• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
• /
• 2002.05a
• /
• pp.29-44
• /
• 2002

Wetlands provide vital habitats for fish and wildlife while offering numerous other benefits. As in some other countries, however, Taiwan has witnessed the loss of a significant portion of its coastal wetlands due to large-scale reclamation projects along the coast. Most of the wetlands that still remain are seriously being threatened by both human activities and natural changes, such as drainage for agricultural production, filling for industrial development, discharge of wastes and drought. The administrative performance of the existing authorities and legislation in Taiwan has mostly been ineffective in protecting these precious, sensitive areas. This paper introduces the distribution of wetlands in Taiwan and highlights their invaluable functions and potential economic value. It also discussed the recent activities, both initiated by the government and the NGOs, to protect wetlands in Taiwan. Based on the above discussion, the paper identifies the wide-range of current problems related to their management and proposes the vision should have to save wetlands for the future. It argues that establishing clear policies and effective institutional mechanisms on wetland protection and conservation, classifying the wetlands for better management, and fully promoting public awareness and consciousness of the importance of the wetlands will not only be beneficial but will also address the urgent need to safeguard the wetlands in Taiwan. Additionally, the paper recognizes that international cooperation and collaboration on wetland restoration is essential and most challenging.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.25 no.8
• /
• pp.1051-1056
• /
• 2016

The growth characteristics of Paeonia ostii 'Fengdan' seedlings roots in response to trichokonins-spray treatment were investigated in this study. One-year-old seedlings of P. ostii 'Fengdan' were potted in plastic cups containing garden mold and grown under field conditions. The results showed that application of trichokonins significantly promoted root growth in P. ostii 'Fengdan' seedlings. The total root projection area, total root surface area, total root volume, total root length, root number and root diameter of seedlings treated with 0.25 mg/L trichokonins were higher by 141.70, 116.59, 119.44, 55.97, 348.88 and 127.78%, respectively, than that of the control. Thus, the results supported the hypothesis that good growth condition for roots could directly improve their nutrient absorption and utilization efficiency, promoting plant growth and development.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.377-390
• /
• 2017

Space-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations have been widely and successfully applied to acquire invaluable temporal and spatial information on wetlands, which are unique environments and regarded as important ecosystems. One of the best studied wetland area is Everglades, which is located in southern Florida, USA. As a World Heritage Site, the Everglades is the largest natural and subtropical wilderness in the United States. The Everglades wetlands have been threatened by anthropogenic activities such as urban expansion and agricultural development, as well as by natural processes, as sea level changes due to climate change. In order to conserve this unique wetland environment, various restoration plans have been implemented. In this review paper, we summarize the main studies using space-based SAR observations for monitoring the Everglades. The paper is composed of the following two sections: (1) review of backscattered amplitude analysis and observations, and (2) review of interferometric SAR (InSAR) analysis and applications. This study also provides an overview of a wetland InSAR technique and space-based SAR sensors. The goal of this review paper is to provide a comprehensive summary of space-based SAR monitoring of wetlands, using the Everglades wetlands as a case study.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.461-469
• /
• 2006

As a frontier of Sustainable Basin Research Initiative, we commenced a scenario-driven planning and evaluation research project which is to identify the strategic policy scenarios. As a part of the project, this study attempts to estimate the ecological impacts of land cover changes using landscape indices at the whole basin level. We analyzed spatio-temporal characteristics of natural area including forest, agricultural land, water area, barren which play an important role in nature-friendly sustainable watershed management. The results of analysis shelved that the size and diversity of natural area have been reduced, while patch number and isolation have been increased in proportion to urbanization in 1974, 1995 and four future scenarios in the Ara River Basin. Also, we estimated that the natural area could be conserved to some degree in the SD or DE scenarios with a concept of environment-friendly development and lifestyle. Various strategic environment policies may be evaluated and designed on the basis of the method, that is, scenario approach and landscape ecological analysis suggested in this study.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.319-323
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze antioxidant activity and multidrug resistance reversing activity in several Korean colored soybean (Glycine max Merr.) cultivars. Antioxidant activity of methanol extracts from colored soybean cultivars was evaluated by TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances), DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) methods. By means of TBARS, cultivar "Jeonnam #1" showed the highest activity until 7 days, and followed by "Black #1", "Jinyul" and "Black #3", showing lower activity than that of BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene). Methanol extracts of all cultivars proved that DPPH radical scavenging activity is dose-dependent. Methanol extract from cultivar "Jeonnam #1" showed highest DPPH radical scavenging activity, and followed by cultivars "Black #1". MDR (multi-drug resistance reversing) activity, however, showed the highest effect in "Black #3" and the lowest "Black #1" cultivar. These results suggest that seed colors of soybean may play an important role in antioxidant activity and MDR activity.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.670-678
• /
• 2017

Persimmon seeds contain considerable amounts of minerals, amino and organic acids, natural antioxidants and phenolic compounds. The objective of this study was to investigate quality characteristics and antioxidant potential of Korean persimmon seeds. The pH (4.88-4.94), color values, contents of minerals, free amino acids, organic acids, and phenolic compounds and DPPH free radical scavenging potentials of persimmon seed extracts significantly (p < 0.05) varied with the genotypes. This study showed that the seeds could be used as a source of different mineral elements (47.14-85.07 mg/kg) without any measureable amount of heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury. Similarly, considerable amounts of organic (1550.13-2413.08 mg/kg) and essential amino (50.85-54.03 mg/kg) acids and total phenolic compounds ($1227.91-1307.78{\mu}g$ gallic acid equivalent/g) were also found in the seed extracts, indicating their potential food value as a natural antioxidant. Results of the present study imply that prethanol-A, a food preservative, can be used as an effective extraction to obtain the minerals, organic and free amino acids, and phenolic compounds from the persimmon seeds, which possess a big potential to be commercially used in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2000

Every year, 1.1 million tons of rice-hull are produced in South Korea by the by-product in pounding rice. But they has mainly been utilized as a fuel, agricultural compost and moisture proofs. So, it's very valuable to use waste rice-hull for activated carbon manufacture. SiO2 content was the highest among inorganics in rice-hull. Therefore, the SiO2 extraction experiments were carried out under the various conditions of pH 9 to 14, reaction time from 2 to 24 hrs and various temperature of 20 to 100℃. The results showed that increase in pH and temperature enhanced SiO2 extraction from the carbonized rice-hull. The surface area of the carbonized rice-hull indicating activated carbon adsorption capacity was very small as 178∼191 m2/g at first. However, it was increased to 610∼675 m2/g when extracted in alkali solution at 100℃. When the mixing rate of carbonized rice-hull and NaOH was 1:1.5, iodine No. and surface area of activated rice-hull during 10 min at 700℃ were 1,650 mg/g and 1837 m2/g, respectively. Subsequently, an activated carbon with specific surface area of 1,300∼1,900m2/g was manufactured in a short contact time of 10∼30 min with a mixing rate of 1:1.5 in carbonized rice-hull and NaOH, and iodine No. and specific surface area increased as the amount of SiO2 removal increased.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.249-256
• /
• 2015

Islands are often habitats to unique species because they have different environmental conditions from the mainland and other islands. Another characteristic of islands is their limited natural resources, which has led island residents to heavily rely on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and use resources sustainably. The so-called "Maeul landscape" shows the interrelationship of biological species and people's use of natural resources. Shinan-gun is an administrative district located in the southwestern part of Korea that forms an archipelago with huge tidal flat areas. Since long ago, people's use of these tidal flats shows a high degree of biocultural diversity. Maeul landscapes also show humans' adaptation to the natural environment. For instance, strong winds blowing mainly from the northwest have led people in Shinan-gun to create "Ushil," a windbreak forest with stone blocks to block wind from their villages and agricultural fields. At present, the transfer of TEK to future generations is at stake due to socio-economic changes that cause island populations to shrink and age rapidly. Islands are often regarded as good destinations for tourism, but attention should also be given to sustainable development due to the environmental characteristics of islands. International organizations are making efforts to curb the threats of global environmental problems especially on small islands. Their activities are aimed at seeking solutions that stress the central role of biocultural diversity in establishing the sustainable use of natural resources on islands. Joint efforts oflocal people and government authorities to protect and conserve the Maeul landscape should be encouraged.

• KCID journal
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.50-63
• /
• 2012

Many reclaimed tideland projects in Korea have been conducted to secure the food self-sufficiency. In fact, the domestic food self-sufficiency has been greatly improved and reclaimed tideland projects contribute to Korea's economic and social development directly or indirectly replacing agricultural lands from urbanization, industrialization. As result, current self-sufficiency of rice reach the demand(104.6%) while rate of upland crops has less than 30% of self-sufficiency rate and corn, wheat, soybeans, etc. are virtually dependent on imports. Domestic price of crop is expected to be unstable by trend of international grain prices. Therefore, developing reclaimed tidelands as upland which is originally constructed for paddy fields could be a good option to become steady in domestic crop market and dedicate to ensure a stable food security. The study to prepare measures for dealing with disasters in reclaimed tidelands of west coast district is required in order to utilize those sites for infra construction of multi-utilization in those sites and The result of flooding analysis in this study can suggest policy direction for practical utilization of reclaimed tidelands in yellow sea area.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.29 no.7
• /
• pp.785-788
• /
• 2020

We investigated the oviposition characteristics of Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis, focusing on zone breeding throughout the year in terms of the development and utilization of insect resources. To select Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis individuals laying a large number of eggs, the number of eggs laid for each individual was measured for each individual after emergence as adults from larvae grown at room temperature in five farmhouses. The five study zone included Gongju (Tancheon), Gyeonggi (Himsen), Chungnam (Gyeryong), Taean (Wonbuk), and Siheung (Baekse). The average oviposition tendency during a 12-week period obtained from the five regions was somewhat different; however, there was no remarkable difference in overall tendency. The maximum oviposition in Protaetia brevitarsisseulensis in the five regions occurred between 6 and 7 weeks. Compared toother regions, the average cumulative number of eggs laid during the 12-week period was higher (40%-60%) in Gongju (Tancheon) and Gyeonggi (Himsen). These results indicate that in two regions, zone breeding is selected as a system for increasing the demand for insects.