• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.469-477
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• 2018

Hanabusaya asiatica is an endemic species whose distribution is limited in the mid-eastern part of the Korean peninsula. Due to its narrow range and small population, it is necessary to protect its habitats by identifying it as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) adopted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In this paper, we estimated potential natural habitats for H. asiatica using maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) and identified candidate sites for KBA based on the model results. MaxEnt is a machine learning algorithm that can predict habitats for species of interest unbiasedly with presence-only data. This property is particularly useful for the study area where data collection via a field survey is unavailable. We trained MaxEnt using 38 locations of H. asiatica and 11 environmental variables that measured climate, topography, and vegetation status of the study area which encompassed all locations of the border region between South and North Korea. Results showed that the potential habitats where the occurrence probabilities of H. asiatica exceeded 0.5 were $778km^2$, and the KBA candidate area identified by taking into account existing protected areas was $1,321km^2$. Of 11 environmental variables, elevation, annual average precipitation, average precipitation in growing seasons, and the average temperature in the coldest month had impacts on habitat selection, indicating that H. asiatica prefers cool regions at a relatively high elevation. These results can be used not only for identifying KBAs but also for the reference to a protection plan for H. asiatica in preparation of Korean reunification and climate change.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.3-16
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• 2012

Objectives of the Korean Environmental Conservation Value Assessment Map (ECVAM) is to evaluate environmental value used in comprehensive environmental information in order to encourage eco-friendly land use and management. The first research was conducted in 2001 to establish the evaluation items and the criteria of the ECVAM, and the first nationwide map was established in the period of 2003 to 2005. The maps are updated annually to reflect environmental changes of land. The evaluation items and the criteria have been modified based on feasibility studies to improve the accuracy of the maps. This study re-evaluated the ECVAMs from 2005 to 2010 with criteria used in current environment and analyzed the changes in the area of the maps in 6 years. This is also an investigation on the maps whether they are appropriate as an index for sustainable environmental monitoring. The result shows that the 1st grade level of the ECVAM area with the highest conservation value had been expanding since 2005. These changes were analyzed in terms of updating the 4th Forest Map (2008) produced once every 10 years, reflecting the new legal protected areas such as Baekdudaegan Protected Area(2010), and the environmental/ecological assessment items such as the National Ecological Network (2009). This mean the ECVAM are a monitoring index that integrates individual environmental indexes including the increase of forest age and diameter due to sustainable management of forest areas, and the change of conservation areas. Therefore, ECVAM can be used as a new index integrating national environmental indicators for monitoring changes of national environment and policy. In order to utilize the ECVAM, improving accuracy and reducing renewal cycle time of thematic maps are required.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.553-565
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• 2022

Awareness of the ecological value and importance of protected areas has increased as climate change accelerates, and there is a need for research on ecosystem services provided by nature. The natural park, which is a representative protected area in Korea, has a system of national parks, provincial parks, and county parks. National parks are managed systematically by the Korea National Park Service, but local governments manage provincial parks and county parks. There may be the same hierarchical differences in naturalness (habitat quality) depending on the hierarchy of the natural parks, but it has not been verified. To identify differences, we examined 22 mountain-type natural parks using habitat quality using the INVEST model developed by Stanford University. The analysis of the habitat quality, regardless of the type and area of the natural park, showed that it was higher in the order of Taebaeksan National Park (0.89), Juwangsan National Park (0.87), Woongseokbong County Park (0.86), and Gayasan National Park (0.85). The larger the area, the higher the value of habitat quality. A comparison of natural parks with similar areas showed that the habitat quality of national parks was higher than that of provincial parks and parks. On the other hand, the average habitat quality of county parks was 0.83±0.02, which was 0.05 higher than that of provincial parks at 0.78±0.03. Furthermore, the higher the proportion of forest areas within the natural park, the higher the habitat quality. The results confirmed that the naturalness of natural parks was independent of their hierarchy and that there are differences in naturalness depending on land use, land coverage, and park management.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.57-64
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• 2007

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is known to protect the heart against ischemia/reperfusion (IR)-induced injuries, and regional differences in the mitochondrial antioxidant state during IR or IPC may promote the death or survival of viable and infarcted cardiac tissues under oxidative stress. To date, however, the interplay between the mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme system and the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the body has not yet been resolved. In the present study, we examined the effects of IR- and IPC-induced oxidative stresses on mitochondrial function in viable and infarcted cardiac tissues. Our results showed that the mitochondria from viable areas in the IR-induced group were swollen and fused, whereas those in the infarcted area were heavily damaged. IPC protected the mitochondria, thus reducing cardiac injury. We also found that the activity of the mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme system, which includes manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), was enhanced in the viable areas compared to the infarcted areas in proportion with decreasing levels of ROS and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage. These changes were also present between the IPC and IR groups. Regional differences in Mn-SOD expression were shown to be related to a reduction in mtDNA damage as well as to the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c (Cyt c). To the best of our knowledge, this might be the first study to explore the regional mitochondrial changes during IPC. The present findings are expected to help elucidate the molecular mechanism involved in IPC and helpful in the development of new clinical strategies against ischemic heart disease.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.17-32
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• 2013

Reckless development policy, which has continued during the past several decades, caused landscape damage. In order to solve this problem, it is very urgent to conserve the habitat and to establish systematic database. Recently, various researches related to landscape damage have been conducted actively and the necessity of landscape ecological planning based on the biotop mapping has been issued as one of the solutions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to select the study area, which is located in Guji-meon, Dalseong-gun, Daegu and will be formed into Daegu Science Park, and then to develop and apply the landscape ecological planning model based on biotop mapping in district unit. The results are as follows. Fist of all, according to the results of biotop classification with field survey and literature review, total 13 biotop and total 63 biotop types were classified. According to the first evaluation with B-VAT, total 19 biotop types were classified I grade including natural river with abundant plants(BA) and so on. While V grade, which has lowest value, was classified 16 biotop types including vegetable garden adjacent to river(BC). Also the second evaluation, we analyzed total 30 areas such as 1a, 1b grades, which had special meaning for the conservation of species and biotop. Next, 2a, 2b, 2c grades were analyzed total 82 areas. Secondly, in the compliance with Ecological landscape planning, we divided landscape planning model into two parts such as setting of improvement goal and detailed implement plan. For instance, setting of improvement goal, we classified 9 parts such as conservation region and parts of detailed implement plan, we classified total 28 planning indicators with 4 view such as the region which should be special protected from nature and landscape. Lastly, with the developed landscape model we applied to research areas, made maps, and differentiate proposals in each region. Specially, the final master plan was made to help understand the contents of detailed landscape planning. This study will be a useful data, which can solve the landscape damage problem systematically and control it landscape-friendly with biotop classification, evaluation, landscape ecological planning model, and application method which we developed.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.32-47
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• 2013

The concepts of authenticity and integrity are very important standards to be satisfied in the conservation and utilization of Scenic Site (名勝), literally meaning the places of scenic beauty, as a public heritage. These concepts, which are frequently used in the conservation and utilization of the World Heritage inscribed by UNESCO, can be applied to all kinds of heritages. Recently, it has been widely recognized that the concepts of authenticity and integrity are not separable but interconnected. Accordingly, the maintenance of authenticity in Scenic Site should include not only the physical preservation but also the succession of historical tradition of enjoyment. The integrity in Scenic Site refers to the physical and social conditions under which authenticity can be satisfactorily protected. The aim of this study is to reconstruct the traditional ways of enjoying historical and cultural Scenic Site with emphasis on the Yeongnam Region and make a critical examination of cultural property protection areas that have been designated. Then, this study aims to find the ways to utilize Scenic Site to secure the standards of authenticity and integrity. As a result it was discovered that cultural property protection areas are not designated well enough to satisfy the standards of authenticity and integrity. Considering the fact that cultural property protection areas are the minimal institutional systems to maintain the original value of Scenic Site, it is necessary to pay more careful attention to the ways of securing the authenticity and integrity in Scenic Site.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.452-460
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• 2019

Exposure to heavy metals through the consumption of contaminated seafood poses a health risk to humans. In Korea, seafood imports are increasing with consumption, with the largest increase in imported seafood coming from Russia. Peter the Great Bay and the Razdolnaya River are both major fisheries and protected areas under the Northwest Pacific Action Plan located near Vladivostok, Russia. This study analyzed heavy metal [cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), total mercury (tHg), and total (tAs), and inorganic (iAs) arsenic] concentrations in shellfish and crustaceans collected from these areas. Except for iAs, the major toxic heavy metal concentrations of the samples met the national standards (Cd, 0.024-0.982 and 0.003-0.379 mg/kg; Pb, 0.021-1.533 and 0.002 mg/kg; tHg, 0.006-0.015 and 0.036-0.097 mg/kg). The tAs concentrations of three samples exceeded the Russian standard (5 mg/kg, wet weight), whereas the iAs concentrations were extremely low (ND-0.033 mg/kg). Compared with the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, the percentages of PTWI of Cd, Pb, and tHg were 0.239%, 0.001-0.049%, and 0.013-0.302%, respectively. These findings reveal that there is no potential health risk by heavy metals through the consumption of Russian seafood obtained in the surveyed areas.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.1-14
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• 2021

Excessive development and urbanization have destroyed animal, plant, habitats and reduced biodiversity. In order to preserve species diversity, habitat prediction studies are have been conducted at home and overseas using various modeling techniques. This study was conducted to suggest optimal habitat modeling research by comparing HSI and MaxEnt, which are widely used among habitat modeling techniques. The study was targeted on the endangered species of Prionailurus bengalensis in nearby areas (5460.35km2) including Cheonan City, and the same data were used for analysis to compare those models. According to the HSI analysis, Prionailurus bengalensis's habitat probability was 74.65% for less than 0.5 and 25.34% for more than 0.5 and the top 30% were forest (99.07%). MaxEnt's analysis showed that 56.22% of those below 0.5 and 43.79% of those above 0.5 were found to have a high explanatory power of 78.3% of AUC. The Paired Wilcoxn test, which evaluated the significance of thoes models, confirmed that the mean difference between the two models was statistically significant (p<0.05). Analysis of the differences in the results of those models using the matrix table shows that score 24.43% HSI and MaxEnt was accordance,12.44% of the 0.0 to 0.2 section, 7.22% of the 0.2 to 0.4 section, 2.73% of the 0.4 to 0.6 section, 1.96% of the 0.6 to 0.8, and 0.08% of the 0.9 to 1.0. To verify where the score difference appears, the result values of those models were reset to values from 1 to 5 and overlaid. Overlapping analysis resulted in 30.26% of the Strongly agree values, 56.77% of the agree values, and 11.92% of the Disagree values. The places where the difference in scores occurs were analyzed in the order of forest (45.23%), agricultural land (34.57%), and urbanization area (7.65%). This confirmed that the analysis of the same target species within the same target site also has differences in forecasts depending on the modelling method. Therefore, a novel analysis method combining the advantages of each modeling in habitat prediction studies should be developed, and future study may be used to select Prionailurus bengalensis and species-protected areas and species protection areas in the future. Further research is judged to require higher accuracy studies through the use of various modeling techniques and on-site verification.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.378-385
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• 2016

This study aims to suggest the framework of functional assessment on lotic area based on HGM(Hydrogeomorphic) approach targeting Wetland Protected Areas which are in the type of river channel, and to set up the fundamental data as a reference wetland. A total of 10 factors in terms of hydrology, biogeochemistry, plant habitat and animal habitat was analyzed based on the original approach of HGM and each Functional Capacity Index(FCI) of those factors was calculated. As the result of the modified FCI analysis, Damyang riverine wetland which is with artificial river bank had high values in the variables of area ratio of actual vegetation in the foreland, the number of plant per area and the area ratio of Salix spp., and those values were highly reflected on the factors of Nutrient Cycling(947,668.00), Species Richness and Maintain Characteristic Plant Communites(6.39) and Maintain Spatial Structure of Habitat(11.00). The Hanbando wetland which is keeping the natural bank had higher values in the variables of structural scale and species diversity, and the those values were highly reflected on the factors of Energy Dissipation(17,805.16), Subsurface Storage of Water(0.54), Removal of Imported Elements and Compounds(103,052.73), Maintain Characteristic Detrital Biomass(2.31), Maintenance of Interspersion and Connectivity (6.50), Species Diversity of Benthic macro-invertebrates(1.60) and Species Diversity of Vertebrate & Species Number of Other Animals(2.52/ 151.50), compared to the Damyang Riverine Wetland.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.85-91
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• 2011

Many protection methods such as surface coating, electric protection, or other methods have been applied to the numerous steel structures widely used in continental and marine areas to control their corrosion, which is done from an economic point of view. Most of these steel structures are primarily protected by coating methods. However, some steel piles under seawater are protected by the electric protection method, that is, either using an impressed current or a sacrificial anode method. Furthermore, environmental contamination may cause a severely corrosive environment, which, in turn, causes the accelerated corrosion of steel structures. Subsequently, coated steel structures could deteriorate more rapidly than the designed lifetime because of the acid rain caused by air pollution, etc. Therefore, a coating of marine paint exposed to seawater, that is, underwater hardening painting, is increasingly required to be fast drying as well as highly corrosion resistant. In this study, five types of underwater hardening paints were prepared with different resin series and additives. Their corrosion and water resistances were investigated using electrochemical methods such as corrosion potential, polarization curves, impedance and cyclic voltammogram measurements, etc. Even though it is generally accepted that the corrosion resistance of bare steel tends to increase with a shift of the corrosion potential in the noble direction, the corrosion resistance of a sample with a coating exhibited a relatively better tendency when it had a lower corrosion potential in this study. The corrosion current density was also decreased with a decrease in the diffusion limiting current density, which may mean that there is some relationship between corrosion and water resistance. The S sample of the ceramic resin series showed the relatively best corrosion and water resistance among those of samples, while the worst corrosion and water resistance were observed for the R sample of the epoxy resin series. The corrosion and water resistance of those samples tended to deteriorate with an increase in the immersion days, and their corrosion and water resistances were considered to be apparently improved by the types of resin and additives.