• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.121-127
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• 2008

As a step toward developing conservation and restoration plans for an endangered species of the Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana), we studied daily foraging behavior and ecology. We released two individuals, male and female, after enclosing study site with a fence and cutting out a part of two or three feathers of primaries. Research was conducted from 16 June to 11 July, 2007 for 25 days at Whawonri, Mewonmyung, Chungbuk province. We investigated diural and daily variation of foraging time budget, diet composition, and habitat selection of the feeding individuals. The storks quadratically invested for foraging time and resting time according to time of day, but no significant variation in the foraging time and resting time appeared daily over 25 days. As a result, the storks mainly used wetland as a foraging site in the center of the study area to that in the edge as well as to other types of habitat. The high usage for wetland in the center did not change over the 25 days while Rice field decreased and Wetland in the edge and Pathway increased. Female invested more time for foraging than male, but the foraging efficiency did not differ between them. We discussed the significance of foraging behavior and habitat selection for management plan.

• Journal of Life Science
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.408-416
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• 2017

This research aimed to identify the diversity and the distribution of invasive alien plant species in the metropolitan city of Busan, South Korea. According to our results, we discovered 10 species of invasive alien plants distributed in Busan, demonstrating that this urban area has a high domestic plant diversity. A cluster analysis identified that the dominant communities of Aster pilosus, Lactuca serriola, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Rumex acetosella and Solanum carolinense were highly similar in species composition. Different species of invasive alien plants tended to occur together in dominant communities, indicating their preference for shared habitats. The most extensively distributed species in Busan were Lactuca serriola (16 districts), followed by Ambrosia artemisiifolia (11 districts), Aster pilosus (11 districts) and Rumex acetosella (10 districts). The administrative districts with the most diverse invasive alien plants were Gangseo-gu (8 species) and Buk-gu (8 species), which are both areas with high human interference and diverse habitats. Additional environmental information was collected for these species' habitats in Busan. The results of this research can be used to assess the current status of invasive alien plants in Busan and can provide basic data useful for effectively controlling and preventing the spread of invasive plants.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.99-112
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• 2017

Geoheritage is designated to preserve geodiversity of geological and geomorphological cases. Geotourism is an extensive activity that aims at the understanding of geology and earth's history for the geoheritage and for developing regions through preserving the geodiveristy of geoheritage. Igidae-Oryukdo is geosite of Busan National Geopark and its visitors are expected to grow rapidly. Accordingly, for the effective use of the geosites, The development and application of geotourism is required. This study suggests that tuffacious sedimentary rocks, hornblende megacrysts-bearing dike, copper mine, marine potholes should designated as the central points for advanced learning stage; volcanic breccia, sea caves, sea cliffs, wavecut platform, tor and islands as the central points for basic learning stage. Based on this central points, this study established concepts for getourism in this study area at basic and expert level for individual and family tourists, and also small or large groups such as school students.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.81-90
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• 2014

A Fairy Pitta is a bird known to breed only in mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea and is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List. We carried out a DNA analysis to contribute to conserve the genetic diversity of Fairy Pitta. 32 samples were collected at Jeju Island, the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan from 2004 to 2013 and DNA was extracted from them and several sequences were amplified-it through PCR. And then we performed the population genetic analysis. We found there was a transversion between nucleotide sequences at CO1 gene, while there was no changes at Cyt-b gene. And we confirmed the polymorphism from two genes was caused from genetic drift not from selection. Through this analysis, the group within the Peninsula was found bigger than other two groups based on the analysis of CO1 gene, and the group from Taiwan was found bigger than other two groups through the analysis of Cyt-b gene. The population genetic structure of mitochondria gene of three group was showing CO1 gene had 5 haplotypes and Cyt-b gene had 6 haplotypes. Haplotype 2 in CO1 gene was found in three group and many individuals of samples had this haplotype. Like CO1 gene, haplotype 2 in Cyt-b gene was found in three group and was included in plenty of individuals. Other haplotypes were not overlaped and broke off among the three groups. To prevent from the extinction of Fairy Pitta and to obtain the genetic diversity, we need to compare with other regional group such as Japan, China and perform additional research in the non-breeding area.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• 제32권6호
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• pp.591-602
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• 2018

Clithon retropictus has been designated as an endangered wildlife Class II due to its high value as a biological indicator species capable of judging environmental quality such as salinity, water flow, and ground conditions. However, basic research on its physiological and ecological characteristics is still lacking. As such, this study intended to examine the impact of environmental conditions such as salinity and soil particle size on the size and density of Clithon retropictus at the Yeoncho river estuary. The investigation of the salinity, which is a key variable that affects the distribution of organisms in the estuary, showed that Clithon retropictus could grow at a salinity ranging from 0#x2030; (freshwater) to 25‰ (brackish water). The coarse gravel (19-75mm) tended to increase nearer the upper stream (under the Yeoncho weir), while the proportion of particles smaller than sand (less than 19mm) increased toward the downstream. The population and the size of the individuals decreased rapidly in the downstream where water stagnated near the Yeoncho weir, and the salt water joined. The results indicated that Clithon retropictus had a high tolerance to salinity, but the adaptability was weaker toward the extremes since the population, and the size tended to decrease as the salinity increased. The correlation analysis revealed that both salinity and soil particle size affected the population and individual size. The correlation between the individual size and salinity was -0.242 (P <0.01), indicating that the size decreased with increasing salinity. The correlation between individual size and coarse gravel having a particle size of 19mm or more was 0.420 (P <0.01), indicating that the size increased with increasing the particle size.

• Korean Journal of Ornithology
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.87-93
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• 2018

In order to investigate the changes in the population of Spot-billed ducks due to changes in reclaimed land, we conducted a monthly survey from January 2008 to December 2014 at the Shihwa Lake. The average number of Spot-billed ducks was 12,204 individuals. The average population was decreased. The yearly index of fluctuation (Fi) was the highest at 2.16 in 2010. TRIM(TRends and Indices for Monitoring data) showed a steep decline in winter and a moderate decrease tendency in autumn and spring. However, in the summer season, it showed an moderate increasing tendency. The main habitat were Northland reclaimed land, agricultural land and wetland area, Tando waterway, Shihwa artificial wetland in upstream. The correlation between the number of Spot-billed ducks and the temperature was negatively correlated in spring, summer, autumn. However, winter was showed positive correlation. Therefore, it affects the community of Spot-billed ducks due to environmental changes of reclaimed land. In future, effective management is needed to prepare alternative habitat based on basic data like this study for the conservation and management of Spot-billed ducks during reclamation construction.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.207-217
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• 2021

Using the data from the national survey of fish, we determined the population size and the distribution of Micropterus salmoides, which is a translocated species into the aquatic ecosystem of Korea. . The spatial concentration of this species was determined by performing an optimized hot spot analysis. After determining potential invasiveness and risk assessment, we measured the disturbance of biodiversity in the aquatic ecosystem. The result of distribution analysis indicates that the population of M. salmoides was concentrated in the major basins of Han river, Geum river, Nakdong river, and Yeongsan-Seomjin river, including the Jeju island. In particular, Nakdong river basin showed the highest appearance rate. On the contrary, Yeongsan-Seomjin river basin showed the lowest appearance rate. The Nakdong river and the Nakdong river basin were the areas with the high spatial concentration of M. salmoides. On the other hand, only Han river basin and Geum river basin had the lowest spatial concentration. The fish invasiveness screening kit(FISK) was used to assess M. salmoides, which inhabited a broad region of aquatic ecosystem: the assessment score was 31.0, indicating its 'highly invasive' nature. Our study aims to encourage research that improves the biodiversity and the conservation of M. salmoides in a priority area.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• 제54권4호
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• pp.483-494
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• 2021

This study was carried out to investigate the feasibility of reducing clean cover soil using a flooded column test in arsenic-contaminated farmland reclamation of abandoned coal mine area that shows generally low or about worrisome level (25 mg/kg) of Korea soil environment conservation act unlike abandoned metal mine. During the monitoring period of soil solution for 4 months, chemical properties (pH, EC, ORP, Fe, Mn, Ca, and As) in each layer (clean soil cover and contaminated/stabilized soil) showed different variation. This result revealed that soil solution in stabilized or contaminated soil rarely affected that in cover soil. Whether stabilized or not, arsenic concentrations in the rice roots grown in the soil covers with the thickness of 40 cm decreased by 98% in compared with the that grown in the control soil. In case of the soil covers with 20 cm thickness on stabilized soil, it decreased by 80% and this was 22 percentage point higher than when the soil of lower layer was not stabilized. Thus, reducing clean cover soil could be possible in contaminated farmland soil reclamation if appropriate stabilization of contaminated soil is carried.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• 제36권2호
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• pp.202-216
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• 2022

Animals exhibit certain behaviors and movement patterns as they react to their internal needs, external stimuli, and surrounding environments. They have a bounded range in which they mostly spend their time, and it is referred to as a home range. Based on the fact that the home range is a critical area for the survival and preservation of species, there has been a growing body of research on developing more precise home range estimation methods to use the estimated ranges as a ground for establishing an effective conservation policy since the early 1940s. Recent rapid advancements in telemetry technology that resulted in the presence of autocorrelation between locations with short time intervals revealed the limitations of the existing estimators. Many novel estimators have been developed to compensate for it by incorporating autocorrelation in calculating home ranges. However, studies on the animal home range are still in their early stage in Korea, and newly developed methodologies have not yet been adopted. Therefore, this study aims to introduce the foreign home range estimation methods and foster domestic research activities on home ranges. Firstly, we compared and contemplated seven estimators by categorizing them into geometrical and statistical methodologies and then divided them into estimators that assume independent observations and those that consider autocorrelation in each category. After that, the home ranges of black-tailed gulls (Larus crassirostris) were calculated using GPS tracking data for the month of June and derived home range estimators by applying the methodology introduced in this study. We analyzed and compared the results to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each method. Lastly, we proposed a guideline that can help researchers choose an appropriate estimator for home range calculation based on the animal location data characteristics and analysis purpose.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• 제38권3호
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• pp.184-194
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• 2022

Triplochiton scleroxylon K. Schum is the plant species most affected by logging activities in the East Region of Cameroon due to its market value. This logging has impacted the ecological niche of the fern plant for which limited research has been done. The aim of this study is to contribute towards improving knowledge of fern richness and biomass on T. scleroxylon within the Central African sub-region. Fern data collection was done on 20 felled/harvested T. scleroxylon where, in addition to fern inventory, fern biomass was collected by the destructive method. The diameter and height of T. scleroxylon measured were used as explanatory variables in allometric equations for fern biomass estimation. Fern inventory was characterized using diversity index. Eight fern species were recorded on T. scleroxylon (≈5 species/T. scleroxylon). The minimum diameter where fern could be found is 59.4 cm. The average fern biomass found was 23.62 kg/T. scleroxylon. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a positive correlation (r>0.55) between fern biomass and T. scleroxylon diameter. For allometric equation, the logarithmic model improved better the adjustment than the non-logarithmic model. However, the quality of the adjustment is improved more when only the diameter is considered as an explanatory variable. Fern biomass is estimated to 90.08 kg/ha^-1 with 76.02 kg/ha^-1 being lost due to T. scleroxylon exploitation in the study area. This study is a contribution towards increasing knowledge of fern diversity specific to T. scleroxylon, and also fern biomass contribution to climate change mitigation and the potential carbon loss due to T. scleroxylon exploitation.