• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.1-18
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• 2017

This study constructed a high-resolution bioclimatic classification map of South Korea which classifies land into homogeneous zones by similar environment properties using advanced statistical techniques compared to existing ecological area classification studies. The climate data provided by WorldClim(1960-1990) were used to generate 27 bioclimatic variables affecting biological habitats, and key environmental variables were derived from Correlation Analysis and Principal Component Analysis. Clustering Analysis was performed using the ISODATA method to construct a 30'(~1km) resolution bioclimatic classification map. South Korea was divided into 21 regions and the results of classification were verified by correlation analysis with the Gross Primary Production(GPP), Actual Vegetation map made by the Ministry of Environment. Each zones' were described and named by its environmental characteristics and major vegetation distribution. This study could provide useful spatial frameworks to support ecosystem research, monitoring and policy decisions.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2005.05b
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• pp.1274-1279
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• 2005

The complex vegetation and plant species distributions within riparian corridors influence plant species diversity patterns at both local and regional scales and further reflect both natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Because of these characteristics, riparian zones are often the ecosystem level component that are most sensitive to changes of the surrounding environment; they provide early indications of environmental change and can be viewed as the important source in the watershed. The objectives of this study were two concepts: first, document the composition and dominance of plant communities of riparian areas in the stream, second, compare species composition and temporal diversity between stations in riparian areas of the Ian Stream. The flora was composed to total 158 kinds of the vascular plants as 49 family, 54 genera, 145 species, 12 varieties, 1 forma When the naturalized plant were applied to the recent classification system 280 kinds, the naturalization rate was $10.8\% higher than that of mean value($10.3\%$) of the Korean mountain district. Furthermore, urbanization index (UI) was $6.1\%$. The dominant vegetation communities were distributed in the habitats of three compartments from upstream to downstream. The vegetations were included Phragmites japonica, Salix gracilistyla, S. hulteni and Robinia pseudo-acacia in the riparian area, and Persicaria sieboldii, Stellaria alsine var. undulata, Draba nemorosa var. hebecarpa, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Lepidium apetalum, Bidens frondosa, Trigonotis peduncularis and Hemistepta lyrata in the sandbank or the riparian area, and Equisetum arvense, Humulus japonicus, Persicaria perfoliata, Trifolium repens, Artemisia princeps var. orientalis, Lactuca indica var. laciniata, Avena fatua, Agropyron yesoense, Oenothera odorata, Viola mandshurica, Rumex crispus in banksides, respectively.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.65-78
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• 2011

Ozone ($O_3$) is a main component of photochemical oxidants, and a phytotoxic anthropogenic air pollutant. In North America and Europe, the current concentration of $O_3$ has been shown to have significant adverse effects on vegetation. In this review, we summarize the experimental studies on the effects of $O_3$ on the growth and photosynthetic activity of Japanese forest tree species to understand the present knowledge and provide sound basis for future research toward the assessment of $O_3$ impacts on Japanese forest ecosystem. Since the 1990s, several Japanese researchers have conducted the experimental studies on the effects of ambient levels of $O_3$ on growth and physiological functions such as net photosynthesis of Japanese forest tree species. Although the sensitivity to $O_3$ of whole-plant growth is quite different among the species, it was suggested that the current ambient levels of $O_3$ in Japan are high enough to adversely affect growth and photosynthetic activity of Japanese forest tree species classified into high $O_3$ sensitivity group such as Japanese beech. The N load to soil has been shown to reduce the sensitivity to $O_3$ of Japanese larch and increase that of Japanese beech. To establish the critical level of $O_3$ for protecting Japanese forest tree species, therefore, it is necessary to take into account the N deposition from the atmosphere. There is little information on the combined effects of $O_3$ and other environmental factors such as elevated $CO_2$ and drought on growth and physiological functions of Japanese forest tree species. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the experimental study and accumulate the information on the combined effects of $O_3$ and any other abiotic environmental factors on Japanese forest tree species.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.29
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• pp.8.1-8.8
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• 2014

Objectives An ecofriendly alternative to chemical pesticides is bio-pesticides, which are derived from natural sources. The interest in bio-pesticides is based on the disadvantages associated with chemical pesticides. Methods We conducted acute toxicity assessments of camphor, a major component of bio-pesticides, by using Daphnia magna (D. magna) as well as assessed the morphological abnormalities that occurred in Danio rerio (D. rerio) embryos. Results The median effective concentration of camphor on D. magna after 48 hours was $395.0{\mu}M$, and the median lethal concentration on D. rerio embryos after 96 hours was $838.6{\mu}M$. The no observed effect concentration and predicted no effect concentration of camphor on D. magna, which was more sensitive than D. rerio, were calculated as $55.2{\mu}M$ and $3.95{\mu}M$, respectively. Morphological abnormalities in D. rerio embryos exposed to camphor increased over time. Coagulation, delayed hatching, yolk sac edema, pericardial edema, and pigmentation of embryos mainly appeared between 24 and 48 hours. Further, symptoms of scoliosis and head edema occurred after 72 hours. In addition, bent tails, ocular defects and collapsed symptoms of fertilized embryonic tissue were observed after 96 hours. Conclusions The camphor toxicity results suggest that continuous observations on the ecosystem are necessary to monitor toxicity in areas where biological pesticides containing camphor are sprayed.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to analyze chemical water quality, ecological characteristics of fish compositions, and ecosystem health before- (B_wc; 2008-2009) and after-the weir construction (A_wc; 2011-2012) at Juksan Weir and Seungchon Weir of Yeongsan River watershed. Suspended solids (SS) and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in Juksan Weir increased, whereas nutrients such as total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) decreased in the epilimnetic water. In Juksan and Seungchon weirs, fish species distribution analysis in the periods of B_wc and A_wc showed that sensitive species were rare and tolerant species were dominant in the community. In the analysis of trophic guild, relative abundance of carnivore species are increased to 22% and 12%, respectively, after the constructions of Seungchon Weir and Juksan Weir. Mann-Whitney U-tests of nonparametric statistical analysis indicated that omnivore and carnivore species had significant differences (p < 0.05) between the B_wc and A_wc. The massive population growth of an exotic species, Micropterus salmoides, was evident in Seungchon Weir to influence on the structures of fish communities. The model values of mean Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), based on fish assemblages, were < 15, which indicates "poor" condition in the river health, and the significant difference of IBI values was not found between the B_wc and A_wc.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.107-117
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• 2013

Problems in regard of ecological stability of urban ecosystem ensue from climate change and urbanization. Particularly, urban ecological conditions are deteriorating both quantitatively and qualitatively to a great extent. The present study aims to assess the current condition of selected sites (i. e. urban green zones and parks) in terms of preset assessment components; to find out problems and relevant solutions to improve the quality and quantity of parks and green zones; and ultimately to suggest some measures applicable to coping with climate change as well as to securing the ecological attributes of urban green zones and parks. According to the findings of this study, from quantitative perspectives, ecological attributes and responsiveness to climate change are high on account of the large natural-soil area(80%). By contrast, from qualitative perspectives including the planting structure (1 layer: 47%), the percentage of bush area(17%), the connectivity with surrounding green zones (independent types: 44%), the wind paths considered (5.6%), the tree species with high carbon absorption rates (20%), water cycles (17%), energy (8%) and carbon storage capacities(61%), ecological attributes and responsiveness to climate change were found very low. These findings suggest that the ecological values of urban parks and green zones should be improved in the future by conserving their original forms, securing natural-soil grounds and employing multi-layered planting structures and water bodies, and that responsiveness to climate change should be enhanced by planting tree species with high carbon storage capacities and obtaining detention ponds. In sum, robust efforts should be exerted in the initial planning stages, and sustained, to apply the methodology of green-zone development along with securing ecological attributes and responsiveness to climate change.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.149-163
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• 2004

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a critical component of the hydrologic cycle which influences economic activities as well as the natural ecosystem. While there have been numerous studies on ET estimation for homogeneous areas using point measurements of meteorological variables, monitoring of spatial ET has not been possible at landscape - or watershed - scales. We propose a site-specific application of the land surface model, which is enabled by spatially interpolated input data at the desired resolution. Gyunggi Province of South Korea was divided into a regular grid of 10 million cells with 30m spacing and hourly temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation and solar irradiance were estimated for each grid cell by spatial interpolation of synoptic weather data. Topoclimatology models were used to accommodate effects of topography in a spatial interpolation procedure, including cold air drainage on nocturnal temperature and solar irradiance on daytime temperature. Satellite remote sensing data were used to classify the vegetation type of each grid cell, and corresponding spatial attributes including soil texture, canopy structure, and phenological features were identified. All data were fed into a standalone version of SiB2(Simple Biosphere Model 2) to simulate latent heat flux at each grid cell. A computer program was written for data management in the cell - based SiB2 operation such as extracting input data for SiB2 from grid matrices and recombining the output data back to the grid format. ET estimates at selected grid cells were validated against the actual measurement of latent heat fluxes by eddy covariance measurement. We applied this system to obtain the spatial ET of the study area on a continuous basis for the 2001-2003 period. The results showed a strong feasibility of using spatial - data driven land surface models for operational monitoring of regional ET.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.435-443
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• 2018

The Antarctic krill Euphausia superba is important commercially and ecologically as a basic component of the Antarctic Ocean ecosystem. To manage this resource, it is important to determine the distribution and standing of krill in the water layer. Acoustic methods can capture information about the entire water layer quickly. Acoustic surveys were conducted from March 3 to March 14, 2017, using the commercial fishing boat Sejong (7,765 tons). Acoustic systems with a frequency of 38 kHz and a 200 kHz commercial echo sounder (ES70, Simrad, Norway) were used and the acquired data were processed using post processing software. The density and standing of Antarctic krill were determined using the two-frequency difference method, using the characteristics of two frequencies. To compare the frequency difference of krill, the method using the frequency difference according to the krill length, recommended by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the values extracted according to the krill length at survey stations where only krill were collected during the study period, were compared. The frequency difference ranges were 3.96-5.91 dB and -3.0~13.8 dB, respectively.

• ALGAE
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.361-373
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• 2020

The community dynamics of benthic diatoms in the hypersaline environment are investigated to advance our understanding how salinity impacts marine life. Diatoms were sampled in the two salterns encompassing salt Ponds, ditches, and seawater reservoirs (n = 11), along the salinity gradient (max = 324 psu), and nearby tidal flats (n = 2). The floral assemblages and distributions across sites and stations showed great variations, with a total of 169 identified taxa. First, not surprisingly, higher diversity of benthic diatoms was found at natural tidal flats than salterns. The saltern diatoms generally showed salinity dependent distributions with distinct spatial changes in species composition and dominant taxa. Biota-environment and principal component analysis confirmed that salinity, mud content, and total nitrogen were key factors influencing the overall benthic community structure. Some dominant species, e.g., Nitzschia scalpelliformis and Achnanthes sp. 1, showed salinity tolerance / preference. The number of diatom species at salinity of >100 psu reduced over half and no diatoms were found at maximum salinity of 324 psu. The highest salinity for the observed live diatoms was 205 psu, however, a simple regression indicated a theoretical salinity threshold of ~300 psu on the survival. Finally, the indicator species were identified along the salinity gradient in salterns as well as natural tidal flats. Overall, high species numbers, varying taxa, and euryhaline distributions of saltern diatoms collectively reflected a dynamic saltern ecosystem. The present study would provide backgrounds for biodiversity monitoring of ecologically important microalgal producers in some unique hypersaline environment, and elsewhere.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.213-226
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• 2022

Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food producing sectors; however, intensive farming techniques of finfish have raised environmental concerns, especially through the release of excessive nutrients into surrounding waters. Biodiversity has been widely shown to enhance ecosystem functions and services, but there has been limited testing or application of this key ecological relationship in aquaculture. This study tested the applicability of the biodiversity-function relationship to integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), asking whether species richness can enhance the efficiency of macroalgal bioremediation of wastewater from finfish aquaculture. Five macroalgal species (Chondrus crispus, Fucus serratus, Palmaria palmata, Porphyra dioica, and Ulva sp.) were cultivated in mono- and polyculture in water originating from a lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) hatchery. Total seaweed biomass production, specific growth rates (SGR), and the removal of ammonium (NH₄⁺), total oxidised nitrogen (TON), and phosphate (PO₄^3-) from the wastewater were measured. Species richness increased total seaweed biomass production by 11% above the average component monoculture, driven by an increase in up to 5% in SGR of fast-growing macroalgal species in polycultures. Macroalgal species richness further enhanced ammonium uptake by 25%, and TON uptake by nearly 10%. Phosphate uptake was not improved by increased species richness. The increased uptake of NH₄⁺ and TON with increased macroalgal species richness suggests the complementary use of different nitrogen forms (NH₄⁺ vs. TON) in macroalgal polycultures. The results demonstrate enhanced bioremediation efficiency by increased macroalgal species richness and show the potential of integrating biodiversity-function research to improve aquaculture sustainability.