• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.991-1002
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• 2023

Objective: This study aimed to elucidate the underlying gene regions responsible for productive, phenotypic or adaptive traits in different ecological types of Tibetan sheep and the discovery of important genes encoding valuable traits. Methods: We used whole-genome resequencing to explore the genetic relationships, phylogenetic tree, and population genetic structure analysis. In addition, we identified 28 representative Tibetan sheep single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genomic selective sweep regions with different traits in Tibetan sheep by fixation index (Fst) and the nucleotide diversity (θπ) ratio. Results: The genetic relationships analysis showed that each breed partitioned into its own clades and had close genetic relationships. We also identified many potential breed-specific selective sweep regions, including genes associated with hypoxic adaptability (MTOR, TRHDE, PDK1, PTPN9, TMTC2, SOX9, EPAS1, PDGFD, SOCS3, TGFBR3), coat color (MITF, MC1R, ERCC2, TCF25, ITCH, TYR, RALY, KIT), wool traits (COL4A2, ERC2, NOTCH2, ROCK1, FGF5, SOX9), and horn phenotypes (RXFP2). In particular, a horn-related gene, RXFP2, showed the four most significantly associated SNP loci (g. 29481646 A>G, g. 29469024 T>C, g. 29462010 C>T, g. 29461968 C>T) and haplotypes. Conclusion: This finding demonstrates the potential for genetic markers in future molecular breeding programs to improve selection for horn phenotypes. The results will facilitate the understanding of the genetic basis of production and adaptive unique traits in Chinese indigenous Tibetan sheep taxa and offer a reference for the molecular breeding of Tibetan sheep.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.151-158
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• 2011

Fish community structure in the Pyeongchanggang River was investigated from April to November 2009. About 900 individuals representing 24 species from eight families at six sites in the Pyeongchanggang River were collected. It was similar to the 2001's survey and it was less than 2006's survey. The Korean endemic species, Zacco koreanus was the most abundant, whereas subdominant species were native species, such as Pungtungia herzi, Zacco platypus, Rhynchocypris kumgangensis and Rhynchocypris oxycephalus. Three endangered species were collected at the sampling area, Acheilognathus signifier (relative abundance [RA] 0.9%), Pseudopungtungia tenuicorpa (RA 1.4%), and Cottus koreanus (RA 3.6%). One natural monument species, Hemibarbus mylodon, was included. According to the analysis of ecological indicator characteristics, the relative proportion of tolerant species was 6.3% (57 individuals), whereas the proportion of sensitive species was 65.9% (593 individuals). Species evenness, richness and diversity indices decreased gradually through the month from April to November during the study. Community indices in Pyeongchanggang River showed a high evenness index (J'>0.6), a low level of species richness (R<3.5) and a medium level of diversity (1.5

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• no.spc9
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• pp.80-83
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• 2016

In order to analyze a status of animal in an area where has been became a land cause of Jindo Grand Bridge established on Jindo island area, mammal status in the biggest mountain in Jindo province, Mt. Cheomchalsan has been investigated for four times from May to October of 2016. According to the investigation, 5 orders, 9 families and 15 species of inhabitation was confirmed, and water deer (Hydropotes inermis), raccoon (Nyctereutes procyonoides), cat (Felis catus), and etcetera were dominant. Biodiversity and evenness index were likely to be high as 2.24 and 0.83, respectively and it is considered that favorable condition of natural ecosystem for inhabitation of mammalian is established. Meanwhile, since the cat designated as control species is confirmed as a dominant species, it is supposed that continuous management is necessary.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 1979

The original concept and theory of Shannon's function H=-$\Sigma$(i-1,n)Pi, log$\_$2/Pi and its applicable domains in ecology are discussed. The confusions exist in use and interpretation of this function are due to: 1. Mixing the idea of proper ecological diversity with that of Shannon's information theory. 2. Confusion of physical or thermodynamical systems with ecological systems. 3. Confusion of the system from which one had calculated function H with the system of which function H is interpreted. It's proposed to use function H for the comparison of community's structure and so, for the distinction of community's evolution (succession) steps.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.210-219
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• 2007

The benthic marine algal flora and community structure were examined at five sites of the Taean Peninsula, Korea, during July-August 2005. Ninety-six algal species were Identified, including 14 green, 21 brown, and 60 red algae, and 1 marine plant. The common species that occurred at the five sites were Sargassum thunbergii, Gelidium divaricatum, Caulacanthus okamurae, Gracilavia vermiculophylla, and Neorhodomela aculeata. Sthunbergii was the dominant species in terms of coverage and biomass at ail of the study sites. The average biomass varied from $23.72g/m^2$ in dry weight at Chaeseokpo to $66.43g/m^2$ at Padori. The species could be divided into six functional groups in terms of morphological characteristics: 41 coarsely branched forms, 25 filamentous forms, 16 sheet forms, 7 thick leathery forms, including the marine plant Phyllospadix iwatensis, 4 crustose forms, and 3 Jointed calcareous forms. The seaweed communities at the five study sites were unstable and the environmental conditions were bad or very bad. Among the five study sites, the ecological evaluation index (EEI) and diversity index (H') were maximal at Padori at 2.29 and 1.98, respectively. By contrast, the dominance index (DI) was minimal at Padori (0.55) and maximal at Baramarae (0.96). Therefore, we conclude that the rocky shore at Padori has the best environment among the five study sites, although the species richness and biomass of seaweeds have declined continuously over the last 10 years.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.157-166
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• 2012

Many models intending to explain the latitudinal gradient of increasing species diversity from the poles to the equator are presented, which are a formalisation of the species-energy hypothesis. The model predictions are consistent with patterns of increasing species number with increasing mean air or water temperatures for plants and animals. An increase in species richness is also correlated with net primary production or the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index. This implies that increased availability of resources favours increased diversity capacity. The explanatory variables included in the biodiversity prediction models represent measures of water, energy, water-energy, habitat, history/evolution and biological responses. Water variables tend to be the best predictors when the geographic scope of the data is restricted to tropical and subtropical areas, whereas water-energy variables dominate when colder areas are included. In major models, about 20-35% of species in the various global regions (European, Africa, etc.) will disappear from each grid cell by 2050 and >50% could be vulnerable or threatened by 2080. This study provides good explanations for predictive models and future changes in biodiversity depending on various scenarios.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.506-514
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• 2019

Unlike natural ecosystems, the urban ecosystem proVides an interdependent enVironment in which wild organisms and urban people co-exist. Hornets (genus Vespa) appearing in urban green and parks haVe a positiVe effect on urban ecosystems, but they also cause ecosystem disserVices that cause physical and psychological discomforts to the urban people. Children's parks, for example, are Very popular among children and residents for easy accessibility, and hornets also use them as bases and habitats. HoweVer, there is still a lack of spatial analysis of habitats and appearance characteristics of hornets in children's parks. This study installed hornet traps in 27 children's parks in Cheonan from April to NoVember 2018 in consideration of the life cycle of hornets. We captured a total of fiVe Vespa species (Vespa crabro, V. analis, V. mandarinia, V. ducalis, and V. Velutina) for 32 weeks and analyzed the emergence of hornets in relation to the composition of seasonal characteristics, species characteristics, and enVironmental spatial information. We captured a total of 818 hornets during the study period. They included 290 V. analis (35.4%), 260 V. crabro (31.8%), 100 V. ducalis (12.1%), 87 V. mandaninia (10.6%), and 81 V. Velutina(9.9%). Most of the hornets showed a common feature that queen hornets were largely captured in May through June after they awake from hibernation, and the number of caught hornets decreased sharply beginning in mid-June, which was the cooperatiVe period. HoweVer, V. Velutina showed a seasonal specificity that more than 80% were captured beginning in the third week of October when other hornet species had already entered a decline phase. The analysis of the number of hornets caught in each spot in children's parks showed significant difference among the spots as 363 hornets (44.3%) were captured in top children's parks, and 35 hornets (4%) were captured in bottom children's parks. In particular, the mean NDVI (Normalized difference Vegetation index) of the top six children's parks was 0.79, and that of the bottom six children's parks was 0.38 (t=2.67*, *=p<0.05), indicating a significant difference. The frequency of capturing hornets was high when the ground around the children's parks was grass or bare land. This study is meaningful as a reference study that confirms the ecological characteristics of hornets appearing in green and parks in the city. We expect it to be a foundation for effectiVe urban green area management in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.119-135
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• 2021

Korea has stepped up efforts to investigate and catalog its flora and fauna to conserve the biodiversity of the Korean Peninsula and secure biological resources since the ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits (ABS) in 2010. Thus, after its establishment in 2007, the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR) of the Ministry of Environment of Korea initiated a project called the Korean Indigenous Species Investigation Project to investigate indigenous species on the Korean Peninsula. For 15 years since its beginning in 2006, this project has been carried out in five phases, Phase 1 from 2006-2008, Phase 2 from 2009-2011, Phase 3 from 2012-2014, Phase 4 from 2015-2017, and Phase 5 from 2018-2020. Before this project, in 2006, the number of indigenous species surveyed was 29,916. The figure was cumulatively aggregated at the end of each phase as 33,253 species for Phase 1 (2008), 38,011 species for Phase 2 (2011), 42,756 species for Phase 3 (2014), 49,027 species for Phase 4 (2017), and 54,428 species for Phase 5(2020). The number of indigenous species surveyed grew rapidly, showing an approximately 1.8-fold increase as the project progressed. These statistics showed an annual average of 2,320 newly recorded species during the project period. Among the recorded species, a total of 5,242 new species were reported in scientific publications, a great scientific achievement. During this project period, newly recorded species on the Korean Peninsula were identified using the recent taxonomic classifications as follows: 4,440 insect species (including 988 new species), 4,333 invertebrate species except for insects (including 1,492 new species), 98 vertebrate species (fish) (including nine new species), 309 plant species (including 176 vascular plant species, 133 bryophyte species, and 39 new species), 1,916 algae species (including 178 new species), 1,716 fungi and lichen species(including 309 new species), and 4,812 prokaryotic species (including 2,226 new species). The number of collected biological specimens in each phase was aggregated as follows: 247,226 for Phase 1 (2008), 207,827 for Phase 2 (2011), 287,133 for Phase 3 (2014), 244,920 for Phase 4(2017), and 144,333 for Phase 5(2020). A total of 1,131,439 specimens were obtained with an annual average of 75,429. More specifically, 281,054 insect specimens, 194,667 invertebrate specimens (except for insects), 40,100 fish specimens, 378,251 plant specimens, 140,490 algae specimens, 61,695 fungi specimens, and 35,182 prokaryotic specimens were collected. The cumulative number of researchers, which were nearly all professional taxonomists and graduate students majoring in taxonomy across the country, involved in this project was around 5,000, with an annual average of 395. The number of researchers/assistant researchers or mainly graduate students participating in Phase 1 was 597/268; 522/191 in Phase 2; 939/292 in Phase 3; 575/852 in Phase 4; and 601/1,097 in Phase 5. During this project period, 3,488 papers were published in major scientific journals. Of these, 2,320 papers were published in domestic journals and 1,168 papers were published in Science Citation Index(SCI) journals. During the project period, a total of 83.3 billion won (annual average of 5.5 billion won) or approximately US $75 million (annual average of US $5 million) was invested in investigating indigenous species and collecting specimens. This project was a large-scale research study led by the Korean government. It is considered to be a successful example of Korea's compressed development as it attracted almost all of the taxonomists in Korea and made remarkable achievements with a massive budget in a short time. The results from this project led to the National List of Species of Korea, where all species were organized by taxonomic classification. Information regarding the National List of Species of Korea is available to experts, students, and the general public (https://species.nibr.go.kr/index.do). The information, including descriptions, DNA sequences, habitats, distributions, ecological aspects, images, and multimedia, has been digitized, making contributions to scientific advancement in research fields such as phylogenetics and evolution. The species information also serves as a basis for projects aimed at species distribution and biological monitoring such as climate-sensitive biological indicator species. Moreover, the species information helps bio-industries search for useful biological resources. The most meaningful achievement of this project can be in providing support for nurturing young taxonomists like graduate students. This project has continued for the past 15 years and is still ongoing. Efforts to address issues, including species misidentification and invalid synonyms, still have to be made to enhance taxonomic research. Research needs to be conducted to investigate another 50,000 species out of the estimated 100,000 indigenous species on the Korean Peninsula.