• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.1-24
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• 2022

We investigate how reforestation contributed to stabilization of riverine water levels in South Korea. For the purpose, we estimate an equation capturing dynamic relationships among rainfall, upstream-area tree stock, and downstream water levels in three river systems of Hongcheon, Mangyeong, and Hyeongsan, using daily observations of precipitation and water levels for the period from 1985 to 2005. Simulation based on estimation results shows that increase in the tree stock in a river basin leads to a significantly suppressed peaking in riverine water levels in response to an abrupt and concentrated rain in the upstream area. For instance, an hour-long concentration of 100mm rain results in 0.7m rise in water level if the volume of growing stock is 1 million m³, whereas the rise in water level stays below 0.27m with 5 million m³ in the growing-stock volume.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2002

The morphology, seed germination, and life history of Salix nipponica were investigated in the wetland of the Nam-River, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea from 2000 to 2001 to provide the basic data necessary for riverine ecosystem restoration through understanding the growth characteristics of Salix nipponica. Salix nipponica had stomata on only lower side and stomata type was paracytic. Salix nipponica produced many small and light seeds. The seed number per mature ament was 1599.4, seed mass of 0.04 mg, and fertilization rate of 66.1%. Seed germination was little affected by light. Germination rate was high and mean germination time was short Under flooding condition, seeds were germinated normally and were viable after as much as 14 days of flooding. But there were no differences under various water depths on germination rates. Tree age was closely correlated with more stem diameter than tree height and there was no difference of growth rate between male and female tree. Growth rate was most rapid for 2 to 3 years after germination, and length growth was almost stopped for more than 11 years even though mass growth was done. Besides even a second-year indivisual was flowered.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.251-255
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• 2007

Self-thinning was measured in Salix communities on Bam Island in Seoul at various age stages. $D^2H$ was used to estimate tree biomass, where D is stem diameter at breast height or 10 cm height for plants with height <1.5 m, and H is height. A log-log plot of density versus $D^2H$ and correlation analysis indicated a significant relationship between density and biomass with equation 'log $D^2H$ = -1.27 log N + 7.06'. This indicates that self-thinning affects biomass in the Salix community with -1.27 as the thinning coefficient. If we assume a thinning exponent -3/2, then the allometric coefficient of the equation, log w = a log $D^2H$ + b, is 1.18. This is much higher than that for any other species studied in Korea. There were statistically significant relationships between age and density and between age and basal area and these relationships suggest guidelines for transplantation of willows and for the assessment of Salix community restoration projects in riverine wetlands based on standard density, basal area, and age. The results of this study may also increase understanding of succession processes in Salix community restoration in riverine wetlands.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.51-63
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• 2023

Riverine tree management is crucial in realizing a balance between flood control and ecological preservation, which requires an accurate assessment of the impact of trees on river water elevations. In this study, eight different formulas for evaluating vegetation roughness considering the drag force acting on trees, were reviewed, and the characteristics and applicability of these methods were evaluated from a practical engineering perspective. The study compared the characteristics of vegetation roughness measurement methods for calculated roughness coefficients at different water depths and analyzed factors such as effects of tree canopy width, tree density and diameter, and tree stiffness coefficient, and water level estimation results. A comparison of roughness coefficients at the same water depths revealed that the Kouwen and Fathi-Moghadam formulas and the Fischenich formula yield excessive drag coefficients compared to other formulas. Factors such as channel geometry, tree diameter, and tree density showed varying trends depending on the formula but did not exhibit excessive outliers. Formulas considering the tree stiffness coefficient, such as the Freeman et al.'s formula and the Whittaker et al.'s formula, showed significant variations in drag coefficients depending on the stiffness coefficient. When applied to small- and medium-sized virtual rivers in South Korea using the drag coefficient results from the eight formulas, the results indicated a maximum increase in water level of approximately 0.2 to 0.4 meters. Based on this review, it was concluded that the Baptist et al., Huthoff et al., Cheng, Luhar, and Nepf's formulas, which exhibit similar characteristics and low input data uncertainties, are suitable for practical engineering applications.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.347-356
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• 2007

The structure and dynamics of Korean red pine stands established in the riparian zone were studied in the Tsang stream in Mt. Seorak National Park, in east-central Korea. Pine stands were classified into four successional stages, the initial, establishing, competitive, and stabilizing stages, based on the age distribution of a dominant tree, Pinus densiflora, the vegetation stratification, and the microtopography of the riverine environment. The stages usually corresponded to disturbance frequencies, depending on the horizontal and vertical distances from the watercourse. Stands of the initial and establishing stages lacked tree or subtree layers, or both. As stands progressed through the developmental stages, soil particle size became finer and moisture retention capacity was improved. The stand ordination reflected the developmental stage, and the species ordination differentiated species specializing in relatively dry and wet habitats. The results of the analysis of vegetation dynamics provided ecological information which will be useful for understanding the developmental processes of vegetation established in riparian zones. Species diversity indices usually increased across developmental stages, following the typical pattern for successional processes. We discuss the importance and necessity of riparian vegetation in Korea, where most riparian forests have disappeared due to excessive human land use.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.35-50
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• 2002

This study aims to understand wetland distribution and type-specific classification features with a focus on Tumen River downstream in China by adjusting and improving the classification system used in Korea with a reference to international wetland classification systems and their criteria & methods. In this study, wetland types were determined based on hydrology, vegetation, and soil conditions, which are the most basic elements of wetlands. Also, topography analytical map, vegetation analytical map, and soil analytical map for wetland classification were developed and used based on currently available topography map, vegetation map, and soil map. In addition, codes were defined based on topography, location, hydrology, and vegetation. The result shows that, in the Tumen River downstream, wetlands are often found near natural revetment and terrace land & river-bed lakes. In the discovered wetlands, riverine, lacustrine, and inland wetlands were mostly found at system level. Riparian and human-made wetlands were also identified. At a sub-system level, perennial and seasonal wetlands were found to a similar degree. At a class level, perennial open water, herbal plants, and shrubs were mostly found and sandy plain, hydrophytes, and forest tree types were also observed. An overall detailed classification shows that a total of 17 wetland types were found and a large distribution of sand dunes and river-bed lakes, which are scarce in Northeast Asia, indicates that other rare wetland types such as palustrine seasonal sand plain wetland and lacustrine seasonal sand plain wetland may be discovered.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.359-369
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• 2015

Stream ecosystems are highly valued natural resources, however, stream environments are currently under threat in several respects. We evaluated vegetation and ecological characteristics according to different revetment types. The distribution of vegetation differed with revetment type, with a 42~45 taxa found in natural revetments, and 23~38 taxa in vertical revetments. Thus, natural revetments host more diverse vegetation than vertical revetments. We also found more plants belonging to the families Labiatae and Cyperaceae growing in natural revetments than in vertical revetments. We proposed that habitat space be apportioned to introduce annual plants as part of stream restoration projects. And, we identified 7 families and 18 taxa of naturalized plants, majority taxa were either biennial or perennial. Moreover, naturalized ratio was higher in vertical(14.3%) than natural(12.1%), we proposed a plan to promote and improve natural streams and revetments. Furthermore, we applied a waterfront evaluation method developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA-NRCS, which confirmed that stream health can be improved in most regions by controlling naturalized plants and ensuring shrub and tree growth. We adopted a new method to remove naturalized plants and establish natural revetments to ensure shrub and tree growth to aid in small-stream restoration and improvement. In future studies, we hope to develop methods for small-stream restoration projects in rural areas.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.124-129
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• 2015

In order to get as ecological basic data for river restoration, vegetation investigation was conducted in natural river and analysed it synecological methods, such as ordination cluster. 29 plant communities units were identified and the major dominant plant communites were Quercus mongolica community, Pinus densiflora community, Populus davidiana community, Q. variabilis community and Prunus sargentii community. River vegetations were classified into ravine and gorge forest type and riverine softwood forest type. Ravine and gorge forest was dominanted by hardwood which located in steep slope and in high elevation, and riverine softwood forest by softwood, salix spp. Naturality was an important criterion for the selection of rivers, so many of the selected rivers are located in the upper stream and mid stream rather than the lower stream, where more human intervention is involved. Plant communities were consisted of hardwood forest(44 plots, 92%) and softwood forest(4 plot, 8%), respectively. PCA with total layer data showed 5 groups of communities: Q. mongolica community group, Prunus sargentii community group, Pinus densiflora community group, Prunus sargentii community - Pinus densiflora community group and the rest communities group. PCA with tree layer showed 3 groups: Q. mongolica community group, Prunus sargentii community group, and the rest community group. Cluster analysis also a showed a similar communities group to PCA ordination, but Magnolia sieboldii community and Prunus sargentii community were distinguished from the PCA result. From the result, it can be concluded that the plant communities of riparian be divided into hardwood and softwood forest by statistical techniques. It was appropriate to plant species such as Quercus mongolica, Pinus densiflora, Populus davidiana, Quercus variabilis and Prunus sargentii, at levee zone and high water level. And Sliax spp. were appropriate for planted plants at waterfront and low water level. The herb species to be planted on the floodplain were recommanded in the species composition co-occurred with the woody species.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.3-17
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• 1998

The purposes of this study is to investigate the possibility of planting trees at space land in the riverside. The space land is for the green space. Calculating the plantable space in the representation section and the flood flowing stability of the existing banks based on the hydrological and meteorological data of the Kap-Chon riverbasin located in Tae-jon, the following results are drawn. (1) The flood discharges in each flow section are $698.7m^3/s$ in section 1, $654.6m^3/s$ in section 2, and $1353.3m^3/s$ in section 3 during 100 years recurrence interval. Because the designed-flood discharges in those sections are $1719.9m^3/s$, $2119.7m^3/s$, and $1512.8m^3/s$ respectively, safety for flood flowing is sufficient in existing banks. (2) The possible clearance for planting trees is 1.80m in section 1, 3.90m in section 2, and 0.01m in section 3. Planting clearance is enough in section 1 and 2. However, planting should be planned after estimating a rise-height due to the bridge piers, because many piers under riverine-highway are now on the construction in section 2. The section 3 does not have sufficient clearance for planting trees, but the planting is possible after getting enough flow area with slope by cutting the terrace land on the river artificially heightened. (3) In case of planting a tree 70cm diameter in $1m^2$ in section 1, the water level increases by 0.60m. Planting a tree in a $48m^2$ area increases the water level by 0.90m. Considering that plantable clearance is 1.8m in section 1, it is sufficient to flow safely. But if the trees are planted so compactly from the upper stream, expected heavy resistance is expected due to caught materials on the trees. So, trees have to be planted widely in upper streams but compactedly in lower streams. (4) The river width without changing, Kap-Chon's flow channel can be snaked in accordance with the nature law the wide terrace land in the riverside. Decreased flow area due to planting trees will be compensated by the inclination of terrace land. And, it is theoretically proved that the flood discharge is safe even though the terrace land on the river is parked similar to the nature. Planting trees in the terrace land of the Kap-chon river to the extent that flood flowing is not adversely affected, we can get the enjoyable park to citizens not spending expensive cost. It also contributes to the recovery of ecosystem, which gives the natural beauty of river and shade to citizens and becomes good natural-educational places for children.