• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2015

Social demand for ecological engineering and technology has increased in tandem with national economic growth in order to improve the environmental capacity of civil infrastructures. To meet this demand, the Korean Society of Ecology and Infrastructure Engineering (KSEIE) was established in January 2013 and has contributed to the development of ecological engineering technologies. However, the establishment of an educational system for human resources training in ecological engineering is still at an early stage, and it is imperative to develop a curriculum for producing the human resources that can understand and apply ecological principles and functions and that is equipped with the abilities required for ecological conservation, restoration, and creation. As part effort, the KSEIE held a forum, entitled Founding the Education for Ecological Engineering, to discuss the establishment of the education system for ecological engineering in Korea. In this paper, based on the discussions and suggestions made during the forum, we analyzed the current status of ecological engineering education in various disciplines - civil and construction engineering, biology and environment, and landscape planning - in domestic universities, and attempted to seek possible solutions based on the cases of foreign universities. Generally, ecology and other application curricula are taught as fragmented subjects and fields in domestic universities. The development of new education strategies and systematic curricula for multidisciplinary education, ecological response to climate change, and the expansion of research fields is required.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.191-199
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• 2019

Road development is considered an important factor in invasion and dispersion of ailen plants by damaging the natural ecosystems and connecting the detached landscapes into long tubular structures. In this study, vegetation survey was carried out according to the topographical characteristics of cut slope, fill slope, and flat land at the construction site in order to understand the effect of road developemt on the change of the floristic composition of ailen plants. Road developement projects caused a lot of changes in annual and biennial alien plants because of continuous disturbances. Changes in species composition of alien plants decreased in the cut slope. On the other hand, the ailen palnts of the fill slope increased. The increase or decrease alien plants on flat land were identified depending on where it occurred, and no major trend was found. The cause of these change was driven by unintentionally introduced alien plants. In particular, the cut slope with a high occurence of unintentional ailen plants should not be used as a source of high-risk alien plants such as ecosystem disturbances. Since the transplanted species were intentionally planted by the landscape plan, it was possible to identify colonies from early stages and spread to the nearby flat land. Therefore, in order to minimize the impact of road slope vegetation on the surrounding ecosystem during and after road construction, it is suggested to plant high viability plants in the landscape design during the environmental impact assessment consultation.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.295-303
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• 2019

This study investigated the effects of various cultivation pots on Betula platyphylla var. japonica seedlings in order to select suitable pots for the production of healthy seedlings for the ecological revegetation. We used six types of the pots natural pot, natural pot with inside 5 mm width root turning bump, natural pot with inside 10 mm width root turning bump, negative-phototropism pot, negative-phototropism pot with inside 5 mm width root turning bump, and negative-phototropism pot with inside 10 mm width root turning bump. As greenhouse cultivation provided a high level of control of irrigation and temperature, the seedlings did not show any significant differences in plant height, number of branches, and diameter at root collar, but showed a significant difference in root growth among the different types of pots. The root growth was best in the negative-phototropism pot. In the negative-phototropism, the roots grew in a vertical shape, while they grew abnormally in a spiral shape in the natural pots. In outdoor cultivation, the growth of seedlings showed significant differences according to container types. The seedlings grown in specially manufactured negative-phototropism pots were most excellent in all of the height, number of branches, diameter at root collar and root growth. As for the seedlings grown in the negative-phototropism pots, their roots grew vertically and thus their rooting was well established after they were transplanted outdoor. A size of less than 5 mm ridge installed in the negative-phototropism was found to be appropriate for the seedling growth. These results showed that the negative-phototropism pot would be best suitable for the growth of Betula platyphylla var. japonica seedlings and for the production of seedling for ecological revegetation.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.108-117
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• 2015

This study was carried out to assess problems related to legislative regulations and guidelines concerning some biological assessment systems applied to stream corridor in Korea. We comparatively reviewed the law of stream corridors and the guidelines for master plan concerned, and the law of water quality and health assessment criteria for the aquatic ecosystem concerned. Stream environments were not managed effectively due to the absence of detail regulations and the criteria for stream assessment. A biological assessment system was not equivalently integrated within the management of water resources in process implementation of projects resulting from the dualistic management system for stream corridors in Korea. The current biological assessment system was reflected to mainly physical habitats or only oriented to some aquatic species correlated with water quality. This system was also recognized as part of environment impact assessment based on an intensive survey method of most biological taxa. Conclusively rapid and quantitative assessment techniques based on advanced organisms, such as vegetation, fish and birds, etc. should be urgently provided for considering as representative indicators of stream conditions in Korea.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.23-33
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• 2019

Naeseong Stream is a sand-bed river that flows through the northern area of Gyeongbuk province. It is characterized by dynamic sandy bedforms developed in response to the seasonal hydrological fluctuation and by its unique riverine landscape called "white river." However, changes including construction of Yeongju Dam from 2010 and the extensive vegetation establishment around 2015 occurred along the Naeseong Stream. This paper aims to analyze climate, hydrology, and water quality as factors and to examine the possibility of channel changes accordingly. The second least precipitation during the last 60 years happened in 2015, which led to the lowest peak discharge in 50 years. The sediment characteristics of Naeseong Stream were not significantly different along the upstream and downstream reaches, but it was confirmed that annual minimum water level of the stream decreased continuously regardless of the dam construction. This suggests that intermittent drought and change in water quality are likely to provide favorable conditions for riparian vegetation establishment and the resulting physical changes have affected riverbed degradation. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct diversified monitoring in connection with river vegetation change in order to analyze the causes of river changes.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2022

The 2020 summer extreme flood severely disturbed the riparian ecosystem of the Seomjin River. Some trees were killed by the flood impact, whereas others have recovered through epicormic regeneration after the disturbance. At the same time, several tree individuals newly germinated. This research aimed to explain the recovery of the riparian ecosystem by spatial proximity between each tree individual of different characteristics, such as "dead", "recovered", and "newly germinated". A spatial point pattern analysis based on K and g-functions revealed that the newly germinated trees and the existing trees were distributed in the spatially clumping patterns. However, further detailed analysis revealed that the new trees were statistically less attracted to the recovered trees than the dead trees, implying competitive interactions hidden in the facilitative interactions. Habitat amelioration by the existing trees positively affected the growth of the new trees, while "living" existing trees were competing with the new trees for resources. This research is expected to provide new knowledge in this era of rapid climate change, which likely induces stronger and more frequent natural disturbance than before. Environmental factors have been widely used for ecosystem modeling, but species interactions, represented by the relative spatial distribution of plant individuals, are also valuable factors explaining ecosystem dynamics.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.120-132
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• 2021

The ecosystem and landscape conservation areas of Seoul were designated according to the Natural Environment Conservation Act and the Natural Environment Conservation Ordinance. With the adoption of the "Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Service (RAWES)" approach and the "wetland ecosystem service" for the Ramsar Wetland City Accreditation at the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 2018, the need for data evaluating wetland ecosystem services has become a necessity. Therefore, in this study, we selected five wetlands from the ecosystem and landscape conservation areas in Seoul, having high ecological conservation values, and evaluated their carbon sequestration and economic value assessment using the InVEST model, which is an ecosystem service evaluation technique. The evaluation results for carbon storage in each wetland are as follows: Tancheon Wetland: 3,674.62 Mg; Bamseom Island in the Hangang River: 1,511.57 Mg; Godeok-dong Wetland: 5,007.21 Mg; Amsa-dong Wetland: 7,108.47 Mg; and Yeouido Wetland: 290.27 Mg. Particularly, the Tancheon Wetland showed the lowest carbon sequestration of 1,130.37 Mg, as compared to the results acquired in 2013, of 4,804.99 Mg. When the average effective carbon rate of $16.06 (US) was applied to the decreased carbon sequestration value, a loss of $15,910.58(US) was calculated. Furthermore, if the average social cost of carbon ($204 (US)) is considered, which includes the impact of climate change on productivity and ecosystems, the total loss is equivalent to $202,101.97 (US). This study aims to examine the natural resource value of urban wetlands by evaluating selected major wetlands in Seoul. This study can be utilized as basic data to plan for the protection and management of the ecosystem and landscape conservation areas. Additionally, because wetland value assessment is considered essential, the results of this study can be used in future research to provide measures for evaluating ecosystem services in the Ramsar Wetland City Certification System. Moreover, this study can be utilized for selecting important wetlands as Ramsar sites, and to raise awareness about the significance of conserving urban wetlands, and for expanding international exchange among the Ramsar Wetland sites.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.34-48
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• 2019

Naeseong Stream is a natural sand-bed river that flows through mountainous and cultivated area in northern part of Gyeongbuk province. It had maintained its inherent landscape characterized by white sandbars before 2010s. However, since then changes occurred, which include construction of Yeongju Dam and the extensive vegetation development around 2015. In this study, long-term monitoring was carried out on Naeseong Stream to analyze these changes objectively. This paper aims to provide a dataset of the investigation on channel morphology and vegetation for the period 2012-2018. Methods of investigation include drone/terrestrial photography, LiDAR aerial survey and on-site fieldwork. The main findings are as follows. Vegetation development in the channel of Naeseong Stream began around 1987. Before 2013 it occurred along the downstream reach and since then in the entire reach. Some of the sites where riverbed is covered with vegetation during 2014~2015 were rejuvenated to bare bars due to the floods afterwards, but woody vegetation was established in many sites. Bed changes occurred due to deposition of sediment on the vegetated surfaces. Though Naeseong Stream has maintained its substantial sand-bed characteristics, there has been a slight tendency in bed material coarsening. Riverbed degradation at the thalweg was observed in the surveyed cross sections. Considering all the results together with the hydrological characteristics mentioned in the precedent paper (I), it is thought that the change in vegetation and landscape along Naeseong Stream was mainly due to decrease of flow. The effect of Yeongju Dam on the change of the riverbed degradation was briefly discussed as well.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.163-173
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• 2022

Climate change is a key factor that greatly influences changes in the biological seasons and geographical distribution of species. In the ecological field, the BioClimatic predictor (BioClim), which is most related to the physiological characteristics of organisms, is used for vulnerability assessment. However, BioClim values are not provided other than the future period climate average values for each GCM for the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) scenario. In this study, BioClim data suitable for domestic conditions was produced using 1 km resolution SSPs scenario detailed data produced by Rural Development Administration, and based on the data, a species distribution model was applied to mainly grow in southern, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gangwon-do and humid regions. Appropriate habitat distributions were predicted every 30 years for the base years (1981 - 2010) and future years (2011 - 2100) of the Acer pictum subsp. mono. Acer pictum subsp. mono appearance data were collected from a total of 819 points through the national natural environment survey data. In order to improve the performance of the MaxEnt model, the parameters of the model (LQH-1.5) were optimized, and 7 detailed biolicm indices and 5 topographical indices were applied to the MaxEnt model. Drainage, Annual Precipitation (Bio12), and Slope significantly contributed to the distribution of Acer pictum subsp. mono in Korea. As a result of reflecting the growth characteristics that favor moist and fertile soil, the influence of climatic factors was not significant. Accordingly, in the base year, the suitable habitat for a high level of Acer pictum subsp. mono is 3.41% of the area of Korea, and in the near future (2011 - 2040) and far future (2071 - 2100), SSP1-2.6 accounts for 0.01% and 0.02%, gradually decreasing. However, in SSP5-8.5, it was 0.01% and 0.72%, respectively, showing a tendency to decrease in the near future compared to the base year, but to gradually increase toward the far future. This study confirms the future distribution of vegetation that is more easily adapted to climate change, and has significance as a basic study that can be used for future forest restoration of climate change-adapted species.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.12-23
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• 2017

The Naeseong Stream is a meandering sand-bed stream flowing through mountains and has so long maintained its geomorphological uniqueness characterized by extensive braided bare bars. Recently, its long-lasting landscape has been changed due to encroachment of vegetation. In this study being a part of long-term monitoring research morphological changes of the 56.8 km long study reach of the Naeseong Stream, which occurred during the period of 2012 - 2016 were analyzed. Airborne LiDAR and terrestrial cross-section surveys were carried out. Hydrological and on-site investigation data were also collected. Among the main four sites, two bend reaches showed point bars enlarged, while along the other two straight reaches mid-channel bars were either newly formed or increased in area and height. At the highest deposition point of each bar, vertical changes which were caused by one or two times of sediment deposition amounted to 0.6 - 1.4 m. On the contrary channel bed degradation was not obvious. Overall morphological changes in the study reach were attributed to deposition of sediment which occurred during the flood in July 2016 on the bar surfaces vegetated during the precedent dry seasons. These kind of geomorphological processes are thought to be the same as those related to the existing mid-channel islands along the mid- and downstream reach of the Naeseong Stream.