• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.3-33
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• 2001

A review on the technical development and agricultural policy direction for sustainable agriculture has been made to clarify the present conditions of agricultural environment for food production and natural resource conservation and to study prospects and solutions successfully to achieve food safety and environment conservation as the 21st agricultural paradigm. Although great improvement of environmentally sound and resource-conserving techniques, sustainability of Korean agriculture has been damaged by quantitative reduction and quality deterioration of agricultural land resources, insufficient implementation of low-input and organic matter recycling techniques and also improper cropping system. It is concluded that goal of sustainable agriculture can be successfully achieved by further improvement of environmentally friendly techniques, and stronger escalation of national implementation programmes with more financial supports including direct payments for sustainability of agriculture under systematical support and cooperation of AKS (agricultural knowledge system).

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 2005

To evaluate the natural environmental conditions of the local areas, the method using the individual plant was discussed here. Based on Ohba's(1979) and Okuda and Nakamura's systems(1989), 9 items were proposed. The items evaluated were classified in 4 criterias: quality, quantity, function and vitality. This evaluation method could be used to promote spatial planning and to alleviate other administrative problems. Also it could be applied to decide the conservation level of plant individual.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.24 no.2 s.62
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• pp.160-165
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the prey composition and utilization of the Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra, in the ecosystem conservation region of the Seomjin River. The study was conducted for a 12-month period from March 2003 to February 2004 by spraints analysis and an investigation using artificial holts. We found seasonal variation in the number of spraints and composition of prey items. Fish were the main prey items throughout the period (82%), and other prey items included birds (14%), amphibians (2%) and arthropods (1%). In addition to prey identification, we investigated habitat utilization by otters through spraints distribution. The traces of otters were discovered in five of the six total artificial holts. However, the utilization of the artificial holts in the study area seemed to be limited as evidenced by the low frequency of traces in the holts.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.113-118
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• 2015

Conservation drones are remote-controlled devices capable of collecting information from difficult-to-access places while minimizing disturbance. Although drones are increasingly used in many research disciplines, their application to wildlife research remains to be explored in depth. This paper reports on the use of Phantom 2 Vision+ for monitoring areas in two national parks in South Korea. The first research area was conducted in Chiaksan National Park, and the second in Taeanhaean National Park. The aim of this research is to introduce ecologists and researchers alike to conservation drones and to show how these new tools have are fundamentally helping in the development of natural sciences. We also obtained photographs and videos of monitoring areas within our test site.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.269-277
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• 2019

Seaweed extracts, namely carrageenan obtained from Grateloupia elliptica and algin obtained from Laminaria, were employed as adhesive agents to synthesize solid adhesives for paper. Carrageenan from Grateloupia elliptica with the highest adhesive strength and lgin from Laminaria with the highest compressive strength was selected. The selected carrageenan and algin were mixed in a ratio of 7:3, and the mixture was employed as an adhesive agent. At a high temperature, sodium stearate(used as a solidifying material) oxidized the seaweed extracts. Consequently, carrageenan and algin were added to the final manufacturing process. The adhesive strength of the final synthesized solid adhesive is found to be 3.02 MPa and the compressive strength is found to be 30.5 N. Compared to the adhesive strength (2.95 MPa) and compressive strength (30.11 N) of commercial solid adhesives, the obtained results indicate superior adhesion characteristics. Furthermore, the proposed adhesive is environment-friendly because the presence of volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, and heavy metals(such as chromium, lead, and cadmium) were not detected. Moreover, when used, the flatness of paper was twice that of commercial solid paper adhesives. Hence, the proposed adhesive can provide excellent adhesion, stability, and usability.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.111-119
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• 2018

Background: Juniperus chinensis L. populations are distributed locally on several areas including coastal cliffs which are difficult to access in the central eastern Korea. Wild populations inhabit relatively barren environments such as rocky areas and cliffs, which are very sensitive to even minor environmental disturbances including artificial interventions and natural disturbances, and thus demonstrate great fluctuations in the population size and density. This study aims to analyze the genetic diversity, differentiation, and genetic structure of each population in order to provide useful data required to establish a substantial conservation strategy of J. chinensis. Results: The genetic diversity of J. chinensis at the population level (P = 78.7%, h = 0.282, S.I. = 0.420) was somewhat higher compared with those measured in the same genus, Juniperus. The genetic differentiation degree among nine populations established naturally in central eastern Korea was 11.50% and that among sub-populations within the same area was 5.52%. On the other hand, genetic variation of individuals within the populations was 82.93%. But frequency of the main allele was different among loci. In particular, fixation of allele frequency and occurrence of rare allele in the highly isolated population suggest a likelihood that genetic drift would occur in populations of this plant. As the result of analysis on the genetic structure of nine populations, nearby populations and isolated populations tended to form separate clusters from each other as the hypothetical number of clusters (K) increase. Conclusions: This result implies that if the population size of J. chinensis is reduced due to environmental change and artificial and/or natural disturbances in the future, it could affect negatively on the genetic diversity of the plant species. In order to maintain and conserve genetic diversity of J. chinensis, ecological network, which can help genetic exchange among the local populations, should be prepared, and conservation strategies in situ as well as ex situ are also required with continuous monitoring.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.15.1-15.14
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• 2020

Background: Large rivers are ecological treasures with high human value, but most have experienced decades of degradation from industrial and municipal sewage, row-crop agricultural practices, and hydrologic alteration. We reviewed published analyses of long-term fish diversity publications from three intensively managed large river ecosystems to demonstrate the conservation potential of large river ecosystems. Results: We show how the incorporation of recent advances in river concepts will allow a better understanding of river ecosystem functioning and conservation. Lastly, we focus on the Wabash River ecosystem based on high conservation value and provide a list of actions to maintain and support the ecosystem. In the Wabash River, there were originally 66 species of freshwater mussels, but now only 30 species with reproducing populations remain. Although there were multiple stressors over the last century, the largest change in Wabash River fish biodiversity was associated with rapid increases in municipal nutrient loading and invasive bigheaded carps. Conclusions: Like similarly neglected large river systems worldwide, the Wabash River has a surprising amount of ecological resilience and recovery. For instance, of the 151 native fish species found in the 1800s, only three species have experienced local extinctions, making the modern assemblage more intact than many comparable rivers in the Mississippi River basin. However, not all the changes are positive or support the idea of recovery. Primary production underpins the productivity of these ecosystems, and the Wabash River phytoplankton assemblages shifted from high-quality green algae in the 1970s to lower less nutritional blue-green algae as nutrient and invasive species have recently increased. Our recommendations for the Wabash River and other altered rivers include the restoration of natural hydrology for the mainstem and tributaries, nutrient reductions, mechanisms to restore historical hydrologic patterns, additional sediment controls, and improved local hydraulics.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.80-90
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• 2000

This study was carried out to introduce current status and development strategy for an environmental restoration of stream side in Japan, and to consider a methodology which could be effectively applied for the environmental restoration of stream side in Korea. Since the end of 20th century, the native ecology and landscape of Japan remained only a limited areas such as stream side, water side and forest areas. Therefore, recently the works of forest conservation and erosion control of environmental restoration on stream side tended to increased. The strategic prospects of environmental restoration in Japan were summarized as follows : 1. From the ecological point of view, we have to develop a certain method and technology in construction of forest conservation and erosion control to prevent environmental problem from erosion control works. 2. We have to restore not only a continuity of stream side forest from a primitive area to an estuary but also the stream side forest to preserve and restore a stream side vegetation on a primitive watershed areas. 3. We have to improve a method of construction or removal of a structure which were constructed in the stream to restore a water side environment and an interaction system for an integration on a forest land, stream, and erosion control. Additionally, we have to establish an integrated evaluation method and an enforcement system after investigation of influences on natural environment, stream, and forest etc. 4. We have to conduct an integrated research to investigate the ecosystem of stream side, and construct environmentally friendly water park and erosion control park which considered natural environment and its landscape. Additionally, we need to introduce and adopt a natural style stream construction method to restore a water side areas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Environment and Ecology Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.53-55
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• 2005

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.377-389
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• 2010

Understanding the factors relevant to endangerment and the patterns of habitat locations in relation to protected areas is critically important for the conservation of rare species. Although 64 plant species have recently been listed as endangered species in Korea, this information has, until now, not been available, making appropriate management and conservation strategies impossible to devise. Thus, we collected information on potentially threatening factors, as well as information on the locations in which these species were observed. The potentially threatening factors were classified into seven categories. National parks, provincial parks, ecosystem conservation areas, and wetland conservation areas were defined as protected conservation areas. Korean digital elevation model data, along with the maps of all protected areas were combined with the maps of endangered plant species, and analyzed via Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Excluding the category of "small population", endangered plant species in Korea were associated more frequently with extrinsic factors than intrinsic factors. Considering land surface only, all conservation areas in Korea totaled 4.9% of the land, far lower than International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)'s 10% coverage target. At the species level, 69% of the endangered plant species were detected in conservation areas, mostly in national parks. However, this result demonstrates that 31% of endangered species inhabit areas outside the conservation zones. Furthermore, at the habitat level, a large proportion of endangered species were found to reside in unprotected areas, revealing "gaps" in protected land. In the face of rapid environmental changes such as population increases, urbanization, and climate changes, converting these gap areas to endangered species' habitats, or at least including them in habitat networks, will help to perpetuate the existence of endangered species.