• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2001

Total upland area for cultivating the vegetable crops in the Alpine soils of Northeastern South Korea has been extending its limit to meet the increasing demand of vegetable food in recent decades. About 70% of these alpine soils are located in over 7% of the slope and most of vegetable crops have been cultivated intensively without practicing the best management systems. Thus, soil erosion and continuous cropping system have degenerated the soil fertility and shown detrimental effects on water quality. We initiated an intensive and extensive investigation to characterize the fertility problems encountered in these uplands. Objectives of this paper were to characterize the fertility status in the Alpine soils cultivated with vegetable crops for many years and to provide the recommendations for adequate soil management measures including fertilization and erosion control. Soils in general have good drainage with textural classes of loam or sandy loam. Their topographical characteristics tended to lead them to shallow plow layers, and the steepness of the terrain created erosion hazard. Of the soils examined, about 11% of uplands over 30% gradient was found in need of an urgent reforestation. A high content of gravel and firm hardness of soil attributed to inhibit the utilization of farm machinery and plant-root development. The average soil pH 5.6 was slightly low relative to pH 5.70 of the national average. Organic matter content was high compared with 2.0% of national average, but decreased with the prolonged cultivation periods. Available $P_2O_5$ concentration was unusually high due to the consequence of over dose application with chemical and organic fertilizers. Exchangeable cations as Ca, Mg, and K were appeared to be decreased in these regions with prolonging the cultivation periods. There were no significant differences in cation exchange capacity (CEC) and electrical conductivity (EC) among locations. Heavy metal contents were mostly lower than the threshold of danger level designated by Soil Environment Conservation Law of South Korea. Results indicated that a proper countermeasure and the best management practice should be immediately implemented to conserve the top soil and fertility in the Alpine regions.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.454-459
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• 2007

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of long-term continuous application of fertilizers for rice cultivation from 1954 to 2003. Changes of physical and chemical properties of paddy soil and the rice yield by continuous application of fertilizers, particularly rice straw compost, over fifty years were discussed in this paper. The rice yields of compost applied plots were 5~12% higher while those of no fertilizer plots were 21~38% lower compared to those of NPK fertilizers applied plots. Uptakes of T-N, $P_2O_5$, $K_2O$, CaO, MgO, and $SiO_2$ by rice plants were significantly increased by the application of straw compost. Bulk density, hardness, and liquid phase of soil in compost applied plots were significantly decreased while gaseous phase and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soil were increased compare to those in NPK plots. When the bulk density of soil was increased the rice yield was decreased. The soil organic matter (SOM) content tended to increase in compost applied plots whereas no significant differences were found in other treatments. The soil organic matter content increased by $0.4g\;kg^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$ when $7.5Mg\;ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$ of rice straw compost applied in paddy land. The compost application rate recommendation for rice cultivation in Korea could be revised by the results of this study.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.11-19
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• 2018

This study was conducted to develop the manufacturing method of biochar using pruned stems of pear tree and its application effect on the crop growth and soil physico-chemical properties. In this study, biochar derived from pruned stems of pear tree at heating temperature of $300^{\circ}C$, $500^{\circ}C$ and $700^{\circ}C$ in heating times of 2, 3 and 4 hours, were tested in the changes of their chemical properties during biochar processing. The pH, Exch. K, Exch. Mg and cation exchange capacity (CEC) increased as the pyrolysis temperature increased during the production of biochar, and the change of these properties rapidly occurred at $500^{\circ}C$. However, as the pyrolysis temperature increased, ash content increased and total carbon (T-C), yield decreased. And the change of the properties in response to the heating time was not shown. It was thought that it would be desirable to set the production conditions of biochar at $500^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours in consideration of the change of chemical properties and the ash content and yield. And also, were conducted the experiments to establish manufacturing method of farm-made biochar using drum biochar manufacturing machine and investigate the application effects of biochar on the cultivation of chinese cabbage and tomato. Application of biochar derived from pruned stems of pear tree could enhance pH, organic matter (OM), total carbon (T-C) of soil. On the other hand, soil electrical conductivity (EC), NO3-N were lowered compared to the control which has no application. The bulk density, porosity and aggregate formation of soil were improved by biochar application. The fresh matter yields of chinese cabbage and tomato were significantly increased in proportion to the application rate of biochar. This study demonstrated the effect of the biochar derived from agricultural byproduct to be as a low cost potential soil ameliorant by physico-chemical properties in eco-friendly greenhouse cultivation.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.362-371
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• 2012

Objective of this research was to secure the information on physical and chemical properties of peatmoss and coir dust. To achieve this, 6 kinds of peatmoss and 10 kinds of coir dust currently used in the country as the root medium components in plant factories were collected and analysed. The mean ${\pm}$ standard deviation (SD) of total porosity and container capacity in peatmoss and coir dust were $79.6{\pm}5.04$ and $83.6{\pm}6.18%$, and $69.9{\pm}10.17$ and $65.9{\pm}3.46%$, respectively. These indicate that peatmoss has higher water holding capacity than coir dust and the characteristics are highly varied among peatmoss. The 4 out of 5 kinds of peatmoss had lower than 10%, but coir dust had 12~26%, of air-filled porosity. The percentage of easily available water and buffering water in peatmoss and coir dust was 18~22 and 11~16% and 9~13 and 5.5~7.5%, respectively. These results indicate that precise irrigation is required when coir dust is used as the root medium. The ranges of pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were 3.46~4.17 and $0.137{\sim}0.253dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in peatmoss and 5.31~6.48 and $0.250{\sim}0.1.580dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in coir dust. However, $0.563{\pm}0.83dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in mean ${\pm}$SD of coir dust EC indicates that it is higher than that of peatmoss, and the coir dust are highly varied in EC. The cation exchange capacity of peatmoss was 3 to 4 times as high as that of coir dust. The coir dust had higher $NO_3$ and $PO_4$ and lower $NH_4$ than peatmoss. The K and Na concentrations in coir dust were extremely high indicating that these ions caused the rising in EC. The percentage of hot water and alkali extracts of peatmoss were 6.67~16.37 and 0~38%, whereas those of coir dust were 30.0~65.1 and 23.1~70.3%. These results mean that possible existence of growth inhibiting materials in coir dust.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.77-91
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• 2015

This study aims to suggest adequate soil management through the analysis of physicochemical properties of soil in the planting grounds of Incheon International Airport, which was constructed on a massive land reclamation site. Study areas were 5 sites at the international business complex, the passenger terminal, the airport support complex, the free trade zone, and the access road. Soil profile analysis showed that 9 plots out of the 27 plots were hardpan and heterospere within 80cm from the soil surface. The earth laid on the ground was categorized as gravel based soil(4 plots), dredged soil from the sea bottom and mixed reclamation materials(2 plots), clay with poor permeability(3 plots) and waste construction material(1 plot). Average soil hardness was $11.5kg/cm^2$ and soil textures were sandy soil, sandy loam and loamy sand. Average soil pH was 6.7 and average organic matter content was 0.7%. Electrical conductivity was 0.0dS/m and exchangeable cation concentrations were $Ca^{2+}$ 3.4cmol/kg, $Mg^{2+}$ 1.5cmol/kg, $K^+$ 0.3cmol/kg and $Na^+$ 1.0cmol/kg. Average cation exchange capacity was 11.0cmol/kg. Although average figures in Solum mostly meet the landscape design criteria, properties of each soil layer showed various values sometimes over the limit. Base saturations were $Ca^{2+}$ 29.9%, $Mg^{2+}$ 13.3% and $K^+$ 3.7% for lower soil, $Ca^{2+}$ 33.3%, $Mg^{2+}$ 17.0% and $K^+$ 2.7% for mid-soil and $Ca^{2+}$ 32.6%, $Mg^{2+}$ 12.2% and $K^+$ 1.9% for upper soil. Exchangeable sodium percentages were 16.4% for lower soil, 7.5% for mid-soil and 4.7% upper soil. Sodium adsorption rates were 0.8 for lower soil, 0.3 for mid-soil and 0.2 for upper soil. Factors affecting to the vegetation growth were heterogeneity and poorness of solum, disturbance of dredged soils, high soil hardness including hardpan in the subsurface soil layer and shallow effective soil depth, high soil acidity, imbalance of base contents, low organic matter content and low available phosphate levels in the soil.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.41-54
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• 2012

The weathering process of rocks leads to the reduction of geotechnical bearing capacity. The weathering of granite is frequently used to refer to the degradation of geotechnical property in the design and construction of infra-structure. In this study, the range of values of CIA (chemical index of alteration) and the change of mineral compositions by weathering have been analysed with igneous rock, which covers 45.5% in South Korean territory. Several weathering indices were studied for various rocks found in Korea and significant relationships between different indices were delineated via statistical analysis. The applicability of CIA was found to be the most significant among all weathering indicies. The composition of illite, the secondary weathering residual, generally increases for the felsic rock, and swelling clay material is not included. The weathering of felsic rock will follow a sequential process, starting from bed rock, illite, and chlorite to kaoline. The mafic rock will show weathering process, from bed rock, smectite, and chlorite to kaoline. The intermediate rocks such as andesite and tuff will show similar weathering procedure and the composition of kaoline, chlorite, and smectite tends to increase more than that of illite when the mafic rock is dominated. This means the increase of rock material which has high CEC (cation exchange capacity) during secondary weathering process. However, the characteristics of a specific rock cannot be completely analyzed using merely CIA, since it is exclusively based on chemical composition and corresponding alteration. The CIA can be used to quantify the weathering process in a limited range, and further considerations such as rock composition, strength characteristics will be required to configure the comprehensive weathering impact on any specific region.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1983

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the ecophysiological habitat of natural Sorbus commixta forest at Mt. Seorak. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The Sorbus commixta trees mainly distributed from 900m to 1,500m altitude. In there, the warm index(WI) was about 42$3.2{\times}10^3$ to $9.2{\times}10^3$, cation exchange capacity(CEC) was 13.7 to 19.5mg/100g, N content 0.21 to 0.39%, $P_2O_5$ content was 22.6 to 38.7ppm, and pH value was 5.6 to 5.8 respectively. 4. The upper crown trees in Sorbus commixta communities were Abies nephrolepis, Taxus cuspidata, Betula platyphylla var. japonica, Quercus${\times}$grosseserrata, Acer mono, Prunus sargentii, Carpinus cordata, Tilia amurensis, and the under crown trees were Rhododendron brachycarpum, Acer pseudo-sieboldianum, Thuja olientalis, Corylus heterohpylla, Philadelphus schrenckii, Rhododendron schlippenbachii, Rhododendron mucronulatum, and Magnolia sieboldii. 5. The stand densities were 1,156 trees/ha at 1,160m and 3,600 trees/ha at 1,300m respectively. The coverages by the DBH basal area were 0.37 at 1,160m and 0.31 at 1,300m respectively, and the vegetation coverages by the crown projection area were 2.04 at 1,160m and 1.61 at 1,300m respectively. 6. The light extinction coefficient(k) in Beer-Lambert's law, showed the distance, F(z), from top canopy to aboveground, was 0.17. 7. The water relations parameters of Sorbus commixta shoot were obtained by the pressure chamber technique. The osmotic pressure, ${\pi}_o$, at maximum turgor was -16.2 bar, and VAT pressure was 14.5bar. The osmotic pressure, ${\pi}_p$, at incipient plasmolysis was -19.4bar. The relative water contents at incipient plasmolysis were 83.1% ($v_p/v_o$) and 87.1%($v_p/w_s$;$w_s$, total water at maximum turgor). 8. The bulk modulus of elasticity(E) of shoot was about 69.6. The total symplasmic water to total water in shoot was 67.7%, and the apoplastic water to total water was 32.3%.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2013

The present study examined effects of production performance, immune activity and egg quality by raising on exercise yard in laying Hens, the results of which could be used as baseline data to enhance animal welfare and the safety of livestock products. A total of 90 Hy-line-Brown laying hens of 13 weeks old were used in the experiment for 38 weeks. The cage group (Cage group) was raised in a cage, where an area of $0.084m^2$ was assigned to two hens, while hens in the exercise yard $1.1m^2$ group ($1.1m^2$ group) was assigned to a combination of a chicken house ($0.11m^2$) and a exercise yard ($1.1m^2$) per a hen. Hens in the exercise yard $2.2m^2$ group ($2.2m^2$ group) was assigned to a combination of a chicken house ($0.11m^2$) and a exercise yard ($2.2m^2$) per a hen. Treatment was replicated 3 times with ten birds per replication. Ten birds were arranged according to randomized block design. While initial egg production rate was significantly higher in the Cage group, $1.1m^2$ group exhibited a slightly higher rate in the mid- and late-stage of the experiment, although the difference was not statistically significant. Exercise yard treatment groups exhibited a higher feed intake rate than the Cage group up until the hens were 39 weeks old (P<0.05), but the difference dissipated from that age on. The age at first egg in the exercise yard treatment groups was 16 days later than that for the Cage group (P<0.05), although differences in the quality of the eggs were not observed. The results of immune activity test showed that IgA in the exercise yard treatment groups was significantly higher than that in the Cage group (P<0.05). IgG, IgM, and corticosterone were also higher in the exercise yard treatment groups. The soil in exercise yard increased of organic matter and decreased of cation exchange capacity (CEC) in raised hens. In sum, raising hens in a exercise yard raise style decreased the rate of initial egg production, which was followed by a slight increase during the latter part of the experiment. The exercise yard raise hens' immune activity was heightened.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.185-193
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• 1992

To investigate differences in lead content in soils and paddy rices, affected by air pollutants from the Janghang Smelter, soil samples at the different directions, distances, and depths, surface(0-15cm depth) and subsurface(15-30cm depth) in 1982 and 1990, and rice plants at soil sampling sites in 1990 were separately collected at the Janghang Smelter area affected by combustible waste gas from the smelter chimney. Soil samples were extracted with $4M-HNO_3$ and plant samples were digested with mixture of $HNO_3$ and $HCIO_4$ for analyzing by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The Pb contents in soils ranged from 10.3 to 644.8mg $kg^{-1}$. The average content in 1990 was higher than that in 1982. The Pb content in soils at sites nearer the center of the smelter was higher than that at sites farther from the center. The highest lead content was found at the east direction, and was low in order of east>north-north east>north east > north. The variation of Pb level in soils at east sites was more considerable than other directions. The Pb level in surface soils was higher than that in subsurface soils. The contaminated radius of Pb was until 3km all at east, north-north east and north east. A significant correlation was found between Pb content in surface soils of 1982 and that in surface soils of 1990, between Pb content in soils and contents of Cd and Zn in soils, and between Pb content in soils and soil properties as organic matter, available silicate, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable $Ca^{++}$, $Mg^{++}$ and $Na^+$. Pb content in brown rice was low in the panicle axis, and brown rice, and Pb content in stem was 3.26 times of that in brown rice. Pb content in brown rice ranged from 2.2 to 9.0 mg $kg^{-1}$.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.67-72
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• 2017

BACKGROUND:Cultivation of alternative crops in paddy fields is necessary because of the decrease in rice consumption and the increase in excess stock of rice. The study was conducted to investigate the effects of alternative crops cultivation in paddy fields on soil physico-chemical characteristics and crop yield. METHODS AND RESULTS: Soybean (Glycine max), red-clover (Trifolium pratense), and water convolvulus (Ipomoea aquatica) were selected for alternative crops in the first and/or second year and rice was planted in the third year. When alternative crops were cultivated in the previous year, soil bulk density, soil hardness, and water content were lower than those for rice cultivation. Water-depth decreasing rate and aggregate content were greater for the upland-upland-paddy cropping system than upland-paddy-paddy cropping system. Cultivation of red-clover and water convolvulus for two years resulted in the high soil organic matter content. In the third year, available phosphate, exchangeable potassium, and soil cation exchange capacity were relatively high when soybean was cultivated in the previous year. In the first year, water convolvulus cultivation showed greater productivity than red-clover cultivation while the opposite pattern was found in the second year. Rice yield in the third year was greater for soybean or red-clover as a previous crop than for water convolvulus as a previous crop. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that cultivation of alternative crops in paddy fields can improve soil physical properties including bulk density, hardness, water content, and aggregate content as well as rice productivity.