vegetation, and noise impacts are highly required.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.341-341
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• 2017

Abiotic stress adversely affects crop growth worldwide. Drought of the major abiotic stresses have the most significant impact on all of the crop. The main objective of this study was to assess the effects of drought stress on photochemical performance and vitality of maize (Zea mays L.). The photochemical characteristics were analyzed in the context of period of drought stress during the maize growth. Drought experiment was carried out for four weeks, thereafter, the drought treated maize was re-watered. The polyphasic OJIP fluorescence transient was used to evaluate the behavior of photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI) during the entire experiment period. In drought stress, the performance Index (PI) level was reached earlier when compared to the controls. For the screening of drought stress tolerance the drought factor index (DFI) of each variety was calculated as follow DFI= log(A) + 2log(B). All the fourteen cultivars show DFI ranged from -0.69 to 0.30, meaning less useful in selection of drought tolerant cultivars. PI and electron transport flux values of fourteen cultivars were to indicate reduction of photosynthetic performance during the early vegetative stage under drought stress. In conclusion, DFI and energy flux parameters can be used as photochemical and physiological index.