• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.176-185
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• 2014

There are no population ecological research on the natural monument (No. 191) Jeju Cymbidium kanran in South Korea. In this study, we analyzed the population structure and fine-scale habitat affinity of C. kanran in Sanghyo-dong, Jejudo Island from Oct. 2013 to Feb. 2014. We observed total of 1,237 individuals (4,341 pseudobulbs) of C. kanran (989.6 population $ha^{-1}$) within (1.25 ha) and only 17 (1.4%) individuals were inflorescent. In 60.9% of the entire populations, disease symptoms such as spots and blight leaves were observed. C. kanran populaton exhibited reverse-J shaped size distribution based on leaf area classes as individual size parameter. The three size related attributes of C. kanran (no. of pseudobulb $r_s$=-0.159, no. of leaves $r_s$=-0.148 and leaf arera $r_s$=-0.114) and soil temperature revealed a negative relationship (p<0.0001). Most of C. kanran (95.4%) were grown under Castamopsis cuspidata and spatially, C. kanran were strongly clumped at all distances. Population characteristics of C. kanran in the study area were likely originated from species habitat affinity and successional environment. Through this study, base line data for C. kanran's habitat monitoring was established and conservation measures based on population characteristics were discussed.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2016

Black chokeberries (scientific name Aronia melanocarpa) have been reported to have major effects due to anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer capabilities. In this study, we investigated the anti- wrinkle effects of A. melanocarpa, including collagenase inhibition effects and their molecular biological mechanisms, such as oxidative stress-induced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, and activator protein (AP)-1 expression and/or phosphorylation. In collagenase inhibition activity, the ethyl acetate fraction of black chokeberry (AE) was 77.2% at a concentration of 500 μg/ml, which was a significant result compared to that of Epigallocatechin gallate (positive control, 83.9% in 500 μg/ml). In the reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay, the AE produced 78% of ROS in 10 μg/ml and 70% of ROS in 75 μg/ml, which was a much lower percentage than the ROS production of H₂O₂-induced CCRF S-180II cells. In the MTT assay, cell viability was increased dose-dependently with AE in H₂O₂-induced cells. In protein expression by western blot assay, the AE suppressed the expression and phosphorylation of MMPs (MMP-1, -3, -9), MAPK (ERK, JNK, and p38), and AP-1 (c-Fos and c-Jun), and expressed the pro-collagen type I in H₂O₂-induced cells. These results suggest that black chokeberries have anti-wrinkle and collagen-production effects, and they may be used in applications for material development in the functional food and cosmetic industries.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.45-52
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• 2015

With the rising interest in the environment, more attention on ecological restoration for damaged slope surface to restore its original state has been drawn. Generally, the most useful method is vegetation based spray work. This method uses green soil including sewage sludge, sawdust, paper sludge, and weathered granite soil. However, because there are neither accurate information nor test values about green soil, green soil is often lost by environmental factors such as rainfalls and strong winds. To solve the problem of green soil, it is necessary to prepare design standards about green soil, and conduct studies to deal with green soil loss in consideration of various variables including basic material property, soil quality of slope surface, and weather. This study was conducted in the mixture of green soil and eco-friendly soil stabilizer. With green soil, basic material property test and compaction test were conducted for the analysis on the basic characteristics of green soil. In the mixture with soil stabilizer at a certain ratio, we conducted shear strength test depending on the ratio in order to analyze the maximum shear strength, cohesion and the change in internal friction angles. Furthermore, in the mixture ratio of green soil and soil stabilizer, which is the same as the ratio in the shear strength test, an inclination of slope surface was made in laboratory for the analysis on erosion and germination rate. Finally, this study evaluated the most effective and economic mixing ratio of soil stabilizer to cope with neighboring environmental factors. According to the test, the shear strength of green soil increased up to 51% rely onto the mixing ratio of and a curing period, and its cohesion and internal friction angle also gradually increases. It is judged that the mixture of soil stabilizer was effective in improving shear strength and thereby increased the stability of green soil.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.142-151
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• 2020

This study is designed to deduce an implication for an effective implementation of the Special Act for Conservation, Management and Utilization of World Heritage in Korea which was legislated in February, 2020. To draw an implication, which is regarded as highly valuable for preparing for the implementation of the act, several case studies were performed focusing on four World Natural Heritage sites in Japan, and the result is as follows. First, it is enormously crucial for the central administration agencies and the local government to have a system through which they communicate one another regularly. All the target areas in Japan consist of three national parks and a prefectural park with natural monuments, and the national forest covers a tremendously large proportion of the areas. The Japanese central agencies including Ministry of the Environment, Forestry Agency and Agency for Cultural Affairs have communication with the local government through a system named Regional Liaison Committee in order to manage the sites effectively. Also, in the case of Japan, de facto administrating agencies involving non-profit organizations and the tourism association also participate in the regular conferences to communicate. Second, a specific committee consisting of academic advisers is strongly needed. In the case of Japan, Scientific Committee provides academic grounds for the management plan established by the members of Regional Liaison Committee, and an active system which allows the members to organize consultative committees and subcommittees has been established. Scientific Committee plays an important role in preventing the local government, which tends to manage the world natural heritage in more economically profitable ways, from damaging the environment of the site. The establishment of this type of committee is thought to be extremely desirable because the World Natural Heritage requires comprehensive and sustainable management plans on the ecosystem. Third, establishment of comprehensive management plan based on continuous monitoring on the environment and detailed action plan is exceedingly needed. To sum up, it is vital to establish a management plan considering environmental aspect, and detailed guidelines, which help execute the plan both properly and effectively, are required for systematic and sustainable management.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.42-52
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• 2009

Recreational forests are catching on as places for personal development through recreation, association with people, education about nature, mind relaxation and spiritual peace. However, the value and significance of recreational forests with various functions are easily overlooked. Whoever pays fees for admission to facilities are able to enjoy fresh air, a comfortable environment, and space for rest. It should be taken into consideration whether the fee which customers pay is appropriate for the value of nature they are enjoying. This study is involved in giving the right recognition to the value of recreation and environment by estimating economically the value of the environment in which visitors stay, and presenting the appropriate price. The most efficient way to achieve this goal is through an economic approach, which suggests following established research skills and yielding suitable and accurate amounts of money. The environmental value of a recreational forests is estimated through contingent valuation method(CVM), which is chosen among several methods to estimate public facilities because the value of recreational forests has strong characteristics as public facilities which are not traded in the market. The annual recreation value per person of surveyed recreational forests is Willingness To Pay(WTP) with a mean between about 16,000 won and 25,400 won. The recreation value of one recreational forest surveyed is annually between approximately 1.7 billions won and 2.7 billions won. The annual recreation value of 85 national and public recreational forests is presumed to be between about 140 billions won and 230 billions won. The presumed amount of money is the environment in which visitors can enjoy whenever they invest some money and time. Indeed, it is more than that; it provides visitors with a greater sense of satisfaction and the recognition of the preciousness of nature and the environment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.217-222
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• 2007

To investigate effects of inorganic $(GeO_2)$ and organic (Ge-132) germanium (Ge) on seed germination and on early stage growth of plane and the uptake characteristics, various concentrations (0, 10, 25, 50, 100 mg $L^{-1}$) of Ge to popular vegetables such as leaf mustard, chinese cabbage and pak-choi, respectively, were treated. On seed germination, no significant effect was observed in both inorganic and organic Ge treatments except 100 mg $L^{-1}$ treatment of inorganic Ge. Exogenous inorganic Ge ($10{\sim}100$ mg $L^{-1}$ treatments significantly inhibited the early root elongation growth of all plants. However, slight enhancement of early shoot elongation was detected in low concentrations (10 and 25 mg $L^{-1}$) of Ge in the leaf mustard and chinese cabbage plants. Organic Ge treatments significantly stimulated the 개ot and shoot growth at the 10, 25 and 50 mg $L^{-1}$ treatments. Ge was accumulated linearly in the vegetables as both inorganic and organic Ge concentrations were increased. Interestingly, total contents of Ge in plants with Ge-132 treatments were $2\sim4.5$ times more than those with inorganic Ge treatments in all concentrations. At 25 mg $L^{-1}$ treatment of Ge, contents of Ge in vegetables are following: in leaf mustard, inorganic Ge: 0.37 mg $g^{-1}dw$ and organic Ge: 1.47 mg $g^{-1}dw;$ in the chinese cabbage, inorganic Ge: 0.4 mg $g^{-1}dw$ and organic Ge: 0.86 mg $g^{-1}dw;$ in the pak-choi, inorganic Ge: 0.33 mg $g^{-1}dw$ and organic Ge: 0.70 mg $g^{-1}dw$, respectively. These results showed organic Ge is much better on early stage seedling growth and on germanium accumulation of vegetables than inorganic Ge.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.137-152
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• 2006

This study is for chemical relationships between ginsengs(2, 3 and 4 yr) and soils from three representative soil types of Keumsan, shale(SL), phyllite(PH) and granite(GR). In the weathered soils, the GR is mainly high. Positive relationships are dominant, and negative correlations are shown in the Y-Nb and Nb-Ta pairs. In the field soils, the GR is high while the SL is low. Regardless of the localities, available correlation relationships are dominant in the GR, and dominant in the 3 year area. In the host rocks, high element contents are shown in the GR. Positive relationships, regardless of the localities, are shown in the Zr-Hf, Ta, Nb-Ta and Hf-Ta pairs. In the ginsengs, chemical contents are distinctive with the different ages. Positive relationships are shown in the Y-Nb pair of the SL, Rb-Y pair of the PH, and Rb-Sr pair of the GR. Relative ratios(GR/SL and GR/PH) of the ginsengs suggest that ginsengs from the GR are higher than those of SL and PH while in the comparisons between PH and SL, 2 year ginsengs are high in the SL and 4 year ginsengs are high in the PH. Relative ratios between weathered and field soils (weathered/field) suggest high element contents in the weathered soils from the SL and PH and in the relative ratios(weathered soil/host rock), high element contents in weathered soils. Relative ratios between field soils and ginsengs(field soil/ginseng), regardless of the ages, show several ten and hundred times, suggestive of high contents in the soils. Comparisons with the overall average contents of each area show differences of several ten to hundred times in the SL and PH, and of several to ten times in the GR. These relationships suggest that contents of the ginsengs from the GR are more similar to the soils relative to those of SL and PH.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.589-596
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• 2013

Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb. is an evergreen plant that belongs to the Genus Vaccinium distributed in Korea, and its fruit has been used for food by the common people and thus has a high possibility of commercialization. Therefore, the habitat environment and individual characteristics of V. bracteatum in Jeju Island were investigated to obtain the basic data for commercialization and preservation. The results showed that V. bracteatum is mostly distributed on the southern slope of Mt. Halla at an altitude of 100 to 500 m. V. bracteatum that occurred in the quadrat were total 30 individuals, which had an average height of 6.0 m, an average DBH of 7.8 cm, and an average number of trunk of 4.3. As for the community structure of the habitat, the average percentage of vegetation cover for the tree layer was 36%, while that for the subtree layer was 78%, which emphasized the importance of the subtree layer. The total number of species that occurred in the quadrat was 76. For the tree layer, total 10 species occurred, which include 2 species of evergreen coniferous trees, 3 species of evergreen broad-leaved trees, and 5 species of deciduous broad-leaved trees. For the subtree layer, total 24 species occurred, which include 1 species of evergreen coniferous tree, 11 species of evergreen broad-leaved trees, and 10 species of deciduous broad-leaved trees. Among these, Eurya japonica Thunb. was the species with a high relative contribution, which threatened V. bracteatum For the shrub layer, 27 species occurred including Cinnamomum japonicum Siebold, and for the herbaceous layer, 64 species occurred including Ardisia crenata Sims. The similarity between the habitats of V. bracteatum was very low, and it did not prefer a characteristic community. The V. bracteatum community around Shinrei stream was distributed on the surrounding area adjacent to the slope of the stream rather than the slope. There were a lot of basins, but the branches, which did not receive sunlight, had withered. It is thought that V. bracteatum would decline if the forest formation continues.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.173-184
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• 2016

Knowledge of the relationships among interspecific competition, spatial distributions and ecological niches plays an important role in understanding biogeographical distribution patterns of species. In this study, the distributional characteristics and ecological niches of the three Viperidae species (Gloydius ussuriensis, G. brevicaudus, and G. saxatilis) in South Korea were determined based on observation data and species distribution model. The effects of interspecific competition on geographical distribution and the division of the ecological niches of the vipers were also examined based on the models of predicted species distribution. The results showed that altitude was the most important environmental variable for their distribution, and the altitudes at which these snakes were distributed correlated with the climate of that region. Although interspecific ecological niches are quite overlapped, their predicted distribution patternsvary by the Taebaek Mountains. When overlaying the distribution models, most of the overlapping habitats were forest areas, which were relatively less overlapped than were the entire research areas. Thus, a parapatric distribution pattern was expected. The abundance of species occurring sympatrically was positively correlated with each other, indicating the lack of serious interspecies competition in this region. In conclusion, although the three Viperidae species in South Korea occupy similar ecological niches, these snakes exhibit parapatric distribution patterns without direct competition. Further research on various geographic variables (e.g., altitude, microhabitat characteristics) using relatively fine grid sizes, as well as further detailed ecological and behavioral research, is needed to determine the causative factors for the parapatric distribution pattern.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.374-390
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• 2015

This study aimed to identify the insect diversity and forest in urban green space, which can determine the current status of the ecosystem and provide basic data and information required for conservation planning and sustainable use of the environment. For this study, we have surveyed insect diversity by habitat types in the botanic garden of Wonkwang University, Iksan, from September, 2010 to September, 2011. During the research period, a total of 209 species, 78 families and 10 orders were observed, including 10 exportable species, 1 species of Korean Red List, 2 climate-sensitive indicator species and 70 designated species. Among these taxonomic groups, Coleoptera (36.36 %) showed the highest diversity with 76 species, followed by Hemiptera (25.36 %) with 46 species, Diptera (11.48 %) with 24 species and Hymenoptera (7.66 %) with 16 species. As for the diversity by survey time, the largest number of species were observed in September 2010 (52 families, 105 species), followed by May 2011 (37 families, 87 species), July 2011 (50 families, 86 species), June 2011 (40 families, 80 species) and August 2011 (43 families, 73 species). Relatively low diversity was observed in September 2011 (38 families, 60 species), October 2010 (36 families, 52 species) and April 2011 (19 families, 29 species). As for the diversity by survey point, the highest diversity was observed in S4 (75 families, 186 species, 88.99 %), followed by S1 (41 families, 70 species, 33.49 %), S2 (41 families, 63 species, 30.14 %), and S3 (36 families, 59 species, 28.22 %). According to the community analysis, the survey area S4 (H'=3.344, RI=9.257) showed the highest numbers in diversity index (H') and richness index (RI) of insects and S1 (0.985) showed the highest species evenness index (EI). On the other hand, S3 showed the lowest numbers (H'=2.428, RI=4.307, EI=0.832) in every index. The insect fauna is closely associated with the plants and vegetation structure in the green space. Therefore, it is necessary to manage and maintain the urban green space to make it similar to the natural environment.