• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.453-465
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• 2014

Hotspots are top sites in terms of species diversity as the most threatened and most diverse sites which have been used to select priority areas for reserves. The purpose of this paper is to identify biodiversity hotspots through analyzing nationwide spatial patterns of species richness and rarity of Korean mammals. Four endangered mammals and eleven common mammals were selected as target species. Environmental variables as model input data were consisted of topography, distance, and vegetation structure etc. and Maxent was used to develop species distribution models for target species. Species richness and rarity were used as index of biodiversity. The results of this study were as follows. Firstly, hotspots of species richness for endangered mammals were in high elevation and steep mountain areas. However, species richness for whole mammals were high in low elevation of mountains. Secondly, distribution pattern of species rarity for endangered mammals were similar as richness. However, hotspots of species rarity for whole mammals were a little different from species richness. Species rarity was high in both low and high elevation of mountain areas. This study will provide the useful information for a biodiversity assessment, a habitat conservation, a national ecological network plan, and the management of protected areas.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.363-374
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• 2023

The limitation in deriving the species richness representing the entire country of South Korea lies in its relatively short history of species field observations and the scattered observation data, which has been collected by various organizations in different fields. In this study, a comprehensive compilation of the observation data for plants held by agencies under the Ministry of Environment was conducted, enabling the construction of a time series dataset spanning over 100 years. The data integration was carried out using minimal criteria such as species name, observed location, and time (year) followed by data verification and correction processes. Based on the integrated plant species data, the comprehensive collection of plant species in South Korea has occurred predominantly since 2000, and the number of plant species explored through these surveys appears to be converging recently. The collection of species survey data necessary for deriving national-level biodiversity information has recently begun to meet the necessary conditions. Applying the Chao 2 method, the species richness of indigenous plants estimated at 3,182.6 for the 70-year period since 1951. A minimum cumulative period of 7 years is required for this estimation. This plant species richness from this study can be a baseline to study future changes in species richness in South Korea. Moreover, the integrated data with the estimation method for species richness used in this study appears to be applicable to derive regional biodiversity indices such as for local government units as well.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.363-376
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• 2010

Vegetative communities of created wetlands often display lower species richness, less cover, higher occurrence of non-native or invasive species, and fewer obligate wetlands species than those in natural wetlands, thus failing to meet basic success criteria for wetland mitigation. This study examined the effects of two design elements, disking-induced microtopography and hydrologic regime, on the first year vegetation development pattern of a mitigation wetland newly created in the Virginia piedmont. Elevation and species cover were measured along replicate multiscale circular transects in two adjacent wetland sites that are different in their hydrologic regime. Two microtopographic indices, tortuosity (T) and limiting elevation difference (LD), were calculated from the elevation measurements. Both indices were higher in disked plots than non-disked plots, showing the effect of disking on microtopography. Out of forty-one vegetation taxa observed in the wetland, 29 taxa were naturally colonized and 12 taxa were seeded. All plots except one non-disked plot were dominated by wetland vegetation. Species richness and diversity were higher in disked than in non-disked plots. Vegetation community development seemed also influenced significantly by hydrologic regime of the site. The effect of microtopography on species richness and diversity was more pronounced in a relatively dry site compared to a wet site. In addition, percent cover, species richness and diversity of vegetation were positively correlated with microtopographic indices such as T and LD. Two design elements, microtopography and hydrologic regime, should be considered and incorporated in wetland creation to enhance plant community development.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.274-282
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• 2014

We examined seasonal variation in the structure of marine macroalgal communities at five sites around the Byeonsan Peninsula, Korea, from January to October 2011. Sixty eight species were identified, including 11 green, 17 brown and 40 red algae. Species richness was highest at Gyeokpo (51 species) followed by Sambal (47), Gosapo (34), Byeonsan (33), and Habgoo (18). Seaweed biomass ranged from 12.98 to 145.33 g dry $wt/m^2$, with maximum and minimum biomasses at Gyeokpo and Habgoo, respectively. Sargassum thunbergii was the representative alga species occupying 47.89% of the total biomass. The dominant seaweeds were S. thunbergii, Corallina pilulifera, Ulva spp, Gracilaria vermiculophylla, and Carpopeltis affinis. No distinctive vertical distribution of seaweeds was found because S. thunbergii, Ulva spp, and G. vermiculophylla were all distributed from high to low shore. Community indices were as follows: dominance index (DI), 0.44-0.61; richness index (R), 6.27-10.35; evenness index (J'), 0.38-0.59; and diversity index (H'), 1.48-1.71. Gyeokpo had the most biomass and highest species richness, and the lowest percentage of Ulva species. However, species richness declined at Gyeokpo, from 78 to 51 species within 10 years, implying that eutrophication and sedimentation from Mankyeong and Dongjin rivers have reduced the stability of seaweed communities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.39-60
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• 2018

National parks are designated for the purpose of maintenance, conservation and utilization of different habitats. Therefore, it is necessary to select habitats of a high value as a protected area in order to balance conservation and development. However, the existing national park boundary adjustment and new designation criteria only focused on the endangered species and protected area, without proper evaluation of the habitat value of actual species. Therefore, this study aims to quantitatively evaluate habitat function in terms of biodiversity and habitat value, so that it can be referred to for the designation and boundary adjustment of national parks. We assessed species diversity and habitat values for each of the habitat types, for mammals only, as they are able to choose preferred habitats. In order to evaluate biodiversity, we used Maxent to derive species richness map and used InVEST's Habitat quality model to evaluate habitat value. As a result of evaluation, species richness was high in the national park boundary area. Also, even if the same edge is adjacent to the development area depending on the land cover, the species richness is low. Compared with Wolaksan and Sobaeksan National Park, the species richness and habitat value of the northern area, which is connected with other forests, were higher than those of the southern area where roads were developed. Therefore, it is expected that the use of the result of this study for the national park boundary adjustment and management will enhance the function of the national park as a habitat.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.387-394
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• 2009

Marine algal flora and community structure were examined seasonally at four study sites around Taean Power Plant, Korea from Jan. to Nov. 2006. A total of 73 algae species (12 green, 9 brown, 52 red) and 1 marine plant were identified. The number of species was maximal at the power plant Discharge (57 species) site followed by Hakampo (46 species), Intake (28 species) and Breakwater (15 species) sites during the study period. The average biomass in dry weight varied from 13.12g/m2 at Intake to 69.60g/m2 at Hakampo. Dominant and sub dominant species in terms of biomass were Gelidium divaricatum - Ulva pertusa at Intake, Chondria crassicaulis - Ulva pertusa at Discharge, Corallin a pilulifera - Chondrus ocellatus at Breakwater, and Corallina pilulifera - Sargassum thunbergii at Hakampo. Species richness of warm tolerant and green algae were greater at Discharge site than Hakampo, showing similar species richness. However, community indices were not distinguishable between Discharge and other study sites. In conclusion, species richness and biomass of seaweeds were greater at Discharge site compared to intake and breakwater sites, and the abundance of warm tolerant and green algal species were higher than Hakampo.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.95 no.5
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• pp.595-600
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• 2006

The plot design influences the budgets and the precision of forest inventory results. The objective of this study is to determine the efficiency of estimating forest variables such as tree density, basal area, volume, and species richness based on various plot sizes using fixed-area plot sampling in the natural deciduous forest of Pyeong-Chang County, Gang-won Province, Korea. In this study, 108 reference plots were established with a fixed plot size and shape of 0.09 ha ($30m{\times}30m$). In order to determine the optimal plot size for the interest of variables, each sample plot was established using different shapes (square, circle, and rectangle) and was divided into different plot sizes from 100 to $900m^2$. The mean relative difference (MRD) for the sum of the basal area and volume, and tree density per hectare decreased as plot size increased. But the MRD for three variables were only below 13% at the plot size of $500m^2$. Species richness for each reference stand observed ranging from 2 to 15 species, demonstrated highly positive significant relationships with plot size. The minimum plot size for the estimation of tree density, the sum of the BA and volume was determined to be about $400m^2$, whereas the estimation of species richness required a minimum plot size of $500m^2$.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.258-261
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• 2018

Drought alters soil microorganisms; however, it is still not clear how soil microbes respond to severe drought conditions. In this study, the responses of soil bacterial community to experimental drought in a coniferous stand were examined. Six $6m{\times}6m$ plots with three replicates of control and drought treatments were delimited. PCR amplification and Illumina sequencing were conducted for cluster analysis of soil bacterial community and species richness and species diversity was analyzed. Along the 393 days of simulated drought from July 2016 to October 2017, soil bacterial species diversity slightly increased whereas species richness decreased in both control and roof plots. Moreover, soil bacterial species richness more decreased in roof plots than in controls. Combining these results, soil bacterial activity might have been altered by simulated drought.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.451-459
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• 2015

We investigated the pattern of floral diversity including naturalized plant species and three ecological factors (area, elevation and distance from mainland) of plant species on 53 uninhabited islands in Gyungsangnam-do, southeastern South Korea. A total of 206 taxa in 67 families were observed, and the species of Compositae was most common. Thirteen taxa in eight families of the naturalized plants were observed on 33 islands. The numbers of total plant species, area and elevation were significantly correlated, but no relationship with distance from the mainland was observed. In addition, no relationship was found among the numbers of naturalized plants, area and elevation. However, the average rate of naturalization on islands with different elevations differed significantly, indicating the smallest proportion of naturalized plant species was on high islands. Multiple regression of total species richness identified elevation as a significant factor, while no significant variables were correlated with naturalized plant species. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination identified three major variables, distance from mainland, number of naturalized plant species and elevation. These findings indicate that the geography of islands such as area and elevation affected the species richness of plants on uninhabited islands, while human disturbance had a greater effect than geography on the species richness of naturalized plants on islands in southeastern South Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.35-50
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• 2015

The purposes of this study are to apply species distribution modeling in urban management planning for habitat conservation in non-urban area and to provide a detailed classification method for management zone. To achieve these objectives, Species Distribution Model was used to generate species richness and then to compare with the results from land suitability assessment. 59 species distribution models were developed by Maxent. This study used 15 model variables (5 topographical variables, 4 vegetation variables, and 6 distance variables) for Maxent models. Then species richness was created by sum of predicted species distributions. Land suitability assessment was conducted with criteria from type I of "Guidelines for land suitability assessment". After acquiring evaluation values from species richness and land suitability assessment, the results from these two models were compared according to the five grades of classification. The areas with the identical grade in Species richness and land suitability assessment are categorized and then compared each other. The comparison results are Grade1 10.92%, Grade2 37.10%, Grade3 34.56%, Grade4 20.89% and Grade5 1.73%. Grade1 and Grade5 showed the lowest agreement rate. Namely, development or conservation grade showed high disagreement between two assessment system. Therefore, the areas located between urban, agriculture, forest, and reserve have a tendency to change easily by development plans. Even though management areas are not the core area of reserve, it is important to provide a venue for species habitat and eco-corridor to protect and improve biodiversity in terms of landscape ecology. Consequently, adoption of species richness in three levels of management area classification such as conservation, production, planning should be considered in urban management plan.