• Journal of Species Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2022

This study is based on crane fly specimens collected during more than 80 years, from 1937 through 2019, and are in collections maintained at the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA; at Korea University collection, Seoul, South Korea, and the National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon, South Korea. Three species belonging to genus Phylidorea Bigot, 1854 originally were described from North Korea and in total four species were known from the Peninsula. Phylidorea (Phylidorea) multidentata (Alexander, 1938) is a Korean endemic. We are adding P. (P.) melanommata (Alexander, 1921) to the list of Korean species, which was previously recorded from Japan and Far East of Russia. We present general information on genus and subgenera, redescriptions of species based on Korean specimens, illustrations of both sexes, elevation range, period of activity, habitat information, general distribution, and a distribution map for the Korean Peninsula (including North Korea) for each species.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2022

This study is based on crane fly specimens collected more than 80 years ago in 1938-1939 and preserved at the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA. Despite many attempts with a variety of methods, no additional specimens of this genus were captured. This likely means that that this genus is extinct on the Korean Peninsula, or its distribution is restricted to the northern areas of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). The genus Prionolabis Osten Sacken, 1860 with four species, one of them Prionolabis dis(Alexander, 1950) endemic to North Korea, was recorded by Ch. P. Alexander (Alexander, 1938, 1940, 1950). All succeeding papers listing these species were based on these original works without study based on actual specimens. For each species, we present general information on genus, redescriptions of species based on Korean specimens, illustrations of important taxonomical structures, elevation range, period of activity, habitat information, general distribution, and a distribution map for the Korean Peninsula.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.370-378
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• 2007

The objective of this research was to diagnose integrative ecological health in Bansuk Stream, one of the tributaries of Gap Stream, using the fish assemblage during July 2006${\sim}$April 2006. For this research, we selected six sampling sites and applied some approaches such as the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI), and necropsy-based Health Assessment Index (HAI). The stream health condition, based on the IBI values, averaged 24 (n= 18, range: $10{\sim}46$), indicating "poor${\sim}$fair" condition according to the criteria of US EPA (1993). Physical habitat condition, based on the QHEI, averaged 116 (n=6, range: $77{\sim}139$), indicating "fair${\sim}$good" condition. Values of IBI were more correlated with 3 metrics of instream cover ($M_1$, r=0.553, p=0.017, n=18), flow/velocity ($M_3$, r=0.627, p=0.005, n=18), and riffes/bends ($M_7$, r=0.631, p=0.005, n=18) than other metrics. Value of HAI in the control was zero (i.e., excellent condition), while the values in the T1 and T2 treatments were 5 (range: 0${\sim}$30) and 50 (range: 40${\sim}$80), respectively. The maximum values of IBI (46) were coincided with zero of HAI. Thus, these approaches seem to be a good tool for a diagnosis and evaluations of stream ecosystem health.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.31 no.3
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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.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.527-536
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• 2007

In this study, we applied 10-metric health assessment model, based on the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) during 2006 in the Changwon Stream, which is located in the Changwon city, Gyeongnam province, S. Korea, and then compared with water quality data. The Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) in the Changwon Stream varied from 18 to 38 in the watershed depending on the sampling location and averaged 30.3 (n=6) during the study. Analysis of tolerance guilds showed that the proportion of sensitive species was 13%, but tolerant and intermediate species were 34% and 53%, respectively. Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) averaged 43.3 (range: 65-104, n=6) indicating non-supporting condition, based on the criteria of U.S. EPA (1993). Values of QHEI showed a typical longitudinal decreases from the headwater reach to the downstream location, except for Site 1 with a low QHEI value by artificial habitat by concrete construction. Minimum QHEI was found in Site 4 where fish diversity was minimal. Conductivity increased continuously along the gradients and especially showed abrupt increases in the downstream sites along with turbidity. Stream ecosystem health of IBI matched to the values of QHEI except for S6. Low IBI values in the sites 4 and 5 was considered to be a result of combined effects of chemical pollutions and habitat degradations. Our results support the hypotheses of Plafkin et ai. (1989) that physical habitat quality directly influences the trophic structure and species richness, and is closely associated with IBI values.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.170-178
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• 2020

There are few landscape ecological analyses of Khingan fir (Abies nephrolepis) and other habitats of the sub-alpine zone in South Korea. In this study, we tried to quantitatively interpret and assess the habitat characteristics by analyzing 15 landscape indices according to the differences in tree layer coverage, in the Khingan fir habitat growing naturally in the sub-alpine zone of Seoraksan National Park. It was difficult to identify the tendency of landscape ecology to increase and decrease the tree layer coverage in the study site, which was the entire Khingan fir habitat in Seoraksan National Park. However, the Khingan fir habitat was found to be generally low in coverage, and population density as the tree layer coverage of less than 50 percent accounts for 85 percent of the total habitat. Moreover, the Khingan fir habitat in the 10 to 50 percent range was fragmented into a total of 286 patches, making it relatively less connected to the habitat. The total edge length and edge density, which could determine the edge effect of the main part according to the physical form, were the highest in the habitat of 26 to 50 percent coverage, indicating a relatively high impact from outside than habitats of other coverages. The shape with the tree layer coverage of between 10 and 50 percent was more complex even with patches of the same size, and it is believed that these characteristics make it more susceptible to habitat fragmentation and external confounding. We expect that the results of this study can be useful for time series analysis of spatial expansion or reduction of the Khingan fir habitat in Seoraksan National Park and provide the reference data for the morphological change and movement of patches and the connectivity and break-off between forests.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.131-144
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• 2019

The purpose of study was to determine the hygrophyte index of each plant(HIP) considering the moisture environment condition (MEC) of the native plants on the downstream slope of the fill dam and evaluate its applicability which to develop a method to search for leaks and saturated zones of the fill dam for status evaluation of precision safety diagnosis. The HIP was weighted average and consisted of 19 ranks. The weighted average was calculated according to the following three procedures: First, the linear assumption was made according to the actual habitat environmental conditions, the second one was weighted to 10% of the optimal habitat condition, and finally the average value of the distribution range values. The Hygrophyte index of vegetation at each plot (HIV) was obtained from the Sinheung reservoir (Yesan-gun, Chungcheongnam-do) using the results of vegetation survey of the Sinheung reservoir with precision safety diagnosis and suggested the use of the hygrophyte index of the cultivated vegetation. The average HIP range of plant species that emerged in 50 survey sites on the downstream slope of the Sinheung reservoir is 2.99 to 3.56. The coefficient of variation showed a large difference depending on the appearance of the leakage indicator plant(LIP) species. The range of HIV is 2.80 to 4.26, the mean value is 3.37, standard deviation is 0.37 and the coefficient of variation is 9.7%. As a result, the value of the coefficient of variation showed a large difference depending on the appearance of the plant species.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.302-315
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• 2023

Distribution characteristics and altitudinal gradient of four species (E. strigata, E. separigata, E. orientalis-sachalinensis group) of the mayfly genus Ephemera (Order Ephemeroptera) were analyzed with probability distribution models (exponential, normal, lognormal, logistic, Weibull, gamma, beta, Gumbel). Data was collected from 23,846 sampling units of 6,787 sites in Korea from 2010 to 2021. The beta distribution model showed the best fit for positively skewed E. orientalis-sachalinensis and little-skewed E. strigata along with altitudinal gradient. The reversed lognormal distribution model showed the best-fit for negatively skewed E. separigata. E. orientalis-sachalinensis distributed at the range of altitude 1~700 m (mean 251 m, median 226 m, mode 124 m, and standard deviation 161 m), E. strigata distributed at the range of altitude 5~871 m (mean 474 m, median 478 m, mode 492 m, and standard deviation 200 m), E. separigata distributed at the range of altitude 7~846 m (mean 620 m, median 659 m, mode 760 m, and standard deviation 181 m). Altitudinal habitat suitability ranges were estimated to be 42~257 m for E. orientalis-sachalinensis, 335~644 m for E. strigata, and 641~824 m for E. separigata. Based on the altitudinal spectrum of suitability and altitude-related temperature analysis results, E. orientalis-sachalinensis was estimated to be thermophilic, E. strigata to be mesophilic, and E. separigata to be thermophobic. This is the first national-scale evaluation of the altitudinal distribution of Ephemera in Korea. These results will be used in a further research study on altitudinal shift of the species of Ephemera under climate change.

• Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.67-73
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• 2020

The research status of endangered amphibians in Korea was mainly studied the life-cycle and distribution status of species from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Although a relatively diverse range of studies have been conducted on mackerels, studies on habitat prediction, analysis, change and management are insufficient. WEB, which provides biota information using location information in Korea, is a site operated by the National Bio Resource Center under the Ministry of Environment, but there is no information on endangered species and general species information has also been found to be very scantily. For this research, we secured a database of location information of Narrow-mouth frog, an endangered species, by combining literature and field research, and established a system by applying new technologies and open-based platform technologies that can be easily accessed by non-technical personnel of IT among IT technologies. The system was divided into administrator functions and user functions to prevent indiscriminate sharing of information through authentication procedures through user membership of users. The established system was authorized to show the distance between the current location and the location of the Narrow-mouth frog. Considering the ecological characteristics of the Narrow-mouth frog, which is an endangered species, a radius of 500m was marked to determine the habitat range. The system is expected to be applied to the legal system to change existing protected areas, etc. and to select new ones. It is estimated that practical reduction measures can be derived by utilizing the development plan for reviewing the natural environment. In addition, the deployed system has the advantage of being able to apply to a wide variety of endangered species by modifying the information entered.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2020

This study was conducted to determine whether invasive muskrats settle in the natural ecosystem of Korea. The study also aimed to provide information on the selection of target areas, basic behavioral characteristics, and habitat use-related data, all of which are essential for effective management strategy establishment and site management. To this end, a trend in international muskrat management was identified to examine the management direction according to the settlement stage. We also secured the location of 72 domestic farmers and classified five regions in Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Sejong Special Self-governing City into regions with high potential for natural leakage to raise the need for a quick survey. We determined that muskrats successfully settled in the natural ecosystem of Korea, based on the fact that we consistently identified a muskrat habitat at the same point for three years, from 2016 to 2018, the age of the captured population was estimated to be 1.2 years, and there had been no additional make-up factors near the habitat since 2012. The muskrats that settled in Korea showed a small home range of 0.0027 ㎢ (MCP 95%) and were estimated to show regular mobility before Spring and Autumn. Also, the areas where the muskrat habitat was observed had a high level of habitat environment disturbance and their ecological and food intake characteristics reflected that disturbance. Muskrat traces were high in hydrophyte vegetation, which can be used as a hideout in open waters and where the growth of both floating leaved plants and floating plants are prevalent. Since international invasive muskrats have already settled in the domestic ecosystem and there is concern about their proliferation in the future, the government must consider a preemptive response and scientific management.