• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.112-122
• /
• 2023

To restore the ecological function of contaminated soil and maximize the ecological services provided by the soil, besides the toxicity orrisk caused by pollutants, the functional aspects of the soil ecosystem should be considered. In this study, a method for evaluating the health of cleaned soil was presented, and the applicability of the proposed evaluation method was examined by applying it to soil treated with washing and landfarming. Productivity, habitat, water retention capacity, nutrient cycling, carbon retention capacity, and buffering capacity were used as soil health evaluation indicators. The results showed that the soil health was not completely recovered after remediation, and even in the case of the washed soil, the health was lower than before remediation. On the other hand, there was no significant change in soil quality due to oil pollution, but soil health deteriorated. Unlike the slightly improved soil quality after landfarming treatment, soil health was not completely restored. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that it is desirable to consider both soil quality and health when evaluating the remediation effect. The soil health evaluation method proposed in this study can be usefully utilized for the sustainable use of cleaned soil and to promote ecosystem services.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.99-111
• /
• 2022

Vegetation is the basis for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. In the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which is the most direct and efficient policy measure to prevent degradation of nature, vegetation-related assessment has limitations as it is not based on quantitative and scientific methods. In addition, it focuses on the presence of protected species; hence, it does not take into account the role of vegetation as a habitat on a wide-area scale. As a way to overcome these limitations, this study aims to contribute to the quantification and advancement of future EIA on vegetation. Through the review of previous studies, core areas, connectivity, and vegetation condition were derived as the items to be dealt within the macroscopic aspect of vegetation impact assessment. Each item was spatially constructed using land cover maps and satellite imageries, and time series change analysis was performed. As a result, it was found that vegetation has been continuously deteriorating due to development in all aspects, and in particular, development adversely affects not only the inside of the project site but also the surrounding area. Although this study suggested the direction for improvement of the EIA in the vegetation sector based on data analysis, a more specific methodology needs to be established in order to apply it to the actual EIA process. By actively utilizing various environmental spatial data, the impact of the development on the natural ecosystem can be minimized.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.206-220
• /
• 2023

In the royal publishing process of the Joseon Dynasty, the main species of wood used for woodblock printing was recorded as Jajak-mok. Although the name Jajak-mok may suggest Jajak-namu(white birch), it is presumed to refer to a different type of wood than Jajak-namu based on its recorded habitat and usage in historical documents. The aim of this paper is to clarify that during the Joseon Dynasty, the term Jajak-mok referred to Geojesu-namu (Korean birch), while Jajak-namu was called Hwa-mok(樺木). Additionally, this paper explores how the term Jajakmok eventually became the name of white birch, Jajak-namu, used today. In the mid-18th century, Japan used the character 樺(hwa) to refer to Beot-namu(Sargent cherry). As Japanese encyclopedias entered Joseon, the term Hwa-mok began to refer to both Beot-namu and Jajak-namu, which is also called Bot-namu. Since the pronunciation of Boet-namu and Bot-namu are similar, the two trees were eventually unified under the name Boet-namu. In the 20th century, the official names of three trees were established. According to notifications issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce of the Korean Empire in 1910 and the Governor-General of Chosen in 1912, Hwa-mok(white birch) was renamed asJajak-namu. In 1968, Beot-namu(Sargent cherry) retained its original name, and Jajak-mok(Korean birch) was remained . In modern Chinese character dictionaries, the meaning of 樺(hwa) is listed as "1. Beot-namu(Sargent cherry), 2. Jajak-namu(white birch)." From this, we can infer the historical background in which the names of these three trees were mixed up.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.56 no.4
• /
• pp.406-413
• /
• 2023

Captive breeding and reintroduction are crucial strategies for conserving endangered species populations. However, fish raised in predator-free environments, show a lack of recognition of predationrelated stimuli such as chemical and visual signals. It is critical to recognize chemical signals from injured conspecifics, also known as alarm signals, and the order or shape of predators to indicate the spread of predation risk in the habitat. We conducted a laboratory experiment to determine and adjust the optimal exposure period to induce appropriate anti-predator behavior response to different types of stimuli (Chemical, Visual and Chemical+Visual) for the endangered species Microphysogobio rapidus. Our results demonstrate that predator avoidance behavior varies depending on the types of stimuli and the duration of predation risk exposure. First, the results showed captive-breed M. rapidus show lack of response against conspecific alarm signal (Chemical cue) before the predation risk exposure period and tend to increase response over predation risk exposure time. Second, response to predator (visual cue) tend to peak at 48 hours cumulative exposure, but show dramatic decrease after 72 hours cumulative exposure. Finally, response to the mixed cue (Chemical+visual) tend to peak prior to the predation risk exposure period and show reduced response during subsequent exposure periods. This experiment confirms the lack of responsiveness to conspecific alarm signals in captive-bred M. rapidus and the need for an optimal nature behavior enhancement program prior to release of endangered species. Furthermore, responsiveness to predator visual signal peak at 48 hours cumulative exposure, suggest an optimal predation risk exposure period of up to 48 hours.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.270-277
• /
• 2023

Since its introduction in 1973, the bass, Micropterus salmoides, has spread to dams and rivers in Korea, adversely affecting native fish communities. In this study, after complete removal of bass from Bukchosan Reservoir, an farm reservoir that has lost its function, an attempt was made to indirectly confirm the adverse effects of bass on fish by comparing fish communities in reservoirs of a similar size where bass inhabit. The study was conducted three times a year from 2019 to 2022. As a result of the study, in Bukchosan Reservoir, where the species composition of fish was judged to be simplified due to the habitat of bass, only four species such as Carassius auratus and Rhinogobius brunneus that could be used as a food source for bass appeared before the removal of bass, but after the removal of bass. The appearance and increase of the population of the introduced small freshwater fish (Oryzias sinensis, Rhinogobius giurinus) were confirmed. When comparing Gangjeong Reservoir, Susim Reservoir, which are other reservoirs inhabited by bass investigated in this study, and Bukchosan Reservoir, this result is judged to show a trend of stabilization and recovery of fish species after removal of bass in small reservoirs with high predation pressure of bass.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.64-73
• /
• 2024

As the seriousness of habitat destruction caused by development projects emerges, the importance of environmental impact assessment (EIA) is increasing to preserve biodiversity. In previous studies, research is being conducted to quantitatively evaluate the biodiversity impact of development factors and surrounding environmental factors on the landscape scale, but research on the factors affecting the reduction of biodiversity based on development projects is insufficient. This study examined whether independent variables (size of development project, type of the development, DEM, ecosystem and nature map, distance from the green land, distance from the protected area), which have been proven to effect biodiversity through the previous researches, have a significant effect on the change of richness index (RI) through multi-class logistic regression analysis, T-test, and analysis of the development type. As a result, only the size of development project and the first richness index in EIA showed p-value less than 0.05. And it was confirmed that the reduction in biodiversity was significantly changed in the following construction types: installation of sports facilities, energy development, and development of industrial location and industrial complex. Since the results of this study confirmed that the impact of the variables may be inconsistent depending on the analysis scale, additional study of necessary indicators at the development project is needed to analyze biodiversity changes in EIA accurately.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.41-51
• /
• 2024

The Sincheon wetland shows a remarkable diversity of fluvial landforms, such as river islands, anastomosing channels, braided channels, and sand-gravel bars, which contribute to its rich ecological habitat. The wetland area is characterized by a ecological diversity of herbaceous and woody plants. Significant changes in land cover within the wetlands were observed from 2008 to 2020. Notably, there was a rapid decrease in agricultural area from 18% to 0.04%, while the vegetation area expanded from 45% to 54%. Concurrently, the water area also experienced a notable increase from 34% to 41%. The surface sediment composition in the studied area displays sandy loam characteristics and exhibits acidic soil properties. Sediment acidity tends to increase downstream and in the central part of channels. Variations in acidity are also observed at nearby collection sites due to the tributaries and local discharge. The presence of dense vegetation in river islands and bars has led to a significant transformation of sediments into soil, with this change being more pronounced downstream, particularly near the weirs. The installation of a weir in Sincheon wetland is believed to have a significant impact on altering flow velocities between upstream and downstream sections, as well as influencing erosion and sediment deposition patterns. However, given the formation of landforms in response to weirs, effective administration and management are essential to address potential risks of catastrophic environmental disruptions, such as the removal of weirs and/or the maintenance of river channels.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.50 no.2
• /
• pp.299-312
• /
• 2023

The paddy environment is classified as a wetland and occupies a very large proportion of the freshwater environment. It is also ecologically important as a habitat and spawning ground for many aquatic insects and amphibian larvae. However, due to climate change and indiscriminate spraying of pesticides, the rice field ecosystem is continuously threatened. In order to restore ecologically damaged rice paddies in the future, information on organisms living in the rice paddy ecosystem, which can serve as a restoration standard, is needed. The eDNA metabarcoding analysis method is a very effective means of accumulating information on many organisms living in the rice field ecosystem because it can indirectly identify the existence of taxa that are no longer found in the target ecosystem due to different adult life periods or metamorphosis. In this study, genes of four species of frogs and nine species of aquatic insects were also discovered, and some taxa were directly discovered in the field. A large number of taxa have been discovered only by DNA searches, and traditional survey methods have only been able to identify very limited taxa. This eDNA-based paddy field biosearch is expected to be very useful in the investigation of biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems due to its strong analytical resolution.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.17-26
• /
• 2016

Climate change has been regarded as one of main factors to change Korean insect pest fauna. Especially, a global warming model predicts to expand habitat for insect pests originated from tropical or subtropical regions. Two insect pests, the beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua) and the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), are known to overwinter in some greenhouse conditions without diapause induction in Korea. There was a clear difference between these two insects in seasonal occurrence. P. xylostella occurred only at early spring and fall seasons, but did not occur during summer. In contrast, S. exigua maintained their occurrence from late spring to fall seasons. This study set up a hypothesis that the difference in the seasonal occurrence may be resulted from variation in susceptibility to high temperature. To test the hypothesis, heat tolerance was compared between these two insects. Exposure to $42^{\circ}C$ for 40 min killed 100% individuals of P. xylostella larvae. However, most larvae of S. exigua survived in response to $42^{\circ}C$ even for 80 min. Heat tolerance varied among developmental stages in both insects. Highest tolerant stages were $4^{th}$ instar larvae and adults for P. xylostella, but $1^{st}$ instar larvae for S. exigua. Pre-exposure to $37^{\circ}C$ for 30 min significantly increased heat tolerance in both insects. Induction of heat tolerance accompanied with significant increase of glycerol contents in the hemolymph in both insects and up-regulation of three heat shock protein expressions in S. exigua. These results suggest that the differential susceptibility to high temperature explains the disappearance of P. xylostella during summer, at which S. exigua maintains its occurrence.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.13-25
• /
• 2016

This study aims to analyze the change process in order to set the improvement strategies for the zoo in the Seoul Children's Grand Park. The zoo can be reviewed through three significant time periods with noticeable changes. As a framework to analyze the major changes that happened in the zoo, this study looks at the changes in terms of the planning aspect as well as the animal welfare and program operation aspect. The findings are as follows: first, the era of general theme park turned out to have focused on exhibiting animals to meet visitor demands by expanding the zoo area of the zoo without enlarging stockyards for the animals. Second, the environmental park era created a zoo having entertaining and educational functions by arranging animal houses with the concept of zoological taxonomy and introducing animal behavioral enrichment, animal welfare programs and visitor participatory programs. The era of the zoo as an Urban Cultural Park improved old animal houses and facilities for the welfare of the animals and increased educational programs to preserve species and provide environmental education. The current status of the zoo turns out not to meet the conditions for creating an ecological zoo, which is the overall goal for contemporary zoos. The improvement strategies based on the analysis through three different eras are three-fold. First, the zoo needs to improve the boundary conditions of the animals to showcase animal wildness through landscape immersion. Second, the zoo should provide a shared environment for animals from the same habitats by changing the classification methods from the existing polyphyletic taxon to a classification that considers ecological habitat. Third, the zoo needs to develop various ecological education programs by supplementing specialists in professional education.