• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2023

This study was attempted to find out how the ecological niche and interspecies relationship of Quercus aliena and Q. serrata, which are the main constituents of potential natural vegetation along the riverside of mountains in Korea, under climate change conditions. To this end, soil moisture and soil nutrients were treated with 4 grad ients under climate change conditions with elevated CO₂ and temperature, plants we re harvested at the end of the growing season, growth responses of traits were measured, ecological niche breadth and overlap were calculated, and it was compared with that of the control group(ambient condition). In addition, the relationship between the two species was analyzed by principal component analysis using trait values. As a result, the ecological niche breadth of Q. aliena was wider than that of Q. serrata under the moisture environment conditions under climate change. Under nutrient conditions, the ecological niche of the two species were similar. In addition, the ecological overlap for soil moisture of Q. aliena and Q. serrata was wider than the soil nutrient gradient under climate change. The species with traits in which the increase in ecological niche breadth due to climate change occurred more than the decrease was Q. aliena in both water and nutrient gradients. And in the responses of the population level, due to climate change, the adaptability of Q. aliena was higher than that of Q. serrata under the soil moisture condition, but the two species were similar under the nutrient condition. These results mean that the competition between the two species occurs more severely in the water environment under climate change conditions, and at that time, Q. aliena has higher adaptability than Q. serrata.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.43-53
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• 2024

This study attempted to elucidate the ecological niches and influencing environmental factors of Quercus variabilis and Quercus acutissima, which are representative deciduous broad-leaved trees in Korean forests, taxonomically close and genetically similar, under climate change conditions. Under climate change conditions induced by increased CO₂ and temperature, soil moisture and nutrient environments were manipulated in four gradients. At the end of the growing, plants were harvested to measure growth responses, calculate ecological niches, and compare them with those of the control. Eperimental plants were grown for 180 days in a glass greenhouse designed with four gradients each for soil moisture and nutrient environments under climate change conditions induced by increased CO₂ and temperature. After harvesting, growth responses of leaf traits were measured, ecological niches were calculated, and these were compared with those of the control groups. Furthermore, the responses of the two species' populations were interpreted using principal component analysis(PCA) based on leaf trait measurements. As a result, under climate change conditions, the ecological niche breadth for moisture environment was broader for Quercus variabilis than Quercus acutissima, whereas for the nutrient environment, Quercus acutissima exhibited a broader niche breadth than Quercus variabilis. And the rate of change in ecological niche breadth due to climate change decreased for Quercus variabilis in both moisture and nutrient environments, while for Quercus acutissima, it increased in the moisture environment but decreased in the nutrient environment. Additionally, in terms of group responses, both Quercus variabilis and Quercus acutissima expanded their ecological niches under climate change conditions in both soil moisture and nutrient conditions, with Quercus acutissima exhibiting a broader niche than Quercus variabilis under nutrient conditions. These results indicate that the changes in leaf morphological characteristics and the responses of individuals reflecting them vary not only under climate change conditions but also depending on environmental factors.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.309-312
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• 2001

Allozyme studies have been widely used to estimate genetic variation and to describe genetic structure in natural populations. In many cases, the genetic diversity of recently established populations is generally lower than that of central populations. In addition, the genetic composition of an invasive species is influenced by its History of introduction as well as its ecological characters. Ageratina altissima (L.) R. King & H. Robinson (white snakeroot) is a perennial herb native to the eastern United States and Canada, and is currently receiving much attention for its rapid invasion of the Korean forests. Starch gel electrophoresis was used to assess the genetic variability at 11 putative loci in seven introduced populations of A. altissima in Seoul. Populations of A. altissima maintained lower levels of allozyme diversity (expected heterozygosity = 0.063) than those reported for other taxa with similar ecological traits. The degree of differentiation observed among A. altissima populations was considerably low. It is suggested that the populations were recently established from only a few founders via dispersal by human activities, resulting in the loss of genetic variation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1382-1388
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• 2009

Rubus crataegifolius is a shrub species and is primarily distributed throughout Asia and Europe. We collected 550 representative samples of the eleven populations in Korea to estimate leaf variation within species. The 35 morphological characteristics allowed us to resolve well-supported fixed characteristics and variable characteristics. Sixteen of twenty-three quantitative characteristics and five of twelve qualitative characteristics showed significant differences among populations. We argued that the population differentiation can accounted for the variation in phenetic characteristics such as spine in this species, but were less successful in accounting for variation in other traits. Within a polystatistic leaf structure, their morphological differences could be modulated by ecological pressure such as temperature, altitude, duration of sunshine, and solar radiation. The phenogram showed two distinct clades. One was a group in central Korea and the other was a group in the southern regions of Korea. If morphological characteristics in R. crataegifolius populations reflect their ecological niche, morphology should be regarded with caution as the main criterion for population studies in R. crataegifolius.

• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.391-396
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• 2014

In the past two decades, European ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) have been severely damaged due to ash dieback disease, which is caused by the fungal species Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (Chalara fraxinea in the anamorphic stage). Recent molecular phylogenetic and population genetic studies have suggested that this fungus has been introduced from Asia to Europe. During a fungal survey in Korea, H. fraxineus-like apothecia were collected from fallen leaves, rachises, and petioles of Korean ash and Manchurian ash trees. The morphological and ecological traits of these materials are described with the internal transcribed spacer rDNA sequence comparison of H. fraxineus strains collected from Korea, China and Japan.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.436-444
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• 2020

Airborne particulate matter (APM) is increasingly recognized that it has adverse impacts on environment and human public health. As plants can have a potential to reduce APM significantly by its deposition on leaves, considerable efforts has been made to use them as a biofilter. However, APM accumulation on plants can induce physiological and morphological alterations in plants. The present review aimed to synthesize the methods and results of the recent relevant research on interactions between plants and APM, especially from an ecological perspective, and briefly took into account the current status in Korea on this actively increasing research area.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

Objectives In regard to the social competition hypothesis, depression is viewed as an involuntary defeat strategy. A previous study has demonstrated that adaptation in microenvironments can result in a wide range of behavioural patterns including defense activation disorders. Using a simulation model with evolutionary ecological agents, we explore how the fitness of various defence activation traits has changed over time in different environments with high and low social mobility. Methods The Evolutionary Ecological Model of Defence Activation Disorder, which is based on the Marginal Value Theorem, was used to examine changes in relative fitness for individuals with defensive activation disorders after adjusting for social mobility. Results Our study examined the effects of social mobility on fitness by varying the d-values, a measure of depression in the model. With a decline in social mobility, the level of fitness of individuals with high levels of defense activation decreased. We gained insight into the evolutionary influence of varying levels of social mobility on individuals' degrees of depression. In the context of a highly stratified society, the results support a mismatch hypothesis which states that high levels of defence are detrimental. Conclusions Despite the fact that niche specialization in habitats composed of multiple microenvironments can result in diverse levels of defensive activation being evolutionary strategies for stability, decreased social mobility may lead to a decrease in fitness of individuals with highly activated defence modules. There may be a reason behind the epidemic of depression in modern society.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.644-658
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• 2021

Understanding the functional traits of dominant species in urban ecosystems provides insight into species' trait adaptation and ecosystem function in response to fragmented and isolated urban vegetation and reduced biological interactions. This study compared means and variances of environmental factors (geographic, meteorological, and soil attributes) and 4 leaf traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf dry mass content, and leaf shape index) and 7 reproductive traits (fruit width, fruit length, fruit shape, fruit dry weight, fruit dry matter content, seed weight, and seed ratio) measured of 40 Sorbus alnifolia individuals in four mountainous areas south of Seoul downtown, South Korea. We then performed the multivariate analysis of trait combinations. While the measured environmental factors indicated the individuality of the survey sites, the urban vegetation was drier and had a longer growth period. The leaves of S. alnifolia in the urban areas were smaller and heavier, and the fruits produced longer and lighter seeds, showing the traits affected by long urbanization. The study confirmed changes in the growth and reproduction mechanism of the S. alnifolia population under the urban environment, indicating reduced biological interaction due to vegetation fragmentation and isolation. This study provides limited but distinct ecological information about the function and persistence of key species in cities with a reduced scale of biological interactions and many negative environmental factors such as air pollution.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.327-333
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• 2021

The two main hypotheses that explain why invasive alien plants successfully colonize new environments are: 1) invasive alien plants are functionally different from native plants in a community, and 2) the plants can adapt well to new environments because they are functionally similar to native plants. The present study investigated the functional traits of naturalized alien herbaceous plants and their native neighbors in a riparian park area near the Hapcheon-Changyeong weir along the Nakdong River to determine which of the two hypotheses applied to the study area. According to the results, leaf functional traits, such as leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf thickness, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen content, and leaf carbon content differed between naturalized alien and native plants, which could be attributed to the higher leaf nitrogen contents in naturalized alien plants than in native plants. The high leaf nitrogen contents are associated with high photosynthetic rates, which lead to effective resource use and rapid growth; therefore, naturalized alien plants growing in the study area were considered to have such functional traits. The results of the present study support the hypothesis that the successful establishment of invasive alien plants is attributed to the functional trait differences between invasive and native plants.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.336-350
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• 2005

The prime objective of this study is to analyze tourist's behaviors and satisfaction of the Gwangneung area and get a reading on the tourist's socio-economic traits and the propensity of activities. In addition, it highlights surveys of the tourist's consciousness of cultural, ecological and environmental tourism resources available in the Gwangneung area and the possibility for sustainable development and ways to make the most of these resources. This study found that even though Gwangneung is mostly a place for one day family outings. the tourist's demand for actually unreachable ecological resources is high while existing cultural tourism resources have less than the expected drawing power. It was also found that tourists recognize the need for preservation of the tourism resources of Gwangneung and its potential for further sustainable development. In particular, most tourists to Gwangneung are relatively satisfied with the status of preservation of its cultural and ecological resources and environment On the other hand, accessibility, tourism facilities, and management are estimated at less than desired. Gwangneung would benefit by making efforts for the positive use of its tourism resources and improvement of convenience facilities, management and operation.