• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.163-198
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• 2000

This study aim was to propose plant taxa as an alternative proposal for the purpose of solving many kinds of difficulties occurred in the floral item of environmental impact assessment (EIA) used to date. Plant taxa presented here for environmental assessment can probably be useful in understanding the excellence of natural environment to specific regional space as well as in determining the order of priority as to species preservation. These taxa, selected by the floristic analysis with distributional range, can be classified into five degrees: the fifth degree, characterized by the discontinuous and/or isolated distribution, includes 83 taxa, 76 genera, 41 families; the fourth degree, occurred in only one subprovince as southern and northern plants, includes 314 taxa, 217 genera, 78 families; the third degree, two subprovinces as southern and northern plants, includes 307 taxa, 223 genera, 93 families; the second degree, generally distributed more than 1,000 meter in altitude, a whole subprovince, includes 109 taxa, 92 genera, 43 families; the first degree, at least three subprovinces, includes 258 taxa, 207 genera, 91 families. The taxa mentioned here environmental assessment, therefore, summed up to 1,071 taxa, 559 genera, 142 families from the Korean flora. It is suggested that the taxa belonging to the fifth degree might structually have by far extinctive possibility in respond to environmental damage comparing with other degrees, simply because these have narrow distributional ranges. [Floristics, Korean flora, Geographical distribution, Natural environment, Environmental assessment, Plant taxa].

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.449-462
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• 2010

Ongoing port baseline surveys are essential for developing ballast water management procedures in order to control unwanted or potentially risky species. Seasonal distributional patterns of marine dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans internationally recognized as harmful species and the related environmental factors were surveyed at Incheon, Gwangyang and Ulsan seaports in Korea from 2007 to 2009. The above three seaports were chosen because of their status as the busiest in Korea and characterized by their different bioregions. Average temperature ranged from $2.08^{\circ}C$ in winter to $26.39^{\circ}C$ in summer at Incheon, $7.22^{\circ}C$ in winter to $25.77^{\circ}C$ in summer at Gwangyang, and $11.59^{\circ}C$ in winter to $21.67^{\circ}C$ in summer at Ulsan during the study period. Average salinity varied from 26.88 in winter to 31.25 in summer at Incheon, 22.83 in winter to 33.41 in summer at Gwangyang, and 30.04 in winter to 33.90 in summer at Ulsan. Noctiluca scintillans appeared consistently at all ports during the study period, indicating its eurythermal and euryhaline nature. The highest abundances (21,813 to 41,753 $inds{\cdot}m^{-3}$) of N. scintillans were observed in May 2008 and 2009 at the outer stations of Incheon port. Abundances of between 10,000 and 30,000 $inds{\cdot}m^{-3}$ were only observed at the innermost station of Ulsan in May, while abundances of between 10,000 and 40,000 $inds{\cdot}m^{-3}$ were frequently observed throughout all stations at Gwangyang during the study period, coinciding with consistently high concentration of chlorophyll-a (hereafter chl-a) ($4.32-8.24\;{\mu}g\;l^{-1}$) compared to other ports. Spatio-temporal variation of chl-a concentration was not significantly correlated with abundances of N. scintillans (p>0.01). However, relatively high chl-a concentrations were consistently recorded along with high abundances of N. scintillans throughout all stations at Gwangyang compared to other ports. Abundances of N. scintillans observed at the three surveyed ports did not significantly (p>0.01) affect the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the surface mixed layer, indicating that the species abundances were not enough to cause reduction of dissolved oxygen during the study period. Presented results indicated that the Gwangyang seaport may provide the most suitable environment for a wide range of N. scintillans blooming compared to other ports.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.325-338
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• 2016

Properties of aggregation and spatial distribution of fish were examined based on three lines in the South Sea of Korea using three frequencies (18, 38, and 120 kHz) of a scientific echosounder. The vertical distribution of fish was displayed using acoustic biomass namely nautical area scattering coefficient (NASC). As a result, at 120 kHz high NASC showed from water surface to 20 meters in deep while at 18 and 38 kHz very high NASC presented in 70 ~ 90 meters in depth, especially at line 3. Among three lines, the line 2 had lowest NASC. The horizontal distribution of fish using three frequencies together exhibited high NASC between the eastern South Sea and center of South Sea. In especial, NASC ($801{\sim}1,920m^2/n{\cdot}mile^2$) was observed along coastal waters from Busan to Tongyeong, Geoje, and Namhae. In regard with the property of aggregation of fish schools, the volume back-scattering strength ($S_V$) of three lines presented close each other, however, the range of $S_V$ in the line 2 was shortest (-53.5 ~ -43.4 dB). The average distributional depth was deep in the order of L3 ($32.8{\pm}9.0m$), L1 ($45.2{\pm}9.5m$), L2 ($49.7{\pm}5.6m$). The average altitude was high in the order of L3 ($13.4{\pm}10.3m$), L1 ($17.0{\pm}12.6m$), L2 ($56.7{\pm}5.6m$). The average length, thickness, and area were large in the order of L1, L3, and L2. This means that small sized fish schools were distributed near water surface in the line 2 while relatively large and similar sized fish aggregations between line 1 and line 3 appeared however, fish schools at line 3 had lower distributional depth and smaller compared to those at line 1. Acoustic data were visualized for demonstrating the entire circumstances of survey area. Additionally, there was no correlation between acoustic and trawl results.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.168-177
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• 2007

By using DEM and digital actual vegetation map with MGE GIS software program, topographic features (altitude, slope, latitude, etc.) quantitatively were analysed and their data integrated as the index of climatic conditions (WI, CI, air temperature, etc.) in South Korea. Warmth Index (WI) decreases $5.27^{\circ}C{\cdot}month$ with latitudinal $1^{\circ} degree, and $3.41^{\circ}C{\cdot}month$ with attitudinal 100 m increase. The relationship between CI and WI values is expressed as a linear regression, $WI=116.01+0.96{\times}CI,\;R^2=0.996$. The distributional peaks of different plant communities along Warmth Index gradient showed the sequence of Abies nephrolepis, Taxus cuspidata, Abies koreana, Quercus mongolica, Carpinus laxiflora, Q. dentata, C. tschonoskii, Q. serrate, Pinus densiflora, Q. aliena, Q. variabilis, Q. acutissima, P. thunbergii, Q. acute, Castanopsis cuspidata var. sieboldii, Camellia japonica, Machilus thunbergii community from lower to higher values. The Quercus mongolica forest occurred frequently on E-NW and SE slope aspect within WI $70{\sim}80^{\circ}C{\cdot}month$ optimal range at mesic sites, NW and SE slope than xeric sites S and SW slope. The Q. serrata forest showed the most distributional frequency in NW and W slope aspect within WI $90{\sim}100^{\circ}C{\cdot}month$ range, Q. variabilis and Q. acutissima forest showed the high frequency of distribution in SE slope in WI $95{\sim}100^{\circ}C{\cdot}month$ range. By the slope gradient analysis, five groups were found: 1. Abies nephrolepis, Machilus thunbergii, 2. Taxus cuspidata, Abies koreana, Quercus mongolica, Q. dentata, Q. serrata, Q. variabilis, Castanopsis cuspidata var. sieboldii 3. Pinus densiflora, Q. aliena, Q. acutissima, P. thunbergii, Q. acuta 4. Carpinus laxiflora, Camellia japonica 5. C. tschonoskii from steep slope to gentle slope sequence.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 1996

Four external and 27 cranial characters of Korean field mice (Apodemus peninsulae) from nine regions in China and Korea, representing three subspecies, were analyzed by multivariate methods. Four size-forms were recognized a largest-size form Mt. Weolak and Yeoncheon in Korea (= subspecies peninsulae) and Kirin and Heilung in China (= subspecies praetor), a large-size form from Inner Mongolia in China (= subspecies praetor) and Sanxi and Sandong in China (= subspecies sowerbyi), a middle-size form from Beijing in China (= subspecies sowerbyi), and a small-size form from Xinjiang in China (= subspecies sowerbyi). Although Corbet (1978) recognized only two subspecies in A. peninsulae, subspecies peninsulae and sowerbyi, within its distributional range in the continent of Asia, it was revealed in this study with morphometric characters that A. peninsulae could not be classified simply into two subspecies, because subspecies praetor and subspecies sowerbyi formed the large-size form and because subspecies sowerbyi was so diverse in its morphology as to be composed of three size-forms. Further analyses with the samples from other regions of China and Russia seem to be necessary to clarify the taxonomy of A. peninsulae.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.346-356
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• 2000

This study was carried out to investigate the distribution pattern of macrobenthos in the subtidal sandy bottoms of the east coast of Korea, and seasonal samplings were performed from April 1993 to February 1994. The species number of macrobenthos was in the range from 70 in winter to 109 in spring season. Polychaete worms were the most dominant faunal group in species richness and abundance, but mollusks showed the highest biomass. The mean density of macrobenthos fluctuated from 631 individuals/m$^2$ in autumn to 1,995 individuals/m$^2$ in summer. The major macrofauna in abundance were polychaetes, Spiophanes bombyx which occurred all seasons with top rank and Prionospio sp. and a mollusk, Alvenius ojianus, and crustaceans, Wecomedon sp. and Urothoidae spp. were also numerically dominant macrobenthic fauna. The macrobenthos in the study area were classified into two assemblages by water depth. However, they showed a different community structure near small rivers in autumn and winter seasons.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.23-34
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• 2017

This study was carried out to investigate the spatial distributions of the macrobenthic communities in the Seomjin River estuary from May, 2015 to May, 2016. The number of species was 163, the mean density was $1,865ind.m^{-2}$, biomass was $204g{\cdot}wet\;m^{-2}$ during this study period. The highest number of species and density appeared among polychaetes whereas the most biomass was contributed by mollusks due to the presence of Corbicula japonica in every season. The study area was divided into 3 regions with similar benthic fauna responding to the gradient of the salinity. Praxillella praetermissa was the dominant species in regions of over 30 psu during all seasons. C. japonica and Hediste diadroma were dominant in the upper regions of the Seomjin River where the salinity was less than 10 psu. Heteromastus filiformis showed the broadest distributional range and dominated in all seasons except for the most upper stream at st. 7. From the result of the Bio-Env analysis, salinity was the most important environmental factor affecting the formation of macrobenthic communities in the study area, and salinity and TOC were the highest contributors to the macrobenthic communities. From the correlation analysis between major dominant species and environmental factors, C. japonica, Prionospio japonica and H. diadroma showed a negative correlation with salinity, while P. praetermissa and Scolectoma longifolia showed a positive correlation. H. filiformis was little affected by salinity but showed a positive correlation with TOC or silt content of sediment.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.139-151
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to understand distributional characteristics in the atmospheric concentrations of $O_3$ and its precursors based on data taken at the southern Korean coast. The average $O_3$ concentration in the high altitude was found to range from 32.3 to 90.8 ppb with a maximum concentration of 132 ppb. The ambient $O_3$ concentration was high at altitudes of 1000 m and 500 m above the southern sea near Gwangyang Bay and an industrial area containing emission sources. The daily mean concentrations of $NO_y$ and CO were 6.7-24.2 ppb and 0.152-0.487 ppm, respectively. During the aerial measurement period, the highest mean concentration of $O_3$ was observed on June 1. The aerial measurement results showed that the maximum ozone concentration was observed to be 132 ppb in the high altitude the southernmost part of Yeosu. The measurement of vertical wind fields in the air indicated that $O_3$ formed in the southernmost part of Yeosu was transported by strong southwesterly winds to the northeast of Gwangyang Bay. This led to a ground $O_3$ concentration of over 100 ppb in Jinju, the northeastern part of Gwangyang Bay. On August 9, when the maximum $O_3$ concentration was 50 ppb, the measurement results showed that $O_3$ concentrations were relatively low compared to other days. In particular, low $NO_2$ and TVOC concentrations were observed, both of which serve to form $O_3$ in photochemical reactions.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.528-543
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• 2004

The biogeographical approach on the species composition, distributional range, and life form of native Korean conifers suggests that the Korean Peninsula harbors 4 families 10 genera 30 species. Early-evolved conifers maintain high species diversity and broad distribution. During the glacial periods, the ranges of cold-tolerant conifers expanded, on the other hand, those of warmth-tolerant ones reduced. Presence of endemic subalpine conifers might be the result of long-term isolation of conifers on high mountains. Horizontal and vertical ranges of native Korean conifers are classified into alpine, subalpine, montane, coastal, insular and disjunctive types, and then subdivided into twelve sub-types. Typical life form of native Korean conifers is evergreen tree, blooms in spring, and fruits ripe in autumn or following autumn. Oval and elliptical seeds with wing might be beneficial for their dispersal. Further works on the migration, dispersal, genetics, ecology of native Korean conifers are required for the better understanding of the biogeography of conifers.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.273-282
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• 2016

The establishment of a DNA barcode database at the regional scale and assessments of the utility of DNA barcodes are crucial for conservation biology and for the sustainable utilization of biological resources. Schisandraceae is a small family consisting of ca. 45 species. It contains many economically important species, such as Schisandra chinensis, which is widely used as a source in tonic beverages and in oriental medicine. In Korea, three species, S. chinensis, S. repanda, and Kadsura japonica, are distributed. We evaluated the level of variation of the DNA sequences of rbcL, matK, and the ITS regions from 13 accessions representing the distributional range of the three species. The three DNA barcode regions were easily amplified and sequenced. The minimum values of the interspecific genetic distances among S. chinensis, S. repanda, and K. japonica either separately or in combination are 4- to 23-fold higher than the maximum value of the intraspecific distance, showing that there is a clear DNA barcoding gap in the regions for Korean Schisandraceae. Phylogenetic analyses of the three DNA barcode regions, separately and simultaneously, indicate that all of the DNA barcode regions are useful for identifying a species of Schisandraceae in Korea. The distinctiveness of the three species of Schisandraceae was also supported at the species level when Chinese and Japanese populations were added. The results of this study indicate that three concatenated regions constitute the best option for DNA barcoding in Schisandraceae in Korea.