• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.245-271
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• 2012

A study on the indigenous diatoms was carried out at 103 sites during August 2008 to April 2011 from the marine and the brackish waters in Korea. A fine structure of small-sized diatoms was examined using a light and scanning electron microscopy. Sixty species of diatoms were newly identified and composed of 3 class, 6 subclass, 16 order, 21 family and 39 genus. The detailed nomenclatures, references, photographs and distributions were here reported. Of 60 species, the most frequent species was Tryblionella coarctata appearing 24 times, and 22 times followed by Thalassiosira lacustris, Cocconeis stauroneiformis was 20 times. In the level of genus, Chaetoceros, Parlibells and Thalassiosira were included 4 species, Actinocyclus, Minidiscus and Licmophora were included 3 species. This study will provide the knowledge of the diversity level of diatom in Korea, the knowledge is important on the diatoms for further studies.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.268-273
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• 2012

Acanthopanax species are well known medicinal plants in Korea for their adaptogenic efficacy. Regarding to the botanical classification of Acanthopanax koreanum, an indigenous species in Jeju island of Korea, it has been classified as different species of Acanthopanax genus. However, the morphological characteristics of A. koreanum are very similar with other Acanthopanax species, especially with A. gracilistylus. In order to provide further classification information among these botanically related species, microscopic and morphological studies on these Acanthopanax species were performed. In this result, it has been found that A. koreanum is similar to A. gracilistylus in terms of anatomical observation and was distinguished from A. sieboldianus by their morphological and anatomical differences.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.445-456
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• 2020

Fungal species belonging to the genus Penicillium are indigenous to a wide range of natural environments. Since the first published reports detailing the discovery of Penicillium, new species have been identified in various countries, including Korea. We present here a full characterization of five species of Penicillium that were previously unreported in Korea. Based on the morphologic characteristics and sequences of genes encoding fungal ��-tubulin and calmodulin, we identified five Penicillium species, including P. hetheringtonii, P. sublectaticum, and P. jacksonii, which have been unrecorded in Korea, and confirming P. maximae and P. cremeogriseum, as the endophytic fungi isolated in Gyeongsang province, Korea. In this article, we provide detailed morphological descriptions of these fungal species.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.301-320
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• 2021

During a field survey of indigenous Korean ciliates, we collected 21 unrecorded species from aquatic (freshwater and brackish water [salinity about 1.0‰] samples) and terrestrial(moss and soil samples) habitats. The morphology of these species was studied based on live observation, protargol, silver carbonate and silver nitrate impregnation, and scanning electron microscope. These species belong to seven classes as follows: 1) class Heterotrichea - Blepharisma seculum; 2) class Spirotrichea - Birojimia terricola, Bistichella variabilis, Deviata bacilliformis, Oxytricha paragranulifera, Parabistichella cf. variabilis, Steinia sphagnicola, Stichotricha aculeata, Stylonychia cf. notophora, and Tetmemena bifaria minima; 3) class Armophorea - Metopus es; 4) class Litostomatea - Acropisthium mutabile, Pseudomonilicaryon japonicum, and Rimaleptus alpinus; 5) class Phyllopharyngea - Podophrya bivacuolata; 6) class Nassophorea - Drepanomonas pauciciliata; and 7) class Oligohymenophorea - Dexiostoma campylum, Frontonia atra, Histiobalantium natans viridis, Opisthonecta minima, and Tetrahymena rostrata. Here, we provide a brief diagnosis and remark for each species.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.134-141
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• 2021

During a survey of indigenous prokaryotic species diversity of the upstream Nakdong River, South Korea, 12 bacterial strains were isolated for further analysis. These bacterial strains were identified showing at least 98.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with known bacterial species that were previously unreported in South Korea. The 12 bacterial strains were phylogenetically diverse and assigned to four classes, eight orders, nine families, and ten different genera. The isolates were identified as Leucobacter holotrichiae (99.1%), Leucobacter tardus (99.9%), Rhodococcus rhodochrous (99.9%), Tessaracoccus oleiagri (100%), and Paeniglutamicibacter cryotolerans (99.3%), of the class Actinobacteria; Bacillus coagulans (99.7%) and Bacillus wudalianchiensis (99.1%) of the class Bacilli; Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense (99.2%) and Paracoccus thiocyanatus (100%) of the class Alphaproteobacteria; and Ideonella azotifigens (99.0%), Polaromonas glacialis(99.3%), and Herbaspirillum seropedicae (99.5%) of the class Betaproteobacteria. The cellular and colonial morphology, biochemical properties, and phylogenetic position of these isolates were examined, and species descriptions are provided.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.313-334
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• 2023

Mt. Taebaeksan extends from Gangwon-do Province (Taebaek-si, Youngwon-gu, and Jeongseon-gun) to Gyeongsangbuk-do Province (Bongwha-gun), South Korea. Indigenous fungi present in the park were investigated between 2019 and 2022. All collected specimens were identified to the species level based on their morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic analysis using sequences from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large subunit (LSU) of ribosomal DNA. Among them, 17 species-Cyanosporus bifarius, Dacryobolus angiospermarum, Entoloma sericeum, Flammulina rossica, Fuscopostia leucomallella, Homophron helvolescens, Hygrophorus queletii, Hymenochaete huangshanensis, Inocybe albodiscoides, Lactarius fulvihirtipes, Lepiota ignivolvata, Physisporinus eminens, Ramaria gracilis, Russula albolutea, Russula cremicolor, Stropharia lignicola, and Tengioboletus subglutinosus-were newly recorded macromycota in Korea.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2008

A series of experiments were conducted to find standard test organisms and to develop test protocols for sediment toxicity tests using indigenous amphipods inhabited in Korean coastal environments. The indigenous amphipods Mandibulophoxus mai and Monocorophium acherusicum were well associated with various sediment substrates from sand to mud. The tolerance limits to various physico-chemical factors affecting bioassay results such as temperature, salinity and total ammonium as well as the sensitivities to contaminants in water and sediments were investigated using M. mai and M. acherusicum in the present study. These amphipods were tolerable to the adequate ranges of salinity ($10{\sim}30\;psu$), temperature ($10{\sim}25^{\circ}C$) and ammonia (<50 ppm). They have relevant sensitivities to the reference toxicants, dissolved cadmium as well as other metals and organic pollutants, when compared to the standard test species used in other countries. Field-sediment toxicity tests revealed that M. mai would be more sensitive to sediment-associated pollutants than M. acherusicum, while the sensitivity of M. acherusicum was comparable to those of other sediment test species in other countries. Overall results of this first attempt to develop an amphipod sediment toxicity test protocol in Korea indicated that M. mai and M. acherusicum should be applicable in the toxicity assessment of contaminated sediments, following the further evaluation encompassing various ecological and toxicological evaluation and the standardization of test method.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.319-342
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• 2024

Background: The current study is the first quantitative ethnobotanical evaluation of Fateh Pur Thakyala, an unexplored area of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The exploration and quantification of ethnobotanical knowledge among people of the study area mainly focused during field survey. The study likely focuses on documenting and preserving the indigenous knowledge and practices related to medicinal plants in the region. A total 70 informants (45 males and 25 females) selected randomly to collect data were interviewed using semi structured questionnaire. The data like demographic characteristics of informants, methods of preparation, life form, modes of application, parts used, and ethnomedicinal uses was documented. The quantitative indices including relative frequency of citation (RFC), use value (UV), informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL), consensus value for plant part (CPP), rank order priority (ROP), percentage respondent knowledge (PRK), were applied to analyze the collected data. Furthermore, primary data were also compared with fifteen papers published from adjoining areas by Jaccard index (JI). Results: The current study reported 135 medicinally important plants species belonging to 115 genera and 54 families. The dominating family was Asteraceae (14 sp.), followed by Fabaceae (11 sp.), Rosaceae (11 sp.), Lamiaceae (8 sp.), Moraceae (5 sp.), Solanaceae, Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae (4 sp.) and Poaceae, Sapindaceae, Rhamnaceae, Mrytaceae, Malvaceae (3 sp.) for each. The study revealed that there were small differences in usage of medicinal plants of different families. The herbaceous life form was dominating the study area with (79 sp.) used as herbal medicines followed by shrubs (23 sp.) and trees (33 sp.). The comparative study of for novelty of species and their uses by JI revealed 13 novel plants species which were not reported earlier from this region. Conclusions: Local inhabitants still prioritize herbal medicines as an effective way to treat a wide variety of ailments. Elders and health practitioners of the study area are well aware of indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants, but young people are not much interested in herbal practices. Thus, valuable knowledge about the use of plants is on the verge of decline. The overexploitation and seasonal fires are major threats for medicinal flora in the area.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.321-335
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• 2021

In 2020, a total of 12 bacterial strains were isolated from soil after a comprehensive investigation of indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea. It was determined that each strain belonged to independent and predefined bacterial species, with high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.7%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species. This study identified four families in the phylum Actinobacteria, two families in the phylum Proteobacteria, one family in the phylum Bacteroidetes one family in the phylum Firmicutes; and four species in the family Nocardiaceae, two species in the family Nocardioidaceae, one species in the family Cellulomonadaceae, one species in the family Hymenobacter, one species in the family Methylobacteriaceae, one species in the family Microbacteriaceae, one species in the family Bacillaceae and one species in the family Sphingomonadaceae. There is no official report of these 12 species in Korea, so they are described as unreported bacterial species in Korea in this study. Gram reaction, basic biochemical characteristics, colony, and cell morphology are included in the species description section.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.363-374
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• 2023

The limitation in deriving the species richness representing the entire country of South Korea lies in its relatively short history of species field observations and the scattered observation data, which has been collected by various organizations in different fields. In this study, a comprehensive compilation of the observation data for plants held by agencies under the Ministry of Environment was conducted, enabling the construction of a time series dataset spanning over 100 years. The data integration was carried out using minimal criteria such as species name, observed location, and time (year) followed by data verification and correction processes. Based on the integrated plant species data, the comprehensive collection of plant species in South Korea has occurred predominantly since 2000, and the number of plant species explored through these surveys appears to be converging recently. The collection of species survey data necessary for deriving national-level biodiversity information has recently begun to meet the necessary conditions. Applying the Chao 2 method, the species richness of indigenous plants estimated at 3,182.6 for the 70-year period since 1951. A minimum cumulative period of 7 years is required for this estimation. This plant species richness from this study can be a baseline to study future changes in species richness in South Korea. Moreover, the integrated data with the estimation method for species richness used in this study appears to be applicable to derive regional biodiversity indices such as for local government units as well.