• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.907-916
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of vegetation structure, vegetation succession, and species diversity of artificially planted Chamaecyparis obtusa (CO) stands. The study was carried out by performing vegetation survey for eight CO stands located in Jeollanam-do Province, Korea. Analysis on vegetation classification and ordinations of the stands was conducted using the data from the vegetation survey, and as a result, the stands were classified into five types of communities. Community I showed a considerably lower index of species diversity when compared to other communities because the canopy of the dominant CO was so highly dense that the low-height vegetation was not able to develop or the low-height vegetation almost disappeared due to elimination of weed trees. Meanwhile, the Community II - IV had relatively higher indices of species diversity because various native tree species mixed with the low-height vegetation and competed with each other in the understory and shrub layers to some degree of stability or in their early stage of vegetation development. Community V, lastly, showed higher use intensity as a recreational forest, thus developing simpler vegetation structure on account of artificial intervention. There was positive correlation between photosynthetically active radiation entering the forest floor, number of observed species and index of species diversity. Such characteristics of vegetation structure in CO stands are closely associated with forest management and prescription for planting reforestation, thinning, and brush cutting in the past. There was a slight difference in vegetation structure and species diversity by communities, based on rotation time of the vegetational succession, process of disturbance frequency and disturbance, development, and maturity by planting CO stands. However, when compared to natural forests, the CO stands showed simpler vegetation structure. Because artificial forests are vulnerable in ecosystem service with lower species diversity, a drive for ecological management is needed for such forests to change into healthy ecosystems that can display functions of public benefit.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.90 no.6
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• pp.673-682
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• 2001

The objective of this study was to monitor vegetation development process after timber harvesting at (Mt.) Baekwoonsan Seoul National University Forests, Korea. Two monitoring plots were established in 1994 and woody plant were monitored from 1994 to 1999. Vegetation development pattern during last six years(1994-1999) after timber harvesting were as follows; Styrax obassia, Styrax japonica and Lindera erythrocarpa as of the existing tree were competitive species in the first year after clearcut, and Styrax japonica and Lindera erythrocarpa as of sprout tree) and Aralia elata as of seedling were dominant species in the sixth years after clearcut. Species diversity indices of harvested forest interior was decreased at the southwestern slope and increased at the northeastern slope. According to DBH distribution pattern, No. of individuals of Lindera erythrocarpa and Aralia elata showed vigorous growth in the sub-canopy layer and then Styrax japonica, Quercus serrata, Maackia amurensis, Lespedeza maximowixzii, Lindera obtusiloba, Staphylea bumalda, Clero-dendrum trichotomum, Weigela subsessilis, in order showed good growth in the sixth year after clearcut. Lindera erythrocarpa with a reversed J-shaped curve pattern by DBH class will be increased while Aralia elata with a J-shaped curve pattern will be decreased.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.52 no.spc2
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• pp.765-776
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to provide the legal and institutional guidelines and standards that can be used in the whole river restoration project and to analyze and evaluate the performance of the river project. We constructed an assessment system of four biological taxa that can represent the river environments, namely, evaluation indexes and standards of vegetation and birds, benthic invertebrates and fishes. Specifically, the assessment indicator and criteria of biological characteristics are summarized, so that in case of vegetation community, vegetation diversity, vegetation complexity, and vegetation naturalness can be quantitatively assessed through the combination of three indices. Based on the scientific basis of the advanced techniques, benthic invertebrates, fishes, and birds were proposed to quantitatively evaluate assessment grades according to the classification of biological data. In order to evaluate biological characteristics, which are a part of river environmental naturalness, we proposed a comprehensive biological index and evaluation grade applying the weight of these four biological taxa, and it clearly reflects the characteristics of river environment in test bed.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.153-166
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• 2022

Waterstorage is one of the factorsthat most directly represent the amount of available water resources. Since the effects of drought can be more intuitively expressed, it is also used in variousstudies for drought evaluation. In a recent study, hydrological drought was evaluated through information on observing reservoirs with optical images. The short observation cycle and diversity of optical satellites provide a lot of data. However, there are some limitations because it is vulnerable to the influence of weather or the atmospheric environment. Therefore, thisstudy attempted to conduct a study on estimating the drought index using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image with relatively little influence from the observation environment. We produced the waterbody of Baekgok and Chopyeong reservoirs using SAR images of Sentinel-1 satellites and calculated the Reservoir Area Drought Index (RADI), a hydrological drought index. In order to validate the applicability of RADI to drought monitoring, it was compared with Reservoir Storage Drought Index (RSDI) based on measured storage. The two indices showed a very high correlation with the correlation coefficient, r=0.87, Area Under curve, AUC=0.97. These results show the possibility of regional-scale hydrological drought monitoring of SAR-based RADI. As the number of available SAR images increases in the future, it is expected that the utilization of drought monitoring will also increase.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.3
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• pp.345-356
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• 2022

Yokjido is a 15-km² inhabited island located at the tip of the southeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. Its forest is mostly composed of substitutional vegetation. Our aim was to provide basic information necessary for the conservation and management of the forest vegetation in Yokjido. We classified the types of existing vegetation using methods of the Zurich-Montpellier school of phytosociology. The resulting vegetation map shows the dominant tree species in the top canopy-layer. A total of 8 vegetation types were identified, which were arranged into a vegetation unit hierarchy of 2 communities, 4 sub-communities, 6 variants, and 2 subvariants. Evaluations of each type showed large and small differences in floristic composition, which reflect anthropogenic influences, site conditions, succession stages, and the establishment period. Moreover, vegetation types differed significantly in terms of species diversity indices; in particular, overall species richness, species diversity, and species evenness tended to increase significantly as the elevation increased. The herbaceous plant species showed the highest positive (+) correlation to x. These results were consistent with those of McCain, who reported that species diversity increases in mountainous areas with relatively low elevations due to the mid-domain effect. The forest succession in Yokjido will potentially enter a mixed-forest stage and then proceed to become an all-evergreen broad-leaved forest.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.289-309
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• 2023

While South Korea's universal healthcare system has garnered attention in public health, the issue of inequality in healthcare service provision among different age groups has incessantly become a significant concern. The focus of this concern is primarily on essential healthcare services, encompassing fundamental aspects of healthcare such as internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatric and adolescent care. This inequality is not limited to differences among age groups (both junior and senior demographics) but also extends to potential disparities in healthcare services based on geographic location, particularly in urban and rural contexts. This paper aims to investigate disparities in primary healthcare service resources in South Korea's evolving economic landscape between 1995 and 2021. We utilize a set of inequality indices with a spatial perspective through geographic cluster analysis. The findings reveal that concerns about inequality have been amplified during various economic events, including the IMF crisis in 1999, the global financial crisis in 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. These years are identified as significant phases that have contributed to manifesting spatial disparities in primary healthcare provisions, with a particular emphasis on the senior-aged population rather than junior or all population groups. Our findings underscore the pressing need to address the unequal distribution of essential healthcare resources as part of preparedness for potential economic impacts, requiring a comprehensive consideration of the interconnected nature of demographic and spatial dimensions in healthcare services.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.309-319
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• 2008

Roads are an indicator of anthropogenic activity causing ecosystem disturbances and often lead to habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, and habitat isolation. The Hallasan National Park(153.4$km^2$) on Jeju Island being distinguished for its unique geology, topography, and biota has also been designated as a core area of UNESCO Man and the Biosphere(MAB) Reserve. Although the high conservation value of this park has contributed to a rapid growth of tourists and road construction, landscape changes due to roads have not been examined yet. We used GIS systems to examine the fragmentation pattern caused by roads, in relation to its zonation, elevation, and vegetation. When a buffer was applied to roads(112m width for paved roads and 60m width for both legal and illegal trails), the park consisted of 100 fragments. The ten fragments generated after applying buffer to only paved roads and legal trails ranged from $0.002km^2$ to $38.2km^2$ with a mean of $14.2km^2$, and about 7% of both nature conservation zone and nature environment zone of the park were edge. Fragments in both east and west ends of the park and around the summit exhibited relatively high shape indices with means of 5.19(for 100 fragments) and 7.22(for 10 fragments). All five legal trails are connected to the pit crater of the mountain and vegetation changed from broadleaf forests and conifer forests to grasslands with elevation, consequently resulting in dramatic fragment size reduction in grasslands at high elevation, in particular above 1,400m, where endemic and alpine plants are abundant. These results show that in Hallasan National Park the risks of habitat deterioration and habitat loss due to fragmentation may be more severe in the nature conservation zone dominated by Baengnokdam than in the nature environment zone. Therefore, current road networks of the park appear to fall short of the goal of the national park for ecosystem conservation and protection. Considering that the entire Hallasan National Park also serves as a MAB core area, conservation efforts should focus, first of all, on park rezoning and road management to mitigate habitat fragmentation.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.327-337
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• 2022

Ecological restoration is considered a good means to prevent biodiversity loss in terms of the ecosystem's health and sustainability. However, there are difficulties in putting it into practice as there is no comprehensive and objective standard for the selection of plant species, such as environmental, ecological factors, and restoration goal setting. Therefore, this study developed an evaluation index necessary for selecting plant species for restoration using the Delphi method that synthesizes the opinions of the expert group. A survey with 38 questionnaires was conducted twice for experts in ecological restoration, etc., and the importance and priority of evaluation indicators were analyzed by dividing the restoration targets into inland and island regions. The result of the importance analysis showed that "native plants" had the highest average of 4.9 among the evaluation indices in both inland and island regions, followed by "seed security", "propagation", and "root growth rate". In the inland region, the index priority was analyzed in the order of "native plants", "appearance frequency", "root growth rate", "distribution range", and "seed security" in the island region, it was analyzed in the order of "native plants", "root growth rate", "appearance frequency", "distribution range", and "tolerance", showing slight differences between the two indicators. As a result of the importance and priority indicator analysis, we set the mean importance and priority of 4.1 and 2.9, respectively, in the inland region and 4.2 and 2.9, respectively, in the island region. As for the criteria of selecting plant species for ecological restoration, the "native plants" had the highest importance and priority. "Seed securing", 'viability", "topography", "proliferation", "tolerance", "soil conditions", "growth characteristics", "early succession", "distribution range", "appearance frequency", and "germination rate" were classified into subgroups of low importance and priority. The lowest indicators were "final stage of succession", "transition period", 'transition stage", "root", "reproduction", "soil", "appearance", "technology", "landscape", "climate", and "germination rate". We expected that the findings through objective verification in this study would be used as evaluation indicators for selecting native plant species for ecological restoration.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.399-416
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• 2017

The 'Wat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape' of Laos was designated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 2001. The uppermost structure of the Sanctuary in Wat Phou has been destroyed and being variably damaged, maintenance is required through scientific and systematic diagnosis. The Sanctuary of Wat Phou was constructed mainly using sandstones and bricks. There are physical damages including fracture, break out, exfoliation and interval as well as biological damages by lichen, mosses and weeds. According to the ultrasonic velocity measurement and property evaluation of the sandstones of the Sanctuary in Wat Phou, weathering index of the eastern side sandstones is 0.10 to 0.74 (mean 0.36), showing MW grade. Southern and northern side sandstones have relatively higher properties with average weathering indices of 0.30 and 0.32. The results of slope analysis of the Sanctuary, indicated that the 4th spot in the southern side has the largest slope of $5^{\circ}W$, seemingly due to the unstable ground around the Sanctuary. Based on the relative level measurement and past drawings, the Sanctuary is verified to have been located on ground with a certain slope rather than flatland. The ground of the southern side is inclined $1.51^{\circ}$ more than that of the northern side, which will affect the structural stability of the temple. The interval width of the selected southern spot is the largest with an average width of 159.5 mm, and the largest width is 328.3 mm at the top, since the width increases above rather than below, seemingly due to the unequal subsidence of the ground. Constant maintenance for conservation is required for the structural stability of the Sanctuary in Wat Phou, which was partly collapsed and has also suffered physical damage.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.168-181
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• 2024

Constructed wetlands (CWs) deliver a range of ecosystem services, including the removal of contaminants, sequestration and storage of carbon, and enhancement of biodiversity. These services are facilitated through hydrological and ecological processes such as infiltration, adsorption, water retention, and evapotranspiration by plants and microorganisms. This study investigated the correlations between microbial populations, soil physicochemical properties, and treatment efficiency in a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF CW) treating runoff from roads and parking lots. The methods employed included storm event monitoring, water quality analysis, soil sampling, soil quality parameter analysis, and microbial analysis. The facility achieved its highest pollutant removal efficiencies during the warm season (>15℃), with rates ranging from 33% to 74% for TSS, COD, TN, TP, and specific heavy metals including Fe, Zn, and Cd. Meanwhile, the highest removal efficiency was 35% for TOC during the cold season (≤15℃). These high removal rates can be attributed to sedimentation, adsorption, precipitation, plant uptake, and microbial transformations within the CW. Soil analysis revealed that the soil from HSSF CW had a soil organic carbon content 3.3 times higher than that of soil collected from a nearby landscape. Stoichiometric ratios of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in the inflow and outflow were recorded as C:N:P of 120:1.5:1 and 135.2:0.4:1, respectively, indicating an extremely low proportion of N and P compared to C, which may challenge microbial remediation efficiency. Additionally, microbial analyses indicated that the warm season was more conducive to microorganism growth, with higher abundance, richness, diversity, homogeneity, and evenness of the microbial community, as manifested in the biodiversity indices, compared to the cold season. Pollutants in stormwater runoff entering the HSSF CW fostered microbial growth, particularly for dominant phyla such as Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, which have shown moderate to strong correlations with specific soil properties and changes in influent-effluent concentrations of water quality parameters.