• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.359-369
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• 2015

Stream ecosystems are highly valued natural resources, however, stream environments are currently under threat in several respects. We evaluated vegetation and ecological characteristics according to different revetment types. The distribution of vegetation differed with revetment type, with a 42~45 taxa found in natural revetments, and 23~38 taxa in vertical revetments. Thus, natural revetments host more diverse vegetation than vertical revetments. We also found more plants belonging to the families Labiatae and Cyperaceae growing in natural revetments than in vertical revetments. We proposed that habitat space be apportioned to introduce annual plants as part of stream restoration projects. And, we identified 7 families and 18 taxa of naturalized plants, majority taxa were either biennial or perennial. Moreover, naturalized ratio was higher in vertical(14.3%) than natural(12.1%), we proposed a plan to promote and improve natural streams and revetments. Furthermore, we applied a waterfront evaluation method developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA-NRCS, which confirmed that stream health can be improved in most regions by controlling naturalized plants and ensuring shrub and tree growth. We adopted a new method to remove naturalized plants and establish natural revetments to ensure shrub and tree growth to aid in small-stream restoration and improvement. In future studies, we hope to develop methods for small-stream restoration projects in rural areas.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.129-142
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• 2007

The Purpose of this study is to evaluate the value of abandoned paddy fields as wetland ecosystems and their suitability as habitats for various species. Physical and chemical characteristics of soils and the change of vegetation in paddy fields were analysed -with the passage of time after cease of cultivation. The results of analyses for soil characteristics, vegetation succession, and functional values of abandoned paddy fields as wetlands were as follows: First, top soils become coarser as years after abandonment increase. Second, as the years of abandonment passed. there were significant differences in organic matter, available phosphorate and calcium, while not in magnesium and cation exchange capacity(CEC). Third, species increased from early stage till middle stage, and decreased in late stage. In similarity analysis of species composition, sites were classified into three groups according to the stage of succession. Upper and lower terraces at Daetgol were classified as early stage of succession. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd terraces at Nonbanggol were in middle stage, while tile 4th and 5th were in late stage. Forth, according to evaluation sheets of MoE and RAM(Rapid Assessment Method) standards, me overall average of functional value of Nonbanggol site were 2.13, classified as "common".

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.154-162
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• 2019

Lateral connectivity between the channel and the floodplains has been damaged by the levee construction and channelization in most streams of South Korea. The purpose of this study was to develop a technique for easily and remotely assessing lateral connectivity using GIS in the streams and to evaluate the effectiveness of the assessment method by applying it to Cheongmi-cheon Stream, a representative stream in the central Korean Peninsula. The metrics of the lateral connectivity assessment are composed of (1) existence of remaining wetlands and (2) land use property as a habitat quality of the former floodplain outside the levee and (3) existence of levee barrier, (4) connectivity to the stream and (5) connectivity to the upland natural habitats as a connectivity from the channel through floodplain to the upland forest. According to the result of applying the assessment method to Cheongmi-cheon Stream, the lateral connectivity was severely damaged due to the levee construction and land use change in the former floodplain. The GIS-based assessment of the lateral connectivity developed in this study is expected to be used as a useful tool for identifying limitations of current connectivity in various attempts to restore lateral connectivity in riparian ecosystems.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.64-73
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• 2023

Before 2022, there was a lot of confusion in the process of planning and implementing the projects for ecological restoration of the stream due to dualization the principal agent of stream management. Because the Ministry of Environment took charge of the project in 2022, securing the health of aquatic ecosystem of stream became an essential factor in the project. Therefore, in this study, the streams that require the project for ecological restoration was selected in Han River estuary, where it is essential to secure the health of the stream aquatic ecosystem as blackish water zone and Ramsar wetland are located. Physical, chemical, spatial/humanistic, health of aquatic ecosystems evaluation indexes were calculated based on the detailed facts and figures of the project for ecological restoration of the stream in the beginning. Ranking, re-scaling, z-score, and t-score normalization methods were applied to the calculated evaluation index, and the values were compared and analyzed. After that, the entropy weight method was applied to each evaluation index. Through this process, the streams(Mokgamcheon, Anyangcheon etc.) that require the project for ecological restoration were selected for the purpose of securing the health of the aquatic ecosystem in Han River estuary. The result of this study can be used as basic research data in the process of selecting the priority determination of the projects for ecological restoration of the stream.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.257-270
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• 2023

The paddy environment is classified as a wetland and occupies a very large proportion of the freshwater environment. It is also ecologically important as a habitat and spawning ground for many aquatic insects and amphibian larvae. However, due to climate change and indiscriminate spraying of pesticides, the rice field ecosystem is continuously threatened. In order to restore ecologically damaged rice paddies in the future, information on organisms living in the rice paddy ecosystem, which can serve as a restoration standard, is needed. The eDNA metabarcoding analysis method is a very effective means of accumulating information on many organisms living in the rice field ecosystem because it can indirectly identify the existence of taxa that are no longer found in the target ecosystem due to different adult life periods or metamorphosis. In this study, genes of four species of frogs and nine species of aquatic insects were also discovered, and some taxa were directly discovered in the field. A large number of taxa have been discovered only by DNA searches, and traditional survey methods have only been able to identify very limited taxa. This eDNA-based paddy field biosearch is expected to be very useful in the investigation of biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems due to its strong analytical resolution.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.67-78
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• 2024

The term ecosystem services refers to natural ecosystems' benefits to humans. Various models have been developed and applied to quantify ecosystem services. Habitat quality assessment is a widely used leading InVEST ecosystem service model. In Korea, habitat quality assessment is conducted for national parks. For habitat quality assessment, the initial value of habitat quality must be used to assess the sensitivity to threats, which varies depending on the country and application field. Therefore, an expert survey (AHP) was conducted based on previous habitat quality assessments in national parks to adjust the sensitivity, the initial value for the habit quality assessment. As a result of the AHP, 18 items were adjusted, including 10 items, such as natural grassland and unarranged fields, upward and 8 items, such as rivers and ponds, downward. Based on the adjusted sensitivity results, the habitat quality of Bukhansan National Park and Gyeryongsan National Park (urban type), Gyeongju National Park (historic type), Hallyeohaesang National Park (ocean type), and Jirisan National Park and Seoraksan National Park (mountain type) were adjusted. The results of the analysis showed that the habitat quality of urban dry areas and water bodies distributed in the national parks was reflected in the habitat quality assessment. In the future, it will be possible to evaluate the habitat quality of natural parks using this standard.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.386-393
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• 2016

Agricultural ecosystem is recognized as a space for providing a variety of services, in addition to the food production that it originally encompassed, such as water purification, biological habitat, air purification, soil conservation, and landscape development. The construction of greenhouses in agricultural landscapes can cause deterioration of ecosystem services because of the increase of impermeable area and loss of biological habitats. This study aimed to compare insect diversity between different types of constructed greenhouses and paddy ecosystems. The target study area was selected by considering the distribution status of horticultural complexes and was classified as Single Vinyl Greenhouse, Multi Vinyl Greenhouse or Glass Greenhouse and they were compared with four paddies. The study locations were in Gu-Mi, Bu-Yeo, Ginje and Jin-Ju. A total of 2,333 individual insects belonging to 9 orders, 38 families, 76 genus, and 80 species were collected. The composition of orders was Hemiptera (22.37%), Coleoptera (18.42%), Hymenoptera (14.47%), Orthoptera (11.84%), and Diptera (10.53%). The average number of collected species were in the order Paddy (39.38 species) > Single Vinyl Greenhouse (35.50 species) > Multi Vinyl Greenhouse (22.50 species) > Glass Greenhouse (24.00 species). The Diversity Index (H') was Paddy (4.76) > Single Vinyl Greenhouse (4.57) > Multi Vinyl Greenhouse (4.12), and Glass Greenhouse (4.12). The Richness Index (RI) was Paddy (7.72) and Single Vinyl Greenhouse (7.03) > Multi Vinyl Greenhouse (4.99) and Glass Greenhouse (5.32). From our results, it can be seen that the biological diversity features of insects decreased when greenhouses are constructed.However, Single Vinyl Greenhouse is noted to promote insect diversity more than that by Multi Vinyl Greenhouse and Glass Greenhouse. Hence, when constructing greenhouses, it is necessary to consider insect habitat to conserve insect diversity.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.335-340
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• 2010

The paper describes the objectives of Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) project, focusing on procedural and practical aspects. YSLME is a highly productive sea yet possibly one of the most impacted large marine ecosystems, in terms of anthropogenic stressors, due the enormous coastal population. The aim of the YSLME project is the reduction of ecosystem stress through identification of the environmental problems in the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) that are then addressed in the Strategic Action Programme (SAP). One of the major problems found to be affecting biological diversity is habitat modification through wetland reclamation, conversion and degradation. Since the early 1900's more than 40% of intertidal wetlands have been reclaimed in Korea, and 60% of Chinese coastal wetlands have been converted or reclaimed. Damaging fishing practices, pollution and coastal eutrophication have further degraded the coastal environment reducing the biological diversity. To combat this loss, the YSLME project has mounted a public awareness campaign to raise environmental consciousness targeted at all different levels of society, from politicians at parliamentary workshops, local government officer training events, scientific conferences and involvement of scientists in the project research and reporting, to university and high school students in our visiting internship programmes and environmental camps. We have also built networks through the Yellow Sea Partnership and by liaising and working with other environmental organizations and NGOs. NGO's are recognised as important partners in the environmental conservation as they already have extensive local networks that can be lacking in international organisations. Effective links have been built with many of these NGOs through the small grants programme. Working with WWF's YSESP project and other academic and research institutions we have conducted our own biodiversity assessments that have contributed to the science-based development of the SAP for the YSLME. Our regional targets for biodiversity outlined in the SAP include: Improvements in the densities, distributions and genetic diversity of current populations of all living organisms including endangered and endemic species; Maintenance of habitats according to standards and regulations of 2007; and a reduction in the risk of introduced species. Endorsement of the SAP and its successful implementation, during the proposed second phase of the YSLEM project, will ensure that biological diversity is here to benefit future generations.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.321-327
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• 2006

In Korea, there is a growing competitive for water resources between industrial, domestic and agricultural consumer, and the environment as many other OECD countries. The demand on water use is also affecting aquatic ecosystems particularly where withdrawals are in excess of minimum environmental needs for rivers, lakes and wetland habits. OECD developed three indicators related to water use by the agriculture in above contexts : the first is a water use intensity indicator, which is expressed as the quantity or share of agricultural water use in total national water utilization; the second is a water stress indicator, which is expressed as the proportion of rivers (in length) subject to diversion or regulation for irrigation without reserving a minimum of limiting reference flow; and the third is a water use efficiency indicator designated as the technical and the economic efficiency. These indicators have different meanings in the aspect of water resource conservation and sustainable water use. So, it will be more significant that the indicators should reflect the intrinsic meanings of them. The problem is that the aspect of an overall water flow in the agro-ecosystem and recycling of water use not considered in the assessment of agricultural water use needed for calculation of these water use indicators. Namely, regional or meteorological characteristics and site-specific farming practices were not considered in the calculation of these indicators. In this paper, we tried to calculate water use indicators suggested in OECD and to modify some other indicators considering our situation because water use pattern and water cycling in Korea where paddy rice farming is dominant in the monsoon region are quite different from those of semi-arid regions. In the calculation of water use intensity, we excluded the amount of water restored through the ground from the total agricultural water use because a large amount of water supplied to the farm was discharged into the stream or the ground water. The resultant water use intensity was 22.9% in 2001. As for water stress indicator, Korea has not defined nor monitored reference levels of minimum flow rate for rivers subject to diversion of water for irrigation. So, we calculated the water stress indicator in a different way from OECD method. The water stress indicator was calculated using data on the degree of water storage in agricultural water reservoirs because 87% of water for irrigation was taken from the agricultural water reservoirs. Water use technical efficiency was calculated as the reverse of the ratio of irrigation water to a standard water requirement of the paddy rice. The efficiency in 2001 was better than in 1990 and 1998. As for the economic efficiency for water use, we think that there are a lot of things to be taken into considerations to make a useful indicator to reflect socio-economic values of agricultural products resulted from the water use. Conclusively, site-specific, regional or meteorogical characteristics as in Korea were not considered in the calculation of water use indicators by methods suggested in OECD(Volume 3, 2001). So, it is needed to develop a new indicators for the indicators to be more widely applicable in the world.