• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.39-49
• /
• 1999

Urban streams have, recently, been straightened and widened to alleviate flooding problem. As a result, the stream have been modified inadvertently for ecological functions and microtopography. In this study, we investigated riparian vegetation and microtopography of the tributaries of Han River before and after the monsoon rain in summer. The purpose of this study was to relate the stream microtopography to the distribution of riparian vegetation. The stream microtopography was investigated for its scale and pattern. Vegetation was investigated from 131 plots by Braun-Blanquet method. The distribution of riparian vegetation was significantly correlated with the stream microtopography. Various herbaceous species occurred at stream bank slop, high terrace and channel side. However, at channel side and concave part of terrace where soils were in high moisture level, only a few wetland species were dominated. The complexity of the microtopography in the stream corridors led to heterogeneous riparian vegetation. The vegetation showed more stability against flooding at the stream corridors with natural and complex microtopography than at the urban-type stream corridors with simple topographical features. The results showed that the development of riparian vegetation was influenced by the changes in microtopography, which was primarily determined by the shape and characteristics of channel. It seemed that a close-to-nature river system would be restored more readily with an understanding of microtopographical features affecting the distribution of riparian vegetation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.32-42
• /
• 2004

This study aims at establishing an ecological planning for road construction. which is considered to be a main cause of damage to the natural environment in Korea. This study focuses on the Pyungtak-Eumsung Highway development project. It considers the ecological factors and status of the site and its surrounding area. The study site is a four-way highway with a width of 23.4m and a length of 5.7km that spans from Hyungok-ri, Anseong City, Kyeonggi Province to Jukhyun-ri, Jincheon-gun, Chungbuk Province. The objective of the plan is "the establishment of an eco-road in harmony with nature." The plan is divided into five detailed goals: 1) restoration of river morphology and ecosystem through ecological planning; 2) establishment of wet biotopes; 3) construction of ecological corridors; 4) restoration of damaged forest ecosystems; and 5) ecological restoration of the roadside slopes that are linked with the surrounding forest. A master plan has been developed based on the detailed goals. The master plan involves: 1) establishment of a natural river, wet biotopes, and ecological corridors that facilitate the movement of amphibians, wild fowls, mammalians and fish; 2) development of a planting plan for the visitor center, the tunnel entrance, and soundproof banks; and 3) the presentation of a planting model for restoring roadside slopes that are connected to the surrounding forest. The eco-road plan needs to entail ecological conservation and restoration plans. In addition, a monitoring plan for ecological corridors and habitats should be included in the comprehensive plans, along with the continuous development of environmentally friendly technologies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.40-54
• /
• 2008

Small and large dams are installed in the course of a stream for maintaining the water level of the stream or obtaining agricultural water. Currently about 18,000 of them are installed in Korea to supply water. However, the environmental problems of small dams are well known : the interruption of stream eco-corridors, deterioration of water quality in the upper reaches of the small dam, changes in the habitats of riparian organisms, damages to the stream scenery. In a very few of these small dams artificial eco-corridors like fishways are installed, but the number is very minimal.Accordingly, to efficiently restore stream eco-corridors by removing these small dams, it will be necessary to closely examine physical impacts, such as changes in the riverbed and changes in the shape of the stream caused by the removal, chemical impacts, such as changes in water quality, and transport and accumulation of contaminated sediments and biological impacts, such as changes in the habitats of organisms, and develop related technologies in advance, and have these technologies verified through demonstration application in the sites. In this study, we analyzed the physical, chemical and ecological impacts of the removal of the above-mentioned small dams, and conducted a research on the demonstration small dam removal project for a spot investigation. As a result, the small dam removal will restore the eco-corridor, there by improving the habitat of fishes and crustaceans. The number of major underwater organisms inhabiting the Gokreungcheon, such as Korean spotted sleepers, Chinese minnows, Microphysogobio yaluensis, Abbottina rivularis, stone morokos, striped shinners, long-nosed barbels, and Chinese mitten crabs, is expected to increase, and the food chain in the ecosystem will improve so that species diversity will improve as well.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.34-41
• /
• 2003

Connectivity is a quantitative indicator of landscape structure, and connectivity of urban green areas is an indicator of ecological integrity in urban landscapes. The purposes of this study are to assess the connectivity of urban green areas in Seoul, and to develop a method of siting new green areas for better connectivity. Diverse methods for connectivity assessment and indices of connectivity are reviewed and applied to the connectivity assesment of green areas in Seoul. The indices of connectivity of green areas in Seoul turned out to be higher than expected, maybe because many of them are rather evenly distributed, serving as stepping stones, and because there are many riparian corridors, including the Han River. Analysis also shows the optimum location of new green space patches or corridors will be those spots that would link the mainland, or large green areas outside the city, and existing green areas in the city. Restoration of urban streams as ecological corridors will significantly enhance connectivity. Three different scenarios with increasing numbers of new green areas in the city were then prepared. The changes of connectivity were measured and the possible success rates of animal dispersal were simulated. The results revealed that restoration of streams will increase the connectivity and success rates of animal dispersal.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2015.05a
• /
• pp.223-223
• /
• 2015

This research evaluates cooperation in transboundary rivers with special reference to the Great Mekong Subregion (GMS) program in the Mekong River Basin. The benefit sharing approach has been deployed as a theoretical framework to analyze the extent to which the riparian states have achieved cooperation. The river basin governance led by the Mekong River Commission since 1995 has not adequately performed due to non-participation of upstream countries and the lack of law enforcement mechanism. Since the late 1980s, China has undertaken hydropower development unilaterally, thereby triggering discomfort from the Lower Mekong countries. The GMS program has led China to strengthening economic ties with the downstream countries through hydropower development as investors and developers. The program has also supported the establishment of economic corridors, and removal of physical barriers and has paved the way for cooperation in other sectors, such as the environment, agriculture, tourism and energy. There are challenges for further cooperation, including the development gaps between China and the downstream countries, political tensions and environment impacts of hydropower dams in the river basin. The Mekong River Basin shows the possibility of cooperation through benefit sharing. Sharing benefits accrued from the river and beyond the river between China and the downstream countries have enhanced economic ties, thereby consolidating cooperation each another.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.34 no.4 s.117
• /
• pp.69-83
• /
• 2006

Nature rehabilitation has become a major theme in river management in South Korea. An analysis and evaluation of the landscape is a crucial step to select the suitable tracts for developing or conserving land use in the process of landscape planning. The purpose of this paper is to establish a hierarchical procedure for the setting of the landscape units on the various scales at which field biologists performed their observations and to select the preserves through by a suitability model for synthesizing the ecological empirical, and biophysical data. An evaluation process needs to be performed according to the landscape scales: site, local, and regional scales, at which the environmental data were collected, analyzed, and synthesized. Introducing of three level scales was crucially necessary for evaluating the various multi level ecological data for zoning of preserves in river corridors. The evaluation level at different scales are hierarchically established into three phases. The first evaluation phase can be performed by the long length units defined by the ranges of stream widths at regional scale. Secondly, each of these long units can be divided into two or more segments according to its landscape homogeneity at local level. Finally the segments at the last phase can be designated according to the location of the reservoir weirs and bridges at site level. The conceptual model components are adopted for collecting, evaluating, and interpreting the biological and abiotic data at site level. Three preserves are selected, having high potentials for being intensely managed as the Ecological Education Areas in the river. Despite a lot of assumption the results are expected to facilitate discussion and decision making about which frameworks of evaluation are desirable and adaptable for integrating the ecological data into the rehabilitation design process in South Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.48-57
• /
• 2002

River plays an important role both to nature and people. Also considering the limitation of land and water resources coupled with the continuous urbanization and industrialization of Korea, the effective river management becomes more and more important. The evaluation units consisted of main 3 factors(13 detail factors) are classified 5 grade and 5 scores system. The survey area was divided and selected by 5 zones in Musim-cheon river. The final result of evaluation for 5 Zone is good near natural river following next order; 1 (4.07), 2 (3.56), 5 (3.4), 4 (3.1) and 3 Zone(2.6 score) On this condition, the main purpose of this study was to apply GIS(geographic information system) spatial analysis for evaluation method of river naturalness in order to promote the river management and the process of ecological restoration of river corridors.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.29-38
• /
• 1999

Present green space planning of Korea pay little attention to biodiversity conservation in urban areas. The quality of urban wildlife habitat has been deteriorated severely due to fragmentation and isolation of urban open spaces. The application of ecological corridors to urban green space planning and management can greatly enhance the bird habitat of Seoul. The objectives of this study were to evaluate bird habitat potential of existing urban parks of Seoul, and to investigate methods to develop ecological corridors for wild birds. This study consists of three parts. The first part is to construct bird species/habitat relationship model. The second part is to evaluate 207 urban parks of Seoul with the model. Based on the relative potential for bird habitat, urban parks of Seoul can be classified into cores, nodes, and points of the network. Outcomes of this part can also be used to enhance the quality of bird habitats by identifying limits or weakness of existing green spaces for bird habitat. The final part is to develop three green network plans; north-south network, the Han river network, and a district network for Kangnam-Gu.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.18 no.3 s.39
• /
• pp.57-70
• /
• 1990

This study is on system building and model case study to establish a new framework of "The Wild and Scenic Rivers System" and to apply this to Korean rivers. The Wild and Scenic Rivers System of the U. S. , which had become law in 1968 for establishing wild scenic and recreational river areas, was investigated. The techniques of two American case studies about the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System designation were investigated and synthesized, and study process was adjusted to Korean river system. Additionally, pilot study was carried out by the method and results were as follows : 1) In the American Wild and Scenic Rivers System, each river was evaluated based on eligibility criteria for designation, such as remarkable scenic, recreational, fish and wildlife, cultural or other ecological values. Segmented river areas were classified into three or four grades and management plans were prepared accordingly. 2) The management of rivers in Korea has emphasized on the flood control and water resources management up to the present, and now takes a growing interest in water quality. But it has been concerned very little with wild and scenic resources conservation of river corridors. It is strongly recommended to build Wild and Scenic Rivers System in Korea for rational management and conservation of the valuable natural resource. 3) Suggested evaluation criteria for the Korean Wild and Scenic Rivers System were wildness, wildlife and plants, hydrology, scenic quality, and historical and cultural resources. The river areas may be graded into four : Positive conservation area(I), Negative conservation area(II), Negative development area(III), Positive development area(IV). Management guidelines were proposed for each grade. 4) To test the applicability of the approach, one of the major tributary of the Han-River was selected for pilot study. The result showed that the evaluation and grading system worked well. Finally, it is recommended to incorporate the Wild and Scenic Rivers System into Korean national park system, and to amend the Korean National Park Act to enable this.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.151-165
• /
• 2015

This study surveys and analyzes the ecology of Gangseo area to be developed near Nakdonggang River and West Nakdonggang River in Busan - before its development. With the result of the surveys as its basis, the study also finds ways to conserve the area's bird habitats in response to the planned development. According to the site surveys over four seasons, West Nakdonggang River which is near the targeted development area is a wintering ground for migratory birds. Some representative bird types in this area are ducks, geese, and other water birds. There are even six legally protected species. The average altitude of their flight is calculated to be $92.4{\pm}18.8m$ and the main purpose for the migration is determined to be for food. According to evalution of the conservation value of the area, Nakdonggang River and West Nakdonggang River turns out to have the highest conservation value. Other areas are developable as long as it was environmentally friendly. Therefore, this study suggests incorporation of ecological parks and biotopes within the targeted development area along with the proposal for spaces in the surroundings where the wintering birds can rest and feed. Especially for the wintering birds that rest at Nakdonggang River and West Nakdonggang River, their flight direction and pattern was examined to determine that their resting ground should be located 50~100m off of the river bank. Furthermore, this study proposes ways to maximize bird habitat by building ecological corridors between the agricultural channel and other small streams in the targeted development area and the habitats in the surroundings. Lastly, the study suggests the construction of low buildings, at most 20m in height, near Nakdonggang River and West Nakdonggang River considering the birds' flight altitude and direction.