• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.307-313
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• 2011

Although lizards are important hosts for hard ticks (Ixodidae), very few studies have been conducted in South Korea. To determine whether or not hard ticks can infest lizards endemic to South Korea, we examined 77 lizards of four species (Eremias argus, Sincella vandenburghi, Takydromus amurensis, and Takydromus wolteri) that were collected at 22 different sites between April and October 2010. We confirmed that all four lizard species can be infested by Ixodes nipponensis larvae or nymphs. Of the 62 E. argus examined, we found an average of 12.5 larvae on two lizards and an average of one nymph on one lizard. We found seven nymphs on one S. vandenburghi. We found an average of two nymphs on two of the five T. amurensis and an average of one nymph on four of the nine T. wolteri. Ixodes nipponensis larvae and nymphs were found most frequently on the foreleg axillae (87.8%), followed by the forelegs (7.3%), the eyelids (2.4%), and the ears (2.4%) of the lizards. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of I. nipponensis infestations of lizards endemic to South Korea.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.188-190
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• 2014

The unrecorded plant, Aster hispidus var. leptocladus (Compositae), was reported from Mt. Palgong-san, Daegu-si, Korea and was named as 'Gin-ssuk-bu-jaeng-i' after its slender leaves. It is distinguished from var. hispidus by having glabrous linear cauline leaves with acute apex, small heads and involucre, short pappus in disc florets. It had been considered as Japanese endemic plant especially adapted to serpentine area.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.160-164
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• 2020

Papenfussiella densa was described as Papenfussiella kuromo f. densa from Japan by Inagaki in 1958. P. densa has been recognized as an endemic and independent species based on the molecular analyses of type material without detailed morphological observations. In this study, Papenfussiella densa is reported as a new record from Dok-do, South Korea, based on morphological and molecular analyses. Papenfussiella densa is mainly characterized as having narrow, branched, slimy, and tomentose thalli with branchlets, partially hollow in the medulla of the middle part. The molecular analyses of the chloroplast rbcL-rbcS DNA sequence of the Papenfussiella densa sample from Korea revealed that it matched that of P. densa from Japan and was nested in the clade of Papenfussiella. There was only a 0.02% gene sequence divergence between the Korean and Japanese samples. We report P. densa as a new record from Korea and add this species to the list of Korean macroalgal flora.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.408-414
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• 2012

To reexamine taxonomic status of endemic Mogera wogura coreana from Korea, we first obtained partial 12S rRNA sequences (893 bp) and complete cytochrome b gene sequences (1140 bp) of this subspecies, and these sequences and partial cytochrome b sequences (402 bp) were compared to the corresponding haplotypes of M. wogura from East Asia, obtained from GenBank. The one of three 12S rRNA haplotypes in M. w. coreana was identical to one 12S rRNA haplotype of M. w. robusta from East Asia: 10 complete and 13 partial cytochrome b haplotypes of M. w. coreana formed a single clade with one complete and four partial cytochrome b haplotypes of M. w. robusta, respectively. We considered that M. w. coreana from Korea is an endemic subspecies with only morphological differences, although it is necessary to reexamine the subspecies status of M. w. coreana. Additionally, in the 12S rRNA and complete cytochrome b sequences, M. wogura from Japan was distinct from the two continental subspecies of M. w. coreana and M. w. robusta with average distances of 1.76 and 5.65%, respectively; insular M. wogura, with within-group distances of 2.09 and 4.38%, respectively, was also genetically more divergent than the mainland M. wogura, with within-group distances of 0.08 and 0.57%, respectively. Thus, we considered that insular M. wogura of Japan dispersed into neighboring East Asian continent, which is opposite to the traditional hypothesis on the origin of Japanese M. wogura.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.232-239
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• 2012

Taxonomy of umbelliferous taxa Heracleum moellendorffii complex has been unclear in their species delimitation in the far-eastern Asian regions. In both Korea and China Heracleum moellendorffii was adopted for their description while H. sphondylium was chosen to describe Japanese Heracleum. From Genbank accessions, taxa collected from Kamtchatka and Promorskiy, Russia were defined as H. maximum, endemic taxon to North America. In this study, we reviewed the taxonomy of Heracleum moellendorffii complex in Korea and neighboring countries on the basis of molecular phylogenies derived from sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. From three Korean accessions of Heracleum investigated in this study, two types of ITS sequences were obtained; two accessions were related to Chinese H. moellendorffii var. moellendorffii and North American H. maximum without forming a clade while the other one was identical to accession from H. maximum from Primorskiy, Russia. In the other hand, Japanese H. moellendorffii (=H. sphondylium ssp. sphondylium var. nipponicum in the flora of Japan) was closely related to H. maximum accessions from Korea and Russia, not nested within the clade comprising several subspecies of H. sphondylium. In order to delimit species boundaries among putatively closely related Heracleum species in fareastern Asian countries, more samples and much more rapidly evolved DNA regions must be investigated with interpretation of morphological and anatomical features.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.545-553
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• 2012

In Asia, including Japan and Korea, rice paddies occupy the largest cultivated area in agricultural land. Rice paddies provide the habitats for many organisms including endemic species, sustaining high biodiversity. Insect natural enemies inhabiting rice paddies have an important function for rice production as agents of 'ecosystem services' because they play a major role in suppressing rice pests. The diversity and abundance of natural enemies can be a good index reflecting the 'healthiness' of agro-ecosystem services in rice paddies. The present study investigates whether insect natural enemies could be good biological indicators for general arthropod biodiversity and agricultural practice. First, the concept of ideal bio-indicators was summarized. The strategy to explore and select such bio-indicators was then proposed. Lastly, field survey was made to evaluate the abundance and biodiversity of natural enemies in Japanese rice paddies where chemical inputs, i.e., insecticide use, were different. The results showed that reduction of chemical inputs led to an increase in species richness or diversity of natural enemies including parasitoids and predators. Then, the data were analyzed to examine suitable indicator species to assess environmental soundness of agricultural practice and biodiversity in rice paddies. The density of several species of natural enemies did respond both to pesticide use and to general arthropod biodiversity. The analyses thus have indicated that natural enemies can be suitable as bio-indicators. Usefulness of indicator species in rice paddies is discussed in the context of ecologically sound agriculture.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.201-212
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• 2023

Parasenecio pentaphylla, a new species of the genus Parasenecio from Mt. Ilwol-san, Ilwol-myeon, Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea, is described and illustrated here. In Korea, this species has been recognized as P. adenostyloides, known to be a Japanese endemic species. However, it is clearly distinguished from P. adenostyloides by its involucre shape, the number of phyllaries, the number of florets per capitulum, and the ratio of the tube length to the throat length. A molecular phylogenetic analysis using the Internal Transcribed Spacer region also clearly indicated that P. pentaphyllaria was genetically distinct from P. adenostyloides. Therefore, it is recognized as an independent species, different from P. adenostyloides. The specific epithet "pentaphyllaria" was given based on its characteristic of having five phyllaries.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2023

Neoporphyra kitoi Ma. Abe, N. Kikuchi, Tamaki, Tom. Sato, Murase, Fujiyoshi & Mas. Kobayashi has been known as an endemic species in Japan. Its high temperature tolerance suggests that it could be advantageous for cultivation. In this study, we collected it from the Ulleungdo island, Korea and transferred it into Pyropia for a new combination, identified as Pyropia kitoi(Ma. Abe, N. Kikuchi, Tamaki, Tom. Sato, Murase, Fujiyoshi & Mas. Kobayashi) D.J. Kim, T.O. Cho & B.Y. Won comb. nov. based on morphological and molecular analyses. Pyropia kitoi is also reported as a new record species in the list of Korean macroalgal flora. Although we didn't observe the emergence of new blades from the rhizoidal cells, which is a key character for this species, our molecular analysis of rbcL revealed that our samples from Korea were congruent with "Neoporphyra kitoi" from Japan and were nested within the clade of Pyropia. The gene sequence divergence between the Korean and Japanese samples was 0-0.2%.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2009

Astilbe (Saxifragaceae) is a genus well known for its disjunctive distribution in Asia and eastern North America. In this study, we reconstructed a molecular phylogeny of the genus using the sequences of ITS regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA. A total of 17 species representing major lineage of Astilbe and closely related taxa were included in the phylogenetic analyses. We obtained a Bayesian phylogenetic tree in which Saxifragopsis was positioned as a sister group to Astilbe. The Japanese endemic species, A.platyphylla was the most basal lineage within the genus. This species is well known for its distinct morphological features such as unisexual flowers, apetaly, and calyx with 7-11 lobes. Two species, A. biternata, a New World representative of the genus, and A. rivularis widely distributed in S. Asia, branched off early in the evolution of Astilbe. The remaining species formed a strongly supported core clade, which diverged into two robust geographical lineages: the first ("Japonica" clade) of species distributed in Japan, Taiwan, and Philippines and the other ("Rubra" clade), of taxa in China and Korea. The ITS phylogeny indicates that the Bering land bridges were the major route for the origin and dispersal of A. biternata. The two Taiwanese taxa and A. philippinensis were found to derive from the Japanese member, as the genus advanced southwards. The ITS phylogeny suggests that apetaly originated independently at least two times within the genus. Our results do not support Engler's classification system of the genus based on the leaf type (simple vs. compound), but reaffirm Hara's taxonomic idea which primarily considered the features of calyx.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.112-120
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• 2006

It is possible to divide the historical changes of slope revegetation in Japan into five periods as follows; 1) The early period after creation(1927-1948), 2) The spreading period of modern revegetation work with manpower(1947-1958), 3) The spreading period of rapid revegetation technique using exotic grasses with machineries(1959-1985${\dots}$), 4) The spreading period of rapid reforestation technique by fast growing species mainly using leguminous shrub species(1986-1995${\dots}$), 5) The developing period of nature restoration technique using endemic arborous species(1996-). Recently main purpose of slope revegetation has been developing from the erosion protection to the nature restoration in the current of the 5th period. It is said that the role of the Japanese Society of Revegetation Technology(JSRT) is critical to the history of slope revegetation in Japan. 'The tentative guidelines of slope nature restoration' was announced by JSRT in 2004. In the guidelines, it was proposed that the planning techniques of using suitable seeds/plants based on the preservation level at the each construction sites. Moreover, the use of soil seed bank is the new and important study theme in the field of nature restoration. Consequently, at present the importance of advanced monitoring methods for vegetation maintenance and plant sociologic survey to evaluate the plant succession is increasing. Finally, some critical concepts are necessary to develop the field of restoration in Korea as follows; 1) monitoring of constructed sites, 2) ensuring of biodiversity, 3) recognition of slow revegetation and mosaic arrangement in revegetation, 4) reuse and recycle on the construction sites, and 5) promotion of specialist.