• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.79-88
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• 2019

In order to study the water quality status and its causal environmental factors, the water quality variables of chemical oxygen demand (COD), chlorophyll a (Chl a), Total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN), the hydrogeomorphologic variables of water level fluctuation, total water storage, dam elevation, watershed area, and shoreline development index, and the land cover variables of forest, agricultural area, and urbanized area in the watershed were investigated in total 73 reservoirs with various operational purposes, water level fluctuation and geographical distribution in South Korea. The water quality was more eutrophic in the reservoirs of the more urbanized and agricultural area in the watershed, the low altitude, the narrow water level fluctuation, the narrowed watershed area, and the more circular shape. In terms of the purposes of reservoir operation, the reservoirs for agricultural irrigation were more eutrophic than the reservoirs for flood control. The results of the variable selection and path analysis showed that COD determined by Chl a and TP was directly affected by water level fluctuation and the shoreline development of the reservoirs. TP was directly affected by the urbanized area of the watershed which was related to the elevation of the reservoir. TP was also influenced by the water level fluctuation and the shoreline development. In conclusion, the eutrophication of the reservoirs in Korea would be influenced by the land use of the watershed, hydrological and geographical characteristics of the reservoir, water level fluctuation by the anthropogenic management according to the reservoir operation purpose, and the location of the reservoirs.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.374-387
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• 2020

This study was conducted to provide basic data for monitoring the trend of ecosystem change and establishing management plans for wetland protection areas by understanding the status of naturalized plants. In 21 wetland protection areas, 129 taxa, including 10 invasive alien species, were recorded. The naturalized plants appeared mostly as 71 taxa in the Chimsil wetland and were not observed in the Moojechineup and Sumeunmulbaengdui wetlands. Among the naturalized plants, 42 taxa (32.6%) originated from North America. Annual and biennial plants accounted for 68.2% (88 taxa). The frequencies of occurrence of naturalized plants growing in dry secondary grasses such as Erigeron annuus and Trifolium repens were high, and clonal plants that propagated by making stolons and struck roots accounted for 19.4% (25 taxa). The naturalized and urbanization indices showed positive correlations with location factors such as wetland, agricultural land, and used area. However, a negative correlation was found between altitude and forest. Therefore, a management plan that synthetically considers the occurrence frequency and growth characteristics of naturalized plants as well as the locational characteristics of wetland protection areas is required.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.282-289
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• 2022

Analyzing the impact of climate change on the Korean Peninsula on the forest ecosystem is important for the management of subtropical forest bioresources. In this study, we collected location data and bioclimatic variables of the warm-temperate woody plant species, Myrica rubra and Cyzygium buxifolium, and applied the MaxEnt model based on the collected data to estimate the potential distribution area. Precipitation and temperature seasonality in the warmest quarter were the main environmental factors that determined the distribution of M. rubra, and the main environmental factors for S. buxifolium were precipitation in the warmest quarter and precipitation in the wettest quarter. The results of the MaxEnt model by administrative district, the M. rubra showed an area increase rate of 4.6 - 17.7% in the SSP2-4.5 climate change scenario and 13.8 - 30.5% in the SSP5-8.5 climate change scenario. S. buxifolium showed area increase rates of 4.8 - 32.2% in the SSP2-4.5 climate change scenario and 12.9 - 48.6% in the SSP5-8.5 climate change scenario. This study is meaningful in establishing a database and identifying future potential distribution areas of warm and subtropical plants by applying climate change scenarios.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.40-49
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• 2023

To reduce the damage of extreme flooding caused by climate change and to create flood mitigation sections in a nature-friendly riparian area, it is necessary to restore the floodplain area by referring to the past floodplain section of the current inland waterfront area before the levee was built. This study proposed a method of selecting a location for floodplain restoration using old maps of the Geum River study section and analyzed the effect of flood level reduction through unsteady flow numerical simulations using the floodplain as a flood mitigation space. As a result of analyzing changes in the river areas using old maps, the river section was estimated to gradually reduce by 27.8% (1,059,380 m²) in 2020 compared to 1919, and it was found to have an effective storage capacity of 2,200,868 m³ when restored to offline storage. The flood level and discharge control effects analyzed based on HEC-RAS unsteady flow simulation were 16 cm and 219.01 m³/s, respectively, in the downstream cross-section. In the numerical simulation in this paper, the flood mitigation space was applied as an offline reservoir. The effect of reducing the flood level may differ if levee retreat/relocation is applied.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.79-87
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• 2021

Because active interactions occur among vegetation, hydrology, and geomorphology in riparian systems, any changes in one of these factors can significantly affect the other two. In this study, we evaluated these interactions at four sites (two in Gajeong and two in Hahan) along the Seomjin-gang River that was substantially devastated by an extreme flood in 2020. We examined the relationship between the riparian vegetation and the hydraulic characteristics of the flood using remote sensing, hydraulic modeling, and field surveys combined. The evaluation results showed that the floods caused a record-breaking rise of up to 43.1 m above sea level at the Yeseong-bridge stage gauge station (zero elevation 27.4 m) located between the Gajeong and Hahan sites, with the shear stress being four times higher in Hahan than in Gajeong. Additionally, the water level during the flood was estimated to be a maximum of 1 m higher depending on the location in the presence of riparian plants. Furthermore, both sites underwent extensive biological damage due to the flood, with 78-80% loss in vegetation, with preferential damage observed in large willow species, compared to Quercus acutissima. The above findings imply that all plant species exhibit different vulnerabilities towards extreme floods and do not induce similar behavior towards events causing a disturbance. In conclusion, we developed strategies for effectively managing riparian trees by minimizing flood hazards that could inevitably cause damage.