Korea has stepped up efforts to investigate and catalog its flora and fauna to conserve the biodiversity of the Korean Peninsula and secure biological resources since the ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits (ABS) in 2010. Thus, after its establishment in 2007, the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR) of the Ministry of Environment of Korea initiated a project called the Korean Indigenous Species Investigation Project to investigate indigenous species on the Korean Peninsula. For 15 years since its beginning in 2006, this project has been carried out in five phases, Phase 1 from 2006-2008, Phase 2 from 2009-2011, Phase 3 from 2012-2014, Phase 4 from 2015-2017, and Phase 5 from 2018-2020. Before this project, in 2006, the number of indigenous species surveyed was 29,916. The figure was cumulatively aggregated at the end of each phase as 33,253 species for Phase 1 (2008), 38,011 species for Phase 2 (2011), 42,756 species for Phase 3 (2014), 49,027 species for Phase 4 (2017), and 54,428 species for Phase 5(2020). The number of indigenous species surveyed grew rapidly, showing an approximately 1.8-fold increase as the project progressed. These statistics showed an annual average of 2,320 newly recorded species during the project period. Among the recorded species, a total of 5,242 new species were reported in scientific publications, a great scientific achievement. During this project period, newly recorded species on the Korean Peninsula were identified using the recent taxonomic classifications as follows: 4,440 insect species (including 988 new species), 4,333 invertebrate species except for insects (including 1,492 new species), 98 vertebrate species (fish) (including nine new species), 309 plant species (including 176 vascular plant species, 133 bryophyte species, and 39 new species), 1,916 algae species (including 178 new species), 1,716 fungi and lichen species(including 309 new species), and 4,812 prokaryotic species (including 2,226 new species). The number of collected biological specimens in each phase was aggregated as follows: 247,226 for Phase 1 (2008), 207,827 for Phase 2 (2011), 287,133 for Phase 3 (2014), 244,920 for Phase 4(2017), and 144,333 for Phase 5(2020). A total of 1,131,439 specimens were obtained with an annual average of 75,429. More specifically, 281,054 insect specimens, 194,667 invertebrate specimens (except for insects), 40,100 fish specimens, 378,251 plant specimens, 140,490 algae specimens, 61,695 fungi specimens, and 35,182 prokaryotic specimens were collected. The cumulative number of researchers, which were nearly all professional taxonomists and graduate students majoring in taxonomy across the country, involved in this project was around 5,000, with an annual average of 395. The number of researchers/assistant researchers or mainly graduate students participating in Phase 1 was 597/268; 522/191 in Phase 2; 939/292 in Phase 3; 575/852 in Phase 4; and 601/1,097 in Phase 5. During this project period, 3,488 papers were published in major scientific journals. Of these, 2,320 papers were published in domestic journals and 1,168 papers were published in Science Citation Index(SCI) journals. During the project period, a total of 83.3 billion won (annual average of 5.5 billion won) or approximately US $75 million (annual average of US $5 million) was invested in investigating indigenous species and collecting specimens. This project was a large-scale research study led by the Korean government. It is considered to be a successful example of Korea's compressed development as it attracted almost all of the taxonomists in Korea and made remarkable achievements with a massive budget in a short time. The results from this project led to the National List of Species of Korea, where all species were organized by taxonomic classification. Information regarding the National List of Species of Korea is available to experts, students, and the general public (https://species.nibr.go.kr/index.do). The information, including descriptions, DNA sequences, habitats, distributions, ecological aspects, images, and multimedia, has been digitized, making contributions to scientific advancement in research fields such as phylogenetics and evolution. The species information also serves as a basis for projects aimed at species distribution and biological monitoring such as climate-sensitive biological indicator species. Moreover, the species information helps bio-industries search for useful biological resources. The most meaningful achievement of this project can be in providing support for nurturing young taxonomists like graduate students. This project has continued for the past 15 years and is still ongoing. Efforts to address issues, including species misidentification and invalid synonyms, still have to be made to enhance taxonomic research. Research needs to be conducted to investigate another 50,000 species out of the estimated 100,000 indigenous species on the Korean Peninsula.
A survey has been conducted to investigate the presents of breaks down and repair of power tiller for efficient use. Eight provinces were covered for this study. The results are summarized as follows. A. Frequency of breaks down. 1) Power tiller was breaken down 9.05 times a year and it represents a break down every 39.1 hours of use. High frequency of breaks down was found from the fuel and ignition system. For only these system, the number of breaks down were 2.02 and it represents 23.3% among total breaks down. It was followed by attachments, cylinder system, and traction device. 2) For the power tiller which was more than six years old, breaks down accured 37.7 hours of use and every 38.6 hours for the power tiller which was purchased in less than 2 years. 3) For the kerosene engine power tiller, breaks down occured every 36.8 hours of use, which is a higher value compared with diesel engine power tiller which break down every 42.8 hours of use. The 8HP kerosene engine power tiller showed higher frequency of break down compared with any other horse power tiller. 4) In October, the lowest frequency of break down was found with the value of once for every 51.5 hours of use, and it was followed by the frequency of break down in June. The more hours of use, the less breaks down was found. E. Repair place 1) 45.3% among total breaks down of power tiller was repaired by the owner, and 54.7% was repaired at repair shop. More power tiller were repaired at repair shop than by owner of power tiller. 2) The older the power tiller is, the higher percentage of repairing at the repair shop was found compared with the repairing by the owner. 3) Higher percentage of repairing by the owner was found for the diesel engine power tiller compared with the kerosene engine power tiller. It was 10 HP power tiller for the kerosene power tiller and 8 HP for the diesel engine power tiller. 4) 66.7% among total breaks down of steering device was repaired by the owner. It was the highest value compared with the percentage of repairing of any other parts of power tiller. The lowest percentage of repairing by owner was found for the attachments to the power tiller with the value of 26.5%. C. Cause of break down 1) Among the total breaks down of power tiller, 57.2% is caused by the old parts of power tiller with the value of 5.18 times break down a year and 34.7% was caused by the poor maintenance and over loading. 2) For the power tiller which was purchased in less than two years, more breaks down were caused by poor maintenance in comparison to the old parts of power tiller. 3) For the both 8-10 HP kerosene and diesel engine power tiller, the aspects of breaks down was almost the same. But for the 5 HP power tiller, more breaks down was caused by over loading in comparison to the old parts of power tiller. 4) For the cylinder system and traction device, most of the breaks down was caused by the old parts and for the fuel and ignition system, breaks down was caused mainly by the poor maintenance. D. Repair Cost 1) For each power tiller, repair cost was 34,509 won a year and it was 97 won for one hoar operation. 2) Repair cost of kerosene engine power tiller was 40,697 won a year, and it use 28,320 won for a diesel engine power tiller. 3) Average repair cost for one hour operation of kerosene engine power tiller was 103 won, and 86 won for a diesel engine power tiller. No differences were found between the horse power of engines. 4) Annual repair cost of cylinder system was 13,036 won which is the highest one compared with the repair cost of any other parts 362 won a year was required to repair the steering device, and it was the least among repair cost of parts. 5) Average cost for repairing the power tiller one time was 3,183 won. It was 10,598 won for a cylinder system and 1,006 won for a steering device of power tiller. E. Time requirement for repairing by owner. 1) Average time requirements for repairing the break down of a power tiller by owner himself was 8.36 hours, power tiller could not be used for operation for 93.58 hours a year due to the break down. 2) 21.3 hours were required for repairing by owner himself the break down of a power tiller which was more than 6 years old. This value is the highest one compared with the repairing time of power tiller which were purchased in different years. Due to the break down of the power tiller, it could not be used for operation annually 127.13 hours. 3) 10.66 hours were required for repairing by the owner himself a break down of a diesel engine power tiller and 6.48 hours for kerosene engine power tiller could not be used annually 99.14 hours for operation due to the break down and it was 88.67 hour for the diesel engine power tiller. 4) For both diesel and kerosene engine power tiller 8 HP power tiller required the least time for repairing by owner himself a break down compared with any other horse power tiller. It was 2.78 hours for kerosene engine power tiller and 8.25 hours fur diesel engine power tiller. 5) For the cylinder system of power tiller 32.02 hours were required for repairing a break down by the owner himself. Power tiller could not be used 39.30 hours a year due to the break down of the cylinder system.