• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.77-91
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• 2013

The researcher noted the fact that wetland users are more and more diversified while people are more conscious of their ecological importance. Wetlands tend to be very sensitive in ecological terms, and therefore, they can hardly accommodate their users' needs indefinitely. With such basic perception in mind, the purpose of this study was to survey wetland users' eco-consciousness, determine their traits, analyze the corelation between their traits and preferences of wetland amenities, and thereby, provide the data useful to planning of an effective wetland management policy. To this end, the researcher sampled nation's largest wetland, Upo Marsh located in Changnyeong for a questionnaire survey. Wetland users' eco-consciousness was measured, using Dunlap's NEP (New Ecological Paradigm) approved by many researchers. Wetland users' preferences of the wetland amenities were measured, centered around 11 amenity types observed commonly at the domestic wetlands. As a result of the survey conducted in October, 2012, a total of 228 effective samples were acquired. Wetland users' eco-consciousness was higher than normal, scoring 3.45 on the 5-point scale consisting of 5 sub-scales. In particular, users were more conscious of 'the possibility of an eco-crisis,' while being less conscious of 'ejection of exemptionalism.' As a result of classifying the users into 3 sub-groups in reference to their eco-consciousness and analyzing their preferences of amenities comparatively, significant differences were found in all 3 sub-areas. In particular, the sub-group most eco-conscious tended to prefer the learning amenities, but the least eco-conscious sub-group tended to prefer the utilities. As a result of the post-hoc test, it was found that most and normal eco-conscious sub-groups were more or less homogeneous, while the least eco-conscious sub-group was significantly different from the former 2 sub-groups in terms of eco-consciousness. As the wetland users were found to be diversified in terms of their eco-consciousness, it is necessary to plan the wetland management policies in consideration of such differences. However, it is perceived that the wetland amenities need to be built to meet the more eco-conscious users.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.157-168
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• 2014

From a complex systems perspective, ecohydrological systems in forests may be characterized with (1) large networks of components which give rise to complex collective behaviors, (2) sophisticated information processing, and (3) adaptation through self-organization and learning processes. In order to demonstrate such characteristics, we applied the recently proposed 'process networks' approach to a temperate deciduous forest in Gwangneung National Arboretum in Korea. The process network analysis clearly delineated the forest ecohydrological systems as the hierarchical networks of information flows and feedback loops with various time scales among different variables. Several subsystems were identified such as synoptic subsystem (SS), atmospheric boundary layer subsystem (ABLS), biophysical subsystem (BPS), and biophysicochemical subsystem (BPCS). These subsystems were assembled/disassembled through the couplings/decouplings of feedback loops to form/deform newly aggregated subsystems (e.g., regional subsystem) - an evidence for self-organizing processes of a complex system. Our results imply that, despite natural and human disturbances, ecosystems grow and develop through self-organization while maintaining dynamic equilibrium, thereby continuously adapting to environmental changes. Ecosystem integrity is preserved when the system's self-organizing processes are preserved, something that happens naturally if we maintain the context for self-organization. From this perspective, the process networks approach makes sense.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.106 no.3
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• pp.330-339
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• 2017

In Korea, metropolitan cities and provinces are responsible for setting up their own Regional Forest Plans to manage the forests at regional scales distinguished by administrative boundaries, and the role of the plans are very crucial by linking the Forest Basic Plan for nationwide forest management policy with Forest Management Plans for local-level forest management practices. Thus, the analysis of forest resources at regional levels is required to make more efficient regional forest plans by properly reflecting regional forest situations. This study aims to present which species are concentrated at each individual metropolitan city or province, contributing to more efficiently establishing its regional forest plan. In order to measure the concentration levels of species for each region, Location Quotient and Relative-Specialization Index are computed using area- and volume-data for the major species selected in the Statistical Yearbook of Forestry. As a result, the ranks among the indices of the major species for each individual municipal city and province are presented. The results from this study can contribute to the selection of regional target species and establishment of regional forest management objectives. Further study regarding the differences between the results from area-based and volume-based indices will be helpful to consider regional level productivity by species into the regional forest plans.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.490-498
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• 2012

This study demonstrates the investigation of zooplankton communities (e.g. rotifers, cladocerans and copepods) and environmentally related driving factors (e.g. elevation, area size, water depth, types of dike construction, and bottom substrates). We hypothesized that zooplankton community structure and composition would be influenced by ambient driving forces in different scales of the irrigation ponds (Dumbeong). A total of 66 zooplankton species/groups (56 rotifers, 9 cladocerans, 1 copepods) were found and identified at 45 Dumbeong of Goseong region (i.e. Goseong-gun) in 2011. The rotifers occupied 84.9% of the total zooplankton abundance. We could categorize a clear separation of zooplankton communities into 4 different patterns based on cluster analysis. Zooplankton diversities in Dumbeongs were lower than those in natural ponds or wetlands. In addition, community structure of zooplankton was also simpler and had a broken stick distribution based on SHE analysis. Species composition in each Dumbeong was not significantly discriminated each other. The result of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) pinpointed that significant influential variables upon zooplankton community were dissolved oxygen percent saturation, pH, and Dumbeong's material. This study indicated that morphological type of the Dumbeong and its water quality could determine the community structure of zooplankton. Furthermore, the connectivity between ambient habitats and materials could be necessary to be rigorously considered in respect to producing the Dumbeongs to subsidize alternative habitats for wetland ecosystem in freshwater landscape.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.98-106
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• 2005

Groundwater plays an important role in water and carbon cycles in Gwangneung forest watershed located in a complex landscape. Because groundwater affects electrical resistivity (ER) of underground materials, the depth to water table and water content in subsurface can be investigated through measuring ER. Accordingly, the ER survey has been employed more frequently in recent hydrological investigations. Quantitative applications of the results of ER survey will contribute significantly to the examination of water budget closure at various spatiotemporal scales. This paper presents the preliminary results of the ER survey conducted at Gwangneung forest watershed to determine proper locations and depths of monitoring wells. Such use of ER survey, in conjunction with an integrated geophysical investigation and geographic information system, can provide more effective examination of underground structure and optimal locations of monitoring wells to further our understanding of the role of groundwater.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.2 s.90
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• pp.69-79
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• 2000

Fractal geometry has become one of prospective research approaches as the complex structure of natural entities is not easily characterized by traditional Euclidean geometry. With the fractal geometry, we can better decipher the complex structure and identify natural and anthropogenic agents of landscape patterns occurring at different spatial scales. The usefulness of fractal, however, has not been fully appreciated among Korean academic societies, especially in ecological and limnological fields. We attempt to address three points in this study. First, we introduce the concept and dimension of fractal and review relevant research approaches, especially with respect to ecological and limnological phenomena. Second, we explore possible applications of fractal to some aspects of geography and land use characteristics in South Korea. For the analyses of fractal dimensions, we used data published in other studies previously and collected for this study. Data were analyzed by a perimeter/area method of fractal dimension for the spatial distribution of global solar radiation and leaf area index, and the movement of wild boars in forested landscapes of mid-eastern Korea. The same approach was also applied to the water channel of a hypothetical river and the shape of reservoirs in Yongin, Kyunggi Province. Finally, we discuss the results and key issues to consider when a fractal approach is employed in ecology and limnology.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.149-163
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• 2004

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a critical component of the hydrologic cycle which influences economic activities as well as the natural ecosystem. While there have been numerous studies on ET estimation for homogeneous areas using point measurements of meteorological variables, monitoring of spatial ET has not been possible at landscape - or watershed - scales. We propose a site-specific application of the land surface model, which is enabled by spatially interpolated input data at the desired resolution. Gyunggi Province of South Korea was divided into a regular grid of 10 million cells with 30m spacing and hourly temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation and solar irradiance were estimated for each grid cell by spatial interpolation of synoptic weather data. Topoclimatology models were used to accommodate effects of topography in a spatial interpolation procedure, including cold air drainage on nocturnal temperature and solar irradiance on daytime temperature. Satellite remote sensing data were used to classify the vegetation type of each grid cell, and corresponding spatial attributes including soil texture, canopy structure, and phenological features were identified. All data were fed into a standalone version of SiB2(Simple Biosphere Model 2) to simulate latent heat flux at each grid cell. A computer program was written for data management in the cell - based SiB2 operation such as extracting input data for SiB2 from grid matrices and recombining the output data back to the grid format. ET estimates at selected grid cells were validated against the actual measurement of latent heat fluxes by eddy covariance measurement. We applied this system to obtain the spatial ET of the study area on a continuous basis for the 2001-2003 period. The results showed a strong feasibility of using spatial - data driven land surface models for operational monitoring of regional ET.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.215-231
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• 2020

Forest landscape models (FLMs) can be used to investigate the complex interactions of various ecological processes and patterns, which makes them useful tools to evaluate how environmental and anthropogenic variables can influence forest ecosystems. However, due to the large spatio-temporal scales in FLMs studies, parameterization and validation can be extremely challenging when applying to new study areas. To address this issue, we focused on the parameterization and application of a spatially explicit forest landscape model, LANDIS-II, to Mt. Gyebang, South Korea, with the use of the National Forest Inventory (NFI) and long-term ecological research (LTER) site data. In this study, we present the followings for the biomass succession extension of LANDIS-II: 1) species-specific and spatial parameters estimation for the biomass succession extension of LANDIS-II, 2) calibration, and 3) application and validation for Mt. Gyebang. For the biomass succession extension, we selected 14 tree species, and parameterized ecoregion map, initial community map, species growth characteristics. We produced ecoregion map using elevation, aspect, and topographic wetness index based on digital elevation model. Initial community map was produced based on NFI and sub-alpine survey data. Tree species growth parameters, such as aboveground net primary production and maximum aboveground biomass, were estimated from PnET-II model based on species physiological factors and environmental variables. Literature data were used to estimate species physiological factors, such as FolN, SLWmax, HalfSat, growing temperature, and shade tolerance. For calibration and validation purposes, we compared species-specific aboveground biomass of model outputs and NFI and sub-alpine survey data and calculated coefficient of determination (R²) and root mean square error (RMSE). The final model performed very well, with 0. 98 R² and 8. 9 RMSE. This study can serve as a foundation for the use of FLMs to other applications such as comparing alternative forest management scenarios and natural disturbance effects.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.307-316
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• 2010

Complex terrain refers to irregular surface properties of the earth that influence gradients in climate, lateral transfer of materials, landscape distribution in soils properties, habitat selection of organisms, and via human preferences, the patterning in development of land use. Complex terrain of mountainous areas represents ca. 20% of the Earth's terrestrial surface; and such regions provide fresh water to at least half of humankind. Most major river systems originate in such terrain, and their resources are often associated with socio-economic competition and political disputes. The goals of the TERRECO-IRTG focus on building a bridge between ecosystem understanding in complex terrain and spatial assessments of ecosystem performance with respect to derived ecosystem services. More specifically, a coordinated assessment framework will be developed from landscape to regional scale applications to quantify trade-offs and will be applied to determine how shifts in climate and land use in complex terrain influence naturally derived ecosystem services. Within the scope of TERRECO, the abiotic and biotic studies of water yield and quality, production and biodiversity, soil processing of materials and trace gas emissions in complex terrain are merged. There is a need to quantitatively understand 1) the ecosystem services derived in regions of complex terrain, 2) the process regulation occurred to maintain those services, and 3) the sensitivities defining thresholds critical in stability of these systems. The TERRECO-IRTG is dedicated to joint study of ecosystems in complex terrain from landscape to regional scales. Our objectives are to reveal the spatial patterns in driving variables of essential ecosystem processes involved in ecosystem services of complex terrain region and hence, to evaluate the resulting ecosystem services, and further to provide new tools for understanding and managing such areas.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2017

During the 1990s, policy was put in place to create resting spaces in rural areas. This policy was associated with a government project to improve the rural residence environment and it attracted attention to outdoor spaces in rural areas. Many communities have gradually disappeared in rural areas but previous studies suggested that legally protected trees might provide resting and cultural spaces in a given rural community. The rural residential environment can be improved by legally protected trees and by doing so, these resources may then help to sustain many rural communities. Therefore, the creation of resting spaces or mini-parks created around trees that are protected by in rural communities should be considered. The value of trees that are protected by law can differ depending on the status of the trees or the surroundings. Nevertheless, there has not been systemic research regarding legally-protected trees in terms of rural communities. This study aims at evaluating the potential of these trees and at analyzing how these trees can be useful in the creation of community spaces in rural areas. The findings can be helpful in providing foundation data for creating these types of community spaces. Forty legally protected trees in Gimchon City were selected for this study. Nine items were used to evaluate the potential of the trees for creating community spaces. These items could be classified into five factors including accessibility, relation to public facilities, environment and safety, symbolism, and ease for creating community spaces. The potential of the legally protected trees was evaluated by 5-point Likert Scales in a given item. The overall potential was evaluated by the sum of individual item scores. Specifically, trees with over 20 points (max. 25 points) could be considered high potential. According to the empirical findings, the portion of legally protected trees with high potential is five percent (No.7 and No.12 trees). Therefore, the priority is to protect or use the trees for the creation of community spaces that can help make a better residential environment for rural communities.