• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.79-96
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• 2021

Green infrastructure planning represents landscape planning measures to reduce particulate matter. This study aimed to derive factors that may be used in planning green infrastructure for particulate matter reduction using text mining techniques. A range of analyses were carried out by focusing on keywords such as 'particulate matter reduction plan' and 'green infrastructure planning elements'. The analyses included Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) analysis, centrality analysis, related word analysis, and topic modeling analysis. These analyses were carried out via text mining by collecting information on previous related research, policy reports, and laws. Initially, TF-IDF analysis results were used to classify major keywords relating to particulate matter and green infrastructure into three groups: (1) environmental issues (e.g., particulate matter, environment, carbon, and atmosphere), target spaces (e.g., urban, park, and local green space), and application methods (e.g., analysis, planning, evaluation, development, ecological aspect, policy management, technology, and resilience). Second, the centrality analysis results were found to be similar to those of TF-IDF; it was confirmed that the central connectors to the major keywords were 'Green New Deal' and 'Vacant land'. The results from the analysis of related words verified that planning green infrastructure for particulate matter reduction required planning forests and ventilation corridors. Additionally, moisture must be considered for microclimate control. It was also confirmed that utilizing vacant space, establishing mixed forests, introducing particulate matter reduction technology, and understanding the system may be important for the effective planning of green infrastructure. Topic analysis was used to classify the planning elements of green infrastructure based on ecological, technological, and social functions. The planning elements of ecological function were classified into morphological (e.g., urban forest, green space, wall greening) and functional aspects (e.g., climate control, carbon storage and absorption, provision of habitats, and biodiversity for wildlife). The planning elements of technical function were classified into various themes, including the disaster prevention functions of green infrastructure, buffer effects, stormwater management, water purification, and energy reduction. The planning elements of the social function were classified into themes such as community function, improving the health of users, and scenery improvement. These results suggest that green infrastructure planning for particulate matter reduction requires approaches related to key concepts, such as resilience and sustainability. In particular, there is a need to apply green infrastructure planning elements in order to reduce exposure to particulate matter.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.101-112
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• 2019

Over the last few years, air pollution ($PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$) in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) has emerged as one of the most concerned and threatening environmental issues among the residents. It brings about various harmful effects on human health, as well as ecosystem and industrial activities. Governments and individuals pay various costs to mitigate the level of air pollutants. This study aims to empirically find the willingness to pays (WTP) among the parents from different socio-cultural groups - international and domestic groups to mitigate air pollution ($PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$) in their residential area. Contingent Valuation Methods (CVM) is used with employing single-bounded dichotomous choice technique to elicit the respondent's WTP. Using tobit (censored regression) and probit models, the monthly mean WTP of the pooled sample for green electricity which contributes to improve air quality in the region was estimated as 3,993 KRW (3.58 USD). However, the mean WTP between the international group and domestic group through a sub-sample analysis shows broad distinction as 3,325KRW (2.98 USD) and 4,449 KRW (3.98 USD) respectively. This is because that socio-cultural characteristics of each group such as socio-economic status, personal experience, trust in institutions and worldview are differently associated with the WTP. Based on the results, the society needs to raise awareness of lay people to find a strong linkage between the current PM issue and green electricity. Also, it needs to improve trust in the government's pollution abatement policy to mobilize more assertive participation of the people from different socio-cultural background.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.195-206
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• 2021

In 2020, South Korea initiated research and development of a longitudinal connectivity evaluation between upstream and downstream based on stream ecosystem health. This study analyzed the migration of upstream and downstream migratory fish species, fish distribution characteristics, trophic guilds, tolerance guilds, and species composition changes from 2015 to 2020 at Songrim weir in Yeongok stream, where the cross-structure of an ice harbor-type fishway for fish movement was recently improved. A total of 5,136 fish, including 36 species, were collected and three major migratory fishes were identified, namely, Tribolodon hakonensis, Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis, and Oncorhynchus keta. According to the comparative analysis before (Pre-I) and after (Post-I) improvement of the fishway, the relative abundance of primary freshwater fish increased in the upstream section, while the number of migratory fishes decreased. The fish species that used the fishway in the Songrim weir were Tribolodon hakonensis (58.4%) and Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis(11.8%). According to the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test migratory fish showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in the upstream and downstream, showing a biological improvement effect of the crossstructure. On the other hand, the annual change of migratory fish based on the MannKendall trend test did not significantly increase or decrease (p>0.05). Therefore, in the fish passage improvement project, it is necessary not only for physical, hydrological, and structural tests, but also for pre- and post-biological tests on the use and improvement effect of fishway.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.327-337
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• 2022

Ecological restoration is considered a good means to prevent biodiversity loss in terms of the ecosystem's health and sustainability. However, there are difficulties in putting it into practice as there is no comprehensive and objective standard for the selection of plant species, such as environmental, ecological factors, and restoration goal setting. Therefore, this study developed an evaluation index necessary for selecting plant species for restoration using the Delphi method that synthesizes the opinions of the expert group. A survey with 38 questionnaires was conducted twice for experts in ecological restoration, etc., and the importance and priority of evaluation indicators were analyzed by dividing the restoration targets into inland and island regions. The result of the importance analysis showed that "native plants" had the highest average of 4.9 among the evaluation indices in both inland and island regions, followed by "seed security", "propagation", and "root growth rate". In the inland region, the index priority was analyzed in the order of "native plants", "appearance frequency", "root growth rate", "distribution range", and "seed security" in the island region, it was analyzed in the order of "native plants", "root growth rate", "appearance frequency", "distribution range", and "tolerance", showing slight differences between the two indicators. As a result of the importance and priority indicator analysis, we set the mean importance and priority of 4.1 and 2.9, respectively, in the inland region and 4.2 and 2.9, respectively, in the island region. As for the criteria of selecting plant species for ecological restoration, the "native plants" had the highest importance and priority. "Seed securing", 'viability", "topography", "proliferation", "tolerance", "soil conditions", "growth characteristics", "early succession", "distribution range", "appearance frequency", and "germination rate" were classified into subgroups of low importance and priority. The lowest indicators were "final stage of succession", "transition period", 'transition stage", "root", "reproduction", "soil", "appearance", "technology", "landscape", "climate", and "germination rate". We expected that the findings through objective verification in this study would be used as evaluation indicators for selecting native plant species for ecological restoration.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2023

Aggregate is used to produce stable materials like concrete and asphalt and is fundamental to meet the social needs of housing, industry, road, energy and health. A total of 42.35 billion tons of aggregate were produced in 2021 worldwide, an increase of 0.91% compared to the previous year. Among them, 2 billion tons were produced in China, India, European Union and United States, making up to 71.75% of the share. South Korea has witnessed a constant increase in aggregate production, overtaking Mexico and Japan for seventh place with 390 million tons and 0.85% of the share. The industrial sand and gravel produced globally amounted to 352.66 million tons. The top seven countries with the highest production were China, United States, Netherlands, Italy, India, Turkey and France, and their production exceeded 10 million tons and held a share of 74.69%. Exports of natural rock recorded $21.68 billion in 2021, increased by $2.3 billion compared to the previous year, while exports of artificial rock increased by $2.66 billion to $13.59 billion. Exports of sand reached $1.71 billion with United States, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium being the four countries with the highest exports of sand. The four countries exported more than $100 million in sand and took up 57.70% of the total amount. Exports of gravel totaled $2.75 billion, with China, Norway, Germany, Belgium, France and Austria in the lead, making up to 48.30% of the total share. The aggregate quarry started to surge in the 1950s due to the change in people's lifestyle such as population growth, urbanization and infrastructure delvelopment. Demand for aggregate is also skyrocketing to prevent land reclamation and flood caused by sea-level rise. Demand for aggregate, which was around 24 gigatons in 2011, is expected to double to 55 gigatons in 2060. However, it is likely that aggregate extraction will heavily damage the ecosystem and the world will eventually face a shortage of aggregate followed by tense social conflict.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.221-231
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• 2023

Great tit (Parus major) is a bioindicator species that can measure environmental changes in urban ecosystems and plays an important role in maintaining health as a representative insectivorous bird. Researchers have utilized artificial nest box surveys to understand the reproductive ecology of the Paridae family of birds, including the Great tits, but it is difficult to conduct a macroscopic study due to spatial and temporal limitations. This study designed and applied a citizen-participatory monitoring of artificial nest boxes project to transcend the limitations of expert-centered monitoring methods. The Suwon Front Yard Bird Monitoring Team installed artificial nest boxes in green spaces in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province and observed the reproductive ecology of the Paridae family through the participation of voluntary citizen surveyors. Participants were recruited through an online survey from February 9 to February 22, 2021, and they directly performed from installation to observation of artificial next boxes from February 23 to August 31, 2021. Online education was provided to the volunteers for the entire monitoring process to lower the entry barrier for non-expert citizen surveyors and collect consistent data, and observation records were collected through a mobile app. A total of 98 citizen surveyors participated in the citizen-participatory monitoring of artificial nest boxes project, and 175 (84.95%) of the 256 distributed artificial nest boxes were installed in green spaces in Suwon City. Among the installed artificial nest boxes, the results of the citizen science project were confirmed for 173 (83.98%), excluding two boxes with position coordinate generation errors. A total of 987 artificial nest box observation records were collected from citizen surveyors, with a minimum of one time, a maximum of 26 times, and an average of 5.71±4.37 times. The number of observations of artificial birdhouses per month was 70 times (7.09%) in February, 444 times (44.98%) in March, 284 times (28.77%) in April, 133 times (13.48%) in May, 46 times (4.66%) in June, 6 times (0.61%) in July, and 4 times (0.41%) in August. Birds using the artificial nest boxes were observed in 57 (32.95%) of the 173 installed artificial nest boxes, and they included Great tit (Parus major) using 12 boxes (21.05%), Varied Tit (Parus varius) using 7 boxes (12.28%), and unidentified birds using 38 boxes (66.67%). This study is the first to consider citizen participation in the monitoring of artificial nest boxes, a survey method for the reproductive ecology of the Paridae family, including Great tits, and it can be utilized as basic data for the design of ecological monitoring combined with citizen science in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.151-162
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• 2023

This study investigated the characteristics of fish communities and inhabiting status of the endangered species, Rhodeus pseudosericeus, in the Geumdang Stream in Korea from March to October 2021. A total of 1,698 fish in 5 families and 25 species were collected from 7 survey stations during the survey period. The dominant species was Zacco platypus (relative abundance, 46.5%), and the subdominant species was Squalidus gracilis majimae (16.7%), followed by Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (12.0%), Z. koreanus (5.7%), Pungtungia herzi (3.2%), R. pseudosericeus (2.0%), R. notatus (1.9%), and Acheilognathus rhombeus (1.8%). Nine Korean endemic species (36.0%) were collected, including R. pseudosericeus, R. uyekii, Sarcocheilichthys variegatus wakiyae, Microphysogobio yaluensis, S. gracilis majimae, Z. koreanus, Cobitis nalbanti, Iksookimia koreensis, and Odontobutis interrupta. An exotic species, Micropterus salmoides, designated as an invasive alien species (IAS), was collected downstream. The investigation of the habitat patterns of the endangered species (class II), Rhodeus pseudosericeus, showed a habitat range of about 6 to 7 km in the middle of Geumdang Stream (RP-1 to RP-4), and this species inhabited the edge with water depths of 0.3 through 1.0 m with slow water flow and many aquatic plants. According to the community analysis results, the overall dominance and evenness indexes were low, while diversity and richness indexes were high, and the cluster structure was largely divided into upstream and middle-downstream areas. The river health (fish assessment index) evaluated using fish was assessed as good (3 stations), normal (3 stations), and bad (1 station), and water quality was evaluated as good both upstream and downstream. Compared to previous studies, the number of species was relatively similar, and among the species that appeared in the past, 13 species did not appear in this survey, while 6 species appeared for the first time in this survey. Disturbance factors included river construction, many weirs, and the appearance of the ecosystem-disturbing species, M. salmoides. Since Geumdang Strem has high conservation value because it is home to many species in the Acheilognathinae subfamily, including the endangered species R. pseudosericeus, continuous attention and systematic conservation measures are required.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.160-171
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• 2022

This study investigated the characteristics of fish communities, habitat characteristics and the age of Lefua costata in the Jusucheon of Gangneung-si, Korea from January to December 2013. The survey collected 23 species belonging to ten families from 6 survey stations. The dominant and subdominant species were Zacco koreanus (relative abundance, 22.1%) and Rhynchocypris steindachneri (20.1%), respectively. The next most abundant species were Tridentiger brevispinis (10.7%), Orthrias nudus (9.7%), Zacco platypus (8.6%), Lefua costata (7.9%), Iksookimia koreensis (6.0%) and Pungitius sinensis (3.0%). Among the fish species collected, one species, P. sinensis, was class II endangered wildlife by the Ministry of Environment, and four species (Z. koreanus, I. koreensis, Silurus microdorsalis and Cottus koreanus), were endemic to Korea. Additionally, five migration fish species (Tribolodon hakonensis, Hypomesus nipponensis, Gasterosteus aculeatus, Oncorhynchus keta and Plecoglossus altivelis) were collected. The similarity index based on species composition and numbers separated fish communites in the Jusucheon according to main section, i.e., uppermost(St. 1), upper (St. 2~4), middle (St. 5), lower (St. 6). Ecosystem health of Jusucheon Stream (fish assessement index) evaluated using fish was assessed as very good (5 stations) and good (1 station). The main inhabit of L. costata was the middle-lower stream of aquatic plants habitats with mud bottoms, very slow water velocity and water depth 40~80 cm. The age groups for L. costata (female) estimated by the frequency distribution of total length in the spawning season (May) indicated that the 24~37 mm is 1-year old, the 38~51 mm group is 2-year old, the 52~63 mm is 3-year old, 64~77 mm is 4-year old and the 80~91 mm is more than 5-year old. Finally, characteristics of fish communities, habitat characteristics and the age of Lefua costata in the Jusucheon was discussed.