• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.377-390
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• 2020

URBAN ECOLOGICAL MAPS must be created by local governments by NATURAL ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION ACT, and the maps are generally called biotope map. So far, biotope maps study was a tendency to focus on the type of vegetation, naturalness, land use, landscape ecology theories. However, biotope related studies have not reflected the concept of animal habitat, which is a component of biotope, and that is the limitation of biotope map research. This study suggest a methodology to predict potential habitats for fauna using machine learning to quantify habitat values. The potential habitats of fauna were predicted by spatial statistics using machine learning, and the results were converted into species richness. For biotope type assessments, we classified biotope values into vegetation value and habitat value and evaluated them using a matrix for value summation. The vegetation value was divided into 5 stages based on vegetation nature and land use, and the habitat value was classified into five stages by predicting the species richness predicted by machine learning. This is meaningful because our research can positively reflect the results of field surveys of fauna that were negatively reflected in the evaluation of biotope types in the past. Therefore, in the future, if the biotope map manual is revised, our methodology should be applied.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.764-772
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• 2018

It is necessary to explore the possibility of alternative habitats and research the characteristics of basic habitats due to seeding, culturing and harvesting of blood clams (Tegillarca granosa) in tidal flats. Currently, dependence on naturally occurring spat is much higher than in other species, which may lead to a reduction in biological resources. In this study, we selected a total of 5 sites (Changgi, Hopo in Cheonsu Bay and Dangsan, Sachang, Wangsan in Garolim Bay) and examined habitat suitability factors for suitable site selection. Also, we considered the relationship of habitat suitability factors (Environment: water content, organic content; survival: mud content, mean size; growth: chlorophyll a). As a result, Wangsan had the highest score of the main habitat of blood clams (Habitat suitability score, Wangsan: 87; Dangsan: 86; Sachang: 81; Hopo: 78; and Changgi: 73). The sediment in Garolim Bay was fine-grained and the seasonal variation was lower than Cheonsu Bay. Therefore, it is considered that Garolim Bay is more suitable as a potential area and easy to utilize the space. In the future, search and selection of potential suitable sites could be considered to solve problems caused by the reduction of biological resources and the production for blood clams.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2023

Recently, in relation to climate change, many studies have been conducted to predict the potential habitat area and distribution range of tilapia and the suitability of habitat for each species. Most tilapia are tropical fish that cannot survive at water temperatures below 10 to 12℃, although some tilapia can survive at 6 to 8℃. This study predicted habitable areas and the possibility of spreading of habitat ranges of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus and Oreochromis aureus) known to inhabit domestic streams. Due to climate change, it was found that habitats in the Geum River, Mangyeong River, Dongjin River, Seomjin River, Taehwa River, Hyeongsan River, and the flowing in East Sea were possible by 2050. In addition, it was confirmed that tilapia could inhabit the preferred lentic ecosystem such as Tamjin Lake, Naju Lake, Juam Lake, Sangsa Lake, Jinyang Lake, Junam Reservoir, and Hoedong Reservoir. In particular, in the case of tilapia, which lives in tributaries of the Geumho River, Dalseo Stream, and the Nakdong River, its range of habitat is expected to expand to the middle and lower of the Nakdong River system. Therefore, it is judged that it is necessary to prepare physical and institutional management measures to prevent the spread of the local population where tilapia currently inhabits and to prevent introduction to new habitats.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.154-163
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• 2021

This study was carried out to present the habitat distribution status and the habitat distribution prediction of Sophora koreensis, which is the Korean Endemic Plant included in the EN (Endangered) class of the IUCN Red List. The habit distribution survey of Sophora koreensis confirmed 19 habitats in Gangwon Province, including 13 habitats in Yanggu-gun, 3 habitats in Inje-gun, 2 habitats in Chuncheon-si, and 1 habitat in Hongcheon-gun. The northernmost habitat of Sophora koreensis in Korea was in Imdang-ri, Yanggu-gun; the easternmost habitat in Hangye-ri, Inje-gun; the westernmost habitat in Jinae-ri, Chuncheon-si; and the southernmost habitat in Sungdong-ri, Hongcheon-gun. The altitude of the Sophora koreensis habitats ranged from 169 to 711 m, with an average altitude of 375m. The area of the habitats was 8,000-734,000 m², with an average area of 202,789 m². Most habitats were the managed forests, such as thinning and pruning forests. The MaxEnt program analysis for the potential habitat of Sophora koreensis showed the AUC value of 0.9762. The predictive habitat distribution was Yanggu-gun, Inje-gun, Hwacheon-gun, and Chuncheon-si in Gangwon Province. The variables that influence the prediction of the habitat distribution were the annual precipitation, soil carbon content, and maximum monthly temperature. This study confirmed that habitats of Sophora koreensis were mostly found in the ridge area with rich light intensity. They can be used as basic data for the designation of protected areas of Sophora koreensis habitat.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.197-207
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• 2016

This study aims at providing basic data to objectively evaluate the areas suitable for reintroduction of the species of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in order to effectively preserve the Asiatic black bears in the Korean protection areas including national parks, and for the species restoration success. To this end, this study predicted the potential habitats in East Asia, Southeast Asia and India, where there are the records of Asiatic black bears' appearances using the Maxent model and environmental variables related with climate, topography, road and land use. In addition, this study evaluated the effects of the relevant climate and environmental variables. This study also analyzed inhabitation range area suitable for Asiatic black and geographic change according to future climate change. As for the judgment accuracy of the Maxent model widely utilized for habitat distribution research of wildlife for preservation, AUC value was calculated as 0.893 (sd=0.121). This was useful in predicting Asiatic black bears' potential habitat and evaluate the habitat change characteristics according to future climate change. Compare to the distribution map of Asiatic black bears evaluated by IUCN, Habitat suitability by the Maxent model were regionally diverse in extant areas and low in the extinct areas from IUCN map. This can be the result reflecting the regional difference in the environmental conditions where Asiatic black bears inhabit. As for the environment affecting the potential habitat distribution of Asiatic black bears, inhabitation rate was the highest, according to land coverage type, compared to climate, topography and artificial factors like distance from road. Especially, the area of deciduous broadleaf forest was predicted to be preferred, in comparison with other land coverage types. Annual mean precipitation and the precipitation during the driest period were projected to affect more than temperature's annual range, and the inhabitation possibility was higher, as distance was farther from road. The reason is that Asiatic black bears are conjectured to prefer more stable area without human's intervention, as well as prey resource. The inhabitation range was predicted to be expanded gradually to the southern part of India, China's southeast coast and adjacent inland area, and Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia in the eastern coastal areas of Southeast Asia. The following areas are forecast to be the core areas, where Asiatic black bears can inhabit in the Asian region: Jeonnam, Jeonbuk and Gangwon areas in South Korea, Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku, Chubu, Kanto and Tohoku's border area in Japan, and Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian border area in China. This study is expected to be used as basic data for the preservation and efficient management of Asiatic black bear's habitat, artificially introduced individual bear's release area selection, and the management of collision zones with humans.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.133-141
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• 2008

The loss, alteration, and fragmentation of habitat have led to a reduction of biodiversity. The growing awareness of the negative effects of habitat fragmentation on natural systems has resulted in conservation strategy that is concerned with not only population and habitat level but also ecosystem and landscape level. Especially, ecological network to link core areas or major habitat patches is one of the most important issues. Recently, landscape connectivity is increasingly used in decision making for fragmented landscape management in order to conserve the biodiversity in the regional scale. The objective of this study was to find potential forest as a ecological corridor in Go-yang city, Gyung-gi province using cost-distance modelling method that can measure connectivity based on animal movement. 'Least cost-distance' modelling based on functional connectivity can be useful to establish ecological network and biodiversity conservation plan. This method calculates the distance modified with the cost to move between habitat patches based on detailed geographical information on the landscape as well as behavioural aspects of the animal movement. The least cost-distance models are based on two biologically assumptions: (1) dispersers have complete knowledge of their surroundings, and (2) they do select the least cost route from this information. As a result of this study, we can find wildlife moving route for biodiversity conservation. The result is very useful for long-term aspect of biodiversity conservation plan in regional scale, because this is reflection of geographical information and behavioural aspects of the animal movement.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.19-32
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• 2023

The fragmentation of habitats resulting from human activities leads to the isolation of wildlife and it also causes wildlife-vehicle collisions (i.e. Road-kill). In that sense, it is important to predict potential habitats of specific wildlife that causes wildlife-vehicle collisions by considering geographic, environmental and transportation variables. Road-kill, especially by large mammals, threatens human safety as well as financial losses. Therefore, we conducted this study on roe deer (Capreolus pygargus tianschanicus), a large mammal that causes frequently Road-kill in Jeju Island. So, to predict potential wildlife habitats by considering geographic, environmental, and transportation variables for a specific species this study was conducted to identify high-priority restoration sites with both characteristics of potential habitats and road-kill hotspot. we identified high-priority restoration sites that is likely to be potential habitats, and also identified the known location of a Road-kill records. For this purpose, first, we defined the environmental variables and collect the occurrence records of roe deer. After that, the potential habitat map was generated by using Random Forest model. Second, to analyze roadkill hotspots, a kernel density estimation was used to generate a hotspot map. Third, to define high-priority restoration sites, each map was normalized and overlaid. As a result, three northern regions roads and two southern regions roads of Jeju Island were defined as high-priority restoration sites. Regarding Random Forest modeling, in the case of environmental variables, The importace was found to be a lot in the order of distance from the Oreum, elevation, distance from forest edge(outside) and distance from waterbody. The AUC(Area under the curve) value, which means discrimination capacity, was found to be 0.973 and support the statistical accuracy of prediction result. As a result of predicting the habitat of C. pygargus, it was found to be mainly distributed in forests, agricultural lands, and grasslands, indicating that it supported the results of previous studies.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.519-533
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• 2003

The U.S. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) resulted in the conversion of approximately 14.8 million ha(36.5 million acres) of cropland to grassland, woodland, and other conservation uses throughout the U.S. between 1986 and 1992. One of the major results of CRP has been the addition of millions of hectares of potential wildlife habitat. primarily as grassland. In this study, we examined regional changes in landscape structure caused by the introduction of CRP. Utilizing multi-seasonal Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery, we produced maps of cropland and grassland for the pre- and post- CRP enrollment periods for a six-county region in southwest Kansas. We then applied post-classification differencing to identify regions of cropland that had been converted to CRP. Using the FRAGSTATS spatial pattern analysis program, we calculated a variety of spatial statistics to analyze changes in landscape structure due to CRP. The major impact of CRP in the six-county study area has been the reversal of an overall trend of grassland habitat fragmentation. From the standpoint of potential wildlife habitat, the introduction of CRP has greatly increased the number of patches, mean patch size, and the interior or core area of grassland patches. In addition, CRP has increased connectivity and aggregation between grassland patches, potentially important factors for species of conservation interest, particularly those that require larger expanses of unbroken habitat. Finally, the distance between neighboring patches of grassland has decreased, reducing travel distance between patches. Clearly, the introduction of CRP has substantially modified the spatial structure of the southwest Kansas landscape, with important implications for wildlife habitat.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.45-58
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• 2020

This study was conducted to comprehend the spatial distribution characteristics, habitats and appearances of Hydropotes inermis by using the biotope mapping in Daebudo Island, Ansan-si. The result is base data to understand status and manage potential inhabitation of Hydropotes inermis in Daebudo Island through the Maximum Entropy model. The study used 105 traces from the primary investigation and 452 traces in the secondary investigation. The biotope types were distinquished Hydropotes inermis habitats largest from the order of natural forest (15.1%), natural coast (13.7%), marshy cultivated land (12.6%), and dry cultivated land (11.7%), and from the inhabitation trace results. Hydropotes inermis appearanced biotope types were the greatest in the order of cultivated land (49.73%) > forest (18.85%) > coast (7.00%) > grassland (6.28%). Since forests in Daebudo Island have low slope and altitude, it was concluded that Hydropotes inermis would live in most of the forests. A high number of Hydropotes inermis was found to appear in areas where the grassland is formed including cultivated lands (include unused paddies and fields) and marshy grasslands, which would result in direct damage of crops. According to the Maxent modeling analysis that used location information of Hydropotes inermis, the AUC value was 0.635 based on the ROC curve. In Daebudo Island, areas with over 0.635 potential inhabitation value are distributed all over the place, and it was concluded that each population would have a different scope of influence and home range. Hydropotes inermis living in Daebudo Island have high habitat suitability mainly around the cultivated lands near the roads, but due to the bare lands and roads, it is expected that their habitats would be fragmented and damaged, which would have a direct and indirect effect in maintaining the Hydropotes inermis population. Also, considering habitat disturbance, diverse methods for reducing damage including capturing some individuals within the limit that does not disperse Hydropotes inermis population in Daebudo Island must be carried out.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2022

Background: In South Korea, African swine fever virus (ASFV) has spread among wild boars through Gangwon-do to Dangyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do on the southern border of Gangwon-do. To prevent the spread of ASFV to African swine fever (ASF)-free areas, it is necessary to identify areas with a high probability of finding ASFV-infected carcasses and to reduce the density of wild boars in those areas. In this study, we described the propagation trend of ASFV among wild boars, constructed the habitat suitability maps for ASFV-infected carcasses, and suggested areas with a high probability of finding ASFV-infected carcasses and an important route of ASFV transmission. Results: Despite the active quarantine policies in Korea to prevent the spread of ASFV through wild boars, there was no significant difference in the monthly average of number of ASFV-infected carcasses observed between 2020 and 2021. The ASFV-infected carcasses were found more in winter and spring (January to April). Since the first ASF outbreak in wild boars on October 2, 2019, the maximum width of ASFV-infected carcass distribution area was 222.7 km for about 26 months till November 20, 2021. The habitat suitability map, based on GPS coordinates of ASFV-infected wild boar carcasses, shows that highly detectable areas of ASFV-infected carcasses were sporadically dispersed in western and southwestern parts of Gangwon-do, and ranged from north to south of the province along the Baekdudaegan Mountains, whereas poorly detectable areas ranged along the north to the south in the middle parts of the province. Conclusions: Our suitability model, based on the GPS coordinates of ASFV-infected carcasses, identifies potential habitats where ASFV-infected carcasses are likely to be found and ponential routes where ASFV is likely to spread. Among ASF-free areas, the areas with high suitability predicted in this study should be given priority as survey areas to find ASFV-infected carcasses and hunting areas to reduce wild boar populations.