• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.867-875
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• 2016

Archaea substantially contribute to global geochemical cycling and energy cycling and are impacted by land-use change. However, the response of archaeal communities to a change from upland field to paddy field has been poorly characterized. Here, soil samples were collected at two depths (0-20 cm and 20-40 cm) from one upland field and six paddy fields that were established on former upland fields at different times (1, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 years before the study). Barcoded pyrosequencing was employed to assess the archaeal communities from the samples at taxonomic resolutions from phylum to genus levels. The total archaeal operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness showed a significant positive correlation with the land-use change duration. Two phyla, Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota, were recorded throughout the study. Both the relative abundance and OTU richness of Euryarchaeota increased at both depths but increased more steadily at the subsurface rather than at the surface. However, these data of Crenarchaeota were the opposite. Additionally, the archaeal composition exhibited a significant relationship with C/N ratios, total phosphorus, soil pH, Olsen phosphorus, and the land-use change duration at several taxonomic resolutions. Our results emphasize that after a change from upland fields to paddy fields, the archaeal diversity and composition changed, and the duration is an important factor in addition to the soil chemical properties.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.299-302
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• 2001

A taxonomic study of the family Antedonidae is presented. The specimens were collected in the coastal seas of Korea from 1970 to 1994 and deposited in the Natural History Museum of Ewha Womans University. Four species, Heliometra glacialis maxima, Antedon serrata, Antedon parviflora and Andrometra psyche of the subfamilies Heliometrinae and Antedoninae were identified, of which 3 species, Antedon serrata, Antedon parviflora and Andrometra psyche in the subfamily Antedoninae are new to Korea. The subfamily Antedoninae is reported for the first time in Korea.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.123-127
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• 2014

Parabrachiella bera (Yamaguti, 1939) is redescribed based on newly collected material from multicolorfin rainbowfish, Parajulis poecilopterus, landed at Wando fishery port on the southern coast of Korea. Although some differences were observed between the original description and the specimens examined in this study, these differences do not warrant a change in the taxonomic status of this species. Parabrachiella bera bears some resemblance to Parabrachiella incurva Shiino, 1956, but differs from it in details of the trunk and genital processes.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2022

We collected a total of four butterfly ray specimens (Gymnura japonica, 213.4-695.0 mm in total length) in Korea from 2016 to 2021 and investigated their morphological and molecular characteristics in order to clarify their taxonomic status. These features are summarized as follows. Disc lozenge-shaped, 1.8-2.0 times broader than long. Tail very short, post-cloaca length 23.9-28.2% in disc width. Snout short, no rostral cartilage. Clasper short, no hook. Dorsal surface uniform yellow or brownish grey, with or without rounded light yellow spots. An analysis of 434 base-pair sequences of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I showed that all four specimens corresponded to G. japonica from Japan (Kimura-2-parameter distance = 0-0.2%), suggesting that the color patterns found may be due to intraspecific color variation. G. japonica resembles Gymnura poecilura but differs in that it has a shorter tail length to disc width (23.9-28.2% in G. japonica vs. 40.1-48.3% in G. poecilura). This study revealed that G. japonica occurred in areas affected by the Tsushima Warm Current, tentatively suggesting that G. japonica may be an indicator species for monitoring marine ecosystem changes due to climate change.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.157-177
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• 1995

Monthly changes in communities of benthic macroinvertebrates collected in the Suyong and Soktae stream of the Suyong river were investigated from September 1993 to August 1994. The total number of species collected during the study period ranged from seven to seventy six species according to pollution levels at the study sites. Monthly changes in species richness appeared differently in different taxonomic assemblages. In chironomids differences in species richness responding to different levels of saprobity were shown consistently as time proceeded. In Ephemeroptera species richness at the relatively clean sites responded sensitively to slight enrichment. In connection with species richness the monthly changes in densities in taxonomic assemblages also appeared to effectively represent environmental impacts. Species diversity generally represented the pollution status also, however the monthly variations at the study sites appeared to be relatively high. The clustering analysis showed that the communities collected at polluted sites were grouped closely, and the communities collected at the relatively clean sites were clustered to the same stream although the degree of community association was low, Through the Principal Component Analysis, the impact of Pollution was reflected in a great degree in overall community variations.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.615-623
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• 2016

Bird species (BS) of the Nakdong River estuary (NRE) were selected to suggest conservation and management strategies, taking habitats and major threats into consideration. Five BS (Cygnus spp., Calidris alpina, Sterna albifrons, Fulica atra, and Anser fabalis) were selected following analysis of their dominance, national importance, seasonality, taxonomic group, and distribution within the NRE. The BS comprise two winter birds, one summer, one passage bird, and one resident bird. They can also be classified into four taxonomic groups: two under ducks and geese (Anatidae), and one each under gulls (Laridae), shorebirds (Scolopacidae), and diving birds (Rallidae). The results show that BS could be a useful tool in guiding estuary management because their habitats are clearly distinct, and include important areas of the NRE. A reduction of feeding and resting places-such as tidal flats, Scirpus planiculmis habitat, and agricultural farmland-and climate change are major threats to BS, therefore countermeasures to such threats should be considered in future estuary management plans.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.219-227
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• 2023

The US National Science Foundation's National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale program intended to provide open data, samples, and infrastructure to understand changing ecosystems for a period of 30 years. NEON collects co-located measurements of drivers of environmental change and biological responses, using standardized methods at 81 field sites to systematically sample variability and trends to enable inferences at regional to continental scales. Alongside key atmospheric and environmental variables, NEON measures the biodiversity of many taxa, including microbes, plants, and animals, and collects samples from these organisms for long-term archiving and research use. Here we review the composition and use of NEON resources to date as a whole and specific to biodiversity as an exemplar of the potential of national research infrastructure to contribute to globally relevant outcomes. Since NEON initiated full operations in 2019, NEON has produced, on average, 1.4 M records and over 32 TB of data per year across more than 180 data products, with 85 products that include taxonomic or other organismal information relevant to biodiversity science. NEON has also collected and curated more than 503,000 samples and specimens spanning all taxonomic domains of life, with up to 100,000 more to be added annually. Various metrics of use, including web portal visitation, data download and sample use requests, and scientific publications, reveal substantial interest from the global community in NEON. More than 47,000 unique IP addresses from around the world visit NEON's web portals each month, requesting on average 1.8 TB of data, and over 200 researchers have engaged in sample use requests from the NEON Biorepository. Through its many global partnerships, particularly with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, NEON resources have been used in more than 900 scientific publications to date, with many using biodiversity data and samples. These outcomes demonstrate that the data and samples provided by NEON, situated in a broader network of national research infrastructures, are critical to scientists, conservation practitioners, and policy makers. They enable effective approaches to meeting global targets, such as those captured in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.365-374
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• 2016

In high-latitude regions, temperature has risen ($0.6^{\circ}C$ per decade) and this leads to the increase in microbial degradability against soil organic carbon (SOC). Furthermore, the decomposed SOC is converted into green-house gases ($CO_2$ and $CH_4$) and their release could further increase the rate of climate change. Thus, understanding the microbial diversity and their functions linked with SOC degradation in soil-thawing model is necessary. In this study, we divided tundra soil from Council, Alaska into two depth regions (30-40 cm and 50-60 cm of depth, designated as SPF and PF, respectively) and incubated that for 108 days at $0^{\circ}C$. A total of 111,804 reads were obtained through a pyrosequencing-based metagenomic study during the microcosm experiments, and 574-1,128 of bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 30-57 of archaeal OTUs were observed. Taxonomic analysis showed that the distribution of bacterial taxa was significantly different between two samples. In detail, the relative abundance of phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes largely increased in SPF and PF soil, respectively, while phyla Crenarchaeota was increased in both soil samples. Weight measurement and gel permeation chromatography of the SOC extracts demonstrated that polymerization of humic acids, main component of SOC, occurred during the microcosm experiments. Taken together our results indicate that these bacterial and archaeal phyla could play a key function in SOC degradation and utilization in cold tundra soil.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.165-178
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• 2020

This study investigated the exotic mammals introduced to Korea to present the basic data necessary for ecological risk assessment and the establishment of an alien species management database. For this purpose, a list of alien mammals introduced to Korea was established by investigating alien mammals introduced for zoo exhibits purposes, alien mammals in breeding environments traded between individuals, and alien mammals introduced into nature. A total of 163 taxa were identified as alien mammals introduced to Korea. There were 139 taxonomic groups of ornamental alien mammals, including 11 orders, 44 families, 129 species and 10 subspecies; 28 taxonomic groups of alien mammals traded between individuals, including five orders and 19 families; and eight taxonomic groups of alien mammals introduced into nature, including four orders, seven families, seven species, and one subspecies. For the effective management of alien mammals introduced to Korea, it is important to collect basic information, such as a list of all species introduced, their populations, and introduced areas. It is also necessary to apply proactive management policies according to the degree of potential risk by preemptively evaluating the ecological risks that may arise from the introduction of alien species into natural ecosystems. For the eight taxonomic groups of Capra hircus, Cervus nippon taiouanus, Felis catus, Myocastor coypus, Oryctolagus cuniculus, Ondatra zibethicus, Ovis aries, and Rattus norvegicus identified to be introduced into the natural ecosystem of Korea, the provision of proliferation control measures at the national level, continuous monitoring of changes in diffusion trends, and immediate response based on the degree of change are required.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.158-170
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• 2016

We investigated the occurrence of the dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium in the nineteen Korean coastal sites from July to October 2013. Alexandrium-like planktonic cells were microscopically observed only in four out of the 19 sampling sites. From the samples containing Alexandrium-like cells 22 clonal cultures of Alexandrium species were established by single cell or single chain isolation method. Taxonomic identity of the 4 different strains ascertained by the robust analyses of morphological and molecular genetic characteristics were confirmed to be A. catenella, A. affine, A. fraterculus and an unidentified Alexandrium sp. for which strain WEB-Alex-01 was assigned. It was ascertained that in spite of hot summer diverse Alexandrium species attaining up to four were distributed in the study area, in contrast with the long empirical recognition that the emergence of Alexandrium species is restricted to cooler seasons like spring or autumn in Korean coastal waters. Morphology and genetic characteristics of Alexandrium sp. strain WEB-Alex-01 are different from any other previously reported Alexandrium species from Korean seas, which implies that further studies on taxonomic, physiological, ecological and toxicological properties of the newly recorded Alexandrium species are needed.