• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1-11
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• 2015

Jeju Island is managed intensively in terms of environmental and ecological aspect because of its extraordinary ecosystem types comprising numerous rare, protected flora and fauna. To depict rapid change of habitat status in Jeju Island, the InVEST Habitat Quality model has been operated and compared analytically with the Eco-Natural map. The Habitat Quality map of Jeju Island is turned out to have similar inclination with Eco-Natural map. We compared the average habitat quality value in each Eco-natural map class in Jeju Island and the habitat quality value of first second third grade and non-included area decreased as 0.95 0.76, 0.53 and 0.37 in eco natural map respectively. Compared to biodiversity map based on biological investigation, the result of the InVEST habitat quality model can be simply obtained by land cover map with threat and sensitivity data. Further studies are needed to make explicit coefficients for Jeju Island and Korean peninsula, then the Habitat Quality model could be applied to past and future scenarios to analyze extent of habitat degradation in time series to help decision makers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.29-37
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• 2014

The objective of this study is to estimate the cost and benefits of street trees for their planting types, specifically, single row, single row+bottom, double row, double row+bottom. Different planting types are compared and analyzed by using Net Present Value (NPV) and benefit-cost ratio (BCR). Existing data are collected from the literature reviews for the use of meta-analysis method for estimating cost and benefit. The elements for analyzing costs are management and planting costs, and benefits are air purification, energy saving and landscape view. The discount rate is applied at a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 5.5%. The unit used in this calculation is km/year. The result shows that the net benefit is highest in double row, followed by single row, double row+bottom, and single row+bottom. The BCR is the highest in double row, followed by single row, double row+bottom, and single row+bottom. The BCR reaches the break-even point from 9 to 17 years depending on the planting types.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.134-143
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• 2016

This study analyzed the characteristics of emergy inputs from environmental sources that are essential in maintaining ecological processes and providing ecosystems services of the tidal flat ecosystems in Korea. Environmental sources provided a total of $4.98{\times}10^{21}sej/yr$ of emergy to the tidal flats of Korea. The emergy inputs from environmental sources were worth 1,141 billion ￦/yr. This is the value of environmental conditions that are the basis of ecosystem services provided by the tidal flat ecosystems. The emergy input per hectare to regional tidal flats decreased along the coastline from northwest to southeast, with the highest input in the Incheon-Gyeonggi area in the central western part of the Korean coast and the lowest input in the Busan area in the southeastern end. This reflects the general distribution pattern of the magnitude of tidal ranges along the Korean coast. There was no a clear-cut relationship between emergy inputs per unit area and fishery production(expressed in emergy quantity) per unit area. However, tidal flats in the west coast with higher emery inputs per unit area produced more fishery products than those in the south coast with lower emergy inputs, suggesting a possibility that the emergy inputs could be used for the rapid evaluation and comparison of the potential for ecosystem service provision by individual tidal flats.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.420-431
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• 2015

As biodiversity and climate change have become main issues in recent times, the role of the forest ecosystem has been more important and forest conservation has been highlighted. The purpose of this study is to estimate forest area with high conservation values in Gapyung-gun by considering forest ecosystem services. The indicators of biodiversity, climate regulation, and water regulation were selected for assessment in this study. To assess biodiversity, habitat structural features and distribution characteristics of species were analyzed. Climate regulation and water regulation were assessed through analysis of carbon absorption volume and water storage. The result showed that, 50.1% of the forests in Gapyung-gun had high conservation values. The results were verified by comparing them with distribution tendencies of other environmental maps, which represent forest ecological values, and showed similar distribution tendencies. The study was conducted on only Gapyung-gun in Korea; however, the methods used in this study could be utilized for assessment of other areas to identify forests with high conservation values.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.12
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• pp.328-335
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• 2017

Background: Some researchers have attempted to evaluate the ecological function of various additional services, away from the main point of view on the timber production of Korean forests. However, basic data, evaluation models, or studies on the absorption of air pollutants related to major plant communities in Korea are very rare. Therefore, we evaluated the functional value of the forest ecosystem in Gongju-city. Plantation manual for air purification, supplied from the Ministry of Environment in Japan, was referred to process and method for assessment of air pollutant absorption. Results: Gross primary production was calculated about average 18.2 t/ha/year. It was a relatively low value in forests mixed with deciduous broad and evergreen coniferous compared to pure coniferous forest. Net primary production was the highest value in deciduous coniferous and was the lowest value in mixed forest with deciduous broad and evergreen broad. And the mean sequestration amount of each air pollutant per unit area per year assessed from gross primary production and concentration of gas was the highest with 75.81 kg/ha/year in $O_3$ and was 16.87 and 6.04 kg/ha/year in $NO_2$ and $SO_2$, respectively. In addition, total amounts of $CO_2$ absorption and $O_2$ production were 716,045 t $CO_2$/year and 520,760 t $O_2$/year in all forest vegetation in Gongju-city. Conclusions: In this study, we evaluated the absorption ability of air pollutant in 2014 on forest in Gongju-city area. Gongju-city has the broad mountain area about 70.3%, and area of deciduous broad leaves forest was established the broadest with 47.4% of genus Quercus. Pg was calculated about average 18.2 t/ha/year. The mean sequestration amount of each air pollutant per unit area per year assessed from Pg and $C_{gas}$ was the highest with 75.81 kg/ha/year in $O_3$ and were 16.87 and 6.04 kg/ha/year in $NO_2$ and $SO_2$, respectively. Absorption rates of $O_3$, $NO_2$, and $SO_2$ were the highest in evergreen coniferous forest about $14.87kgO_3/ha/year$, $3.30kgNO_2/ha/year$, $1.18kgSO_2/ha/year$, and the lowest were $5.95kgO_3/ha/year$, $1.32kgNO_2/ha/year$, and $0.47kgSO_2/ha/year$ in deciduous broad forest. In conclusion, it was evaluated that Japanese model is suitable for estimating air pollutants in Japan to Korean vegetation. However, in Korea, there is a very limited basic data needed to assess the ability of forests to absorption of air pollutants. In this study, the accuracy of a calculated value is not high because the basic data of trees with similar life form are used in evaluation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.681-691
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• 2022

Zostera marina (ZM), a type of seagrass registered as a marine protected species in South Korea, provides valuable ecosystem services to humans, such as improving marine water quality, providing food, spawning grounds and habitats for marine life, and absorbing carbon dioxide. Therefore, the government is seeking to preserve ZM by designating ZM-protected areas. This study examined the public willingness to pay (WTP) for the preservation of ZM using contingent valuation. The one-and-one-half-bounded model was adopted for WTP elicitation, and the single-bounded model was also applied for comparison. The spike model was employed to deal with many zero WTP responses. The household average WTP was estimated as KRW 4,087 per year, securing statistical significance. The national value was KRW 84.1 billion per year. The preservation value of ZM estimated in this study can be used as important data for economic analysis of various projects or policy implementation for its preservation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.34-44
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• 2019

Marine activities are becoming more diverse and extensive due to recent social developments, exceeding the environmental capacity of the marine ecosystem. The resilience, resistance, and constancy of marine ecosystems are being damaged or degraded. This prevents the ecosystem from functioning properly, leading to a decline in ecosystem services and value. As a means of returning the damaged ecosystem to health, more and more people are interested in restoration. At a time when restoration projects are gradually expanding, various problems that may arise when implementing the Sea Area Utilization Consultation and Impact Assessment for restoration projects need to be checked, in addition to confirming the direction to be pursued. Therefore, in this study terms related to restoration from research papers and reports were summarized, and the status of the Sea Area Utilization Consultation related to restoration projects and the status of the restoration project were reviewed. In addition, problems with Sea Area Utilization Consultations were considered through a case study to ensure the successful execution of restoration projects. Based on this, we intend to present improvement measures for Sea Area Utilization Consultations and Impact Assessments for restoration projects. This will provide effective information for future policies and plans.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2016

Forest degradation reduces ecosystem services provided by forest and could lead to change in composition of species. In North Korea, there has been significant forest degradation due to conversion of forest into terrace fields for food production and cut-down of forest for fuel woods. This study analyzed the phenological changes in North Korea, in terms of vegetation and moisture in soil and vegetation, from March to Octorber 2013, using MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) images and indexes including NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), NDSI (Normalized Difference Soil Index), and NDWI (Normalized Difference Water Index). In addition, marginal farmland was derived using elevation data. Lastly, degraded terrace fields of 16 degree was analyzed using NDVI, NDSI, and NDWI indexes, and marginal farmland characteristics with slope variable. The accuracy value of land cover classification, which shows the difference between the observation and analyzed value, was 84.9% and Kappa value was 0.82. The highest accuracy value was from agricultural (paddy, field) and forest area. Terrace fields were easily identified using slope data form agricultural field. Use of NDVI, NDSI, and NDWI is more effective in distinguishing deforested terrace field from agricultural area. NDVI only shows vegetation difference whereas NDSI classifies soil moisture values and NDWI classifies abandoned agricultural fields based on moisture values. The method used in this study allowed more effective identification of deforested terrace fields, which visually illustrates forest degradation problem in North Korea.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.114-125
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• 2024

Wetlands in the living area are important ecological resources that are the basis for the daily life or farming activities of local residents, and have high ecological value such as ecosystem services and green infrastructure. This study was carried out to develop a functional evaluation methodology optimized for small-scale wetlands(RAMS). Based on on-site evaluation by experts, surveys and in-depth interviews, four functional items, including biodiversity, health, hydrophilic culture and ecology, water circulation, and carbon absorption, and 15 detailed indicators, and the evaluation grade for each detailed indicator, were developed on a 5-point scale. The evaluation methodology optimized for small-scale living areas wetlands (RAMS) proposed as a result of this study can be used as basic data for conservation and restoration and management of small-scale living areas wetlands at home and abroad.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.126-133
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• 2020

In accordance with the implementation of the sunset provision to cancel the designations of urban park sites that remained unexecuted for a prolonged period until 2020, the park sites in the city center, which account for 90% of the long-term unexecuted urban facilities subjected to the provision, are currently on the verge of development. The total area of the 204 park sites that will disappear in Seoul as a result of this provision is 95 ㎢; moreover, 116 of these are privately-owned. It is expected that the possible changes in the use of these park sites could result in reckless development and reduction of green space, which would ultimately affect the ecosystem. This study applied the InVEST model to calculate the changes in the fixed carbon amount before and after the implementation of the sunset provision to estimate the economic value of these changes. The study focused on Jongno-gu in Seoul because it has the most unexecuted park sites subjected to the lifting of the designation. The research findings show that the fixed carbon amount provided by the unexecuted park sites in Jongno-gu was 374,448 mg, prior to the implementation of the sunset provision; however, the amount was estimated to decrease by 18% to 305,564 mg after its execution. When calculated in terms of average value of the real carbon price, this translated into a loss of approximately 700 million won. In addition, considering the social costs including both climate change and the impact on the ecosystem, an economic loss of approximately 98 billion won was projected. This study is meaningful because its predictions are based on the estimation of fixed carbon amount according to the implementation of the sunset provision in Jongno-gu and scientifically calculates the value of ecological services provided by the parks in the city. This study can serve not only as a basis during the decision-making process for policies related to ecosystem conservation and development, but also as an evidentiary material for the compensation of privately-owned land that is designated as urban park sites and was unexecuted for a prolonged period.