• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.69-79
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• 2014

Soil organic carbon (SOC) in the Arctic is vulnerable to climate change. However, research on SOC stored in the high Arctic regions is currently very limited. Thus, this study was aimed at understanding the distribution and characteristics of SOC with respect to geomorphology and vegetation in Svalbard. In August 2011, soil samples were collected near the Vestre Lov$\acute{e}$nbreen moraine. Sampling sites were chosen according to altitude (High, Mid, and Low) and differences in levels of vegetation establishment. Vegetation coverage, aboveground biomass, and SOC contents were measured, and density-size fractionation of SOC was conducted. The SOC content was the highest in the Mid site ($126.9mg\;g^{-1}$) and the lowest in the High site ($32.1mg\;g^{-1}$), although aboveground biomass and vegetation coverage were not different between these two sites. The low SOC content measured at the High site could be related to a slower soil development following glacial retreat. On the other hand, the Low site contained a high amount of SOC despite having low vegetative cover and a high ratio of sand particles. These incompatible relationships between SOC and vegetation in the Low site might be associated with past site disturbances such as runoff from snow/glacier melting. This study showed that geomorphological features combined with glacier retreat or melting snow/glacier effects could have affected the SOC distribution and vegetation establishment in the high Arctic.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.235-244
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• 2004

This study focuses on the assessment for proposed algorithm to discriminate cloudy pixels from snowy pixels through use of visible, near infrared, and short wave infrared channel data in VEGETATION-1 sensor embarked on SPOT-4 satellite. Traditional threshold algorithms for cloud and snow masks did not show very good accuracy. Instead of these independent masking procedures, K-Means clustering scheme is employed for cloud/snow discrimination in this study. The pixels used in clustering were selected through an integration of two threshold algorithms, which group ensemble the snow and cloud pixels. This may give a opportunity to simplify the clustering procedure and to improve the accuracy as compared with full image clustering. This paper also compared the results with threshold methods of snow cover and clouds, and assesses discrimination capability in VEGETATION channels. The quality of the cloud and snow mask even more improved when present algorithm is implemented. The discrimination errors were considerably reduced by 19.4% and 9.7% for cloud mask and snow mask as compared with traditional methods, respectively.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.471-479
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• 2011

Evapotranspiration (ET) including evaporation from a land surface and transpiration from photosynthesis of vegetation is a hydrological factor that has an important role in water cycle. However, there is a limitation to understand it due to heterogeneity of land cover and vegetation. In this study, Mapping EvapoTRanspiration with Internalized Calibration (METRIC) model, one of the energy balance models, and MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite based well-known Penman-Monteith algorithm were compared. Two ET maps were categorized and compared by land cover classification. The results represented overall applicability of the two models with the highest correlation coefficients in needleleaf and broadleaf forests. This study will be useful to estimate remote sensing based ET maps with high resolution and to figure out spatio-temporal variability and seasonal changes.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.46 no.9
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• pp.885-896
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• 2013

SEMMA (Soil Erosion Model for Mountain Areas) should be revised to apply on mountain watershed of large scale. In this study, the basic structure of original SEMMA and methods to calculate main parameters are reviewed and the revised parameters are presented to expand a range of application. SEMMA-Ic is new model revised by a rate of vegetation cover which is substituted for index of vegetation structure to use specially NDVI for large scale areas. The correlation coefficient and the Nash-Sutcliffe simulation efficiency for the revised model decreased rather than those of original model. However the evaluation of the revised model on watershed showed the approximate simulation with measured sediment yield and the underestimated simulation when sediment yield is large. The additional research for channel erosion is needed so that soil erosion model for hillslopes is used to estimate sediment yield from a watershed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.75-86
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• 2004

This study aims to figure out ecological characteristic of natural forests focusing on vegetation as a way of ecological renovation for the restoration of naturalness for golf courses that were constructed in the Country and to present vegetation models and appropriate tree species for the purpose. The study site is P golf club, which is located in Gapyong-gun, Kyeonggi Province. The site is within a forest where the grade from the natural ecology map is the first one and the level from the green index accounts for the eight, thus showing a typical environment for a golf course in terms of location. The location of the site explains a reason for restoration. The major substance of the study is to conduct ecological evaluation of vegetation structures around and inside the golf course and to present a vegetation model. In order to evaluate the ecological characteristics of the vegetation structures, the analysis of the study covered succession stages, multi-layer vegetation structures and species diversity. Plant communities that have high species diversity were selected for the vegetation model and proper density and species were proposed considering the number of species and individuals and distances between trees. The vegetation restoration model targets succession into an oak forest. Within a unit of 100 $m^2$, the recommended model include a tall-tree layer with 11 trees such as Quercus serrata and Quercus mongolica, a sub-tall-tree layer with 12 trees including Quercus mongolica, Quercus serrata, Prunus sargentii, Fraxinus rhynchophylla and Acer pseudo sieboldianum, a shrub layer with 32 trees from 16 species, and a grass layer with a cover rate of 45 %. The proposed vegetation restoration model needs to apply to : 1) damaged natural forests by the construction of golf courses; 2) boundaries between golf courses and surrounding forests; 3) buffer zones; 4) open spaces in between courses; and 5) areas between greens and tees where open spaces are available in a mass. In conclusion, one of the most important factors in presenting a vegetation model for the restoration of naturalness in the golf course and other damaged forests is to provide multi-layer vegetation structures that are composed of native species. As for the specific application for the site, it is recommended to manage the vegetation in such a way that the environment of the site can have a similar environment to the surrounding forest which is expected to succeed into an oaks-dominant one.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.367-391
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• 2023

This study was conducted for 10 years from 2012, which is a year before the forest road construction in Minjujisan, to 2022 to analyze annual changes in flora and vegetation before and after the forest road construction and to provide strategies for management. The plant communities in the research sites along the forest road showed the differentiation between slopes with Quercus mongolica community on the northwestern slope and Quercus variabilis and Larix kaempferi communities on the southwestern slope. A total of 212 taxa have increased for number 7 between before and after the construction from a total of 66 taxa (44 families, 59 genera, 51 species, 13 varieties, and 2 forma) in 2012 and 207 taxa (71 families, 153 genera, 176 species, 27 varieties, and 4 forma) in 2015 to 278 taxa (78 families, 172 genera, 242 species, 1 subspecies, 31 varieties, and 4 forma) in 2022. It is noteworthy that the vegetation cover and the introduction of new taxa had been expanded in the sites adjacent to the construction, which is likely caused by the significantly increased amount of light and the introduction of annual herbaceous and naturalized plants after the construction. The results of 10 years of current study reveal that the vegetation cover and the number of new taxa had rapidly increased in earlier years after the construction, slowly decreased later on, and finally formed a stable forest with the increase in the ratio of dominant species. The vegetation cover of the herbaceous layer immediately increased on the slopes along the forest road for a few years after the construction although it had continuously decreased while that of the shrub layer quickly increased. It was shown that on the hillslope the vegetation cover of tall- and low-tree layers increased whereas that of herbaceous and shrub layers rapidly decreased.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2017

In recent years, coastal dune erosion has accelerated as various structures have been developed around the coastal dunes. A land cover map should be developed to identify the characteristics of sand dunes and to monitor the condition of sand dunes. The Korean Ministry of Environment's land cover maps suffer from problems, such as limited classes, target areas, and durations. Thus, this study conducted experiments using RGB and multispectral images based on UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) over an approximately one-year cycle to create a land cover map of coastal dunes. RF (Random Forest) classifier was used for the analysis in accordance with the experimental region's characteristics. The pixel- and object-based classification results obtained by using RGB and multispectral cameras were evaluated, respectively. The study results showed that object-based classification using multispectral images had the highest accuracy. Our results suggest that constant monitoring of coastal dunes can be performed effectively.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.81-91
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• 2021

Synthetic Apreture Radar (SAR) is attracting attentions with its possibility of producing high resolution data that can be used for soil moisture estimation. High resolution soil moisture data enables more specific observation of soil moisture than existing soil moisture products from other satellites. It can also be used for studies of wildfire, landslide, and flood. The SAR based soil moisture estimation should be conducted considering vegetation, which affects backscattering signals from the SAR sensor. In this study, a SAR based soil moisture estimation at regions covered with various vegetation types on the middle area of Korea (Cropland, Grassland, Forest) is conducted. The representative backscattering model, Water Cloud Model (WCM) is used for soil moisture estimation over vegetated areas. Radar Vegetation Index (RVI) and in-situ soil moisture data are used as input factors for the model. Total 6 study areas are selected for 3 vegetation types according to land cover classification with 2 sites per each vegetation type. Soil moisture evaluation result shows that the accuracy of each site stands out in the order of grassland, forest, and cropland. Forested area shows correlation coefficient value higher than 0.5 even with the most dense vegetation, while cropland shows correlation coefficient value lower than 0.3. The proper vegetation and soil moisture conditions for SAR based soil moisture estimation are suggested through the results of the study. Future study, which utilizes additional ancillary vegetation data (vegetation height, vegetation type) is thought to be necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

The current study aims to analyze the vegetation characteristics of the rocky slopes in expressway applied by different types of greening work. A field survey on the current status of vegetation were conducted in 50 rock slopes along 13 expressways in two years, 2020 to 2021. Specifically, the type of implemented greening and slope stabilization work, the soil properties, the vegetation coverage, and the emerged species were investigated on a every single slope. As the result of the implemented work types, the soil-media hydroseeding and the gabion work appeared to be the most implemented greening and slope stabilization work, respectively. As a result of the vegetation survey, 126 classification groups (42 families, 93 genera and 126 species) were identified in total and it was observed 26 IAP species and 5 invasive species were growing. The longer the time after greening work, the more frequent appearance of IAP species were observed. Woody species such as Robinia pseudoacacia and Lespedeza bicolo, and perennial herbs such as Artemisia princeps, Erigeron annuus, and Festuca arundinacea were appeared with high frequencies at the rocky slopes in expressway. It was also observed Pinus densiflora, Quercus dentata, Rubus crataegifolius and Miscanthus sinensis which had invaded from the adjacent forests naturally, and the largest number of species were invaded between 5~10 years usually after greening work in this study.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.90-97
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• 2020

Background: Natural forests are generally considered to be less prone to biological invasions than other modified ecosystems, particularly when canopy cover is high. Few decades of management of degraded forests by local communities in Nepal has increased canopy cover and altered disturbance regimes. These changes might have reduced the abundance of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) in forests. To understand the status of IAPS in such forests, we studied two community managed Shorea robusta forests (Sundari and Dhusheri) of Nawalpur district in central Nepal. In these two forests, vegetation sampling was done using circular plots 10 m radius at forest edge, gaps, and within canopy. Variation of IAPS richness and cover across these microhabitats were compared, and their variation with tree canopy cover and basal area analyzed. Result: Altogether 14 IAPS were recorded in the study forests; among them Chromolaena odorata, Ageratum houstonianum, and Lantana camara had the highest frequency. Mikania micrantha was at the early stage of colonization in Sundari Community Forest (CF) but absent in Dhuseri CF. Both IAPS cover and richness was higher at forest edge and gap than in canopy plots and both these attributes declined with increasing canopy cover and tree basal area. Conclusion: The results indicate that increase in canopy cover and closure of forest gaps through participatory management of degraded forests can prevent plant invasions and suppress the growth of previously established IAPS in Shorea robusta forests of Nepal. This is the unacknowledged benefit of participatory forest management in Nepal.