• Water Engineering Research
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.149-159
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• 2005

With increasing recognition on conservation of endangered species in Taiwan, one of the major conservation projects is the habitat restoration of Formosan Landlocked Salmon which is major threatened by check dams in the channel for their blockading pathway to upstream and causing the problems of population isolation and close-blood mating. By creating an opening in the central dam body appropriately, partial removal dams can provide pathway for the fish for the better upstream channel habitat. Four check dams at Gau-Shan Creek were remodeled between April of 1999 and September of 2002 with information supported from model experiments under certain hydraulic condition of field environment. Based on the follow-up investigation, the channel morphology of observation sections is in stable condition and the total number of Formosan Landlocked Salmon in this creek increased promptly at the reach containing partial-removed dams.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.356-362
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• 2023

Identifying the distribution of species and specific factors related to it is very important because it is habitat conservation that is greatly linked not only to ecological research but also to human health. After all, protecting each one's habitat will protect wildlife and further maintain a healthy ecosystem. Therefore, in this study, data were collected, compared, and analyzed through existing studies and field-oriented surveys. The results of the survey confirmed high species diversity in agricultural areas and forest areas that can reduce moisture supply and moisture loss, and the non-segmental environment, that is, ecological connectivity, was largely influenced by amphibian species diversity. It was confirmed that the non-fragmented environment, that is, ecological connectivity, was greatly affected by amphibian species diversity. In addition, the three factors that affect amphibian survival are: It was identified as the effect of not establishing a buffer space, the effect on the ecological transformation around the habitat during the summer rainy season, and the effect on the disconnected ecological environment.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.195-206
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• 2022

Gaining an understanding of bird communities in different habitat types is essential for the conservation of ecologically important habitats. Wetlands possess different types of habitats and provide an important environment for wintering waterbird communities. This study compares avian communities in five different habitat types in the Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary (MWWS), Myanmar. From December 2014 to the first week of February in 2015, bird and habitat data were collected from representative areas of five habitat types (i.e., short grassland, tall grassland, lotus fields, open water areas, and rice fields) at MWWS. We established nine sampling plots in each habitat type, and used the point quadrat method to survey habitats and the point count method to survey birds in the habitats. Simple one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests were used to determine differences between bird communities. We made 95 detections during 19 daily visits to each of the five habitat types. During the survey period, we recorded a total of 10,389 individuals belonging to 52 different bird species, based on 7-min observations at each of the 45 point count stations. Furthermore, we detected significant differences by habitat structure (i.e., vegetation coverage, height, and density; water depth; and plant species diversity) as well as bird communities (i.e., species richness, abundance, and diversity indices). In addition, the detailed analysis of 52 avian species revealed significant differences among 45 species with respect to the mean numbers of observed individuals in the survey habitats. The findings of this study revealed significant differences in the structure and composition of waterbird communities among the five assessed habitat types. Because natural marshes provide preferable habitats for a larger number and greater diversity of birds, relative to rice fields, natural marshes should be prioritized for conservation and restoration in Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.146-153
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• 2010

Urban development typically results in many species being confined to small, isolated and degraded habitat fragments. Fragment size and isolation underpin many studies of modified landscape to prevent biodiversity loss. However, habitat characteristics such as vegetation structure and edge effects are less frequently incorporated in planning. The relative influence of biogeographic (e.g. size, isolation) and vegetation parameters on assemblages is poorly understood, but critical for conservation management. In this study, the relative importance of biogeographic and vegetation parameters in explaining the diversity of forest-interior dwelling birds in forest fragments in Chungcheong Province Area. Fragment size and vegetation characteristics were consistently important predictors of bird diversity. Forestinterior bird richness was influenced by fragment size (0.437), wood age (0.332), wood diameter (0.068), and patch shape (-0.079). To preserve bird diversity of Chungcheong Province Area, it is important to consider differing responses of bird diversity to landscape change, move beyond a focus primarily on spatial attributes (size, isolation) to recognize that landscape change also has profound effects on habitat composition and quality. The result is very useful for long-term aspect of biodiversity conservation plan in regional scale.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.307-315
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• 2022

In terms of habitat conservation, it is essential to develop a habitat assessment system that can evaluate not only the suitability of the current habitat, but also the health and stability of the habitat. This study aimed to develop a methodology of habitat quality assessment for endangered species by analyzing various existing habitat assessment methods. The habitat quality assessment consisted of selecting targeted species, planning of assessment, selecting targeted sites, assessing performance, calculating grade, and expert verification. Target sites were selected separately from core and potential habitats using a species distribution model or habitat suitability index. Habitat assessment factors were classified into ecological characteristic, landscape characteristic, and species-habitat characteristic. Ecological characteristic consisted of thirteen factors related to health of tree, vegetation, and soil. Landscape characteristic consisted of five factors related to fragment and connectivity of habitat. Species-habitat characteristic consisted of factors for evaluating habitat suitability depending on target species. Since meanings are different depending on characteristics, habitat quality assessment of this study could be used by classifying results for each characteristic according to various assessment purposes, such as designation of alternative habitats, assessment of restoration project, and protected area valuation for endangered species. Forest habitat quality assessment is expected to play an important role in conservation acts of endangered species in the future through continuous supplementation of this system in regard to quantitative assessment criteria and weighting for each factor with an influence.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.140-150
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• 2023

The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is an apex predator of the riparian ecosystem. It is a keystone and an indicator species; consequently, its presence suggests a sustainable water environment. Otter is a keystone species as a predator at the top of the food web in the aquatic environment and an indicator species representing the health of the aquatic environment. Although Eurasian otters disappeared from the Han River urban water system because of anthropogenic activities like habitat destruction, poaching, and environmental pollution in the 1980s, the species were sighted in the Cheonggye Stream, Jungrang Stream, and Seongnae Stream, which are urban sections of the Han River, in 2016 and 2021. Therefore, it is pertinent to assess the habitat potential in the area for conservation and management measures to ensure its permanent presence. However, existing studies on otter habitats focused on natural rivers and reservoirs, and there is a limit to applying them to habitats artificially confined habitats in narrow spaces such as tributaries in urban areas of the Han River. This study selected the Cheonggye Stream, an artificially restored urban stream, to evaluate its potential as a habitat for Eurasian otters in urban water environments using the habitat suitability index (HSI). The HSI was calculated with selected environment attributes, such as the cover, food, and threat, that best describe the L. lutra habitat. According to the results, the confluence area of Seongbuk Stream and Cheonggye Stream and the confluence area of Cheonggye Stream and Jungnang Stream were suitable otter habitats, requiring appropriate conservation efforts. The HSI model suggests a valuable method to assess the habitat quality of Eurasian otters in urban water environments. The study is crucial as it can help rehabilitate the species' populations by identifying and managing potential Eurasian otter habitats in highly urbanized areas of the Han River basin and its tributaries.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.158-169
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• 2012

Sabah has experienced a rapid decline in the extent of forest cover. The precise impact of habitat loss on the conservation status of the plants of Sabah is uncertain. In this study we use the niche modelling algorithm MAXENT to construct preliminary, revised and final ecological niche models for Dipterocarpus lamellatus and Dipterocarpus ochraceus and combined these models with data on current land-use to derive conservation assessments for each species. Preliminary models were based on herbarium data alone. Ground surveys were conducted to evaluate the performance of these preliminary models, and a revised niche model was generated from the combined herbarium and ground survey data. The final model was obtained by constraining the predictions of the revised models by filters. The range overlap between the preliminary and revised models was 0.47 for D. lamellatus and 0.39 for D. ochraceus, suggesting poor agreement between them. There was substantial variation in estimates of habitat loss for D. ochraceus, among the preliminary, revised and constrained models, and this has the potential to lead to incorrect threat assessments. From these estimates of habitat loss, the historic distribution and estimates of population size we determine that both species should be classified as Critically Endangered under IUCN Red List guidelines. Our results suggest that ground-truthing of ecological niche models is essential, especially if the models are being used for conservation decision making.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.12-25
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• 2004

Integration system of conservation ecology, ecosystem management and land planing in landscape scale is major principle strategy for national management system of environmental resource and biodiversity. Current conservation strategy is concerned with not only population and habitat level but also ecosystem and landscape level. In especially, ecological networking to link core areas or major habitat patches is most eminent and emerging issue in European Union (EU) and North America. Moreover, the promotion of national ecological network system in EU is focused on national cooperation to construct ecological corridor for key habitat that distributed in many countries. Integrating landscape ecology into conservation ecology and restoration have important role to stimulate the network system in regional and national level. In this review paper, comprehensive and necessary considerations arisen from the view of landscape ecology were discussed for the present situations of wildlife conservation and management in Korea compared with other countries. Especially, the conservation strategy and policy of biodiversity were addressed in broad sense including habitat protection, legal approaches, and ecological network programs. Finally, a national ecological network system was suggested for environmental policy in Korea in global consideration after the Korean Unification.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to ascertain and analyze environmental factors of subgenus Lycoctonum in Korea for conservation and management of rare high land plant species by GIS. We derived the habitat model of Lycoctonum from GPS coordination, habitat factors and digital topology maps. Suitable altitude fur the subgenus Lycoctonum is from 470m to 1320m, and northern slopes(between 15.5 and 36 degrees) are ideal for the Lycoctonum populations. In addition to altitude, slope and aspect, deciduous forest and approximation to water source were found as important factor. Using GIS and the Lycoctonum habitat model, we overlaid elevation, aspect, slope and land cover layers and analyzed buffer from the water source on two topology maps, Yang-Soo and Mock-Dong. After making prediction map for Lycoctonum habitat, we verified the existence of Lycoctonum populations on the predicted sites through field survey. Through this research, we're convinced that GIS software is powerful tool for plants conservation, such as finding unknown habitat or selecting alternative habitat.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.519-533
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• 2003

The U.S. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) resulted in the conversion of approximately 14.8 million ha(36.5 million acres) of cropland to grassland, woodland, and other conservation uses throughout the U.S. between 1986 and 1992. One of the major results of CRP has been the addition of millions of hectares of potential wildlife habitat. primarily as grassland. In this study, we examined regional changes in landscape structure caused by the introduction of CRP. Utilizing multi-seasonal Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery, we produced maps of cropland and grassland for the pre- and post- CRP enrollment periods for a six-county region in southwest Kansas. We then applied post-classification differencing to identify regions of cropland that had been converted to CRP. Using the FRAGSTATS spatial pattern analysis program, we calculated a variety of spatial statistics to analyze changes in landscape structure due to CRP. The major impact of CRP in the six-county study area has been the reversal of an overall trend of grassland habitat fragmentation. From the standpoint of potential wildlife habitat, the introduction of CRP has greatly increased the number of patches, mean patch size, and the interior or core area of grassland patches. In addition, CRP has increased connectivity and aggregation between grassland patches, potentially important factors for species of conservation interest, particularly those that require larger expanses of unbroken habitat. Finally, the distance between neighboring patches of grassland has decreased, reducing travel distance between patches. Clearly, the introduction of CRP has substantially modified the spatial structure of the southwest Kansas landscape, with important implications for wildlife habitat.