• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2021

In this study, the distribution and habitat characteristics of Odontobutis obscura were investigated. It is a freshwater fish species which belongs to the Class I Endangered species as specified by the Ministry of Environment of South Korea. Sampling was conducted in the Sanyang Stream watershed between April and August of 2016. The Sanyang Stream watershed includes the Sanyang and Gucheon Streams, and their tributaries. Odontobutis obscura was caught at every sampling site, except sites 1~3, which are located in the lower part of the Sanyang Stream. Its habitat range extended from the headwaters to the lower parts of the stream that were not impacted by the South Sea. Salinity was the major factor limiting the distribution of O. obscura in the Sanyang Stream watershed. All individuals of O. obscura were caught in areas where the substrate composition was over 50% gravel. Furthermore, the substrate composition seems to be the most important habitat factor affecting spawning of O. obscura. Ecological studies of O. obscura are scarce, and this study is the first to report a detailed distribution for the species. Further studies on the physiology and ecology of O. obscura are essential for establishing preservation strategies for this endangered species.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.553-565
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• 2022

Awareness of the ecological value and importance of protected areas has increased as climate change accelerates, and there is a need for research on ecosystem services provided by nature. The natural park, which is a representative protected area in Korea, has a system of national parks, provincial parks, and county parks. National parks are managed systematically by the Korea National Park Service, but local governments manage provincial parks and county parks. There may be the same hierarchical differences in naturalness (habitat quality) depending on the hierarchy of the natural parks, but it has not been verified. To identify differences, we examined 22 mountain-type natural parks using habitat quality using the INVEST model developed by Stanford University. The analysis of the habitat quality, regardless of the type and area of the natural park, showed that it was higher in the order of Taebaeksan National Park (0.89), Juwangsan National Park (0.87), Woongseokbong County Park (0.86), and Gayasan National Park (0.85). The larger the area, the higher the value of habitat quality. A comparison of natural parks with similar areas showed that the habitat quality of national parks was higher than that of provincial parks and parks. On the other hand, the average habitat quality of county parks was 0.83±0.02, which was 0.05 higher than that of provincial parks at 0.78±0.03. Furthermore, the higher the proportion of forest areas within the natural park, the higher the habitat quality. The results confirmed that the naturalness of natural parks was independent of their hierarchy and that there are differences in naturalness depending on land use, land coverage, and park management.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.521-529
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• 2008

This research conducted a survey on waterbirds visiting this area four times by season from February to October in 2007 to look into the habitat use of waterbirds, to do a value and grade testing of the tidal flat by dividing the foreshore on Muan Bay located in Jeollanam-do into four areas (Dongam, Guro, Bokryong and Wangsan tidal flats). The survey results revealed that there existed a total of 15,755 individuals of 54 species including 2 species of grebes, 7 species of herons, 7 species of dabbling ducks, 6 species of diving ducks, 20 species of waders, 3 species of gulls and 9 other species and this survey also observed 9,291 individuals of the wading birds as a dominant group on Muan Bay. In these classified groups, the gulls and waders were observed to mostly use Dongam tidal flat as their habitat, while the group using Guro tidal flat as their habitat was mostly grebes, dabbling and diving ducks. As a result of UPGMA clustering analysis in consideration of the species and number of individuals, there appear the close similarities between Dongam and Bokryong tidal flats and so do Guro and Wangsan tidal flats. Taking a look at the grading of tidal flats by setting up ecological indexes, such as diversity index, abundance index, and dominance index, etc. legally reserved species and maximum number of individuals as a standard, the rank for the value and importance degree of Bokryong tidal flat appeared higher than that of the other three tidal flats. Like this, the gradation of tidal flats according to waterbirds are judged to able to suggest objective data on the issue of proper judgment and designation of valuable tidal flat areas and its subsequent effective preservation and management.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.249-257
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• 2010

The purpose of this paper is to weigh the possibility of endangered Jang-hang wetland at the estuary of Han River to be included on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance and come up with ways to manage the wetland depending on its biotope patterns. The target area is located between Gimpo bridge and Isanpo I.C. with about $2.7km^2$ area. Through the analysis of RIS(Information Sheet for Ramsar Wetlands), it was known that the wetland is located on the sedimentary topography and formed as a result of sediment at the estuary of the river owing to the concentration of rainfall during summer. The vegetation environment in the area is divided into brackish water and fresh water areas depending on salinity. Rhizosphere soil(RS) of the area was analyzed to be Silt loam while bottom RS to be Sand loam. The plant ecology was composed of 52 families 135 species and 11 varieties and 146 types. Among indigenous species found are Salix koreensis, Phragmites communis and Miscanthus sacchariflorus. The analyzed results of the actual vegetation showed that willow community accounts for 37% of the area and rice field is 13.5%. As for animal ecology, total of 62 species and 25,977 individual wild birds were observed. After comparing and analyzing the RIS we compiled with the Ramsar Site designation standards, it turns out that the Jang-hang wetland meets criteria 1(biographic region), criteria 2,3 and 4(species and ecological communities) and criteria 5 and 6(water birds). Thus, Jang-hang wetland is eligible for the Ramsar site. As a result of establishing and evaluating the biotope types for setting management areas, Jang-hang wetland has a total of 13 different types, and the grade I represents 75.4% of the area while the grade III 0.8% of the land status. We categorized four management zones for the wetland depending on the biotope patterns - preservation, restoration, use and buffer zones and suggested management methods for each zone.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.181-193
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• 2018

The present study was conducted to analyze the quality of the habitats of Abies koreana WILS. by using the InVEST model based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique and to evaluate the economic value by estimating the carbon fixation. Abies koreana WILS., an original biological species of South Korea, may be an essential element in establishing the national biological sovereignty in the future. The subjects of the present study were the national parks in Mt. Halla, Mt. Jiri, and Mt. Sobaek, which are the habitats of Abies koreana WILS. As suggested by previous studies as a limitation of the InVEST model, the utilization of the data from relevant international publications as the input data, due to the lack of the domestic input data, may decrease the accuracy of the modeling. Therefore, the AHP technique was applied for the input data. The modeling was performed with reference to the years of 1980, 1990, and 2000 for the scenario analysis. The result of the modeling showed that the habitat quality was changed most in the national park in Mt. Halla, as the habitat quality score was decreased from 0.96 in 1980 to 0.97 in 1990 and 0.94 in 2000. In the national part of Mt. Sobeak, the habitat quality was changed most in the sub-alpine zone, as the habitat quality score was decreased from 0.98 in 1980 and 0.98 in 1990 to 0.97 in 2000. The habitat quality was best conserved in the national part in Mt. Jiri, as the habitat quality score was 0.98 in 1980, 0.99 in 1990, and 0.99 in 2000. The estimated economic loss by the change of the habitat quality was 19,280,000 USD for Mt. Halla and 8,030,000 USD for Mt. Sobeak. In the present study, the habitat quality of the Abies koreana WILS, the original species of South Korea, was evaluated and the economic value of the ecological services provided by the habitats was estimated quantitatively. The result showed that the ecosystem service model may be used to qualitatively analyze the quality of a habitat located in a specific region and to estimate the economic value quantitatively. The objective evaluation of ecosystem services demonstrated in the present study may be applied to promote sustainable utilization of natural resources and conservation of the ecosystem by predicting the changes that may be caused by external factors including the development of preservation areas.