• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.164-164
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• 2023

This study investigates the importance of flood-influencing factors on the accuracy of flood risk mapping using the integration of remote sensing-based and machine learning techniques. Here, the Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and Random Forest (RF) algorithms integrated with GIS-based techniques were considered to develop and generate flood risk maps. For the study area of NAPA County in the United States, rainfall data from the 12 stations, Sentinel-1 SAR, and Sentinel-2 optical images were applied to extract 13 flood-influencing factors including altitude, aspect, slope, topographic wetness index, normalized difference vegetation index, stream power index, sediment transport index, land use/land cover, terrain roughness index, distance from the river, soil, rainfall, and geology. These 13 raster maps were used as input data for the XGBoost and RF algorithms for modeling flood-prone areas using ArcGIS, Python, and R. As results, it indicates that XGBoost showed better performance than RF in modeling flood-prone areas with an ROC of 97.45%, Kappa of 93.65%, and accuracy score of 96.83% compared to RF's 82.21%, 70.54%, and 88%, respectively. In conclusion, XGBoost is more efficient than RF for flood risk mapping and can be potentially utilized for flood mitigation strategies. It should be noted that all flood influencing factors had a positive effect, but altitude, slope, and rainfall were the most influential features in modeling flood risk maps using XGBoost.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.176-186
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• 2023

Urban Heat Island (UHI) is caused by an energy imbalance in urban areas, where building design and land cover contribute to its amplification. To mitigate UHI, increasing green space is one of the well known and the most effective approach. This study aims aimed to identify specific components of green spaces that lower temperatures and demonstrate the cooling effects based on their size and composition. Forests within green spaces have had a greater impact on temperature reduction due to shading and blocking solar radiation. Although lakes also contributed to temperature reduction, the effect to cooling intensity was not significant. The cooling distance does not depended on green space size or composition. The study emphasizes that initial temperature has a strongerinfluence on cooling intensity than green space size, highlighting the importance of vegetation type within green spaces to achieve a cooling effect. These findings provide valuable insights for urban planning and the design of green spaces to mitigate the effects of the urban heat island.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.63-74
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• 2023

Background: Comparing with the several types of infrastructures, linear infrastructures are known to facilitate the spread of undesirable species in ecosystems. Recently, some new man-made habitats (e.g., gravel pads of the high-voltage towers, solid wastes and sewage habitats) were established along the Deltaic Mediterranean coast of Egypt as a result of the construction of the E-W coastal international highway. The current study evaluates the floristic composition associated with the pads of high-voltage towers that had been constructed for stabilizing the power line towers in the North Nile Delta. Plant cover was measured for 22 randomly stand. Results: Eighty-four species were recorded, of which 35 are perennials (41.6%), 2 biennials (2.3%) and 47 annuals (56.0%) belonging to 23 families. The largest families were Asteraceae (16 species), Poaceae (15 species), Chenopodiaceae (12 species), and Fabaceae (7 species). Ten aliens (10.7%) out of the 84 species were recorded. Therophytes have the highest percentage (58%), followed by hemicryptophytes (14%), chamaephytes (11%). Six vegetation groups were recognized in the study area after the application of two way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN), Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, Phragmites australis, and Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum have the highest presence percentage. Both of Salsola cyclophylla and Solanum villosum were recorded for the first time in North Nile Delta. Natural habitat had the highest α-diversity, but the lowest β-diversity (4.9, 15.4), while gravel pads had the reverse (2.7, 30.8). Some species which are native to the desert habitats (e.g., Rumex pictus, Salsola kali, and Carthamus tenuis) were able to invade the North Nile Delta. Conclusions: Habitat of gravel pads is an expressing form about the intense of disturbance in Deltaic Mediterranean coast of Egypt. More of efforts should be carried out to avoid more human disturbances that creating as ruderal habitats which open the gate to invasive species in the flora of North Nile Delta.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.35 no.5_1
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• pp.649-663
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• 2019

The 2018 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report announced that deforestation in North Korea is the most extreme situation and in terms of climate change, this deforestation is a global scale issue. To respond deforestation, various study and projects are conducted based on remote sensing, but access to public data in North Korea is limited, and objectivity is difficult to be guaranteed. In this study, the forest detection based on density estimation in statistic using Landsat imagery was conducted in Gangwon province which is the only administrative district divided into South and North. The forest spatial data of South Korea was used as data for the labeling of forest and Non-forest in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and a threshold (0.6658) for forest detection was set by Gaussian Probability Density Function (PDF) estimation by category. The results show that the forest area decreased until the 2000s in both Korea, but the area increased in 2010s. It is also confirmed that the reduction of forest area on the local scale is the same as the policy direction of urbanization and industrialization at that time. The Kappa value for validation was strong agreement (0.8) and moderate agreement (0.6), respectively. The detection based on the Gaussian PDF estimation is considered a method for complementing the statistical limitations of the existing detection method using satellite imagery. This study can be used as basic data for deforestation in North Korea and Based on the detection results, it is necessary to protect and restore forest resources.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2001

Forming a part of "Cooperative Practical Study for the Modernization of the Management of National Forest", this study was conducted to provide overall ecological information for the natural regeneration of major tree species on the basis of community structural attributes in the deciduous forest ecosystem. Followings are summarized characteristics of the natural regeneration for the selected tree species. Betula costata : Although large number of seeds are dispersed by wind, they require mineral soils to germinate. Thick litter layer could be an obstacle to germinate. After germination, the seedling requires large amount of light for successful establishment. Acer mono : Characterized by high shade tolerance and weak drought resistance, the seedling should be overcasted with more than 50% of canopy coverage. High stand density should be maintained to produce good quality of timber. The potential of coppice may be high. Ulmus laciniata : Since this species needs high rate of troll moisture and light, around 60% of canopy coverage should be maintained to retain moisture and incoming light. The competition with other vegetation should be removed for the favor of successful seedling establishment. Fraxinus mandshurica : This species requires moist mineral soils to germinate. After germination, the seedling needs large amount of light and moisture for successful establishment. Site preparation should be applied to reduce competition with weedy vegetation. Fraxinus rhynchophylla : Interval of large seed crops may be highly varied. Thick litter layer could be an obstacle to germinate. Site preparation should be applied to reduce competition with weedy vegetation so as to achieve successful seedling establishment. Quercus mongolica : Including the difficulty of seed supply by the consumption, thick litter layer and mountain bamboo cover could be the obstacle to germinate. More than 50% of relative light intensity is necessary to achieve successful seedling establishment. Kalopanax pictus : Thick litter layer could be an obstacle to germinate. The seedling needs large amount of light and moisture for successful establishment. Abies holophylla : In spite of high shade tolerance, the growth rate in sapling stage may be extremely slow. Cornus controversa : Seeds (drups) are consumed and dispersed by animals, tending to be not sufficient in seed supply. This species requires large amount of light for successful germination and seedling establishment. Tilia amurensis : The difficulty of seed supply might be expected with low seed purity and double dormancy. Since thick litter layer could be an obstacle to germinate, the species requires moist mineral soils for successful germination. The potential of coppice may be extremely high.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 1975

Eroded sloping faces in hillsides including cut-bank slopes are liable to both surface erosion and land-slides and the key to control of these form of erosion lies with drainages of excessive run-off and dense vegetation establishment including surface mulching on the slopes. Micro-plots having $1.6m^2$ (1 metre in width and 1.6 metres in slope length, and 1:1.2 in gradient) of banking slopes on coarse sand soil are used to establish the order of magnititude of the difference in controlling of soil erosion and water runoff, and in rating of survival, performed on the repetetions of three-experiment plots consisted of such three levels as 90% (Dense), 70% (Moderate), and 50% Sparse of the density of the coarse straw-mat mulchings. The main results obtained may be summarized as follows: 1. The rates of surface runoff are calculated as 13.13% from the dense mulchings, 14.21% from the moderate mulchings, and 15.57% from the sparse mulchings respectively. 2. The total amounts of soil loss are measured as about 1.24 tons/ha. from the dense mulchings, about 1.33 tons/ha. from the moderate mulchings, and about 1.44 tons/ha. from the sparse mulchings respectively. The amounts of soil loss under these treatments are much lower than the standard of erosion in USDA (1939 Bennet). 3. Average numbers of germination by treatment are counted as 80 seedlings at the dense mulchings. 132 at the moderates and 121 at the sparse respectively. Large numbers of seedling are suppressed and died during the growing at the dense mulchings due to mainly mechanical obstruction. 4. Coarse straw-mat having about 70% of coverage density is the most suitable mulches in both soil erosion control and vegetation establishment. 5. The method of coarse straw-mat mulching is the most recommendable measure for establishing the vegetation cover with less soil erosion on the denuded gentle slopes in hillsides at present in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.558-568
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• 2021

Poor supervision and tourism activities have resulted in forest degradation in islands in Korea. Since the southern coastal region of the Korean peninsula was originally dominated by warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved forests, it is desirable to restore forests in this region to their original vegetation. In this study, we identified suitable areas to be restored as evergreen broad-leaved forests by analyzing the environmental factors of existing evergreen broad-leaved forests in the islands of Jeollanam-do. We classified forest lands in the study area into six vegetation types from Sentinel-2 satellite images using a deep learning algorithm and analyzed the tolerance ranges of existing evergreen broad-leaved forests by measuring the locational, topographic, and climatic attributes of the classified vegetation types. Results showed that evergreen broad-leaved forests were distributed more in areas with a high altitudes and steep slope, where human intervention was relatively low. The human intervention has led to a higher distribution of evergreen broad-leaved forests in areas with lower annual average temperature, which was an unexpected but understandable result because an area with higher altitude has a lower temperature. Of the environmental factors, latitude and average temperature in the coldest month (January) were relatively less contaminated by the effects of human intervention, thus enabling the identification of suitable restoration areas of the evergreen broad-leaved forests. The tolerance range analysis of evergreen broad-leaved forests showed that they mainly grew in areas south of the latitude of 34.7° and a monthly average temperature of 1.7℃ or higher in the coldest month. Therefore, we predicted the areas meeting these criteria to be suitable for restoring evergreen broad-leaved forests. The suitable areas cover 614.5 km², which occupies 59.0% of the total forest lands on the islands of Jeollanamdo, and 73% of actual forests that exclude agricultural and other non-restorable forest lands. The findings of this study can help forest managers prepare a restoration plan and budget for island forests.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.481-495
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• 2022

This study was designed to identify the actual state of naturalized plants and invasive alien species that cause disturbances to the ecosystem, plants which are introduced after forest restoration, and explore the implications resulting from the project. Onsite examination included 29 sites which have been subjected to forest restoration by the Korea Forest Service. Once these were chosen, activity took place twice a year in the spring (May-June) and in the summer (August-September) in 2020 and 2021. Areas not relevant to the project sites were excluded from this activity so that we could identify the plants that could be understood to have been introduced or brought into the site after the actual forest restoration. And the correlation was analyzed, between the naturalized flora within the project sites and the working types applied to the site through confirmation of completion of the restoration project. The naturalized plants appearing on the entire site cover a total of 109 taxa, which includes 29 families, 80 genera, 108 species and 1 subspecies, while invasive plants included 3 families, 7 genera and 8 species. The number of classifications and the naturalization rate gradually decreased over time, after the project. While there was no significant difference between the number of classification groups and the naturalization rate for naturalized plants between project sites, given the number of taxa of naturalized plants, organized by type of damage, there were relatively more naturalized plants that appeared in the severed section of the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range, as well as at quarry and facility sites. Seeding apparently results in naturalization rates as high as 15.545%, on average, based on comparisons of naturalization rates by sowing, seeding, planting, herb planting, and sod pitching channels, all of these being methods of vegetation for planting/greening of bareland and slopes within the project areas. With no seeding, it was 9.167%, higher than the average. As for other vegetation, there was no significant difference depending on application of the working type. This means that unlike the plants subjected to planting, the working type of seed planting which makes it difficult to identify whether a certain plant is a naturalized plant greatly affects the introduction of naturalized plants to the restoration sites, even when using herb planting and sod pitching to control plants and results. Therefore the study suggests that there be inspection by experts of seeds when sowing within restoration sites. The results of this study suggest good practices that will help to direct effective vegetation restoration and follow-up management.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.850-857
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• 2015

This study was aimed to identify the characteristics of nest and breeding site conditions of Chinese Egret (Egretta europhotes) that breed in the uninhabited islets of the western coast of South Korea. It is expected that the information collected through this study can contribute to providing basic information required when building and managing artificial nests in their natural breeding habitats. Chinese Egrets make their nests in the shrub layers of Long Leaf Elaeagnus (Elaeagnus macrophylla), Arrow Bamboo (Pseudosasa japonica), and Baby Brier (Rosa multiflora). A total of 50 breeding nests of Chinese Egret were investigated in June and July 2013, with area-wise distribution as follows: Seomando (11 nests), Hwangseodo (14 nests), Mokdo (10 nests), and Napdaekiseom (15 nests). Vegetation coverage (cover, %), height from the ground to the top (height, cm), thickness from top to bottom of the nest (thickness, cm), reuse period, major axis (cm), minor axis (cm), and depth (cm) of each nest were measured. According to the results of the study on the nest characteristics of 4 breeding groups, the nests in Hwangseodo had the highest coverage, the nests in Mokdo were built in the highest places, the nests in Napdaekiseom showed the longest reuse period, and the nests in Mokdo had the greatest depth. The differences in height and reuse period were significant between Mokdo and Napdaekiseom. Moreover, there were significant differences in reuse period and depth between Seomando and Hwangseodo. There were significant differences in cover, minor axis, and depth between breeding groups that built nests on Arrow Bamboo (Mokdo and Napdaekiseom) and Baby Brier (Seomando and Hwangseodo). Nest characteristics of Chinese Egret were generally similar, while some variables showed different values for different breeding groups.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.67-78
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• 1971

The measures of contour-terracing with sod has been executed as a major measures for hillside erosion control works for a long time in Korea. It is, however, recognized that pair terracings make a new slope-face having the more steeper degree of slope between the upper and the lower terraces on hillsides and it also does not contribute for establishing the natural vegetation-cover by penetration of pioneer seeds on the slope faces or cut-faces of hillsides. The study was therefore conducted in connection with the above problems on the cut-face having slope of $40^{\circ}$ and 1.6 meter in slope length with clay soils. Plot allocation for the experiment consists of 3 kinds of 3 replica plots having each $1.6m^2$ of slope area, i. e., the control plot with direct seeding on slopes only ($T_1$), the covering plot with the straw-mats after seeding on slopes ($T_2$) and the seeding plot after covering with the straw-mats. ($T_3$). The main results obtained may be summarized as follows : 1. Effects of the straw-mat mulchings on surface soil loss control:-The total amount of soil losses from each treatments are measured as 4,651 gr from $T_1$, 163 gr. from $T_2$ and 2,891 gr. from $T_3$ treatment respectively. (Refer to table No. 2, 3 and 4). In short, it is recognized that effect of $T_2$ treatment is compared as 28.5 times than that of $T_1$ treatment and 17.7 times than that of $T_3$ treatment respectively. Effect of $T_3$ treatment compared with $T_1$ treatment is also such recognizable as 1.6 times in control of surface soil losses on a slope face. 2. Effect of the straw-mat mulchings on soil moisture content on slopes; -Average per cent of surface soil moisture content by treatments show as 21.60 at the $T_1$, 23.04 at the $T_2$ and 22.21 at the $T_3$ treatment respectively and that of subsurface soil moisture content by treatment show as 23.81 at the $T_1$, 26.16 at the $T_2$ and 24.81 at the $T_3$ treatment respectively. The variance of soil moisture content by treatments was highly significant (Refer table No. 7, 8 and 9). 3. Effect of the straw-mat mulchings on vegetation establishment;-Average numbers of germination by treatments are counted as 237 Nos. at the $T_1$, 246 Nos. at the $T_2$ and 262 Nos. at the $T_3$ treatment plots and the vegetation coverage on ground was almost same as about 90% of covers in all treatments. This effect is more or less lower than that of surface soil erosion control. 4. Regarding the effect on surface soil erosion control, the straw-mat mulchings would be effective as a new measures for control of soil erosion on erosion susceptible lands such slope-faced bare-lands as cut-fill faces, mass-movement faces and bare hillsides.