• KIEAE Journal
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 2011

In Korea, the ratio of population in urban areas used to be only 50.1% in 1970, but with the value risen to 90.8% in 2009, urbanization is going on rapidly. Urbanization, which occurs by the rampantly planted buildings, has become major source of raising building density, changing wind direction and reducing wind amount, and such reductions are affecting even inside the building. In each year, among the total energy consumption in Korea, residential portion takes up significant ratio, and specifically the ratio of apartment house is shown to be highest. In order to solve such problem, many studies are being conducted for the improvement of natural ventilation performance. The natural ventilation performance of apartment house are significantly determined by the characteristics of external and internal structure, but in macroscopic perspective, the performance is established fundamentally by the layout characteristics of the main building of the apartment house in preparation for wind conditions. So far researches on raising the thermal comfort through elevation of ventilation performance have been conducted actively, but many of them propose only theoretical concepts deduced through wind path analysis, and do not include any indicator to measure ventilation performance simply only with area data from layout planning stage. Therefore, in this study, gap ratio a wind field measuring indicator was developed, and after the ventilation characteristics by layout types and main building uniformity were identified, the scope of gap ratio efficient for ventilation and that of uniformity were clarified, followed by verification through simulation.

• Korean Journal of Ornithology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.106-111
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• 2018

The Black-tailed gull (Larus crassirostris) is one of the most common gull species in the Northeast Asia and classified as LC (least concern) in the IUCN Red List. The bird has become a useful indicator for marine environmental pollution and habitat disruption, since the human activities impacted marine environments. Here we show that the black-tailed Gull has 6 haplotypes and some rare haplotypes are locally limited implying that the bird may not disperse far. This study may be the first report on population genetic study of Black-tailed Gull in Korea and could be used as the baseline data for monitoring and genetic study on the bird as an environmental indicator.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

River water quality and organisms have a very close relationship with the human living environment and health, so it is very important to ensure and maintain the ecological integrity of the aquatic ecosystem. In that sense, benthic diatoms have relatively little mobility, can explain the effects of long-term exposed pollution sources, and are very suitable indicator organisms for river ecosystem evaluation. Diatom ecologists have been developed various diatom indices to assess water quality and stream ecosystem over the world. However, they so far have insufficient identification of taxa, are strongly regional, and are difficult to apply as they are domestically. Unfortunately, there has not been developed an independent diatom index suitable for the Korean stream. Therefore, management of water quality and aquatic ecosystem suitable for domestic rivers can be made, and development or improvement of comprehensive multivariate diatom index for the integrated assessment of water quality and aquatic ecosystem is urgently needed.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.313-327
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• 2021

Background: Citizen science is becoming a mainstream approach of baseline data collection to monitor biodiversity and climate change. Dragonflies (Odonata) have been ranked as the highest priority group in biodiversity monitoring for global warming. Ischnura senegalensis Rambur has been designated a biological indicator of climate change and is being monitored by the citizen science project "Korean Biodiversity Observation Network." This study has been performed to understand changes in the distribution range of I. senegalensis in response to climate change using citizen science data in South Korea. Results: We constructed a dataset of 397 distribution records for I. senegalensis, ranging from 1980 to 2020. The number of records sharply increased over time and space, and in particular, citizen science monitoring data accounted for the greatest proportion (58.7%) and covered the widest geographical range. This species was only distributed in the southern provinces until 2010 but was recorded in the higher latitudes such as Gangwon-do, Incheon, Seoul, and Gyeonggi-do (max. Paju-si, 37.70° latitude) by 2020. A species distribution model showed that the annual mean temperature (Bio1; 63.2%) and the maximum temperature of the warmest month (Bio5; 16.7%) were the most critical factors influencing its distribution. Future climate change scenarios have predicted an increase in suitable habitats for this species. Conclusions: This study is the first to show the northward expansion in the distribution range of I. senegalensis in response to climate warming in South Korea over the past 40 years. In particular, citizen science was crucial in supplying critical baseline data to detect the distribution change toward higher latitudes. Our results provide new insights on the value of citizen science as a tool for detecting the impact of climate change on ecosystems in South Korea.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.63-74
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• 2023

Background: Comparing with the several types of infrastructures, linear infrastructures are known to facilitate the spread of undesirable species in ecosystems. Recently, some new man-made habitats (e.g., gravel pads of the high-voltage towers, solid wastes and sewage habitats) were established along the Deltaic Mediterranean coast of Egypt as a result of the construction of the E-W coastal international highway. The current study evaluates the floristic composition associated with the pads of high-voltage towers that had been constructed for stabilizing the power line towers in the North Nile Delta. Plant cover was measured for 22 randomly stand. Results: Eighty-four species were recorded, of which 35 are perennials (41.6%), 2 biennials (2.3%) and 47 annuals (56.0%) belonging to 23 families. The largest families were Asteraceae (16 species), Poaceae (15 species), Chenopodiaceae (12 species), and Fabaceae (7 species). Ten aliens (10.7%) out of the 84 species were recorded. Therophytes have the highest percentage (58%), followed by hemicryptophytes (14%), chamaephytes (11%). Six vegetation groups were recognized in the study area after the application of two way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN), Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, Phragmites australis, and Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum have the highest presence percentage. Both of Salsola cyclophylla and Solanum villosum were recorded for the first time in North Nile Delta. Natural habitat had the highest α-diversity, but the lowest β-diversity (4.9, 15.4), while gravel pads had the reverse (2.7, 30.8). Some species which are native to the desert habitats (e.g., Rumex pictus, Salsola kali, and Carthamus tenuis) were able to invade the North Nile Delta. Conclusions: Habitat of gravel pads is an expressing form about the intense of disturbance in Deltaic Mediterranean coast of Egypt. More of efforts should be carried out to avoid more human disturbances that creating as ruderal habitats which open the gate to invasive species in the flora of North Nile Delta.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.441-448
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to analyze chemical water quality, fish trophic guilds, tolerance indicators, and fish community conditions in the Gap Stream and to compare the stream conditions between the unimpacted site and impacted site. This study was conducted in the physically stable season (May 2008) to minimize physical impacts such as flow and hydrological disturbance, and applied the study in the Gap Stream with two sites of unimpacted upstream site (Unim-S), mainly surrounded by forested area and impacted site (Im-S), influenced by the wastewater disposal plants and industrial complex in the urban region. Chemical data analysis showed that the degree of organic matter pollution, based on BOD, and COD, was $2{\sim}3$ fold greater in the Im-S than the Unim-S, and that TP, as eutrophication indicators, was 4.7 fold greater in the Im-S. Also, $NH_3-N$ was in 8.2 fold greater in the Im-S ($6.25\;mg\;L^{-1}$) than the Unim-S ($0.76\;mg\;L^{-1}$), indicating a massive influence of wastewater from the disposal plant. Similar results were found in other chemical parameters. Thus, chemical impacts in the Im-S were evident, compared to the unimpacted site. Evaluations of tolerant indicator species indicated that sensitive species were dominant in the Unim-S (23.9%) and tolerant species were dominant (97.8%) in the Im-S. Condition factor (CF) was averaged 0.95 ($0.68{\sim}1.18$) in the Unim-S and 1.08 ($0.93{\sim}1.22$) in the Im-S. Fish community in the Unim-S and Im-S was categorized as Zacco-community and Hemibarbus-community, respectively, and the community diversity index (H') was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the Unim-S (0.810) than the Im-S (0.466). Overall, our results suggest that the comparison approach of various chemical and ecological indicators provide important information in identifying multiple stressors in the stream ecosystems.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.109-120
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• 2015

Spatial heterogeneous characteristics of solar radiation energy from Climate Change gives rise to energy imbalance in the general ecological system including water resources. This study is to estimate the $CO_2$ flux of South Korea using Terra MODIS image and to assess the reliability of MODIS data from the ground measured $CO_2$ flux by eddy covariance flux tower data at 3 locations (two at mixed forest area and one at rice paddy area). The MODIS Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) product (MOD17A2), 8-day composite at 1-km spatial resolution was adopted for the spatial $CO_2$ flux generation. The MOD17A2 data by noise like cloud and snow in a day were tried to fill by Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) method from valid pixels and the damping effect of MOD17A2 data were corrected by Quality Control (QC) flag. The MODIS $CO_2$ flux was estimated as the sum of GPP and Re (ecosystem respiration) by Lloyd and Taylor method (1994). The determination coefficient ($R^2$) between MODIS $CO_2$ and flux tower $CO_2$ for 3 years (2011~2013) showed 0.55 and 0.60 in 2 mixed forests and 0.56 in rice paddy respectively. The $CO_2$ flux generally fluctuated showing minus values during summer rainy season (from July to August) and maintaining plus values for other periods. The MODIS $CO_2$ flux can be a useful information for extensive area, for example, as a reliable indicator on ecological circulation system.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.63-80
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• 1987

Detrended correspondence analysis(DCA) and two way indicator species analysis(TWINSPAN) were applied to Pinus densiflora stands nearby Seoul area in order to classify them into several groups based on herbaceous species and environmental relationships. The eighteen Pinus densiflora stands were perferenially selected, In each stand, 30 to 60 quadrats, (20X20)cm, were randomly estabilished. In each quadrat, all stems for herbaceous plants were recorded by species and their covers were measured. In addition environmental factors such as soil depth, thickness of litter layer, soil compressibility, tree density, basal area, elevation, slope and exposure were detemined for each stand. Four to twelve soil cores were collected and physical and KDICical properties were determined. This survey was conducted form 15, July, 1985 to 22, September, 1985. Analysis of the vegetation and environmental data were performed with DECORANA and TWINSPAN. Stand ordination (DECORANA) and classification (TWINSPAN) based on herbaceous species suggest that the stands can be classified into five groups in terms of herbaceous species composition and environmental relationships. Type I, Type II, Type III, Type IV and Type V were classified to SUBMESIC-CLO-SED-CANOPY (Artemisia keiskeana, Carex nanella), MESIC-CLOSED CANOPY (Spodiopogon sibiricus, Miscanthus sinensis, Carex nanella, Pteridum aquilinum, Melampyrum rosium), SUBMESIC-OPEN CANOPY (Carex nanella, Spodiopogon sibiricus, Miscanthus sinensis), XERIC-CLOSED CANOPY (Carex nanella, Spodiopogon sibiricus, Carex nanella), and XERIC-OPEN CANOPY (Arundinella hirts, Spodiopogon sibiricus, Carex nanella), respectively. These results were consitent with environmental trends on stan ordination. Application of the ordination and classifiaction to Pinus densiflora stands were effective as a approach on obtaining perliminary ecological information.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.977-991
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to establish common indicators that constitute a "low-carbon green city" and determine their priorities from the perspective of Incheon Metropolitan City with a view to help develop its climate change strategy strategic city. Several major cities, domestic and overseas, were benchmarked to come up with preliminary indicators consisting of six areas, twenty two planning factors, and 74 indicators. In order to evaluate the validity and relevance of preliminary indicators, expert FGI (Focus Group Interview) was conducted that changed the numbers of final indicators to six areas, twenty two planning factors, and 82 indicators. Finally, AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) was conducted to assign relative importance (i.e. weights) to each indicator. Through the layering process of AHP, the upper category of "field" and lower category of "planning factors" were set up as policy prerequisites for constructing a low-carbon green city (6 fields, 22 planning factors). The AHP results for the first level (fields), green city space was ranked first, followed by energy and resource circulation, green traffic, ecological preservation, green logistics, and governance. Among all planning factors, land use, energy efficiency, traffic system improvement, location planning, securing of ecological area, efficiency of logistics, and cooperative organization showed the highest priorities.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.105 no.2
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• pp.157-166
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• 2016

This study was carried out to classify the current forest cover types and to propose the successional trends in the natural forest of Mt. Deogyu. The vegetation data were collected by the point-centered quarter method. The forest cover types were classified by various multivariate statistical analysis methods such as cluster analysis, indicator species analysis and multiple discriminant analysis. This forests were classified into five forest types by the species composition of upper layer and topographic positions: Quercus mongolica forest in the ridge, Fraxinus mandushurica-F. rhynchophylla-Cornus controversa forest and F. mandushurica forest in the valley, the Q. serrata - Pinus densiflora - Q. mongolica forest and P. densiflora forest in the low-slope. As a result of the forest successional trends depending on ecological and environmental characteristics in each forest type, the current forest types were expected that the forest succession would be proceeded toward Q. mongolica forest, F. mandshurica forest, mixed mesophytic forest, and oak-Carpinus laxiflora forest.