• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.158-167
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• 2006

The object of this study is to detect of land-cover change in western DMZ and vicinity. This was performed as a basic study to construct a decision support system for the conservation or a sustainable development of the DMZ and Vicinity near future. DMZ is an is 4km wide and 250km long and it's one of the most highly fortified boundaries in the world and also a unique thin green line. Environmentalists want to declare the DMZ as a natural reserve and a biodiversity zone, but nowadays through the strengthening of the inter-Korean economic cooperation, some developers are trying to construct a new-town or an industrial complex inside of the DMZ. This study investigates the current environmental conditions, especially deforestation of the western DMZ adopting remote sensing and GIS techniques. The Land-covers were identified through the linear spectvral mixture analysis(LSMA) which was used to handle the spectral mixture problem of low spatial resolution imagery of Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery. To analyze quantitative and spatial change of vegetation-cover in western DMZ, GIS overlay method was used. In LSMA, to develop high-quality fraction images, three endmembers of green vegetation(GV), soil, water were driven from pure features in the imagery. Through 15 years, from 1987 to 2002, forest of western DMZ and vicinity was devastated and changed to urban, farmland or barren land. Northern part of western DMZ and vicinity was more deforested than that of southern part. ($52.37km^2$ of North Korean forest and $39.04km^2$ of South Korean were change to other land-covers.) In case of North Korean part, forest changed to barren land and farmland and in South Korean part, forest changed to farmland and urban area. Especially, In North Korean part of DMZ and vicinity, $56.15km^2$ of farmland changed to barren land through 15 years, which showed the failure of the 'Darakbat' (terrace filed) project which is one of food increase projects in North Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.95-104
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• 2006

The DMZ is a 248km long thin green line which has various landscapes of fields, hills and mountains. This study focused on western part of DMZ and vicinity which consist of abandoned rice paddy, wetlands and fields. The main purpose of this study is to detect the vegetation vitality from the western part of MDL to DMZ vicinity and identify and quantify ecological buffer(ecotone) width adopting logistic function derived from 'Vegetation Index-distance curve' using an Landsat ETM+ image acquired on June of 2002. Green leaf vegetation was quantified to identify the ecotone buffer in western DMZ and vicinity(civilian control area: CCA) using Transformed Vegetation Index(TVI) which is one of common measurement among various indices. Vegetation measurement from Military Demarcation Line(MDL) to vicinity area was investigated at 500m intervals to 10kms of southern and northern part of western DMZ and vicinity. The Logistic function models the sigmoid curve of growth with three stages of growth of initial competition and maturity. In the TVI-distance logistic curve, the maturity is high vegetation vitality, the competition is vitality changing, and the initial is low vitality. In the TVI-distance curve, maturity area of high TVI value is core area for ecological conservation, and the competition area between inflection points can be an ecotone(ecological buffer). In case of southern part, maximum TVI value is 221.92 and minimum is 207.16, and maximum TVI of northen part is 215.32 and minimum is 188.35. That means forest devastation of north Korean part of DMZ and vicinity is severer than that of south Korea. The width of core area for ecological conservation is 2,311m, and ecotone in the southern part is 5,339m, so minimum width from MDL for ecological conservation can be computed as 7,651m. In case of Northern part, the width of core area is 1,841m, and ecotone buffer is 5,014m, so ecological conservation width can be estimated as 6,855m. In case of northen part, width of estimated core area is less than that of DMZ width, which means ecological disturbance is very severe in northern part of western DMZ.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.268-287
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• 2022

This study reports newly discovered seven forest wetlands in the western part of the Korean Demilitarized Zone-Civilian Control Zone ecoregion. The wetland assessment criteria proposed by National Arboretum were adopted to evaluate four fields: vegetation and landscape, biogeochemical cycle, hydraulics and hydrology, and social-cultural-historical landscape and disturbances. Among seven wetlands located in Gimpo and Paju, five were of the fallow field type and two were of the natural type. A total of 474 plant species were recorded, including nine rare plants, such as the Carex capricornis Meinsh. ex Maxim. Three forest wetlands were sorted into A-grade, three into B-grade, and one into C-grade. Monitoring forest wetlands scattered across the border area ruled by military regulations can be challenging; still, as forest wetlands with high conservation value turned out, further investigations through remote sensing and cooperation by the relevant agencies will be required.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.125-141
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• 2006

Insect fauna in adjacent areas of Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea was surveyed seasonally in $2001{\sim}2003$. The survey area was divided into 3 regions (eastern mountain, middle inland, and western coastal regions) in accordance with administrative districts and topography. Sampling methods such as sweeping, sieving, beating, brushing and suction were used depending on the environmental and military conditions. Total 361 genera and 437 species of 116 families belonging to 14 orders were identified. Among these, 46 species were new to insect fauna of DMZ areas. Species richness was the highest in the eastern mountain region. Numbers of habitat-common and -specific species were 96 (22%) and 195 (47.2%), respectively. The insect species community similarity was highest (0.64) between eastern mountain region and western coastal region. Insect orders showing high species richness were Coleoptera (38.9%), Lepidoptera (19.2%), Orthoptera (9.4%), and Hemiptera (9.2%). These results will be useful information for study of history on the change of insect fauna and future conservation in DMZ areas.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.454-460
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• 2007

Korean War resulted in the fact that Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the neck of Korean peninsular was totally forgotten by people for more than half a century. But recently, as the concern in this DMZ has been rising inside and outside of Korea, the researches on this subject have been gradually quickening. However, the practical studies about spatial extent of DMZ are very feeble. Even the analysis of the previous studies shows that the most of researches had mistakes in the spatial description of MDL and DMZ, neutral territory of Han River estuary, and NLL. In this study the length of MDL, stretching till the estuary of western Lim- Jin River in Myung-Ho Ri of Goseong region on East Coast, was measured to be about Z38km (l48miles); the area of corresponding DMZ was proved to be approximately $903.8km^2$ ($907.3km^2$ in the previous studies). Such results show that it is necessary to decide the terms for calling the space dividing North and South Korea, similarly to "155-mile truce line".

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.173-184
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• 2020

Irrigation ponds, 'dumbeong', which are artificially constructed water resources for traditional farming, serve as a biological shelter connecting seasonally created rice paddy fields to local freshwater ecosystems. This 2018 study surveyed 143 irrigation ponds in the western Civilian Control Zone (CCZ) area from August to September, revealing species diversity and community characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates. A total of 13,454 individuals of macroinvertebrates were captured and classified into 3 phyla, 5 classes, 17 orders, 59 families, 192 species. Among Insecta, the most frequently recorded order was Odonata, 55 spp.(33.7%), followed by Coleoptera, 52 spp. (31.9%), Hemiptera, 34 spp. (20.8%), Diptera, 17 spp. (9.8%), Ephemeroptera, 3 spp. (2.4%), Trichoptera, 1 spp. (0.6%) and Lepidoptera, 1 spp. (0.6%). Taxon of non-Insecta consisted of Mollusca, 14 spp. (48.2%), Annelida, 11 spp. (37.9%) and Arthropoda, 4 spp. (3.4%). The analysis of Diversity Index (H'), Species Richness Index (RI), Dominance Index (DI) and Evenness Index (J') revealed the general stability of communities in the study sites. A total of 28 rare species were found in 98 study sites, including three endangered species designated by the Ministry of Environment. These results showed that the species diversity and rarity of macroinvertebrates in the study area were greater than those of previous research on lentic wetlands (lake, etc.) and national conserved wetlands(Upo-swamp, etc.) in Korea. A conservation planning of aquatic ecosystems in the western CCZ area, therefore, should focus on conservation of irrigation ponds.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.83-99
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• 2021

Burn severity analysis using satellite imagery has high capabilities for research and management in inaccessible areas. We extracted the forest fire area of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in the western Imjin Estuary which is restricted to access due to the confrontation between South and North Korea. Then we analyzed the forest fire severity and recoverability using atmospheric corrected Surface Reflectance Level-2 data collected from Landsat-8 OLI (Operational Land Imagery) / TIRS (Thermal Infrared Sensor). Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR), differenced NBR (dNBR), and Relative dNBR (RdNBR) were analyzed based on changes in the spectral pattern of satellite images to estimate burn severity area and intensity. Also, we evaluated the recoverability after a forest fire using a land cover map which is constructed from the NBR, dNBR, and RdNBR analyzed results. The results of dNBR and RdNBR analysis for the six years (during May 30, 2014 - May 30, 2020) showed that the intensity of monthly burn severity was affected by seasonal changes after the outbreak and the intensity of annual burn severity gradually decreased after the fire events. The regrowth of vegetation was detected in most of the affected areas for three years (until May 2020) after the forest fire reoccurred in May 2017. The monthly recoverability (from April 2014 to December 2015) of forests and grass fields was increased and decreased per month depending on the vegetation growth rate of each season. In the case of annual recoverability, the growth of forest and grass field was reset caused by the recurrence of a forest fire in 2017, then gradually recovered with grass fields from 2017 to 2020. We confirmed that remote sensing was effectively applied to research of the burn severity and recoverability in the DMZ. This study would also provide implications for the management and construction statistics database of the forest fire in the DMZ.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2020

In this study, we 1) identified the damaged areas along the south limit line (SLL) of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) by the military's 'DMZ barren land campaign', and 2) categorized the identified damaged areas into a few ecological types. Using high-resolution satellite images, we delineated the total damaged areas to be 1,183.2 ha, which accounted for 50.1% of the 100-m northern buffer regions from the SLL. Of the total damaged areas, 16% were severely damaged, i.e., they had been damaged until recently and so remained barren without vegetation cover. In other areas, the levels of damage were either moderate (59.9%) or slight (24.1%), due to natural succession that turned those areas to grassland or forest. Using satellite image-derived land cover maps and climatic and topographic data, we categorized the damaged areas into seven types: lowland grassland (19.8%), western lowland forest (21.4%), low-altitude forest (25.5%), mid-altitude forest (18.4%), high-altitude forest (6.8%), vicinity in east coast (7.9%), and waterbody (0.2%). These types can be used to identify proper measures to restore ecosystems in the DMZ for now and after Korean reunification.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2021.04a
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• pp.31-31
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• 2021

본 연구는 서부 DMZ 및 접경지역에 속하고 인천광역시 강화군 강화읍에 위치한 퇴모·혈구산(466m) 을 대상으로 수행되었다. 강화군은 우리나라에서 4번째로 넓은 면적의 섬으로 알려져있고, 인천광역시 서북부 경기만의 한강 하구에 위치하고 있으며, 서쪽으로는 석모도 등 부속섬과 서해안, 북쪽으로는 북 한의 황해도 연백시, 동쪽으로는 김포시와 강화대교와 강화초지대교가 육지로 연결되어 있다. 2019년 4 월부터 2020년 10월까지 7회에 걸쳐 계절별로 식물상 조사를 진행하였다. 본 연구에서 확인된 해명산 일대에 분포하는 관속식물의 현황은 92과 257속 353속 4아종 41변종 4품종 총 402분류군으로 확인되었다. 양치식물은 6과 9속 10종 2변종 12분류군, 나자식물은 3과 4속 8종 총 8분류군, 쌍자엽식물은 74과 198속 268종 4아종 30변종 3품종 등 305분류군, 단자엽식물은 9과 46속 67종 9변종 1품종 등 77분류군으로 조사되었다. 또한, 식물구계학적 특정식물 IV급은 등 1분류군, III급은 물박달나무, 병아리꽃나무 등 6분 류군, II급은 갯장구채, 꼬리조팝나무 등 8분류군, I급은 야산고비, 일엽초 등 20분류군으로 파악되었 다. 희귀식물은 산림청 지정 희귀식물 취약종(VU)에 속하는 산들깨와 약관심종(LC)에 속하는 쥐방울덩굴 등 총 2분류군이 확인되었다. 특산식물은 백운산원추리 및 병꽃나무 등 4분류이 파악되었다. 침입외래식물은 애기수영 및 유럽점나무도물 등 39분류군으로 확인되었고, 생태계교란식은 가시박 등 4분류군으로 파악되었다. 주변의 신산저수지 및 고비고개에 큰 공사가 진행되고있어 침입외래식물의 개체수는 크게 증가할 것으로 예측었다. 따라서 장기적인 생태계 보전대책 수립이 필요하다고 판단된다.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2017

This study has been carried out for the purpose of predicting the potential habitat sites of invasive alien plants in the DMZ and providing the basic data for decision-making in managing the future DMZ natural environment. From 2007 to 2015, this study collected the data for the advent of Ambrosia trifida var. trifida through fieldwork around the DMZ area, and simulated the potential distribution area of Ambrosia trifida var. trifida using Maxent model among the models of species distributions. As a result, it showed that the potential distribution area of the Ambrosia trifida var. trifida was concentrated in the western DMZ with relatively low altitude and scanty in the central east regions with relatively high elevation and forest cover rate. Because the invasive alien vegetation is a significant threatening factor in the agriculture and restoration of ecology and it costs a lot to restore the area already invaded by invasive alien vegetation, advance precautions are necessary to prevent biological invasions. It is expected that it is possible to predict the disturbed ecosystems through this study for the efficient land use within DMZ in the future and to apply this study in setting up the areas for the development and conservation within the DMZ.