• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.207-213
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• 2015

It is estimated that there is a total of approximately 100,000 species in Korea. However, the number is currently about 30,000 and only 16,027 species are listed in the 'Species Korea' (as of December, 2014). Of the listed species, 51 species are designated as the Endangered Species Class I while 195 species are in the Class II, totaling 246 endangered species including 20 mammals. Under the circumstances that development (e.g., roads) is increasingly threatening the persistence of endangered mammals, it is significant to identify and preserve suitable habitats for them. In this context, evaluating the values of the suitable habitat environment would serve as essential information for development decision making. This study estimated the values of endangered mammals' forest habitats through spatialization of habitat services. In doing so, a species distribution model, Maximum Entropy Model (MaxEnt) was utilized for a group of endangered mammals including, mountain goat, wildcat, marten cat, and flying squirrel. To calculate the values per unit area, a benefit transfer method was used based on the point-estimate technique with the best available values estimated previously. The range of discount rate of 3.0 to 5.5 percent was applied taking the notion of social discount rate into account. As a result, the province with the highest values for endangered mammal habitats appeared to be Gangwon, followed by Gyeongbuk and Gyeongnam. The monetary values of the endangered mammal habitats were estimated to be 330 billion to 421 billion won per year.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.9-15
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• 2023

We analyzed data of endangered mammals in the 1st grade zone of the Ecological and Natural Map of Korea that were obtained through 202 field surveys over six years. Five endangered mammal species were identified including otters, long-tailed gorals, martens, leopard cats, and flying squirrels. The total number of habitat traces collected was 918, of which 897 traces (97.7%) were excrement types. The total surveyed distance was 697.7 km and there were 2,184 grids of 250×250 m each. Of these grids, 441 or 20.2% were confirmed as habitats of endangered mammals. Moreover, we analyzed results of repeated surveys in the same area by converting them into individual one-time surveys, accounting for 23.1% of the total area. The flying squirrel showed a low correlation with the frequency of field surveys but showed many habitats in a specific season. Leopard cats and martens were correlated with the frequency of field surveys. Results of analysis confirm that the grid method used for establishing the Ecological and Natural Map is unsuitable for the habitat division of flying squirrels, otters, leopard cats, and martens, and it does not reflect the actual habitats of these four species. Therefore, we propose that the concept of the habitat grid of species must be reevaluated and improved, specifically for endangered mammals.

• 한국환경복원기술학회지
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.111-122
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• 2014

The provided habitat of many services from natural capital is important. But because most ecosystem services tools qualitatively evaluated biodiversity or habitat quality, this study quantitatively analyzed those aspects using the species distribution model (MaxEnt). This study used location point data of the goat(Naemorhedus caudatus), marten(Martes flavigula), leopard cat(Prionailurus bengalensis), flying squirrel(Pteromys volans aluco) and otter(Lutra lutra) from the 3rd National Ecosystem Survey. Input data utilized DEM, landcover classification maps, Forest-types map and digital topographic maps. This study generated the MaxEnt model, randomly setting 70% of the presences as training data, with the remaining 30% used as test data, and ran five cross-validated replicates for each model. The threshold indicating maximum training sensitivity plus specificity was considered as a more robust approach, so this study used it to conduct the distribution into presence(1)-absence(0) predictions and totalled up a value of 5 times for uncertainty reduction. The test data's ROC curve of endangered mammals was as follows: growing down goat(0.896), otter(0.857), flying squirrel(0.738), marten(0.725), and leopard cat(0.629). This study was divided into two groups based on habitat: the first group consisted of the goat, marten, leopard cat and flying squirrel in the forest; and the second group consisted of the otter in the river. More than 60 percent of endangered mammals' distribution probability were 56.9% in the forest and 12.7% in the river. A future study is needed to conduct other species' distribution modeling exclusive of mammals and to develop a collection method of field survey data.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제47권4호
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• pp.211-218
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• 2023

Background: Traditional wildlife monitoring has often relied on invasive techniques posing risks to species and demanding substantial resources. To address this, camera traps emerged as non-invasive alternatives, albeit primarily tailored for larger mammals, posing limitations for small mammal research. Thus, the Mostela, an innovative tool designed to overcome these challenges, was introduced to monitor small mammals in South Korea. Results: The Mostela was deployed at two study sites in South Korea, yielding compelling evidence of its efficiency in capturing small mammal species. By analyzing the collected data, we calculated the relative abundance of each species and elucidated their activity patterns. Conclusions: In summary, the Mostela system demonstrates substantial potential for advancing small mammal monitoring, offering valuable insights into diversity, community dynamics, activity patterns, and habitat preferences. Its application extends to the detection of endangered and rare species, further contributing to wildlife conservation efforts in South Korea. Consequently, the Mostela system stands as a valuable addition to the toolkit of conservationists and researchers, fostering ethical and non-invasive research practices while advancing our understanding of small mammal populations and ecosystems.

• Journal of Species Research
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.249-256
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• 2012

Located 60 km from southern tip of Korean peninsula, Jeju is the largest Island in Korea and composed of volcanic habitat. Twenty-eight species of terrestrial mammals are listed from Jeju Island, of which 1 species and 3 subspecies are endemic. Also, 1 endangered species and 4 invasive alien species of land mammals are listed. Current status, brief history, management and conservation of the 28 species are discussed.

• 환경영향평가
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.453-465
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• 2014

생물다양성우수지역은 종다양성이 가장 우수한 지역 또는 훼손될 우려가 가장 큼에도 생물상이 가장 다양한 지역으로서, 생물다양성 보전을 위한 최적지를 선택하는 데 필수적인 요소이다. 이 연구의 목적은 포유류를 대상으로 전국단위에서 종풍부도, 희귀도를 분석하여 생물다양성우수지역을 파악하는 것이다. 대상종은 멸종위기 포유류 4종, 일반종 11종 등 총 15종을 선정하였다. 지형, 거리, 식생구조 등을 환경변수로 설정하였고, Maxent(Maximum Entropy Method)를 활용하여 종분포모형을 구축하였다. 종풍부도와 종희귀도를 통해 생물다양성을 분석하였다. 연구 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫 번째, 종풍부도를 분석한 결과, 멸종위기 포유류를 대상으로 할 때에는 높고 가파른 산림이 생물다양성우수지역인 것으로 나타났다. 반면, 전체종을 대상으로 했을 때는 저지대 산림에서 종풍부도가 높았다. 두 번째, 멸종위기 포유류를 대상으로 할 때에는 희귀도와 종풍부도가 유사한 공간분포를 보였다. 그러나 전체종을 대상으로 할때에는 저지대 산림 뿐만 아니라 고지대 산림에서도 다소 희귀도가 높은 것으로 나타나, 종풍부도와는 다소 다른 공간분포를 보였다. 이와 같은 연구 결과는 추후 생물다양성 평가, 서식지 보전, 생태축 구축, 보호지역 관리 등에 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

• 한국환경복원기술학회지
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.93-108
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• 2014

The inventory list of wildlife species inhabiting or distributing in Gyeonggi Province was made by compiling species data from precedent surveys, 10 national level nature surveys, 1 survey that Gyeonggi-do conducted, and 46 local surveys presented in scientific journals. Total 2,913 wildlife species including 2,041 vascular plants, 39 mammals, 304 birds, 34 herptiles, 145 fish, and 350 benthic macro-invertebrates were listed in the inventory. It explains 47% of nationwide total species in vascular plants, 31.5% in mammals, 58.2% in birds, 65.4% in herptiles, 12.2% in fish. The total number of important species including endangered species, national monuments, national red lists, etc. was 628 species, accounting for 21.6% of all listed species in Gyeonggi Province. More than 90% of endangered bird species, almost half of endangered fish and herptile species were found in Gyeonggi Province. In particular, abundant bird diversity and inhabitation of many endangered bird species were identified in Gyeonggi Province. Species diversity was greater in the northern area adjacent to the Demilitarized Zone and the eastern forest area. The distribution of the important species such as national endangered species was more distinct in these areas, especially in Gapyeong and Yeoncheon Counties. The inventory list compiled in this study implicates the level of management for biological resources and can provide information for policy decisions regarding new survey sites, protection management of specific species and areas, management practices by spatial characteristics. It should be more compiled and updated with survey data to be utilized as basic indices for local biodiversity strategies and management of biological resources.

• 한국환경복원기술학회지
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• 제26권6호
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• pp.205-220
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• 2023

This study aimed to analyze the needs and interests of the public on endangered wildlife using complaint big data. We collected 1,203 complaints and their corresponding text data on endangered wildlife, pre-processed them, and constructed a document-term matrix for 1,739 text data. We performed LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) topic modeling and network analysis. The results revealed that the complaints on endangered wildlife peaked in June-August, and the interest shifted from insects to various endangered wildlife in the living area, such as mammals, birds, and amphibians. In addition, the complaints on endangered wildlife could be categorized into 8 topics and 5 clusters, such as discovery report, habitat protection and response request, information inquiry, investigation and action request, and consultation request. The co-occurrence network analysis for each topic showed that the keywords reflecting the call center reporting procedure, such as photo, send, and take, had high centrality in common, and other keywords such as dung beetle, know, absence and think played an important role in the network. Through this analysis, we identified the main keywords and their relationships within each topic and derived the main issues for each topic. This study confirmed the increasing and diversifying public interest and complaints on endangered wildlife and highlighted the need for professional response. We also suggested developing and extending participatory conservation plans that align with the public's preferences and demands. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using complaint big data on endangered wildlife and its implications for policy decision-making and public promotion on endangered wildlife.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제60권6호
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• pp.423-427
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• 2022

The long-tailed goral, Naemorhedus caudatus (Mammalia: Bovidae), is one of the endangered animals in the Republic of Korea (Korea). Sarcoptic mange mites infested in diverse species of mammals, including humans, but no case has been reported in long-tailed gorals. We report 2 cases of mange mite, Sarcoptes scabiei, infestation in longtailed gorals. Mange mites were sampled in the skin legions of the 2 long-tailed gorals, which were rescued in 2 different regions, Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do and Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, Korea. Our results showed that the ectoparasite was the itch mite that burrowed into skin and caused scabies on the morphological inspection and placed within the phylogenetic relations of the species. The present study confirmed for the first time in Korea that mange mites are pathogenic scabies of long-tailed goral. Closer surveillance of this pathogenic ectoparasite in zoonotic and infectious ecosystems is warranted.

• 환경생물
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• 제40권2호
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• pp.157-163
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• 2022

We analyzed the hair microstructure of Korean small terrestrial mammals, such as Rodentia and Lagomorpha, to classify the characteristics of hair morphology. Micromys minutus showed a unicellular irregular type of medulla structures; on the other hand, the other mammals showed multicellular structures. Regarding the cuticular scale structures, the Rodentia species exhibited a narrow and broad diamond petal type, while the Lagomorpha species exhibited an elongated petal type. Interestingly, the hair cross-sections showed quite unique characteristics. We constructed hair identification keys to distinguish species with a single hair. The dichotomous key of Rodentia and Lagomorpha can be used for their behavioral ecology and dietary analysis of upper predators to serve as the basis for ecological research.