• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.84-98
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• 2022

Estuary is important in terms of biodiversity because it has the characteristics of transition waters, created by the mixing of fresh- and seawater. The estuarine water circulation provides a variety of habitats with different environments by inducing gradients in the chemical and physical environment, such as water quality and river bed structure, which are ultimately the main factors influencing biological community composition. If the water circulation is interrupted, the loss of brackish areas and the interception of migration of biological communities will lead to changes in the spatial distribution of biodiversity. In this study, among the sites covered by the Estuary Aquatic Ecosystem Health Assessment, we selected study sites where changes in biodiversity can be assessed by spatial gradient from the upper reaches of the river to the lower estuarine area. The α-, γ- and β-diversity of diatom, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish communities were calculated, and they were divided into open and closed estuary data and compared to determine the trends in biodiversity variation due to estuarine circulation. As results, all communities showed higher γ-diversity at open estuary sites. The benthic macroinvertebrate community showed a clear difference between open and closed estuaries in β-diversity, consequently the estuarine transects were considered as a factor that decreases spatial heterogeneity of their diversity among sites. The biodiversity trends analyzed in this study will be used to identify estuaries with low γ- and β-diversity by community, providing a useful resource for further mornitoring and management to maintain estuarine health.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.12 no.spc
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• pp.1-69
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• 2023

This study aims to establish a comprehensive, synthetic inventory system for the fauna and flora of Dokdo Island, Republic of Korea, which has been conducted by a specialized research group consisting of more than 50 experts. The research was conducted over five years(2015-2019) and supported by the National Institute of Biological Resources, Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea. All possible publications on the fauna and flora of Dokdo Island over the last 68 years from 1952 to 2020 were reviewed. As a result, 1,302 species were found on Dokdo Island during the study period. An updated list of 1,963 species was created. This is expected to be of great help for the conservation and national publicity of important indigenous biological resources of Dokdo Island.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.84-99
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• 1997

Amphibian and Reptilian specimens which were surveyed in Gyebangsan during both from Apr. 26, 1995 to Oct. 15, 1995 and from Apr. 13, 1996 to July 28, 1996 were observed 9 Species in 5 Families on 2 Orders and 10 Species in 3 Families, 5 Fimilies, 9 Species and Reptiles were 2 Suborders, 3 Families on 2 Suborders, respectively. Bombina orientalis was revealed dominant species and Bufo stejnegeri was distributed abundant on this investigation area than other survey studies. Relatively large number of larvae of Rana dybowskii were found among the stream and small ponds at the Suchung-gol valley. There were 5 species of Specific wildlife species in Korea as Hynobius leechii, Rana dybowskii, Onchodactylus fischeri, Bufo stejnegeri and Bufo bufo gargarizans. Meanwhile Bufo stejnegeri were endemic species in Korea. 6 Species among 10 Species which were observed Reptiles in this survey Scincella laterale laterale, Dinodon rufozonatus rufozonatus, Agkistrodon brevicaudus, Agkistrodon saxatilis, Amphiesma vibakari ruthveni and Enhydris rufodorsata were Specific wildlife in Korea. Scincella laterale laterale and Takydromus amuriensis were habitated very abundant in Suchung-gol region. Habitat density of Takydromus amureinsis at Suchung-gol region was 36 individuals/ha. Total number of pressed to death individuals caused by press on the road from May to July, 1995 were 404 specimens in 10 Species. The 1,2,3 and 4 Stations where were found the largest number of death individuals caused by press on the road should considered to construct Eco-corridor to reduced the death individuals with small pipes beneath the road as a migration route. Onchodactylus fischeri have around 500m as moving distance and home range for lifelong and it were the climax of broad-leaved tree and highly moisture area that abundantly region of Onchodactylus fischeri.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.105-113
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• 2017

Recently mountain tourism has been promoted and introduction of railroads with utilizing mountain resources is being planned. With the government policies to increase the share of eco-friendly transportation on railroad, national double-tracking of single rail and improvement projects are on going. However, the eco-friendly railroad policy suggests the environmental impact assessment items only on air quality, water quality, geographical/geological features, fauna/flora, natural/environmental resources, noise/ vibration, and recreation/landscape. And for fauna/flora and natural/environmental resources, confirming the presence of environmental protection zone is enough to satisfy legal requirement. This study suggested to evaluate environmental/ecological values with quantitative data. Evaluation indices and evaluation items have been selected to provide the data. Each of the subject map and railroad network was overlapped. The study selected naturalness and diversity as major indicators and calculated weight values of the items under the indicators, which are to be usd for the selection of the sites for railway development. This assessment method could be applied to the environmentally friendly construction of railroads in the future.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.319-325
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• 2014

A lot of Pond Wetland (Palustrine Wetland) are distributed in agricultural landscapes, Korea. These wetlands are evaluated as important resources for conservation of biodiversity. However, the study of Pond Wetland is rarely conducted except type classification in Korea. In this study, the function of pond wetland as ecosystem services is studied for conservation and utilization of wetland. Research was conducted in three steps; functionality analysis, functionality derivation, and importance analysis. A total of 22 features were derived by analyzing the previous studies. As a result of expert survey, 4 features were selected by each in the field of biological, environmental, and socio-culture among the 22 features. Importance was calculated by conducting a cross-functional features using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Finally, 10 ecosystem service functions of pond wetland were derived through expert survey; (1) Water Storage & Irrigation, (2) Vegetation Diversity, (3) Amphibian & Reptile Habitat, (4) Water Purification, (5) Aquatic Insect Habitat, (6) Nutriments Control was derived, (7) Groundwater Recharge, (8) Fishery Habitat, (9) Eco-Experience & Education, and (10) Aesthetic landscape. It is expected that this study is able to utilize in evaluation of pond wetlands ecosystem services by further study on analysis of functional importance and economic value index.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.179-187
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• 2002

Constructed wetland was built for industrial factory wastewater treatment with environmentally sound method from July to October, 2000. Ultimately this case study was carried out to conserve water quality of river and underground water and to provide wildlife habitat and rest place for people in the industrial area. The size of constructed wetland was 10m$\times$6m (upper area) with a treatment capacity of 2.5㎥ per day. It was supplied with wastewater 0.625㎥ at intervals of six hours. Vertical flow system was chosen to promote efficiency. Draining layer was built one meter in soil depth out of sand mixed with pebbles in a ratio of two to one. Perennial emergent plants, Phragmites communis, Typha orientalis, Juncus effusus, Iris pseudoacorus, 20 individuals per square meter were planted. In the aspect of reusing, eco-pond was created for increasing biological species diversity and also deck and information signboard were established for the education of environment. As the result of monitoring, it was revealed that the constructed wetland was effective in removal of BOD$_{5}$, COD, T-N, T-P and has being gradually improved as a wildlife habitat(biotope).

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2020

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), which has never been recorded in South Korea, appeared on Jeju Island in 2018 and re-emerged in the inland area of Seocheon-gun (South Chungcheong Province) and in Goyang-si (Gyeonggi Province) in the following year. This study aims to report the progress in observing P. falcinellus in the inland areas of South Korea in 2019 and to predict its origin region and future propensity for habitats in the country through literature review. On 5 May 2019, an individual of P. falcinellus with breeding feathers was observed in a farmland in Wolsan-ri, Seocheon-gun. Twelve days later, another one was identified in a farmland in Janghang-dong, Goyang-si, about 173 km north of Wolsan-ri. The observed birds fed and rested in the area and stayed for only a day. The individual birds spotted in South Korea in 2019 are conjectured to have come from either Southeast Asia or Australia, among areas located in East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). This is because P. falcinellus, a species with excellent dispersal capacity, forms a population in new areas during extreme environmental changes in their current habitats, especially droughts. For 2 years, P. falcinellus was observed to be migrating in spring; however, in the future, they may exhibit the same propensity for breeding and habitats as that of birds migrating in autumn. As it is a conspicuous species, effective detection of their arrival requires a survey system that classifies the country by habitat type and involves periodic and multiple observations by experts and citizens.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.39-60
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• 2018

National parks are designated for the purpose of maintenance, conservation and utilization of different habitats. Therefore, it is necessary to select habitats of a high value as a protected area in order to balance conservation and development. However, the existing national park boundary adjustment and new designation criteria only focused on the endangered species and protected area, without proper evaluation of the habitat value of actual species. Therefore, this study aims to quantitatively evaluate habitat function in terms of biodiversity and habitat value, so that it can be referred to for the designation and boundary adjustment of national parks. We assessed species diversity and habitat values for each of the habitat types, for mammals only, as they are able to choose preferred habitats. In order to evaluate biodiversity, we used Maxent to derive species richness map and used InVEST's Habitat quality model to evaluate habitat value. As a result of evaluation, species richness was high in the national park boundary area. Also, even if the same edge is adjacent to the development area depending on the land cover, the species richness is low. Compared with Wolaksan and Sobaeksan National Park, the species richness and habitat value of the northern area, which is connected with other forests, were higher than those of the southern area where roads were developed. Therefore, it is expected that the use of the result of this study for the national park boundary adjustment and management will enhance the function of the national park as a habitat.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.24-37
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• 2015

Non-timber forest products are important component of subsistence and livelihood of tribal communities living in and near forests. This is of particular significance in the state of Arunachal Pradesh having more than 80% of geographical area under forest cover and predominantly inhabited by tribal people. Purpose of this study was to document the status and utilization pattern and to assess the economic value of NTFPs of the state. Present study was carried out in eight districts of Arunachal Pradesh viz., Changlang, East Kameng, Lower Subansiri, Tawang, Tirap, Upper Siang, West Kameng and West Siang covering 34 villages and 350 households. Altogether, 135 plant based and 36 animal based non-timber forest products were recorded. Among plant based NTFPs, 54 species were collected for leaves, 30 for stem and 22 for fruits. Most of the animal based NTFPs (93%) were collected/hunted for food. Average 20~40 kg of NTFPs was collected annually per household. Maximum plant based NTFP collection was recorded from West Siang followed by West Kameng and Tawang. Similarly, highest collection of animal based NTFPs was recorded from West Siang followed by Tirap and Lower Subansiri. NTFP contributed more than 50% of annual income of the people of East Kameng, Tirap, Lower Subansiri and Upper Siang districts. An illiterate and unemployed person with minimum agricultural land was more dependent on forests for his livelihood than a literate jobholder. The study concludes that a large section of people of Arunachal Pradesh are dependent on NTFPs for their livelihood however due to its unscientific harvesting, the availability of NTFPs is receding with time. There is an urgent need to promote cultivation and scientific harvesting of NTFPs in order to conserve the plant and animal diversity of this global biodiversity hotspot and for ensuring livelihood security of the people living in this area.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.289-295
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• 2016

Study on characteristics of the molluscan community structure and relationship between the structure and environmental variables in the abyssal plain of the East Sea was carried out for 5 years, starting from 2009 until the end of 2015 except 2010 and 2011. The water depth at the study site is approximately 1,600 m at minimum, and maximum depth of 2,000 m and a total of 16 molluscan species including Aplacophora, Gastropoda and Bivalvia were observed. Species with the highest biomass was Thyasira tokunagai, followed by Yoldiella philippiana which were observed at 9 sampling stations every year. Among 4 sampling stations having various depths (1,600/ 1,700/ 1,800/ 2,000 m), the highest diversity for species was observed at water depths of 1,600 m and 1,700 m, but found the lowest at 1,800 m. Both abundance and biomass were found to be negative correlations with water depth (p < 0.05), however, showed a positive correlation with the concentrations of organic matters (p < 0.01, p < 0.05). However, it is interesting to note that both Thyasira tokunagai (biomass, 82.6%; abundance, 44.1%) and Yoldiella philippiana (biomass, 15.9%; abundance, 4.7%) did not show distinctive correlations with water depth as well as concentrations of organic matters (p > 0.05). Therefore, it could be concluded that community structure of both Thyasira tokunagai and Yoldiella philippiana did not appear to be affected by water depth and concentrations of organic matters but geographical characteristics.