• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.384-401
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• 2016

The vegetation assessment indicator has been developed recently as a biological part of the integrated assessment system for river environment to improve the efficiency of river restoration projects. This study carried out to test the vegetation assessment indicator and to reset its grade criteria on experimental streams. We classified and mapped vegetation communities at the level of physiognomic-floristic composition by each assessment unit. A total of 204 sampling quadrats were set up on the 68 assessment units at 5 experimental streams. By analyzing the vegetation data collected, we examined the appropriate numbers of sampling quadrats, the criteria of vegetation index score, classification of vegetation community, and grade criteria for vegetation assessment. The developed vegetation assessment indicator composed with the vegetation complexity index (VCI), the vegetation diversity index (VDI), and the vegetation naturalness index (VNI) was proved to reflect the current conditions of the streams sufficiently. The contribution of vegetation naturalness index to grading by vegetation assessment indicator was larger, but three indexes were closely correlated to each other. Also there was more clearer discrimination of grading with the application of adjusted criteria of vegetation assessment indicator and the standardized classification of vegetation community, but the stream segment type did not influence the vegetation assessment grade significantly.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2011

This study was carried out to suggest the baseline data necessary for vegetation restoration at riverine wetland within stream corridor. We used the prevalence index for wetland assessment by applying the method of weighted averages with index values based on five hydrophyte indicator status as defined by estimated probability occurred in wetland. We selected near nature and urbanized reach of Gap and Yanghwa streams as experimental site. Although two sites have some different disturbance and characteristics of watershed, they showed that similarity of vegetation community including three dominant species - Salix koreensis, Phragmites communis, Miscanthus sacchariflorus - was very high. But in case of Yanghwa stream, various kinds of emergent plants along wetted condition were distinctly occurred, resulted from difference of hydrological regime and substrate, etc. Degree of naturalness of vegetation at the sampled areas indicated that near nature area of Gap stream and all area of Yanghwa stream were fitted as riverine wetland, while urbanized area of Gap stream has changed into upland condition. In conclusion assessment system using prevalence index would be considered an effective method for evaluating of natural states of riverine wetland, but further integrated consideration of physical, hydrological, and biological factors of stream process, and also with considering the difference between those qualitative data of vegetation community.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.21-37
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• 2010

The abiotic factors and the vegetation naturalness of the 13 tributary wetlands around Namgang-River were assessed to investigate the present state and to present the conservation counter plan for the wetland ecosystem of the tributaries. Assessment indices for the abiotic factors were estimated based on the dominant land use types of the riparian zone, ecological function of the upper levee, levee slope structure, artificiality and utilization intensity of the waterfront, artificiality of the revetment structure, diversity of the substrate, and severance of the transverse. The assessment index of Omi-cheon is the highest among 13 tributaries. The second was Banseong-cheon and third was Hyangyang-cheon, followed by Nabul-cheon and Yeongcheon-gang and Sugok-cheon, Jungchon- cheon, and Daegok-cheon in their order and Munsan-cheon got the lowest assessment index. Assessment indices for the vegetation naturalness were estimated based on the vegetation diversity, exotic species dominance, annual herb dominance, naturalness and peculiarity of the vegetation, and species diversity. The assessment index of Omi-cheon is the highest among 13 tributaries. The second was Sugok-cheon and third was Banseong-cheon, followed by Yeongcheon-gang, Jungchon- cheon, Jinae-cheon, Nabul-cheon, and Jisu-cheon in their order, and Yonga-cheon got the lowest assessment index. The grades of the stream naturalness were estimated based on the the naturalness indices for the abiotic factors and the vegetation naturalness. The grades of Omi-cheon is the highest among 13 tributaries as the grade I. Those of Banseong-cheon, Sugok-cheon, Yeongcheon-gang, Nabul-cheon and Jungchon-cheon, Hyangyang-cheon, Jinae-cheon, Jisu-cheon, Daegok-cheone, and Munsan-cheon and Doksan-cheon were grade II in their order, and Yonga-cheon got the lowest as the grade III. It was suggested that restoration of the simple and flat substrate, create the natural vegetation on the levee slope constructed with concrete or stone wall, and rehabilitation of the eco-bridge were demanded to improve the grades of the stream naturalness through the restoration of the tributaries for the diverse aquatic wildlife, high vegetation diversity and species diversity with the vegetation consisted of perennial herbs and trees.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.218-227
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• 2011

The objective approach for assessment of stream naturalness is an essential part of the stream restoration project. This study proposes the methodology for the assessment of stream naturalness considering physical, biological and chemical factors. Physical factors consists of riffle and pool, river bed material, bank protection, floodplain vegetation and levee materials; biological factors are benthic macroinvertebrate, KSI (Korean Saprobic Index), and IBI (Index of Biological Integrity) and chemical factors are pH, DO (dissolved oxygen), and TP (total phosphorus). This procedure is applied to the Mokgamcheon. As a result, the downstream of Mokgamcheon (zone I) needs the prompt improvement of stream naturalness, compared to the others (zone II and III). This evaluation technique will be an effective tool to quantify the stream naturalness and can be used to set the target of stream restoration project.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.33-47
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• 1996

To select the criteria, literature review was made in the quantitative case of conservation biology, foreign country's EIA and domestic ecology. Among them, a few factors was extracted. To applicate the criteria to domestic forest ecosystem, expert opinion survey was executed to the ecologist. The results were summarized as follows; 1. Classification of sites was made of land use system which is related to forest ecosystem or forest conservation. Sites are divided into 3 categories which are nature preservation area, seminature preservation area and urbanized area. Evaluation criteria is consisted of rarity and naturalness. 2. Each area had different criteria composition according to the site characteristics. Criteria of nature preservation area is rarity in the broad sense (distribution pattern of vegetation), vegetation size, successional stage and depth of organic matters. Those of seminature preservation area are rarity in the broad sense (distribution area of vegetation), vegetation size, successional stage, diameter at breath height and depth of organic matters. And those of urbanized area are vegetation distribution in area, successional stage, age of forest and diameter of breath height. The basic data of criterion was gathered by field survey. 3. Evaluation index and total naturalness index was obtained by adding the each criterion. It is made up of two categories-rarity and naturalness. TNi is divided into 3 grades. Grade I is more than 70% for TNi, grade IT is 50~70%, and grade III is below 50%. According to the each grade, permitted action and facilities were suggested.. This research just focuses on the evaluation of vegetation quality and the assessment results do not directly judge conservation or development. To make better evaluation criteria, various fields of forest ecosystem-geological or physical nature environment and fauna ecosystem etc. -will be added wholly to this research.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.535-545
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• 2011

This study was carried out to suggest the baseline data necessary for vegetation restoration by naturalness assessment of riverine wetland within stream corridor. We selected stream reach both of near nature and urbanized by Nonsan stream and Hongchun river as experimental site. Composition of vegetation community and land use pattern between two sites indicated considerable difference, which imply for many different watershed property and process disturbed each other at river ecosystem. Naturalness of the sampled reaches showed that near nature is in better condition for riverine wetland than urbanized of all two sites. However, the prevalence index of Hongchun river within its natural state was lower than that of Nonsan stream, because the index included some vegetation communities occurred at upland fringe and bank slope. In conclusion assessment system using prevalence index would be considered an effective method for evaluating of natural states of riverine wetland.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2011

Integrated stream naturalness based on abiotic and biotic factors were developed. Abiotic factors considered in this study were types of land use in the riparian area, river bank and high water bed streamside, revetment, bed substrate and artificial construction of streamside. Biotic factors included types of vegetation, assemblages of fish, macroinvertebrate, bird and mammal(Otter) in streams. The presence/absence of legal species and biological assessment index were also weighted as important parameters in this study. Scoring criteria selected for each matrix was five rating system; 1=poor, 2=moderate, 3=fair, 4=good, 5=excellent. Numerical ratings for the matrix were then summed. This resulted in a minimum score of 13 if all matrix at a site were poor, and a maximum score of 65 if all matrix were excellent. Five grade system from poor(I) to excellent condition(V) was employed. To verify its validity in natural environment, the evaluation system was applied to the Gapchun stream which is a test bed selected. Our result showed that stream naturalness of each reach was clearly distinguished by biotic and abiotic characteristics. Determination of correlation coefficient between abiotic and biotic factors was also high ($R^2=0.96$, p<0.05). In conclusion, assessment for stream naturalness reflecting abiotic and biotic factors was useful method representing stream integrated.

• 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.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.52 no.spc2
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• pp.765-776
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to provide the legal and institutional guidelines and standards that can be used in the whole river restoration project and to analyze and evaluate the performance of the river project. We constructed an assessment system of four biological taxa that can represent the river environments, namely, evaluation indexes and standards of vegetation and birds, benthic invertebrates and fishes. Specifically, the assessment indicator and criteria of biological characteristics are summarized, so that in case of vegetation community, vegetation diversity, vegetation complexity, and vegetation naturalness can be quantitatively assessed through the combination of three indices. Based on the scientific basis of the advanced techniques, benthic invertebrates, fishes, and birds were proposed to quantitatively evaluate assessment grades according to the classification of biological data. In order to evaluate biological characteristics, which are a part of river environmental naturalness, we proposed a comprehensive biological index and evaluation grade applying the weight of these four biological taxa, and it clearly reflects the characteristics of river environment in test bed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.45-64
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• 2014

This study was carried out to offer the ecological data for restoring and maintaining a local stream by analyzing the vegetation and flora in Geumsan Stream and Gisa Stream, Geumsan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea. As a result of comparison of realities of land use near Geumsan Stream and Gisa Stream, in Geumsan Stream, the ratio of residential areas, commercial and business places, and places of transportation facilities was high. With these types of land use aggregating densely in the center, farmlands were formed on both sides. On the other hand, in Gisa Stream, farmlands were distributed evenly in all sections. As a result of comparison of flora of the two streams, Geumsan Stream had a total of 166 taxons including 53 families, 131 genuses, 139 species, 23 varieties, and 4 forms, and Gisa Stream had a total of 142 taxons including 42 families, 111 genuses, 116 species, 21 varieties, and 5 forms. As a result of calculation of the Naturalization Index and Urbanization Index, the indices were analyzed to be 23.5% and 12.1% in Geumsan Stream and to be 21.8% and 9.7% in Gisa Stream, respectively. Hence, Geumsan Stream showed higher figures in both evaluation indices than those of Gisa Stream. In addition, as a result of calculation of the Actual Urbanization Index, which is the index supplemented by considering the species pool and area, it could be known that Geumsan Stream (0.0285) was urbanized more than Gisa Stream (0.0107) by about 2.7 times. A total of 18 plant communities were classified in Geumsan Stream and Gisa Stream. In Geumsan Stream, 14 vegetation types were identified, and it was analyzed that there are various vegetation types including Phalaris arundinacea community, Zoysia japonica community, Phragmites japonica-Phalaris arundinacea community, etc. evenly distributed. 11 vegetation types were identified in Gisa Stream, and it was examined that Phragmites japonica community is widely distributed in all sections.