• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2022

Fish assemblage of total 325 of Korean peninsula estuaries were surveyed to analyze the characteristics of community structure and diversity by sea areas for three years from 2016 to 2018. The scale (stream width) of Korean estuaries were various (14~3,356 m), and 68.9% of all estuaries showed salinity of less than 2 psu. Total 149 species classified into 52 families of fish were identified, and the dominant and sub-dominant species were Tribolodon hakonensis (relative abundance, RA, 12.5%) and Mugil cephalus (RA, 9.5%), respectively. The estuary of the Korean Peninsula had different physical and chemical habitat environments depending on the sea area, and accordingly, fish community structure also showed statistically significant differences (PERMANOVA, Pseudo-F=26.69, P=0.001). In addition, the NMDS (nonmetric multidimensional scaling) results showed the patterns that indicating fish community difference by sea areas, even though low community similarity within sea area (SIMPER, 21.79~26.39%). The estuaries of east sea areas were distinguished from the others in the aspects of which, the higher importance of migratory fishes and endangered species, and that of brackish species were characterized at south sea estuaries. However, the estuaries of west sea showed higher importance of species that have a relation with freshwater (primary freshwater species, exotic species), which is the result that associating with the lower salinity of west sea estuaries because of the high ratio of closed estuaries(78.2%). The SIMPER analysis, scoring the contribution rates of species to community similarity, also showed results corresponding to the tendency of different fish community structures according to each sea area. So far, In Korea, most studies on fish communities in estuaries have been conducted in a single estuary unit, which made it difficult to understand the characteristics of estuaries at the national level, which are prerequisite for policy establishment. In present study, we are providing fish community structure characteristics of Korean estuaries in a national scale, including diversity index, habitat salinity ranges of major species, distribution of migratory species. We are expecting that our results could be utilized as baseline information for establishing management policies or further study of Korean estuaries.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.397-407
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• 2013

Seasons in Korea have very distinguishable features. Due to continental high pressure, spring in Korea is dry and has low precipitation. Due to climate change derived from the increase of greenhouse gases, climate variability had increased and it became harder to predict. This caused the spring drought harsher than usual. Since 1990s, numbers of chronic drought from winter to spring increased in southern regions of Korea. Such drought in the spring damages the growth and development of the crops sown in the spring and decreases its quantity. For stable agricultural production in the future, it is necessary to assess vulnerability of the relationship between spring drought and agricultural production as well as to establish appropriate measures accordingly. This research used CCGIS program to perform vulnerability assessment on spring drought based on climate change scenario SRES A1B, A1FI, A1T, A2, B1, B2 and RCP 8.5 in 232 regions in Korea. As a result, Every scenario showed that vulnerability of spring drought decreased from 2000s to 2050s. Ratio of decrease was 37% under SRES scenario but, 3% under RCP 8.5 scenario. Also, for 2050 prediction, every scenario predicted the highest vulnerability in Chungcheongnam-do. However, RCP-8.5 predicted higher vulnerability in Gyeonggi-do than SRES scenario. The reason for overall decrease in vulnerability of agriculture for future spring drought is because the increase of precipitation was predicted. The assessment of vulnerability by different regions showed that choosing suitable scenario is very important factor.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.388-408
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• 2022

This study was conducted to select the indicator species (plant) according to the topographical characteristics in the Picea jezoensis forests, endangered subalpine coniferous trees. In South Korea and China (close to Baekdusan), the southern tree line limit of Picea jezoensis has meaningful geographical and latitudinal values for analyzing the ecological characteristics of P. jezoensis forests. Latitude greatly affects the geographical values of plant ecology, and the difference in latitude and habitat affects the change in species composition in forests. With prolonged environmental change, the habitat of subalpine plants will become smaller, and the plants may become extinct. As the P. jezoensis forests of South Korea and China, in particular, are in danger of disappearing without protection, it is important to monitor the population and develop a conservation strategy. Eighty-seven circular plots were established in P. jezoensis forests in South Korea and China. Through processes such as MRPP-test and NMS ordination, indicator species were selected based on this, and basic data for biodiversity assessment were presented. As a result of the Indicator Species Analysis (ISA), 5 taxa were selected from the upperstory vegetation and 18 taxa from the understory vegetation at the altitude(p<0.05). Indicator species by aspect were analyzed as 3 taxa for upperstory vegetation and 16 taxa for understory vegetation (p<0.05). In the case of indicator species according to the slope, 6 taxa for upper vegetation and 24 taxa for understory vegetation were selected(p<0.05). As for the indicator species according to their habitat, 8 taxa in upper vegetation and 65 taxa on understory vegetation were selected. As a result of MRPP-test, it was analyzed that the species composition was heterogeneous in the group of understory vegetation than that of upperstory vegetation. As a result of NMS ordination, the correlation with environmental factors of indicator species was analyzed by rock exposure for upperstory vegetation and latitude for understory vegetation (cut off level=0.3).

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.83 no.1
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• pp.75-87
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• 1994

The states of development of remote sensing, GIS and forest management technology are such that new directions in forest surveys and management are possible. The technologies can not be considered separately. With the increasing power and decreasing cost of computer processing and the development of inexpensive mass storage media, digital remote sensing applications are becoming more practical. Powerful microcomputer-based image analysis systems and GIS are important advancements. As well, it is only a matter of time before the integration of remote sensing image analysis systems and GIS becomes transparent to the users. Implementation of operational applications by both centralized agencies and local units is, therefore, becoming practical. This paper discussed the state of remote sensing technology and its application to forest surveys and management. The relative advantages and disadvantages of readily available remote sensing products for regional biodiversity assessment were summarized. Discussion is limited to the sources of up-to-date imagery suitable for regional land use/cover mapping, specifically : LANDSAT MSS and TM, and SPOT.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.192-203
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• 2018

Headwater streams provide various microhabitats, resulting in high diversity of macroinvertebrate community. In this study, we compared the differences of communities between two adjacent headwater streams (Jangjeon stream (GRJ; GRJ1-GRJ5) and Haanmi stream (GRH; GRH1-GRH3)) in Jungwang and Gariwang mountains, Gangwon-do and evaluated the effects of habitat condition to the macroinvertebrates community composition. In order to characterize the macroinvertebrate communities and extract influential environmental factors, we applied to Cluster analysis (CA), Indicator species analysis and Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). Total 33,613 individuals in 3 phyla, 5 classes, 13 orders, 51 families, and 114 taxa (genera or species) were collected. Gammarus sp. was dominant at the upper stream of GRJ, whereas Chironomidae spp. was abundant at GRH and the downstream of GRJ. The CA classified samples into six clusters (1-6) reflecting spatial and temporal variation of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Benthic macroinvertebrate community composition was significantly different between two adjacent streams. Sweltsa sp. 1, Psilotreta kisoensis, Rhyacophila shikotsuensis and Serratella setigera were identified as representative indicator species for clusters 1, 2, 3 and 5, respectively. Similar to CA results, NMDS revealed the spatial and temporal differences of benthic macroinvertebrate communities, indicating the difference of community composition as well as microhabitat condition. Forest composition, proportion of boulders (>256 mm), and water velocity were main factors affecting the macroinvertebrate community composition.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.519-527
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• 2013

The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea set up 'the $2^{nd}$ Fundamental Plan for Wetlands Conservation' to facilitate systematic surveys and management of various national wetlands and to promote sustainable conservation and use of those wetlands. The mid-term fundamental plan was established in accordance with the Article 5 of the Wetland Conservation Act, which spans 5 years from 2013 to 2017 and covers national wetlands including inland wetlands and coastal wetlands stated in the Act. The fundamental plan aims to promote the wise use of wetlands through establishing policies for sustainable conservation based on the assessment of implementation of the $1^{st}$ Fundamental Plan, setting up a scientific framework for establishment and implementation of national wetland policies by improving wetland survey systems and enhancing basis wetland data, improving the ecological health of wetlands and securing biodiversity conservation of wetlands by strengthening conservation and management system of national wetlands, and through raising public awareness and diversify education and promotion tools. The main objectives of the $2^{nd}$ Fundamental Plan is to revise the entire Wetland Conservation Act, to create a new monitoring system of national inland wetlands, to upgrade the national wetlands inventory, to reflect the 'Ecological Map' for promoting precautionary management of wetlands, to improve the 'Wetland Restoration and Management' system to build wetlands resilience, and to systematize the wise use of wetlands that benefits local people. As the Ministry of Environment plans to establish its other master plan for wetland conservation based on the $2^{nd}$ Fundamental Plan, this document introduces the $2^{nd}$ Fundamental Plan to stakeholder and wetland professions.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.712-723
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• 2016

This paper is to suggest the methods about the environmental risk assessment (ERA) based on non-target insect species for LM rice crop produced by biotechnology. We used some data by the picture dictionary of agricultural pests in Korea, some books for ERA or rice pest ecology, articles about rice ecology, and internet sites and many specialists gave us good advice for this ERA system. We found about 140 insect species using rice crop as their habitat and we discriminated herbivores into Sap feeder, Grain feeder, Defoliator, and Pollen feeder according to their food functional group. We also clarified the potential damage possibility of insect species from LM rice crop. Then, we ranked 10 non-target insect species (Baliothrips biformis, Laodelphax striatellus, Nilaparvata lugens, Mythimna separata, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, Cletus schmidti Kiritshenko, Scotinophara lurida, Nilaparvata bakeri, Oxya chinensis, Agromyza oryzae) with giving some scores using Geographic distribution, Habitat specialization, Prevalence on crop, Abundance. We showed some environmental risk hypotheses about herbivore, predator, and parasitoid, and infered the impacts of non-target species on LM rice crop. Conclusively, we want to serve this methodology to build the biosafety system from biotechnology crops, and the methodology is to keep public health, sustain the biodiversity, and conserve the natural ecosystems.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.205-213
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• 2005

This study was conducted to evaluate the response of the selected aquatic plants to sulfonylurea(SU)-herbicides, which have been used widely in rice-cultivating areas in Korea, and the possibility of using them as bio-indicator species for biodiversity conservation. The aquatic plants identified in Kangwon province where butachlor have been used extensively for many years were much more varied than those in Chonnam where SU-herbicides have been used extensively for many years. The growth responses of Monochoria korsakowii, Marsilea quadrifolia and Salvinia natans to sulfonylurea herbicides such as bensulfuron-methyl(BSM) and pyrazosulfuron-ethyl(PSE), were much more sensitive than those to butachlor and molinate. The $GR_{50}$ values of BSM and PSE for M. korsakowii, M. quadrifolia and S. natans were relatively very low when compared with those of butachlor and molinate. The number of internode and dry weight of M. quadrifolia which was exposed to herbicides runoff from rice fields were seriously affected. The acetolactate synthase(ALS) activities of M. quadrifolia sensitively inhibited by BSM and PSE were, and $I_{50}$(Inhibition 50%) were 5.6 and 2.1 nM, respectively.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.26-34
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• 2015

Korean Poaceae includes approximately 80 species of the agricultural weeds. Precise species identification is the first step for more effective weed management in the agricultural fields. However, the identification of species in Poaceae is not easy without the assistance of taxonomists or identification experts although they are relatively easy to distinguish from the plants of the other family by the unique characteristics of caryopsis. Thus, DNA barcode was suggested as an alternative powerful technique for species identification by using short sections of DNA from a specific region of the genome. Two standard barcode markers of vascular plants, chloroplast rbcL and matK, and a supplementary nuclear ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region were used for barcode of major Korean Poaceae weeds, 403 individuals of 84 taxa. All the barcode markers revealed a good level of sequencing success with the lowest 73.7% for matK and the highest 88.8% for rbcL. The barcode sequences were deposited to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database for public use. Combined matK and ITS showed very high resolving power with 92.9%. Besides the identification of weeds for weed managment, the generated DNA barcode data could be used for many other applications such as rapid biodiversity assessment and conservation prioritization.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.327-334
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• 2017

The flood pulse in streams enhances the biodiversity and ecosystem services of the channel-floodplain ecosystems by exchanging water, nutrients, sediments and organisms. However, the lateral connectivity in most streams of Korea has been disrupted by the levee constructions for the purpose of flood control and land use of floodplains. To compare the characteristics of floodplain vegetation according to existence of lateral connectivity in streams, we investigated the geomorphological and soil environmental factors and structures and distribution of vegetation in the floodplains connected and isolated by levee to the channel in Cheongmi Stream, Seom River, Hwangguji Stream, Mangyeong River, Gomakwon Stream, and Boseong River, Korea. In comparison of soil environments, moisture and clay contents were higher in the isolated floodplain than in the connected floodplain. According to the result of principal component analysis (PCA) using environmental data, the environments of the connected floodplain and the isolated floodplain were separated by soil moisture contents, soil texture and distribution altitude of the vegetation. The results of detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) using vegetation data showed that the isolated floodplain was dominated by the hydropythic communities of diverse life form and that the connected floodplain was dominated by the hygrophytic communities that endure disturbance. In conclusion, it is thought that the vegetation of the floodplain changed to the lentic wetland vegetation dominated by diverse hydrophytes as the floodplain was isolated from the channel by artificial levees.