• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.30-37
• /
• 2007

Pellets and prey remains were analyzed to compare diets and foraging tactics of Eurasian eagle owls (Bubo bubo) in two different habitat types: forested areas and open fields. Overall 150 prey items of three taxa were identified from 66 pellets and 82 prey remains, and the birds were the most important prey in biomass (78.04%) and in frequency (56.67%). Eurasian eagle owls frequently used rats (Rattus spp.), ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), and stripped field mice (Apodemus agrarius), but the ring-necked pheasant was most important in biomass in both habitat types. The owls generally foraged various prey in biomass but the mean mass of vertebrate prey used by the Eurasian eagle owls was 503.3g in central Korea. According to the comparison of diets in the two different habitat types, the owls used bigger and more diverse prey in forested areas than in open fields. In forested areas, the Eurasian eagle owls frequently foraged the pheasants and Mandarin ducks (Aix galericulata), but they preferred prey of particular sizes to prey of particular taxa. In open fields, however, the owls showed opportunistic foraging tactics by selecting many small mammals such as rodents or a few large birds.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.257-267
• /
• 2017

Although Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus) is an important commercial species in Korea, its recruitment mechanism remains largely unknown. Diel vertical positioning of larvae in the water column, which is affected by their specific gravity and the surrounding water density, may help to provide an understanding on recruitment success through predator avoidance and prey availability. The specific gravity measurement on Pacific mackerel eggs and larvae would seem to be essential information necessary to learn about the transport process from spawning to nursery grounds, and consequently the recruitment success. Eggs were artificially fertilized, and larvae were fed with rotifer when their mouths opened 3-4 days after hatching. We conducted the experiment using a density gradient water column to measure the ontogenetic changes in specific gravity from fertilization to 10 days after hatching. Egg specific gravity was stable during most of the embryonic period, but a sudden increase to $1.0249g\;cm^{-3}$ happened just before hatching. However, the specific gravity of newly hatched larvae was much lighter ($1.0195g\;cm^{-3}$), and specific gravity tended to increase continuously after hatching. Comparison of specific gravity with seawater density reveals that eggs and newly hatched larvae can float in the surface layer of the ocean. For the later period of the experiment, the specific gravity showed a cyclic diel pattern: the highest in the evening while the lowest at dawn. The fullness of larval stomach may be responsible for the observed differences in specific gravity, because stomach fullness was lower (40-60%) at midnight, and higher (80-85%) in evening. The diel pattern of specific gravity might provide clues regarding how larvae match the diel vertical migration of prey organisms.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.389-395
• /
• 2015

The composition of the Martes flavigula diet has been extensively studied, but little is known about its insect component. This study characterized the insect diet and insect nest materials in the feces of M. flavigula. A total of 952 fecal samples were collected in Jirisan National Park from January 2009 to November 2011, and 1379 species or taxonomic groups were identified. M. flavigula fed on insects (8.7%) and bee wax (5.0%), which comprised 2.9% and 4.4% of the dry weight of M. flavigula feces, respectively. A total of 12 insect species belonging to 8 families in 3 orders were identified. The most frequently found insects were Hymenoptera (frequency of occurrence, FO, 89.1), including Vespa simillima simillima (FO, 37.3) and Vespula koreensis koreensis (FO, 20.0). The Vespidae constituted the majority of the insect diet in autumn when the diversity of marten's prey was strongly reduced, probably because the numbers of social insects were sufficient for M. flavigula. In addition, the data suggest that M. flavigula attacks the nests of social wasps in late autumn when males do not have a venomous sting and new queens are less aggressive than workers. Bee wax appeared in all seasons and the highest rate was from spring to early summer. However, the remains of honeybees were not found in feces; thus, M. flavigula presumably eats honey but not honeybees.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.95-110
• /
• 1998

Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) are population-based optimization methods based on the principle of Darwinian natural selection. The representative methodology in EAs is genetic algorithm (GA) proposed by J. H. Holland, and the theoretical foundations of GA are the Schema Theorem and the Building Block Hypothesis. In the meaning of these foundational concepts, simple genetic algorithm (SGA) allocate more trials to the schemata whose average fitness remains above average. Although SGA does well in many applications as an optimization method, still it does not guarantee the convergence of a global optimum in GA-hard problems and deceptive problems. Therefore as an alternative scheme, there is a growing interest in a co-evolutionary system, where two populations constantly interact and co-evolve in contrast with traditional single population evolutionary algorithm. In this paper we show why the co-evolutionary algorithm works better than SGA in terms of an extended schema theorem. And predator-prey co-evolution and symbiotic co-evolution, typical approaching methods to co-evolution, are reviewed, and dynamic fitness landscape associated with co-evolution is explained. And the experimental results show a co-evolutionary algorithm works well in optimization problems even though in deceptive functions.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.129-147
• /
• 2024

The species complex Mesodinium rubrum / major, common red tide-forming ciliates, has been intensively studied with regards to its ecological roles in global marine ecosystems and the evolutionary aspects of its "stolen" organelles (kleptoplasty and karyoklepty). Nonetheless, the taxonomy of the species within the complex remains unclear. A new marine Mesodinium species isolated from Gomso Bay, Korea, was cultivated under mixotrophic conditions by providing Teleaulax amphioxeia, a red cryptomonad, as prey. Cells of the new isolate consisted of two portions separated by two types of polykinetids. The number of polykinetid associated with the equatorial ciliary belt was approximately 38, and each consisting of two rows of up to 18 alternating kinetosomes each. There was an equal number of cirral polykinetids, each consisting of 16 kinetosomes organized into four longitudinal rows having five, five, four, and two kinetosomes, respectively (in anti-clockwise direction). The two kinds of kinetids and their associated microtubules and fibers were structurally similar to those of M. rubrum from Denmark. However, the Korean Mesodinium species was characterized by its broad posterior portion, 20-22 tentacles, and a cytopharyngeal annulus. Molecular phylogeny based on internal transcribed spacer sequences placed the Korean isolate in clade B of the M. rubrum / major species complex, rather than in clade F representing the neotype of M. rubrum. Based on morphological, ultrastructural, and molecular data, we propose the Korean strain as a new marine Mesodinium species, M. annulatum.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.256-260
• /
• 2018

Cannibalism is a widely observed phenomenon in the animal kingdom. However, it is rarely found among birds outside nests in the wild because it occurs irregularly and it is almost impossible to monitor animal behavior constantly. On 17 January 2017, this behavior was directly observed from a group of vultures feeding on a conspecific in a paddy field near Lake Geumho in Haenam-gun ($34^{\circ}35^{\prime}58.25^{{\prime}{\prime}}N$, $126^{\circ}26^{\prime}57.64^{{\prime}{\prime}}E$). It was observed and recorded with the binoculars and a camera with a telephoto lens in a car approximately 20 m (or 60 m) away from the site. The observer approached the feeding site after the last vulture had finished feeding and flown away and found remains of a vulture, including body feathers, skull, sterna keel, and both legs. It was the first report of cannibalism in Cinereous vulture Aegypius monachus in its overwintering grounds. The remaining skeleton was very fleshy, and the surrounding grass was wet with the blood of vulture. No other traces of a mammal or bird that could have been the vultures' prey were found. This report provides a detailed account of the events related to this rare observation and the causes that might have led to it.