• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.358-371
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• 2020

As climate change is expected to lead to a severe reduction of biodiversity, studies to investigate the reasons for habitat loss, growth decline, and death of Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson), endangered alpine/subalpine species in Korea, have been conducted for years but found no clear answer yet. This study reviewed previous studies on Korean fir published in the journals in the past 40 years, 1980 through 2020, into 10-year units, examined the study trend by period, region, and subject with a focus on ecological studies, and analyzed the study results. The ecological studies were categorized into evolutionary ecology, physiological ecology, population ecology, and landscape ecology. Based on the results, we suggested the required research fields in the future. We found a total of 73 papers published in the past 40 years and 48 (65.8%) of them published in the past 10 years. In terms of region, Mt. Halla accounted for the most as 41 papers were on it. In terms of ecological subjects, the physiological ecology accounted for the most with 38, and the evolutionary ecology accounted for the least with 10. The review of the study results showed that many studies identified water stress caused by the water resource imbalance due to temperature increase and spring precipitation reduction following climate change as the main reason for the decline and habitat loss of Korean fir. However, recent studies suggested other factors, such as soil environment, disturbing organisms, and climatic events. The cause of the decline and death of the Korean fir not yet being clearly identified is that most of the studies dealt with the basic content, were carried out intermittently, and were concentrated in some regions. Therefore, we need long-term studies with advanced technology in each study subject at a local scale to find the cause of Korean fir decline and present sustainable management and conservation. Moreover, it is necessary to extend our study subjects to ecosystem ecology and systems ecology to integrate the results from various study subjects for a comprehensive understanding of the reason for Korean fir declines. The results of comprehensive studies could provide clearer answers for Korean fir's declines and the alternatives of conservation management and practices.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.7
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• pp.201-219
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• 1989

Rice culture in Korea has a long history ranging over two thousand years. In the agriculture economy of pre-mordern Korea, however, its importantce was not as great as generally assumed. In fact, rice culture reached full development only after the 1920s when the Japanese colonial government carried out its drive to increase rice production in the Korea peninsula. It was not until the mid-1930s that rice became the staple in Korean diet. This can be attributed to two factors : (1) a mountainous topography that provides little irrigated fields and (2) a climate characterized by droughts in spring and heavy precipitation in summer. The present paper attempts to answer some of these questions. Specifically it will focus on these : Did the development of rice culture actually result in population growth? What are the salient features of agricultural develdpment and population grow in traditional Korea? Does the case of Korea conform the prevailing generalization about the agriculture in East Asia? I have discussed the development of rice culture and population growth in the Chos$\breve{o}$n dynasty, focusing on the relation between the rapid spread of transplanting and the rapid growth of population from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Here are my conclusions. (1) The spread of transplanting and other technological innovationsc contributed to the rapid growth of population in this period. However, we should also note that the impact of rice culture on population growth was rather limited, for rice culture was not the mainstay of agricultural economy in pre-modern Korea. Indeed we should consider the influence of dry field cropsn population growth. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the proliferation of rice culture was a factor crucial to population growth and regional concentration. (2) How should we characterize the spread of rice culture in the whole period? Evidently rice culture spread from less then 20% of cultivated fields in the fifteenth century to about 36% of them in the early twentieth century. Although rice as a single crop outweighed other crops, rice culture was more then counter-balanced by dry field crops as a whole, due to Korea's unique climate and geography. Thus what we have here in not a typical case of competition between rice culture and day field culture. Besides, the spread of rice culture in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries accomplished by technological innovations that overcame severe springtime drought, rather than extensive irrigation. Althougt irrigarion facilities did proliferate to some extent, this was achieved by local landlords and peasants rather than the state. This fact contradicts the classical thesis that the productivity of rice culture increased through the state management of irrigation and that this in turn determined the type of society. (3) We should further study other aspects of the transition from the stable population and production struture in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to the rapid population growth and excessive density of population thereafter. We should note that there were continuing efforts to reclaim the land in order to solve the severe shortage of land. Changes also took place in the agricultural production relations. The increase in land producrivity developed tenancy based on rent in kind, and this in turn increased the independence of tenants from their landlords. There were changes in family relations-such as the shift to primogeniture as an effort to prevent progressive division of property among multiplying offspring. The rapid population growth also produced a great mass of propertyless farm laborers. These changes had much to do with the disintegration of traditional social institutions and political structure toward the end of the Chos$\breve{o}$n dynasty.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.874-885
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• 2011

In this study, the urban $CO_2$ emission based on energy consumption (Coal, Petroleum, Electricity, and City Gas) in 16 provincial and metropolitan city governments in South Korea was evaluated. For calculation of the urban $CO_2$ emission, direct and indirect emissions were considered. Direct emissions refer to generation of greenhouse gas (GHG) on-site from the energy consumption. Indirect emissions refer to the use of resources or goods that discharge GHG emissions during energy production. The total GHG emission was 497,083 thousand ton $CO_2eq.$ in 2007. In the indirect GHG emission, about 240,388 thousand ton $CO_2eq.$ was occurred, as 48% of total GHG emission. About 256,694 thousand ton $CO_2eq.$ (52% of total GHG emissions) was produced in the direct GHG emission. This amount shows 13% difference with 439,698 thousand ton $CO_2eq.$ which is total national GHG emission data using current calculation method. Local metropolitan governments have to try to get accuracy and reliability for quantifying their GHG emission. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and use Korean emission factors than using the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) emission factors. The method considering indirect and direct GHG emission, which is suggested in this study, should be considered and compared with previous studies.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.327-357
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• 2011

This study compared the species composition and distribution of the forest communities between Korea and Japan using vegetation releve database. The study included the eastern and southern Korean Peninsula, Is. Jeju, Is. Ulreung, northern Kyushu, central part of Japan and Is. Tsushima and divided in fourteen region with major mountain as the center. Seventy-nine forest communities were classified by tabular comparison with the total of 1844 releves. In the composition table, fifty-four groups of plant species were listed. Some grew in one area exclusively, while others were present in multiple locations. This study showed the similarity and heterogeneity of species composition among study areas. We grouped fourteen types showing similar physiognomy for forest communities. The physiognomical features of the vertical vegetation zones in the study area were similar, however, dominant species and species composition were different between the regions. In the lowland zone, Castanopsis-Type dominated by Castanopsis cuspidata var. sieboldii or Castanopsis cuspidata were distributed in the study area except for northern part of the Korean Peninsula and Is. Ulreung. Additionally, Persea thunbergii-Type was distributed widely in the lowest part of the study area, however, it showed the simplification of the species composition in the Korean Peninsula and Is. Ulreung. In the hilly zone, evergreen forest composed by Abies firma-Type distributed in northern Kyushuand Is. Tsushima, but it was absent in the other study region. The difference in forest community was conspicuous, especially in the montane zone. Deciduous broadleaved forests composed Quercus(D)-Type and Fagus-Type widely distributed in the montane of study area. However, forest community dominated by Quercus mongolica and Fagus multinervis flourished in Korea. On the otherhand, forest community dominated by Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata, Fagus crenata and F. japonica distributed in Japan. In the sub-alpine zone, evergreen coniferous forest composed Abies-Quercus(D)-Type, Abies koreana-Type, and Pinus pumila-Type were distributed in the Korean Peninsula and Is. Jeju. Forests composed Taxus cuspidata var. nana-Type, Abies mariesii-Type, and Pinus pumila-Type distributed in the central part of Japan. As a result of DCA ordination, evergreen broadleaved forests of the whole study area showed the lower scores along the first axis, while deciduous and coniferous forests showed the higher scores. The forest types of western part of Japan were located the higer scores, forest types of the Korean Peninsula were located the lower scores, and forest types of Is. Jeju located in the middle. Warmth index (WI) and Annual range of temperature in climate factor were highly correlated on the first axis. The first axis reflected the gradient from oceanic climatic to continental one. The higher the altitude and further geographically, the lower the similarity among communities and the peculiarity of community appeared stronger. The historical background reflecting local flora has strongly influenced on development of community.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.419-435
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to understand meteorological and climatological factors that have influence on the garlic product in Seosan and Taean, and to analyze the economic value according to the use of climatical information data for garlic farmers. The climatological characteristics and trends in this area are analyzed using the meteorological data at the Seosan local meteorological agency from 1984 to 2013, the national statistical data for the product of garlic from 1989 to 2013, and the scenario data for climate change (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) for the period from 2001 to 2100. The results are as follows. First, the condition of lower temperature for garlic growth in winter season is satisfied with the mean air temperature. The wind speed are lower and stronger in Seosan and Taean than other garlic area. The suitable condition for the growth of northern type of garlic shows the decreasing trend in the accumulated precipitation in May. However, the area of growing the northern type garlic in the future is likely diminished because mean air temperature, accumulated precipitation, and mean wind speed are strong in the harvest time of garlic. Second, the seedtime of the northern and southern type of garlic using climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5, 8.5) in Seosan and Taean is getting late as time passes. and the harvest time gets faster, which indicates s that the period of garlic cultivation becomes shorter from 50 days to around 90 in the next 100 years. Third, the beginning days of white rot and delia platura of garlic are estimated by applying to the meteorological algorithm using mean air temperature and soil humidity. Especially, the beginning day of white rot garlic is shown to be faster according to the scenarios of RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. Fourth, the product of garlic (kg/10a) shows a high correlation with the minimum air temperature of a wintering time, the mean wind speed of a wintering time, the accumulated precipitation of a corpulent time, and the mean relative humidity of corpulent time of garlic. On the other hand, the analysis of garlic product when using the meteorological information data in cultivating garlic in Seosan and Taean reveals that the economic value increases up to 9% in total.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2003

Most of broiler houses in Korea have the trouble of environmental control such as suitability, stability, and uniformity of internal climate, resulting in serious stress on chickens. Accordingly, it is very urgent to develop optimum designs of naturally and mechanically ventilated broiler houses for Korean climate. In this study, the internal climates such as air temperature, humidity, dust, ammonia gas, and air velocity were measured at a naturally ventilated broiler house. The data were collected during summer season including local weather data. It was found that the difference between measured and optimum air temperatures was $14.0^{\circ}C$ in maximum during the summer time. The daily maximum range of internal averaged air temperature was found $10.5^{\circ}C$ while the uniformity was $5.2^{\circ}C$ in maximum. The maximum, average, and minimum internal averaged relative humidity were 89.3%, 73.7%, and 49.2%, respectively while locally measured were 95.1% and 47.2%, respectively in maximum and minimum. Considering Temperature-humidity index, during summer season, over 97% of totally rearing period was shown that counter plan is needed for thermal stress while it was very dangerous situation for 22% of the rearing period. The ammonia gas and dust concentrations were seriously affected by the broilers activity, growth level, and relative humidity.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2021

To respond to the threat of global warming, countries around the world are promoting the spread of renewable energy and reduction of carbon emissions. In accordance with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal to combat climate change and its impacts, global automakers are pushing for a full transition to electric vehicles within the next 10 years. Electric vehicles can be a useful means for reducing carbon emissions, but in order to reduce carbon generated in the stage of producing electricity for charging, a power generation system using eco-friendly renewable energy is required. In this study, we propose a smart electric mobility operating system integrated with off-grid solar power plants established in Tanzania, Africa. By applying smart monitoring and communication functions based on Arduino-based computing devices, information such as remaining battery capacity, battery status, location, speed, altitude, and road conditions of an electric vehicle or electric motorcycle is monitored. In addition, we present a scenario that communicates with the surrounding independent solar power plant infrastructure to predict the drivable distance and optimize the charging schedule and route to the destination. The feasibility of the proposed system was verified through test runs of electric motorcycles. In considering local environmental characteristics in Tanzania for the operation of the electric mobility system, factors such as eco-friendliness, economic feasibility, ease of operation, and compatibility should be weighed. The smart electric mobility operating system proposed in this study can be an important basis for implementing the SDGs' climate change response.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.136-143
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• 2021

Pacific island countries, including Kiribati, are suffering from a shortage of essential resources as well as a reduction in their living space due to sea level rise and coastal erosion from climate change, groundwater pollution and vegetation changes. Global activities to solve these problems are being progressed by the UN's efforts to implement SDGs. Pacific island countries can adapt to climate change by using abundant marine resources. In other words, seawater plants can assist in achieving SDGs #2, #6 and #7 based on SDGs #14 in these Pacific island countries. Under the auspice of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) established the Sustainable Seawater Utilization Academy (SSUA) in 2016, and its 30 graduates formed the SSUA Kiribati Association in 2017. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) of the Republic of Korea awarded ODA fund to the Association. By taking advantage of seawater resource and related plants, it was able to provide drinking water and vegetables to the local community from 2018 to 2020. Among the various fields of education and practice provided by SSUA, the Association hope to realize hydroponic cultivation and seawater desalination as a self-support project through a pilot project. To this end, more than 140 households are benefiting from 3-stage hydroponics, and a seawater desalination system in connection with solar power generation was installed for operation. The Association grows and supplies vegetable seedlings from the provided seedling cultivation equipment, and is preparing to convert to self-support business from next year. The satisfaction survey shows that Tarawa residents have a high degree of satisfaction with the technical support and its benefits. In the future, it is hoped that SSUA and regional associations will be distributed to neighboring island countries to support their SDGs implementations.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.281-302
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• 2023

Carbon is not only an essential element for life but also a key player in climate change. The radiocarbon (¹⁴C) analysis using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a powerful tool not only to understand the carbon cycle but also to track pollutants derived from fossil carbon, which have a distinct radiocarbon isotope ratio (Δ¹⁴C). Many studies have reported Δ¹⁴C of carbon compounds in streams, rivers, rain, snow, throughfall, fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), and wastewater treatment plant effluents in South Korea, which are reviewed in this manuscript. In summary, (1) stream and river carbon in South Korea are largely derived from the chemical weathering of soils and rocks, and organic compounds in plants and soils, strongly influenced by precipitation, wastewater treatment effluents, agricultural land use, soil water, and groundwater. (2) Unprecedentedly high Δ¹⁴C of precipitation during winter has been reported, which can directly and indirectly influence stream and river carbon. Although we cannot exclude the possibility of local contamination sources of high Δ¹⁴C, the results suggest that stream dissolved organic carbon could be older than previously thought, warranting future studies. (3) The ¹⁴C analysis has also been applied to quantify the sources of forest throughfall and PM_2.5, providing new insights. The ¹⁴C data on a variety of ecosystems will be valuable not only to track the pollutants derived from fossil carbon but also to improve our understanding of climate change and provide solutions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.101-111
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• 2008

Hangang Parks have been played an important role as the source of various Civilian activities by providing a natural space near Han River ever since it was developed. Due to the local-heavy rain caused by recent climate change, the Hangang Parks tends to be easily overflowed. Evacuation of the park in emergency and its controlled system should be made for the sake of Civilian's safety. In this study, various basic data and several parameters were analyzed to simulate the hydraulic effect of Hangang Parks based on the outflow in $P1/4{\div}1/4^3$ Dam. Rising effects of flood water level were investigated through the one-dimensional and twodimensional numerical hydraulic models. Relationships of water level and travel time of flood between key station and centeral part of each park were also identified. It can be used to forecast the future flood water level of each individual park in Hangang Parks. Obtained results can be used to establish the rational plan of usage, management, citizen's safety, and emergency action plan of the Hangang Parks as the flood is occurred from the outflow of Paldang dam.