• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.398-407
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• 2021

Using salt-tolerant bacteria to protect plants from salt stress is a promising microbiological treatment strategy for saline-alkali soil improvement. Here, we conducted research on the growth-promoting effect of Brevibacterium frigoritolerans on wheat under salt stress, which has rarely been addressed before. The synergistic effect of B. frigoritolerans combined with representative salt-tolerant bacteria Bacillus velezensis and Bacillus thuringiensis to promote the development of wheat under salt stress was also further studied. Our approach involved two steps: investigation of the plant growth-promoting traits of each strain at six salt stress levels (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%); examination of the effects of the strains (single or in combination) inoculated on wheat in different salt stress conditions (0, 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mM). The experiment of plant growth-promoting traits indicated that among three strains, B. frigoritolerans had the most potential for promoting wheat parameters. In single-strain inoculation, B. frigoritolerans showed the best performance of plant growth promotion. Moreover, a pot experiment proved that the plant growth-promoting potential of co-inoculation with three strains on wheat is better than single-strain inoculation under salt stress condition. Up to now, this is the first report suggesting that B. frigoritolerans has the potential to promote wheat growth under salt stress, especially combined with B. velezensis and B. thuringiensis.

• 영어영문학
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• 제56권1호
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• pp.25-45
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• 2010

While environmental ethics, a relatively new field of philosophy, has gained its practical power in the contemporary world, the ethics of ecological poetry has not been studied well and the relationship between poetry and ethics has also been troubled for a long time. How can it be probed, interrogated, and constructed in ecological criticism? Attempting to steer some critical focus to the topic of ethics and poetic language, this essay is to elucidate these questions within the ecological traits of Mary Oliver's poems. In the process of revisiting Oliver's poems, this essay tries to rescue the poet Oliver, one of the most gifted poets in contemporary American poetic landscape, but a long-neglected one, and questions of ethics which have been evaded for a long time in ecological criticism. Oliver's ecological imagination at once invites readers to become other in the outer world in a most spontaneous way and re-questions the fundamental distance between the self and the other in the process of becoming other. Challenging the humanistic view of nature, she opens the various layers of becoming other: from the possible state of perfect merging to the sad recognition of the impossibility of merging, from the happy moment of rebirth beyond death, to the conflicting moment of being-together. In the different cycles and levels of becoming other, Oliver's poetry completes the poetics of relation in the components of 'self-in-relation.' In those different layers of relations, the ethics of ecological poetry is newly explored rather than residing in the safe net of goodness or sympathy between the self and the other, or the stark division between the two. Oliver's witty, sensitive, sometimes sad eyes toward others, therefore, entice readers to move from the established view of nature to the extraordinary moment of encountering it, thus accomplishing the ethics of beings, not just of ecological poetry.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.41-53
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• 2022

Background: Due to the rapidly changing climatic conditions, South Korea faces the grand challenge of exotic species. With the increasing human movement, the influx of alien species to novel regions is prevalent across the globe. The latest research suggests that it is easy to prevent the introduction and establishment of alien species rather than controlling their spread and eradication. Like other countries, the Korean Ministry of Environment released a list (in 2018) of 45 potential risky exotic fish species considered likely to be invasive candidate fish species if they ever succeed in entering the Korean aquatic ecosystems. Results: The investigation into the invasion suitability traits showed that potential risky fish species could utilize those features in becoming invasive once they arrive in the Korean aquatic ecosystems. If the novel species establish viable populations, they are likely to incur higher economic costs, damage the native aquatic fauna and flora, and jeopardize the already perilled species. Furthermore, they can damage the installed infrastructure, decline overall abundance and biodiversity, and disturb the ecosystem services. Here we reviewed the list of fish species concerning their family, native origin, preferred aquatic biomes, main food items, current status in Korea, and potential threats to humans and the ecosystems. Data shows that most species are either already designated as invasive in the neighboring counties, including Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and China, or originate from these countries. Such species have a higher climate match with the Korean territories. Conclusions: Therefore, it is exceptionally essential to study their most critical features and take regulatory measures to restrict their entry. The incoming fish species must be screened before letting them in the country in the future. The regulatory authorities must highlight the threatening traits of such species and strictly monitor their entrance. Detailed research is required to explore the other species, especially targeting the neighboring countries fish biodiversity, having demonstrated invasive features and matching the Korean climate.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.75-81
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• 2008

Rates of molecular evolution are known to vary widely among taxonomic groups. A number of studies, examining various taxonomic groups, have indicated that body size is negatively and clutch size is positively correlated with the rates of nucleotide substitutions among vertebrate species. Generally, either smaller body mass or larger clutch size is associated with shorter generation times and higher metabolic rates. However, this generality is subject to ongoing debate, and large-scale comparative studies of species below the Order level are lacking. In this study, phylogenetically independent methods were used to test for relationships between rates of the mitochondrial cytochrome b evolution and a range of life history traits, such as body mass and clutch size in the Order Galliformes. This analysis included data from 67 species of Galliformes birds and 2 outgroup species in Anseriformes. In contrast to previous studies, taxa were limited to within-Order level, not to Class or higher. I found no evidence to support an effect of life history traits on the rate of molecular evolution within the Galliformes. These results suggest that such relationship may be too weak to be observed in comparisons of closely related species or may not be a general pattern that is applicable to all nucleotide sequences or all taxonomic groups.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.101-112
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• 2013

To quantitatively analyze the effects of burning, we conducted a vegetation survey in the grasslands in Kirigamine, central Japan. We classified each species into stages of succession based on the life-history traits of the species and defined the score of the species in each stand based on the classification. We weighted the scores with a v-value, the product of coverage and height in the quadrat, and summed them to calculate the index of dynamic status. With these indices, we were able to quantitatively compare the stands in the study area and discern minute differences between the stands with different lengths of restoration periods since the disturbance of burning. These indices correlated with the v-value of trees, suggesting that the disturbance of burning seemed to affect the trees in the stand. We then calculated the growth of the tree species Pinus densiflora to evaluate its contribution to the index of dynamic status.

• Entomological Research
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• 제48권6호
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• pp.533-539
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• 2018

The RNA interference (RNAi) has been considered as an important genetic tool and applied to develop a new living modified (LM) crop trait which is an improvement of nutrient quality or pest management. The RNAi of DvSnf7 has been used for resistance to LM maize and the Western Corn Rootworm which is a major agricultural pest for the US Corn Belt. Most of the environmental risk assessments (ERA) of double strand RNA (dsRNA) have been performed using in vitro transcript products, and not in vivo expressed product. A large amount of dsRNA was required for the acute toxicity assay of water fleas. Therefore development of massive dsRNA purification techniques is critical. Daphnia, a freshwater microcrustacean, is a model organism for studying cellular and molecular mechanism involved in life history traits and ecotoxicology. In this study, we established the massive dsRNA purification method using Escherichia coli and implemented acute toxicity assays to Daphnia magna. As a result, the present RNase A and DNase I, dsRNA was efficiently purified without any special techniques or equipment. Even though purified dsRNA existed during the acute toxicity test, lethality or abnormal behavior were not observed in D. magna. These results indicated that GFP and DvSnf7 dsRNA were not significantly affected to D. magna due to their lack of sequence matching in its genome. The purification method of dsRNA and the acute toxicity assay of water fleas using purified dsRNA would be suitable for the toxicological studies of LMOs to aquatic non-target organisms.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.349-354
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• 1999

The spatial distributions of allelic frequencies and ecological traits by randomization were studied in the natural population of two species (Pinus rigida and Pyrola japonica). Both species showed significant positive spatial autocorrelation as measured by Moran's I. In P. rigida, the genetic similarity was shown in individuals within up to a scale of 18 m distance and this is partly due to combination of pollen and seed dispersal by wind or men. In P. japonica, significant spatial autocorrelation was consisted of a scale of 8 m intervals. These population structure in the distribution of allelic frequencies is related to mating systems such as outcrossing and vegetative spread. The results also indicate that positive species associations between P. rigida and P. japonica can occur when both species select the same habitat or require the same environmental conditions.

• 한국작물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국작물학회 1990년도 춘계 학술대회지
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• pp.46-47
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• 1990

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.277-286
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• 2021

Background: As trade increases, the influx of various alien species and their spread to new regions are prevalent and no longer a special problem. Anthropogenic activities and climate changes have made the distribution of alien species out of their native range common. As a result, alien species can be easily found anywhere, and they have nothing but only a few differences in intensity. The prevalent distribution of alien species adversely affects the ecosystem, and a strategic management plan must be established to control them effectively. To this end, hot spots and cold spots were analyzed according to the degree of distribution of invasive alien plants, and major environmental factors related to hot spots were found. We analyzed the 10,287 distribution points of 126 species of alien plants collected through the national survey of alien species by the hierarchical model of species communities (HMSC) framework. Results: The explanatory and fourfold cross-validation predictive power of the model were 0.91 and 0.75 as AUC values, respectively. The hot spots of invasive plants were found in the Seoul metropolitan area, Daegu metropolitan city, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, southwest shore, and Jeju island. Generally, the hot spots were found where the higher maximum temperature of summer, precipitation of winter, and road density are observed, but temperature seasonality, annual temperature range, precipitation of the summer, and distance to river and sea were negatively related to the hot spots. According to the model, the functional traits accounted for 55% of the variance explained by the environmental factors. The species with higher specific leaf areas were more found where temperature seasonality was low. Taller species preferred the bigger annual temperature range. The heavier seed mass was only preferred when the max temperature of summer exceeded 29 ℃. Conclusions: In this study, hot spots were places where 2.1 times more alien plants were distributed on average than non-hot spots (33.5 vs 15.7 species). The hot spots of invasive plants were expected to appear in less stressful climate conditions, such as low fluctuation of temperature and precipitation. Also, the disturbance by anthropogenic factors or water flow had positive influences on the hot spots. These results were consistent with the previous reports about the ruderal or competitive strategies of invasive plants instead of the stress-tolerant strategy. The functional traits are closely related to the ecological strategies of plants by shaping the response of species to various environmental filters, and our result confirmed this. Therefore, in order to effectively control alien plants, it is judged that the occurrence of disturbed sites in which alien plants can grow in large quantities is minimized, and the river management of waterfronts is required.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• 제34권3호
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• pp.275-286
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• 2012

Over the last 20 years there have been more than 3000 peer-reviewed papers relating to climate change and biodiversity published, and still the numbers are increasing. However, most studies focused on the impacts of climate change at population or community levels, and the results invariably reveal that there has been, or will be, a negative effect on the structure and pattern of biodiversity. Moreover, the climate change models and statistical analyses used to test the impacts are only newly developed, and the analyses or predictions can often be misled. In this review, I ask why an individual's life history is considered in the study how climate change affects biodiversity, and what ecological factors are impacted by climate change. Using evidence from a range of species, I demonstrate that diverse life history traits, such as early growth rate, migration/foraging behaviour and lifespan, can be shifted by climate change at individual level. Particularly I discuss that the optimal decision under unknown circumstance (climate change) would be the reduction of the ecological fitness at individual level, and hence, a shift in the balance of the ecosystem could be affected without having a critical impact on any one species. To conclude, I summarize the links between climate changes, ecological decision in life history, the revised consequence at individual level, and discuss how the finely-balanced relationship affects biodiversity and population structure.