• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.26-31
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• 2021

Reproduction and molt are costly processes in avian life histories. These two fitness-related traits are expected to be under one of physiological trade-offs. Age-related molt is known to be higher in young birds than that in adults presumably due to the cost of reproduction in adults. The present study partially replicated a previous study using a non-invasive method of seasonal wing feather loss instead of capture-inspection for molting progress in oriental storks (Ciconia boyciana). We first examined characteristics of the known six wing feather types (i.e., primaries [P], primary coverts [PC], secondaries [S], secondary coverts [SC], and tertials [T]) from two specimens with four wings. Results were utilized as references for further investigation. We then collected a total of 3,807 wing feathers shedded by 61 captive storks for one year and classified them into six wing feather types based on the reference with structures of vane (i.e., how asymmetrical) and calamus (i.e., how rigidly attached to skin) of wing feathers. Our results indicated that annual losses of all six-type wing feathers decreased with increasing ages, ranging from 29% to 58% for PC, alula, SC, P, S, and T in order. Our results were also comparable to those of a former study, suggesting that the pattern of age-specific molt might be associated with the cost of reproduction in adults. However, juveniles might shed more wing feathers with low quality formed during the previous development stage than older birds.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.129-142
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• 2022

Nutrition dictates nearly all biological processes and determines Darwinian fitness in all living organisms, including insects. Research on insect nutrition has a long history in the field of insect physiology and the importance of understanding insect nutrition has become increasingly apparent with the growing need for producing insects as food and feed. Nevertheless, it is only in recent years that we have witnessed a major breakthrough in our knowledge of insect nutrition. The multivariate, interactive, and dynamic nature of nutrition has long hampered our complete understanding of insect nutrition. However, the challenge posed by such nutritional complexity has been overcome with the advent of the Nutritional Geometry, which is an integrative and multidimensional framework that enabled us to model complex interactions between multiple nutrients. In this review, we introduce the basic concepts and principles of the Nutritional Geometry and describe how this innovative framework has revolutionized the field of insect nutrition and has placed nutrition in the centre of the interface between physiology, ecology, and evolution. We close this review by discussing potentially fertile research areas that can benefit tremendously from the application of this powerful nutritional paradigm in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.681-692
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• 2015

It is well documented that physiological and nutritional condition of wintering birds is strongly related to migration success to breeding sites, and also breeding success. However, how abiotic factors during winter affect the migration and breeding successes still remains unclear. Thus, this study developed a dynamic-state-dependent model for wintering life-history to identify the potential impact on the life-history, success to breeding site and breeding success of wintering birds, which are related to temperature fluctuation, interspecific competition and human disturbance at the wintering sites. To find the best-fit-model, we referred to the existing research data on wintering ecology of Red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) in Cheolwon, Korea, which is well documented as a long-term wintering study. Our model predicted that the higher temperature fluctuation and a higher rate of human disturbance are negatively related to migration success to breeding sites and their fitness, ultimately breeding success via changing of proportion in resource allocation (for e. g., lower energy compensation or higher level of stress accumulation). Particularly, the rate of body mass compensation after arrival at wintering sites may be accelerated when there are less temperature fluctuations and a lower rate of human disturbance. In addition, the rate of interspecific competition sharing the wintering foraging sites is negatively related to the rate of body mass compensation. Consequently, we discussed the conservation strategies of wintering birds based on the outcomes of the model.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.5-44
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• 1996

Wornen's lahor market participation as well as the policy concern for wider utilization of married women, have continuously grown up. However, research efforts on the determinants of women's labor market participation, in the context of the relationship hetween life courses and active entry into lahor market, has been far behind the growing interest in this field. This study has conducted an event histoiry analysis of women's labor market transition utilizing personal occupational history data collected by the Korea Institute for Women's Development in 1991. The analysis is divided into tow parts: First part introduces logit regression to analyze the determinants of women's labor market participation and exit. The second part employs Cox regression to see the variation of transition rate between employment and non-employment. The result shows that there is a wide variation in women's labor market participation according to age, cohort, and family formation. Special note is needed for the significantly negative effect of marriage and child birth on labor market participation. The transition pattern of lower class women with less education fits well to the prediction of neo-classical economics; but the tendency of highly educated women's regression to non-employment reveals the strong influence of the unfavorable labor market structure, which can be better explained by the neo-structuralist perspective. There is a strong trade-off between productive and reproductive labor of women, which can only be corrected by strong policy implementation, such as extended child care facilities, abolition of discriminatory employment practices, and expansion of flexible part-time employment.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.367-381
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• 2003

Dispersal polymorphism in insects Is a kind of adaptive strategy of the life history together with the diapause, consisting of the “long-winged or alate forms” of migratory phase and the “short-winged or apterous forms” of stationary phase. Dispersal polymorphism is a polymorphism related with the flight capability, and has three categories ; the wing polymorphisms, flight muscle polymorphisms, and flight behavior variations. Phase variation is another type of dispersal polymorphism varying in morphology, physiology and wing forms in response to the density of the population. The dispersal migration is a very adaptive trait that enables a species to keep pace with the changing mosaic of its habitat, but requires some costs. In general, wing reduction has a positive effect on the reproductive potential such as earlier reproduction and larger fecundity The dispersal polymorphism is a kind of optimization in the evolutionary strategies of the life history in insects; a trade-off between the advantages and disadvantages of migration. Wing polymorphism is a phenotypically plastic trait. Wing form changes with the environmental conditions even though the species is the same. Various environmental factors have an effect on the dispersal polymorphisms. Density dependent dispersal polymorphism plays an important role In population dynamics, but it is not a simple function of the density; the individuals of a population may be different in response to the density resulting different outcomes in the population biology, and the detailed information on the genotypic variation of the individuals in the population is the fundamental importance in the prediction of the population performances in a given environment. In conclusion, the studies on the dispersal polymorphisms are a complicated field in relation with both physiology and ecology, and studies on the ecological and quantitative genetics have indeed contributed to understanding of its important nature. But the final factors of evolution; the mechanisms of natural selections, might be revealed through the studies on the population biology.