• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.41 no.7
• /
• pp.182-190
• /
• 2017

Background: Baekdudaegan was designated in 2005 as a protected area to prevent destruction and conserve. However, there are many disturbed and destroyed areas. The total disturbed area amounts to $25.9km^2$ (0.94%), including $13.4km^2$ (0.49%) in the core area and $12.5km^2$ (0.45%) in the buffer area. This study aims to classify the vegetation types established in the disturbed areas and diagnose the current conditions for ecological restoration in the forest ecosystem. Methods: We surveyed the vegetation in the disturbed areas of Daegwallyeong and Chupungryeong and the surrounding natural areas. The survey conducted from July to September 2015 targeted a total of 54 quadrats by Braun-Blanquet method (Daegwallyeong, 22; Chupungryeong, 32). We also investigated the height and coverage of each layer. We classified the vegetation types based on the field data and analyzed the ratio of life form and the exotic plants, species richness, and vegetation index (Hcl). The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated from rapideye satellite imagery in 2014 and 2015. Results: Vegetation types were classified into 11 groups according to the criteria that included successional sere or plantation at first, followed by developmental stage and origins. As a result of the analysis of the survey data, species richness, vegetation index (Hcl), ratio of tree plants, and the NDVI tended to increase, while the ratio of the exotic plants tended to decrease with the time since disturbance. These indicators had the classified values according to the vegetation types with time since the disturbance. Conclusions: These indicators can be effectively used to diagnose the conditions of the present vegetation in the disturbed area of the Baekdudaegan area. In addition, the NDVI might be effective for the diagnosis of the disturbed status instead of the human efforts based on the higher spatial resolution of satellite imagery. Appropriate diagnosis of the disturbed forests in the Baekdudaegan area considering the established vegetation types is essential for the elaboration of restoration plans. In addition, restoration target and level should be different according to the disturbed status of restoration site.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.212-220
• /
• 2018

Ecological and ecosystem database is becoming very necessary to understand origins and relationship between human and nature and also to minimize disturbance caused by human activities. An ecological information portal can play important roles as a computing system to collect knowledge, distributed research findings and separated data from researchers. In this study, we designed and developed ecological information portal service (EcoBank 1.0) for collecting and providing ecological information for diverse classes of stakeholders. To reach the goal, we had reviewed related and comparable ecological database portals to design conceptual structure of EcoBank system including database management framework. Then, we developed some functions of ecosystem analysis for each stake-holders (researchers, general public and policy makers). As a result of this study, we successfully designed of EcoBank system covering the functions of Digital Object Identifier(DOI) publishing and data quality management process. Also, we (1) applied ecological indices for calculating biodiversity by administrative boundary for policy makers, (2) provided statistical information of econature map for general public and distribution characteristics of species for researchers. To make a successful establishment of EcoBank, we have to collect and build up related database and offer various and reliable ecological data consistently. We expect that the successful construction of EcoBank will help not only to accomplish sustainable development goals but also to raise the welfare of ecosystem in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.319-331
• /
• 2013

Recent climate change, which is mostly ascribed to anthropogenic activities, is believed to be a major factor leading to biodiversity decreases and ecosystem service deteriorations. I have reviewed recent studies on climate change effects for many ecological processes involved with plants, in order to improve our understanding of the nature of ecological complexity. Plants in general have better growth and productivity under high levels of $CO_2$, although the long term effects of such $CO_2$ fertilizers are still controversial. Over the last 30 years, the Earth has been greening, particularly at higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, perhaps due to a relaxation of climatic constraints. Human appropriation of net primary productivity (NPP), which corresponds up to 1/3 of global NPP, is ultimately responsible for climate change and biodiversity decreases. Climate change causes phenological variations in plants, especially in regards to spring flowering and fall leaf coloring. Many plants migrate polewards and towards higher altitudes to seek more appropriate climates. On the other hand, tree mortality and population declines have recently been reported in many continents. Landscape disturbance not only hinders the plant migration, but also makes it difficult to predict the plants' potential habitats. Plant and animal population declines, as well as local extinctions, are largely due to the disruption of species interactions through temporal mismatching. Temperature and $CO_2$ increase rates in Korea are higher than global means. The degree of landscape disturbances is also relatively high. Furthermore, long-term data on individual species responses and species interactions are lacking or quite limited in Korea. This review emphasizes the complex nature of species responses to climate change at both global and local scales. In order to keep pace with the direction and speed of climate change, it is urgently necessary to observe and analyze the patterns of phenology, migration, and trophic interactions of plants and animals in Korea's landscape.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.123-129
• /
• 2014

Ant communities are well suited for monitoring changes in ecosystems. Although numerous studies have examined the responses of ant communities to environmental disturbance, relatively few long-term studies on ant communities have been undertaken in urban environments. We examined species richness in nine urban parks in Hiroshima, Japan, and compared the survey results with data collected at the same sites by using the same methods in 1999. In both surveys, total of 25 species was recorded: 23 species in 1999 and 20 species in 2012. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that the ant communities consisted of two distinct groups, which could in turn be characterized by three patterns of ant community changes in between the two groups. The first of these community change patterns was characterized by a shift within group 1, but the number of species remained constant (approx. 10 species). The second pattern was characterized by a shift within group 2, but the number of species remained low (approx. 4 species). The third pattern was characterized by a shift from group 1 to group 2 as the abundance of Linepithema humile (Mayr) increased over time. Unlike the first and second patterns, the number of ant species in communities of the third type decreased significantly. These findings suggest that L. humile has a marked effect on the species diversity of indigenous ant communities in urban environments.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.17-24
• /
• 2010

Field study to find appropriate species for phytoremediation and phytomonitoring with higher plants was carried out at four abandoned metalliferous mines. In order to know the tolerant degree of plant resources collected at heavy metal polluted sites, soil and plants were sampled at same sites and metal concentrations were determined. Most serious heavy metal polluted in the sites was As that showed range from 29.1 to 1372.2 mg $kg^{-1}$ in investigated area. The dominant species were Oenothera biennis, Commelina communis, Persicaria senticosa, Conyza annuus, Artemisia princeps, and Erigeron canadensis. These species were predominant species that were proliferated in any survey area. Compared with other sites, vegetational characteristics of Dal-Seong, a mine site abandoned early in 1973, showed higher diversity index and lower dominance index. Distributions of weed species according to life cycle indicated that the proportions of perennial plants were lowered in every investigated site. Although the polluted areas were distant from each other, similarity indices among these vegetation were relatively similar. These results means the vegetations of abandoned mine areas were beginning stage of vegetational succession, and the vegetations were adversely affected by disturbance with heavy-metals and lack of water in soil.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.67-73
• /
• 2003

Natural stream work has been implemented recently to improve the urban stream environment in Korean cities. Many plants planted in the early work have not survived because they were not suited to the site and therefore failed to adapt to the riparian environment. The objective of this study is to investigate the floral change at the riparian environment after completion of the natural stream work by comparing the differences between planted species during the work and the current species at the study site. The study site was the stream area between Yeongdohng 2 bridge and Yeongdohng 3 bridge at Yangjae-cheon Stream, Gangnam-ku, Seoul, which was the prototype site of G-7 project of the Ministry of Environment in Korea. The following conclusions were derived after doing this study: Among the 50 species planted during the work, 23 species survived in the stream zone, while 27 species did not. The species that did not survive were ornamental plants that were not appropriate for the riparian environment. Among the 144 species which appeared naturally, 77 species(53.5%) were annuals and perennials, which means the study site is still in ecological disturbance and does not have a stable status ecologically. Thus, it is necessary to select the plant species that can survive in the disturbed riparian environment.

• Animal cells and systems
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.209-216
• /
• 1998

The invasion of Ambrosia artemisiifolia in the Ukrainian Carpathians Mts. and the Transcarpathian Plain in Central Europe was reconstructed on the basis of floristic records. The first spontaneous occurrence was dated from the beginning of the 1940s. Within the next 55 year period, the distributional spread speed of the species was of 67.6 $km^2/y$ (by the average data). The occupied area by A. artemisiifolia in the range of the studied areas is about $3716.5km^2$ now. The features of behavior of the invader and the habitat preference were determined. The frequency of occurrence by sociologic-ecological classification was carried out. The generalized model of correlations among the gravitation, the active temperature sum and the disturbance gradients and the frequency of occurrence of the species was presented. The scheme of the invasion stages of A. artemisiifolia is reflected in the population status changes of the species during the areal dynamics.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.327-336
• /
• 2007

This study assessed ecological health using a multi-metric fish model from 15 sites in the headwater watershed of southern Han River during June${\sim}$August 1999 and then compared the health with conventional community diversity index to figure out differences between health and diversity index. For the analysis, we adopted 10 metric IBI model for regional applications. During this survey, total number of species sampled were 24 (6 families) and varied depending on magnitude of ecological disturbance and stream order. In the mountainous streams, mean proportion of sensitive and insectivore species was composed of 91% and 56%, respectively, indicating a potential healthy conditions. However, tolerant species with 66% and omnivore species with 76% were sampled from the 2nd order stream, which was shown deterioration in the physical habitat quality. In the overall watershed, mean IBI value was 38, judging as "fair" condition by the health criteria. Values of Individual IBI were closely associated with stream order and this pattern was similar to other mountainous streams showing low chemical pollutions and disturbance. Our comparison between IBI and diversity index over the stream order showed a distinct difference; Shannon-Weaver diversity index overestimated the actual community conditions and the variation range in the 2nd order stream was greater in the diversity index. Overall data suggest that the multi-metric approach may to a useful tool for stream ecosystem management and the conventional diversity index may not effective unless the stream order is considered for the stream evaluation.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.5-11
• /
• 2008

This study examined the characteristics of Pinus thunbergii community that forms a windbreak forest around the coast of Gwanmaedo located in Jodo-myeon, Jindo-gun, Jeollanamdo which is located in the south-western areas of Korea from December 2005 to April 2007 and to suggeste the ecological management methods of coastal windbreak areas. P. thunbergii community, a coastal windbreak forest of Gwanmaedo, was classified into disturbance, growth, mixture, stability, and back mountain vegetation according to major companions species and vegetation types. P. thunbergii community of disturbance and growth vegetation needs active management through tree thinning, mowing, weeding out, use of rest space, and felling sick pine trees. P. thunbergii community of mixture, stability, and back mountain vegetation needs active preservation of a coastal windbreak to restore natural vegetation by making a windbreak walk and a forest buffer zone and inducing vegetation succession. Accordingly, in this study, ecological management methods were suggested according to the actual state of distribution by habitat characteristics of coastal windbreak areas such as management of beaches and surrounding area of idle lands, restoration of back wetlands, inhibition of foreign plants, maintenance of diversity of species and habitats, and prevention of aging and spread of damage from insects.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.87-97
• /
• 2017

Paulownia species has long been recognized in Korean traditional culture and the values of the species have been researched in various focuses. However, studies on distribution and ecological characteristics of the species are still needed. This study aimed to identify distribution trends and ecological characteristics of two Paulownia species in Busan metropolitan city using the MaxEnt model. The MaxEnt model was established based on the environmental factors such as positioning information of the Paulownia species, topography, climate and degree of anthropogenic disturbance potentiality (ADP), which was collected in the on-site research. The study verified that the accuracy of the model was appropriate as the AUC value of Paulownia coreana and P. tomentosa was 0.809, respectively. In terms of the distribution trends of the two Paulownia species in the research area depending on the distribution model, they were both mainly distributed in downtown where built-up area and bare ground were densely concentrated. The potential distribution area of the two species was identified as $137.4km^2$ for P. coreana and $135.0km^2$ for P. tomentosa. The distribution probability was high in Jung-gu, Dongrae-gu, Busanjin-gu and Yeonje-gu. As a result of the analysis on contribution of the environmental factors, it was turned out that the degree of anthropogenic disturbance potentiality (ADP) contributed to distribution of P. coreana and P. tomentosa by about 50%, and the contribution of the environmental factors had a positive correlation with the degree of ADP. The elevation had a negative correlation with both the two species, which was considered because the species must compete more with native species in natural habitats as the altitude above sea level rises. The research findings demonstrated numerically that the distribution of P.coreana and P. tomentosa depended on artificial activities, and indicated the relevance with the Korean traditional landscape. These findings are expected to provide meaningful information in using, preserving and restoring Paulownia species.