• Animal cells and systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2011

The Korean freshwater crayfish, Cambaroides similis, has recently suffered from range reduction and habitat degradation caused by environmental changes and water pollution. For the conservation and restoration of this species, it is necessary to understand the current population structures of Korean C. similis using estimation of their genetic variation. In this study, eight micro satellite loci were developed and characterized from 49 individuals collected from four locations: one population from Mt. Bukhan (BH) and three populations from Mt. Gwanak (GA) in Seoul, Korea. As a result, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 12. The observed heterozygosities and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.000 to 0.833 and from 0.125 to 0.943, respectively, and the former values were significantly lower than the latter ones expected under the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No significant linkage disequilibrium was revealed between any of the locus pairs after Bonferroni correction. From the pairwise Fst results over all samples, higher differentiation between GA-BH population pairs (mean 0.1789) was observed than between GA population pairs (mean 0.0454). This was also supported by Mantel's test showing that the genetic distances of these crayfish populations were significantly correlated with geographic distances. This result may show the regional differentiation caused by restricted gene flow between northern (BH) and southern (GA) populations within Seoul. These micro satellite markers have the potential for use in analyses of the genetic diversity and population structure of C. similis species, with implications for its conservation and management plans.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.65-74
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• 2011

The Scarites aterrimus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), is one of the carabid beetles dwelling exclusively on coastal sandy dunes. Habitat deterioration and equivalent activity have greatly concerned population declines in several species dwelling on the coastal sandy dunes. As a first step to establish long-term conservation strategy, we investigated the nation-wide magnitude and nature of genetic diversity of the species. As a first step, we sequenced a portion of mitochondrial COI gene, corresponding to "DNA Barcode" region (658 bp) from a total of 24 S. aterrimus individuals collected over nine sandy dunes belonging to four Korean provinces. The sequence analysis evidenced moderate to low magnitude of sequence diversity compared with other insect species distributed in Korean peninsula (0.152% to 0.912%). The presence of closely related haplotypes and relatively high gene flow estimate collectively suggest that there had been no historical barriers that bolster genetic subdivision. Population decline was postulated on the basis of several missing haplotypes that are well found in the species with a large population size. This interpretation is consistent with field observation of small population size in the coastal sandy dune habitats. The highest genetic diversity estimates were found in the coastal sand dune population of Seogwipo, Jeju Island, justifying a prior attention to the population, in order to sustain overall genetic diversity of the species. Further scrutinized study might be required for further robust conclusion.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.12.1-12.8
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• 2019

Background: Wild fish populations stock is continuously diminishing in the Indo-Ganges river basin, and the population status of most fishes is unidentified. The identification of the population status and the conservation of commercially important and endemic wild fish populations in this region are crucial for the management. The aim of this paper was to identify the population status of Cirrhinus reba, a promising aquaculture but vulnerable species in the Indo-Ganges river basin in Bangladesh. Methods: C. reba samples were collected from four isolated populations of the Brahmaputra (n = 30), the Padma (33), the Karatoya (31), and the Jamuna Rivers (30) in Bangladesh, and the population status was evaluated using morphometric and landmark comparisons. Data were analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis test, univariate analysis, discriminant function analysis, and the formation of a dendrogram. Results: Three meristic characters (Pectoral fin rays, caudal fin rays, scale in lateral lines), four morphometric characters (head length, pre-orbital length, post-orbital length, maximum body depth), and truss measurement (4-7) were significantly different among the stocks. The step-wise discriminant function analysis retained 15 variables from morphometric and landmark measurements that significantly differentiated the populations based on the constructed DFI and DFII. Discriminate function analysis also showed that 91.2% of the original groups were classified into their correct samples. The cluster analysis of Euclidean distances placed the Jamuna population in one cluster and the Brahmaputra, the Padma, and the Karatoya populations in the second one. Conclusion : Morphological differences among the stock were probably due to different ancestral origin. This is the first report about population status of C. reba in their natural habitat of the Indian subcontinent. Further genetic studies and the evaluation of environmental impact on C. reba populations in Bangladesh are suggested to support our findings.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.726-732
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• 2004

In this manuscript, a review of the diversity of Chinese indigenous goat breeds according to data from body stature and appearance, chromosome group, blood proteins, DNA molecular markers (mitochondria DNA, random amplified polymorphic DNA, microsatellite DNA, major histocompatibility complex) has been introduced. All of these provide efficient tools for the diversity analysis of Chinese indigenous goat breeds and are very important for biodiversity conservation, restoration of declining goat breeds, the priority defining in Chinese indigenous goat breeds' protection and the selection of nature preservation zones. Many Chinese indigenous goat breeds with small population size in the isolated mountains or reservoir areas are verging the potential threat of extinction, effectively lost with the rapid destroying of ecological environment. On the other hand, as a result of the introduction of modern commercial goat breeds and shortage of effective conservation, some populations, such as Small-xiang goat and Tibetan goat decrease rapidly in number of sires. In the interests of the long-term future of the goat breeds in China, conservation of goat breeds' genetic resources should be considered urgently and some conservation measures should be adopted. In addition, the continuing development of molecular biology will further enhance conservation of diversity of Chinese indigenous goat breeds.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.275-285
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• 2020

Background: In Korea, Symplocos prunifolia Siebold. & Zucc. is only found on Jeju Island. Conservation of the species is difficult because little is known about its distribution and natural habitat. The lack of research and survey data on the characteristics of native vegetation and distribution of this species means that there is insufficient information to guide the management and conservation of this species and related vegetation. Therefore, this study aims to identify the distribution and vegetation associated with S. prunifolia. Results: As a result of field investigations, it was confirmed that the native S. prunifolia communities were distributed in 4 areas located on the southern side of Mt. Halla and within the evergreen broad-leaved forest zones. Furthermore, these evergreen broad-leaved forest zones are themselves located in the warm temperate zone which are distributed along the valley sides at elevations between 318 and 461 m. S. prunifolia was only found on the south side of Mt. Halla, and mainly on south-facing slopes; however, small communities were found to be growing on northwest-facing slopes. It has been confirmed that S. prunifolia trees are rare but an important constituent species in the evergreen broad-leaved forest of Jeju. The mean importance percentage of S. prunifolia community was 48.84 for Castanopsis sieboldii, 17.79 for Quercus acuta, and 12.12 for Pinus thunbergii; S. prunifolia was the ninth most important species (2.6). Conclusions: S. prunifolia can be found growing along the natural streams of Jeju, where there is little anthropogenic influence and where the streams have caused soil disturbance through natural processes of erosion and deposition of sediments. Currently, the native area of S. prunifolia is about 3300 ㎡, which contains a confirmed population of 180 individual plants. As a result of these low population sizes, it places it in the category of an extremely endangered plant in Korea. In some native sites, the canopy of evergreen broad-leaved forest formed, but the frequency and coverage of species were not high. Negative factors that contributed to the low distribution of this species were factors such as lacking in shade tolerance, low fruiting rates, small native areas, and special habitats as well as requiring adequate stream disturbance. Presently, due to changes in climate, it is unclear whether this species will see an increase in its population and habitat area or whether it will remain as an endangered species within Korea. What is clear, however, is that the preservation of the present native habitats and population is extremely important if the population is to be maintained and expanded. It is also meaningful in terms of the stable conservation of biodiversity in Korea. Therefore, based on the results of this study, it is judged that a systematic evaluation for the preservation and conservation of the habitat and vegetation management method of S. prunifolia should be conducted.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2008

Level and distribution of genetic diversity in seven populations of Albizia lucida Benth. in eastern region of the Indian sub-continent were estimated using ISSR markers. Relatively higher level of genetic diversity within populations was observed in seven populations of A. lucida (mean of 0.38). From the result of AMOVA, majority of genetic diversity was allocated within populations (96.2%) resulting in a moderate degree of population differentiation. The observed distribution pattern of I-SSR variant among the populations was coincided with the typical pattern of long-lived woody tree species. Genetic relationships among the populations, reconstructed by UPGMA method, revealed two genetic groups. The population of Anugul and Bargarh turned out to be the most closely related despite a distance location between them. These formations will be of great value in the development of conservation plans for species exhibiting high levels of genetic differentiation due to fragmentation, such as indication of conservation unit size, which populations should be chosen as priority in conservation plans and which samples should be introduced in areas with a low number of individuals of A. lucida.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2020

Chrysosplenium aureobracteatum Y. I. Kim & Y. D. Kim (Saxifragaceae) is a recently described endemic species growing in the central part of the Korean peninsula. It requires constant monitoring for conservation due to its limited distributions. There is also a need for molecular markers for proper assessments of the genetic differentiation of C. aureobracteatum from species morphologically similar to it. In this study, we developed microsatellite markers that can be used to evaluate the genetic diversity of this species, representing fundamental data with which to conserve the natural populations of the species. A total of 17 expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers were developed by the Illumina pair-end sequencing of the transcriptomes of C. aureobracteatum. These markers were successfully applied to populations of C. aureobracteatum and to its most closely related species, C. barbatum, revealing high polymorphism in both species. The EST-SSR markers developed in this study were proven to be useful not only to monitor the population genetic structure of C. aureobracteatum for conservation purposes but also to study the genetic delimitation of the species from species closely related to it.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2020

This study was aimed to design core areas applied by the global conservation criteria to promote the public awareness to the protected areas and the value cognition of the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), targeting the Mt Seorak, according to the designation of globally important biodiversity areas. As a method for carrying out this study, the biota were cataloged through literature reviews and field trips. With applied by the Global Red List criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), only nine species were categorized in the studied area; plants were classified into six species as follows: Megaleranthis saniculifolia ohwi, Bupleurum euphorbioides Nakai, Hanabusaya asiatica Nakai, Thuja koraiensis Nakai, Leontopodium leiolepis Nakai, Androsace cortusaefolia Nakai, fish was classified one species as follow: Pungitius sinensis Tanaka, and the mammal was classified as two species as follows: Hydropotes inermis, Naemorhedus caudatus. According to the occupation area (EoO, Extent of Occurrence) and Minimum Viable Population(MVP), the size of protected area was 234.56㎢ for plants, 235.07㎢ for mammals, and 0.14㎢ for fish, and the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) of Mt. Seolak suggested as 286.72㎢.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2020

This study conducted a full survey of the goral population using sensor cameras to identify the exact habitat of the gorals that inhabit Odaesan National Park and for restoration and habitat management-focused conservation projects following the population growth. We surveyed Odaesan National Park for a year in 2018 and selected18 grids (2km×2km) first based on the survey results. We then further divided each grid into four small grids (1km×1km) and installed a total of 62 sensor cameras in 38 small girds divided by four grids(1km×1km). The survey resulted in a total of 5,096 photographed wild animals, 2,268 of which were gorals, and the analysis by the classification table of goral (horn shape (Ⓐ), ring pattern (Ⓑ), ring formation ratio (Ⓒ), and facial color (Ⓓ)) identified a total of 95 animals. The ratio of male and female was 35 males (36.8%), 46 females (48.4%), and 14 sex unknowns (14.7%), while the ratio of female and male excluding sex unknowns was 4 (male):6 (female). The horn shape (Ⓐ) and face color (Ⓓ) were the important factors for distinguishing male and female and identifying individuals. The analysis of the correlation of 81 individuals, excluding 14 individuals of unknown sex, showed a significant difference (r=-0.635, p<0.01). Since the goral population in Odaesan National Park has reached a minimum viable population, it is necessary to change the focus of the management policy of Odaesan National Park from restoration to conservation.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.435-440
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• 2017

The author performed PCR-based genetic platform to measure the hierarchical dendrogram of Euclidean genetic distances of Korean scallop populations (KSP), particularly for Chlamys farreri, which was further compared with those of the Chinese scallop populations (CSP), by employing the with specifically designed oligonucleotide primer sets. The scallop is economically and ecologically very important bivalves in South Korea. Relatively, individuals of KSP population were fairly distantly related to that of CSP population, as shown in the hierarchical dendrogram of Euclidean genetic distances. Comparatively, individuals of KSP population were fairly distantly related to that of CSP population. Thus analysis of genetic difference between scallop populations could provide important statistics for fishery and aquaculture. Overall the results showed specific and/or conserved genetic loci between scallop populations. Information on the genetic distance of the bivalve would be helpful to understand scallop expansion or conservation in the coastal regions of South Korea. Specific markers developed by the author will be useful for the analysis of scallop population genetics and distribution in coastal region.