• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.7-14
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• 2010

Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) supports a decision-making process such as establishment of environmental quality criteria. Soil quality criteria (SQC) are essential to protect soil organisms from the exposure to various soil contaminants. In this study, ERA methodologies of advanced countries for soil pollution were extensively compared to propose the ERA approach suitable for soil ecosystem in Korea. The soil ERAs in European Chemical Bureau(ECB), The Netherlands, and Canada can be classified as deterministic ecological risk assessment (DERA), and probabilistic ecological risk assessment (PERA) based on species sensitivity distribution (SSD). We propose three ERA methods according to abundance and reliability of soil ecotoxicity data. The method considered land use such as residential/agricultural, and industrial/commercial uses. The taxonomic groups of soil organism were classified as 'Class' level including different trophic levels (Magnoliopsida or Liliopsida, Clitellata, and Insecta or Secernentea). This study can be used to estimate the soil quality criteria to protect soil biota.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.37-44
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• 2008

Soil ecology has important roles in global ecosystems. However, soil ecological quality information is being ignored when assessing ecological impact of construction actions. And methods for classifying and assessing soil ecological quality have been very little established in comparison to those for animal and plant ecosystems. In this study, it was examined whether soil ecological quality information has influence on determining an eco-friendly route for a road construction project. For this, sensitivity analysis was systematically performed by varying the relative significance (weights) of soil ecological quality information among natural environmental and ecological factors. When the weight of soil ecological quality was greater than just 14%, the soil ecological quality information significantly influenced the determination of the eco-friendly routes for a specific road construction project. This demonstrates that soil ecological quality information has to be considered for more reliable environmental impact assessment, and also supports the validity of use of soil ecological quality information and its mapping technique in planning and siting of eco-friendly construction projects.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.91-102
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• 1996

Monitoring techniques for afro-ecological environments were studied, Hydrologic and ecological components in conjunction with water quality were monitored in the Balkan watershed. The hydrologic monitoring program consists of four water level gauging stations along creeks and stream at the watershed having 26.5 km2. Stage - storage relationship of reservoir, rainfall amount of the watershed, and rating curve of the stream gauging stations were established. Soil type, land use, hydrologic soil group, population and economic activities within the watershed were surveyed. Water quality data from the streams were sampled weekly and chemical analysis was conducted. Temporal variations of water quality were investigated and water quality map of each reach of stream was made to identify spatial variations. Seasonal and spatial variations of vegetation densities along stream in the watershed were investigated using grid, Density variations of insect species such as arthropod, flying insect, spider spices, rice insects were also monitored to determine seansonal surveying density. These monitored data will be used to develop monitoring techi%ues and afro - ecological environment models.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.224-229
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• 2006

Utilization of organic by-product fertilizers has many beneficial effects on agricultural activities and in aspects of the disposal of enormous amounts of livestock manure. Most of these beneficial effects are related to the improvement of soil condition, such as fertility status and physicochemical quality of soil. But, appropriate indexes are needed to effectively manage the quality of organic by-product fertilizers amended on soil. To find chemical and physical standard to control the compost quality, the changes in chemical and physical characteristics of organic by-product fertilizers during composting were investigated, and also an appropriate physical method for this end. The results showed chemical properties, such as humic acid content, OM/N ratio, cation exchange capacity and salt content, had significant relationships during the composting. The water content, particle and bulk densities, particle size and color indices, as physical properties, were also applicable factors for the quality control of compost.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2010

Physical, chemical and biological properties of soils and cadmium(Cd) content of Artemisia princeps var. orientalis collected from 10 metalliferous mines were analysed. Cd contents of unplanted soils and rhizosphere soils were not significantly different(p < 0.05), and mean values were 5.92 and 5.91 mg/kg, respectively. In addition, Cd content of rhizosphere soils were correlated with Cd content of Artemisia princeps (p < 0.05, ${R^2}_{shoot}$ = 0.3120, ${R^2}_{root}$ = 0.4177). Minimum data set(MDS) of soil quality parameters for statistical assessment of Cd uptake was established by principal component analysis, and it was identified as organic matter(OM), dehydrogenase activity(DHA), pH, exchangeable Mg. According to multiple regression analysis using the MDS, coefficients of determination ($R^2$) for Cd uptake of shoot and root of Artemisia princeps were found to be 0.3418 and 0.5121, respectively. This suggests that statistical soil quality assessment using the MDS seems a useful tool to interpret heavy metal uptake of plant.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.138-146
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• 2013

The typical natural landscapes and temporal- spatial regulation of Land use change and their ecological effects at Hailun County were conducted and analyzed, based on the translated data from remote sensing images in 1986, 1996 and 2000 using GIS and landscape ecological theory. The results indicated the area of arable land, paddy field and city land increased 7,786.39 $hm^2$, 3391.18 $hm^2$ and 120.84 $hm^2$ while the area of forestry, grassland and marsh decreased 3,184.88 $hm^2$, 1,625.8 $hm^2$ and 3,994.85 $hm^2$ respectively during 14 years. Dry land is a main landscape in this area. These changes made the environmental quality worse gradually, such as land degradation, soil erosion and water and soil losses, and temperature getting warmer. This study is very important for the local ecological environment protect and agricultural sustainability and land resources sustainable using.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.112-122
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• 2023

To restore the ecological function of contaminated soil and maximize the ecological services provided by the soil, besides the toxicity orrisk caused by pollutants, the functional aspects of the soil ecosystem should be considered. In this study, a method for evaluating the health of cleaned soil was presented, and the applicability of the proposed evaluation method was examined by applying it to soil treated with washing and landfarming. Productivity, habitat, water retention capacity, nutrient cycling, carbon retention capacity, and buffering capacity were used as soil health evaluation indicators. The results showed that the soil health was not completely recovered after remediation, and even in the case of the washed soil, the health was lower than before remediation. On the other hand, there was no significant change in soil quality due to oil pollution, but soil health deteriorated. Unlike the slightly improved soil quality after landfarming treatment, soil health was not completely restored. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that it is desirable to consider both soil quality and health when evaluating the remediation effect. The soil health evaluation method proposed in this study can be usefully utilized for the sustainable use of cleaned soil and to promote ecosystem services.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.88-96
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• 2007

Organic farming systems based on ecological concepts have the potential to produce sustainable crop yields with no decline in soil and environmental qualities. Recent expansion of sustainable agricultural systems, including organic farming, has brought about need for development of sustainable farming systems based on value judgments for key properties of importance for farming. Chemical and microbiological properties were chosen as indicators of soil quality and measured at soil depth intervals of 5-20 and 20-35 cm in conventional and organic-based apple orchards located in Yeongchun, Gyeongbuk. The orchards were two adjacent fields to ensure the same pedological conditions except management system. Soil pH in organic farming was around 7.5, whereas below 6.0 in conventional farming. Organic farming resulted in significant increases in organic matter and Kjeldahl-N contents compared to those found with conventional management. Microbial populations, biomass C, and enzyme activities (except acid phosphatase) in apple orchard soil of organic farming were higher than those found in conventional farming. Higher microbial quotient ($C_{mic}/C_{org}$ ratio) and lower microbial metabolic quotient for $CO_2(qCO_2)$ in organic farming confirmed that organic farming better conserves soil organic carbon. Biological soil quality indicators showed significant positive correlations with soil organic matter content. These results indicate organic-based farming positively affected soil organic matter content, thus improving soil chemical and biological qualities.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.76-85
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• 2012

Geochemical and ecological properties of remediated soil and gas exhausted from a low-temperature thermal desorption (LTTD) process were analyzed to assess the environmental impact of LTTD treatment. Soil characteristics were examined with regard to the chemical (EC, CEC, and organic matter) and the ecological (dehydrogenase activity, germination rate of Brassica juncea, and growth of Eisenia andrei) properties. The exhaust gases were analyzed based on the Air Quality Act in Korea as well as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and mixed odor. Level of organic Organic matter of the soil treated by LTTD process was slightly decreased compared to that of the original soil because the heating temperature ($200^{\circ}C$) and retention time (less than 15 minutes) were neither high nor long enough for the oxidation of organic matter. The LTTD process results in reducing TPH of the contaminated soil from $5,133{\pm}508$ mg/kg to $272{\pm}107$ mg/kg while preserving soil properties. Analysis results of the exhaust gases from the LTTD process satisfied discharge standard of Air Quality Law in Korea. Concentration of VOCs including acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, butyraldehyde and valeraldehyde in circulation gas volatilized from contaminated soil were effectively reduced in the regenerative thermal oxidizer and all satisfied the legal standards. Showing ecologically improved properties of contaminated soil after LTTD process and environmentally tolerable impact of the exhaust gas, LTTD treatment of TPH-contaminated soil is an environmentally acceptable technology.

• 한국생태학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.126.1-126.1
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• 1999