• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 2001

The floating islands have been constructed for the water quality improvement and the biodiversity conservation in an disturbed aquatic ecosystem. We made floating islands consisted of a special float and substrates of coconut fibers implanted with four emergent macrophytes such as Phragmites australis, Zizania latifolia, Iris pseudoacorus, Typha angustifolia. Vegetation structure and plant growth were compared between on the floating islands and on ground in order to select suitable plants for the construction of floating islands. Emergent-macrophytic vegetation on the floating islands showed lower coverages and higher plant biodiversity due to natural introduction of various hydrophytes and hygrophytes. Shoot density was increased on floating islands except for Zizania latifolia. From the point of coverage and density of plants, Phragmites australis and Iris pseudoacorus were suitable for floating islands. Total biomass of emergent macrophytes was decreased on the floating islands. The belowground/aboveground biomass ratio of floating islands was higher than that of the ground. Out of planted macrophytes, Iris pseudoacorus with a high belowground/aboveground biomass ratio could be evaluated a suitable plant for the floating islands because a plenty of its root is profitable to adapt with the nutrient-limited environment of floating islands.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.567-579
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• 2011

Scirpus planiculmis is one of the most dominant species found in the Nakdong River estuary. In order to understand the recent changes in S. planiculmis and the environmental characteristics of the estuary, from 2005 to 2010, an analysis of the density, total dry biomass, tuber biomass, and distribution pattern of S. planiculmis as well as an analysis of the temperature, salinity, precipitation, barrage discharge, and soil texture of the estuary were conducted. In 2006, the density ranged from 10.1 to $87.6no./m^2$, but in 2009, it ranged from 0.4 to $2.2no./m^2$ in 2009 and drastic reductions were observed throughout the sampled areas in the Nakdong river estuary. In 2010, S. planiculmis was observed on the tidal flats of Myungji and Mangummerydeung, at a density of $18.3{\pm}7.7no./m^2$ and $17.5{\pm}20.7no./m^2$, respectively. Hence, S. planiculmis is considered to be in a recovery phase. The aboveground/belowground ratio reduced from $4.54{\pm}0.70$ in 2005 to $1.91{\pm}0.35$ in 2009, clearly showing a large decrease in the biomass amount of the aboveground than of the belowground. Tubers were distributed in the soil, with only 36.0% at the 0~15 cm depth but 64.0% at the 15~30 cm depth. Apparently, tubers were more likely to be found at 15~30 cm below the soil in the Nakdong River estuary. A drastic reduction in the S. planiculmis biomass in 2009 is possibly due to the high salinity in S. planiculmis habitats.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.597-601
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• 2010

Quercus dentata (Thunb. ex Murray) is a major tree found in dry habitats such as limestone areas of Korea. In order to characterize the ecological traits of Q. dentata, we treated Q. dentata saplings under four gradient levels of major environment factors such as light, soil moisture and nutrients for 5 months in a glass house. We then measured and analyzed growth differences among them. Regarding light, aboveground, belowground and plant biomass were highest at a high gradient and lowest at a low one. The root/shoot ratio was highest at the highest light gradient. Regarding moisture, no measured items were significantly affected by the moisture gradient. Regarding nutrients, aboveground, belowground and plant biomass were the highest at a slightly high gradient and the lowest at a gradient lower or higher than this. The root/shoot ratio was not significantly affected by the nutrient gradient. From these results, it was shown that the growth of Q. dentata was more affected by light and nutrients in the environment than moisture.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.177-184
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• 2014

This study was conducted to develop allometric equations and to determine the stem density and biomass expansion factor (BEF) for the estimation of the aboveground and belowground biomass of Cryptomeria japonica in Jeju Island, Korea. A total of 18 trees were harvested from the 40-year-old C. japonica stands in Hannam experimental forest, Jeju Island. The mean biomass of the C. japonica was $50.4Mg\;ha^{-1}$ in stem wood, $23.1Mg\;ha^{-1}$ in root, $9.6Mg\;ha^{-1}$ in branch, $4.6Mg\;ha^{-1}$ in needle and $4.3Mg\;ha^{-1}$ in stem bark. The diameter at breast height (DBH) was selected as independent variable for the development of allometric equations. To evaluate the performance of these equations, coefficient of determination ($R^2$) and root mean square error (RMSE) were used and results of the evaluation showed that $R^2$ ranged from 71% (root biomass equation) to 96% (aboveground biomass equation) and the RMSE ranged from 0.10 (aboveground biomass equation) to 0.33 (root biomass equation). The mean stem density of C. japonica was $0.37g\;cm^{-3}$ and the mean aboveground BEF was $1.28g\;g^{-1}$. Furthermore, the ratio of the root biomass to aboveground biomass was 0.32.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.597-605
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• 2012

This study was conducted in order to determine changes in the growth responses of Quercus serrata and Q. aliena which are potential natural vegetation of riverine in Korea under four light gradients within ambient and elevated $CO_2$ concentration and temperature levels. As a result, growth responses of two species were affected by light factor. Aboveground, belowground, plant biomass and root:shoot ratio of two species grown under the control and treatment were increased in the highest light level. Plant biomass and root:shoot ratio of two oak species were not significantly affected by elevated $CO_2$ and temperature, while aboveground biomass of them was lower in the treatment than control. Belowground biomass of Q. serrata was lower in the treatment than control under the gradients that are more than 70% of light level. As light intensity increases, elevated $CO_2$ and temperature promoted root growth of two oak species but had a negative effect on aboveground growth. According to the principal component analysis(PCA), two oak species were discriminatively arranged based on factor 1 and 2. Also, the reactions towards the ambient and elevated $CO_2$ and temperature were slightly different. It is clearly visible that all features relied on axis 1 and axis II are highly correlated with most variables except for stem and shoot length.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.5
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• pp.673-681
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• 2010

This study examined the biomass data estimated from different allometric models and calculated the mean aboveground biomass, mean belowground biomass and root/shoot ratio values according to the forest types and age classes. These mean values and the forest inventories in 2009 were used to estimate the aboveground and total biomass carbon storage in different forest types (coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests). The aboveground and total biomass carbon storage for all forest types in Korea were 350.201 Tg C and 436.724 Tg C. Over the past 36 years, plantations by reforestation programs have accounted for more than 70% of the observed carbon storage. The carbon storage in Korean forest biomass was 436.724 Tg C, of which 175.154 Tg C for coniferous forests, 126.772 Tg C for deciduous forests and 134.518 Tg C for mixed forests, comprising approximately 1/20 of the total carbon storage of the East Asian countries. The total carbon storage for the whole forest sector in Korea was 1213.122 Tg C, of which 436.724 Tg C is stored in forest biomass if using the ratio of carbon storage in different pools examined from the United States. Such large carbon storage in Korean forests is due mainly to active plantations growth and management practices.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.329-339
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• 1993

Effects of relative light intensity and N, P fertilization on the growth and ramet dynamics of the rhizomatous plants, Arundinella hirta, Miscanthus sinensi and Spdiopogon sibiricus were studied in Chuncheon, Kangweon-Do. Ramets emerged in one pulse a year, withered in one pulse at the end of the growing season in M. sinensis and S. sibircus stands, while the birth and death pulse in A. hirta stands were two times. Total births of ramet were 9 times and 3.6 times greater in the unshaded fertilized stands of A. hirta and M. sinensis than in the shaded, However, those of S.sibiricus were 2.1 times greater in the shaded stands. Flowering rates of A. hirta, M.sinensis and S.sibiricus I the unshaded fertilized stands were 1.8, 2.7 and 1.04 times greater than in the shaded unfertilized stands, respectively. Height of ramets of A. hirta and M.sinensis were the hightest in the unshaded fertilized stands. However, that of s.sibiricus was the highest in the shaded fertilized stand. Aboveground production of A.hirta in the fertilized stand was 2.4 times greater in the unshaded stand than in the shaded one. Results of inflorescence frequency, shoot height and the ratio of aboveground to belowground were smiliar to the total births. The added fertilizer markedly increased the ramet density and the shoot productivity of three rhizomatous plants, especially of A. hirta.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 1998

Arisaema robustum, which has the ability to change sex, was studied in a temperate broadleaf forest of Sanseong-ri, Joongbu-myeon, Gwangju-gun, Kyonggi Province, Korea. \ulcornerThe study, carried out from 1993 to 1997, focused on population dynamics energy budget among organs, size distribution, mortality, the relationships between sex and size, seed production and germination rate. In terms of energy budget among the organs, the ratio of aboveground to belowground biomass was 36.6 : 63.4 in non-female plants, and 81.4 : 18.6 in female plants. Also, in female plants, the ration of leaf to sexual organ biomass was 39.5 : 41.9. Therefore, the belowground ratio of female plants was lower than that of non-female plants. Plants were classified into 8 levels relative to the amount of leaf area by $100cm^2$. The rates of the smallest and the largest classes were 49% and 1%, respectively, and population distribution by size was relatively stable. The mortality averaged 13.1% per year and decreased in inverse proportion to leaf size (6.6% in the smallest and 0.0% in the largest size classes). Leaf areas were $64.1{\pm}48.5cm^2$ in non-flowering plants, $232.1{\pm}123.9cm^2$ in males and $444.8{\pm}153.9cm^2$ in females. The increase rates of leaf area per year varied from 1.9% in plants changing from female tomale, to 152.4% in plants changing from non-flowering to female. But plants which remained female for 2 years showed a decrease of 34.7%. >From this result, it is thought that the female plants invest more energy to reproduction than to vegetative organs. The correlation coefficient (CC) value between plant size and the number of seeds produced (0.55) was larger than the CC value between plant size and total seed weight (0.73). That is, the larger the plant size, the heavier the seed produced. The germination rate increased along with seed weight, and it was 95% in plants which were over 60mg fresh weight/seed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.87 no.4
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• pp.611-619
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• 1998

This study was carried out to examine the effects of soil acidification on growth and nutrient status of 2 - year - old Pious densiflora Sieb. et Zucc. seedlings grown for 120 days in brown forest soils acidified with $H_2SO_4$ solution with or without leaching rations from the soil. The concentrations of A1 in the acidified soils increased with increasing amount of $H^+$ added to the soil. The total dry weight of the seedlings was decreased by the addition of the $H_2SO_4$ solution. The increase of Al concentration in the belowground part resulted from the decreased concentration of essential mineral elements such as Ca and Mg in the aboveground part. In addition, a strong positive correlation(r=0.96, p<0.001) was observed between the dry weight of the seedlings and the molar (Ca+Mg+K)/A1 ratio of the soil solution. When the molar (Ca+Mg+K)/Al ratio was approximately 7.0, the dry weight of the seedlings began to decrease compared with that of the seedlings in the control treatment. The seedlings with the molar (Ca+Mg+K)/Al ratio of 1.0 resulted from approximately 40% growth reduction compared with the control value. The results suggest that the molar (Ca+Mg+K)/Al ratio of the soil solution may be a useful indicator for assessing the critical load of acid deposition.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.237-247
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• 2009

This study was conducted to determine the carbon (C) contents in different mixed stands of P. dens if/ora and deciduous oak species in Gwangneung, central Korea. Five mixed stands with different ratios of P. densiflora and deciduous oak species were chosen based on the basal area of all trees ${\geq}\;5cm$ DBH: pure P. densiflora (P100D0), 70% P. densiflora + 30% deciduous oak species (P70D30), 44% P. densiflora + 56% deciduous oak species (P50D50), 37% P. densiflora + 63% deciduous oak species (P40D60), and 10% P. densiflora + 90% deciduous oak species (P10D90). Total C contents in the overstory (aboveground and belowground) vegetation were higher in the mixed stands (P70D30, P50D50, P40D60) than in the pure stands (P100D0, P10D90). Moreover, except for P40D60, C contents of forest floor (litter and coarse woody debris) were larger in the mixed stands (P70D30, P50D50) than in the pure stands. However, total soil C contents up to 30cm depth were highest in the pure deciduous oak stand than in the pure P. densiflora stand and mixed stands. Total ecosystem C contents (Mg/ha) were 163.3 for P100D0, 152.3 for P70D30, 188.8 for P50D50, 160.2 for P40D60, and 150.4 for P10D90, respectively. These differences in total ecosystem C contents among the different mixed stands for P. densiflora and deciduous oak species within the study stands were attributed by the differences in vegetation development and forest management practices. Among the five study stands, the total ecosystem C contents were maximized in the 1:1 mixed ratio of P. densiflora and deciduous oak species (P50D50).