• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2003

In most mountainous parts of the temperate zone of Japan along the Pacific Ocean, some climatic climax forests, whose main dominant species is Fagus crenate, F. japonica or Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata, are distributed. In the riparian regions of the zone, however, there appear summer green forests composed of the different species from the climatic climax forests. Climate plays an important role in determining the overall distribution of vegetation, but some environmental factors, i.e., topography, soil type, soil moisture content, etc. have a great influence on vegetation formation. Riparian forests seem to be controlled by various geomorphologic disturbances, such as landslide, soil erosion and accumulation. The study aims to present the relationships among vegetation, soils and landforms in the process of determining riparian forests dominated by Fraxinus platypoda and Pterocarya rhoifolia establishment in the mountainous region of central Japan. The study area extends an area of 302 ha with a range of elevation between 925 m and 1,681 m at the Chichibu mountains. The landforms were corditied at sampling grids (25 $\times$ 25 m, n = 4,843) using a hierarchical system, and a brief description of the forest soil classification was also given. The mutual relationship analysis indicated that forest soils and landforms play a significant role in determining the geomorphological process of riparian forest, and shaping the ultimate pattern of vegetation. At the study area, riparian forests were mainly found on the $B_E$ forest soil type and steep slopes ( > 30$^{\circ}$) at convex slopes along the streams. On the other hand, the direction of slopes did not have a significant impact on the establishment of the riparian forests. A mosaic of patchy distribution of those riparian forests on the slightly wetter $B_E$ forest soil type was one of the characteristic features of the study area. This particular soil which contained large talus gravels was found on the land formed by erosion and deposition of landslide.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.89-106
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• 2016

Many plant species have two modes of reproduction: sexual and asexual. Both modes of reproduction have often been viewed as adaptations to temporally or spatially variable environments. The plant should adjust partitioning to match changes in the estimated success of the two reproductive modes. Perennial plants showed that favorable habitats in soil nutrients or water content tend to promote clonal growth over sexual reproduction. In contrast, under high light-quantity conditions, clonal plants tend to allocate more biomass to sexual reproduction and less to clonal propagation. On the other hand, plants with chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers provides with a greater tendency of the opportunity to ensure some seed set in any stressful environmental conditions such as low light, low soil nutrients, or low soil moisture. It is considered that vegetative reproduction has high competitive ability and is the major means to expand established population of perennial plants, whereas cleistogamous reproduction is insurance to persist in stressful sites due to being strong. Chasmogamous reproduction mainly enhances established and new population. Therefore, the functions of sexual and asexual propagules of perennial or annual plants differ from each other. These traits of propagule thus determine its success at a particular region of any environmental gradients. Eventually, if environmental resources or stress levels change in either space or time, species composition will probably also change. The reason based on which the plants differ with respect to favored reproduction modes in each environmental condition, may be involved in their specific realized niche.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.43-54
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• 1995

Effects of environmental factors of N, P, pH, moisture, temperature and oxygen on growth and nitrogen fixation activity of kummerowia striate (Thunb.) Schindler seedling, bearing symbiotic root nodules, were quantitatively analyzed during the growing period. The specific nitrogenase activity (ARA) of nodules showed the maximum value of 187 μmol C₂H₄g fr wt-1 h-1 6 weeks after seeds were germinated. The total nitrogenase activities per plant attained as 1.56, 0.85, 0.09 and 4.0, 1.11, 0.04 μmol C₂H₄hr-1, respectively for the treatments of 1, 3 and 5 mM NO₃￣and NH₄＋ on the 60th day. While the plant grown in N-free media for 20 days after treatments of 5 mM NH₄+for 40 days resulted in 30 mg fr wt of nodule formation and exhibited the relative activities of 152％ and 162％ for total and specific ARA in comparison with those of control plant grown with N-free for 60 days. Total biomass and ARA was by 70％ and 86％ lower in N and P deficiency, respectively. The N and P deficient plot showed 70％ and 86％ decreases of total biomass and ARA in comparison with those of control. The plant grown with N-free for 20 days after pretreatment with N and P free media for 40 days showed the relative values of 77％, 118％ and 150％, respectively for nodule biomass, total and specific ARA in comparison with those of control. The treatment with acid or alkali gradients resulted in significant decreases of nodule biomass and ARA. The optimum temperature and pO₂for ARA were 30°C and 40 kPa, respectively. Two peaks of diurnal variation appeared at 11:00 and 23:00 o'clocks by the continuous light condition. The plants with water stress by temporary wilting point rsulted in 95~97％ inhibition for nodule respiration, transpiration and specific ARA. Transpiration and ARA ware recovered to 88％ and 38％ of those of water unstressed plants, respectively, 6 hours after the plants were rewatered from water stressed condition.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.281-287
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• 2003

We present the first analysis of moor vegetation on the Moojechi of Ulsan including syntaxonomy and syndynamics. We classified plant communities according to the Braun-Blanquet approach. In order to better understand ecological alteration processes and changing species compositions along successional gradients we also examined synecological differences using Principal Coordinate Analysis(PCoA) in terms of moisture gradient, species richness, and community structure. Classification resulted in one association and five plant communities occupying distinct moor habitats: Hypericum laxum-Eleocharis acicularis for. longiseta community, Drosera rotundifolia-Eleocharis congesta community, Platanthero-Molinietum japonicae ass. nova hoc loco, Molinia japonica-Alnus japonica community, Miscanthus sinensis-Pinus densiflora community, and Convallaria keiskei-Quercus serrata community. Due to synecological correspondences and floristic similarities in supraregional perspective, Platanthero-Molinietum can be assigned to existing higher syntaxonomic units of Molinion and Molinietalia in Braun-Blanquet system, established in Japan. We propose to extend their range and designate the new class Molinietea japonicae representative to the intermediate moor (Zwischenmoor) vegetation in Northeast Asia. PCoA resulted in four types showing a sequencess of succession: Needle spike-rush type, moor-grass type (incl. alder forest type), eulalia type, and oak forest type. A combination of edaphic conditions (soil eutrphication and soil moisture) and hydrologic patterns of moor ecosystem related to topography, occurring as result of external geophysical forces, controls inter alia spatial patterns and floristic compositions of moor plant communities.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.206-213
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• 2008

We observed the physical and chemical properties of a soil on pine mushroom picking areas where were located in the most upper and lower parts showing a comparative climatic characteristics in Korea. The slope gradients within the investigation areas which were divided into 100 quadrates of $1m^2$ ranged from $5.7{\sim}8.6{\beta}$ to $24{\sim}22.7{\beta}$ (left to right) and $4.5{\sim}6.8{\beta}$ to $13.5{\sim}17.8{\beta}$ (top to bottom) for Ponghwa and Gansung, respectively. The amount of clay and thickness of organic matter were significantly decreased with increasing slope gradient, resulting in decrease of the soil moisture content around a fairly ring-colony of Tricholoma matsutake which was observed under the relatively thicker organic matter layer beyond 3 cm depth. Soil pHswere weak acid and average EC was $0.44dS\;m^{-1}$ in both areas. The cations were in the order of Fe K > Na > Mg > Ca and Fe > K > Na > Ca > Mg for the upper(Gansung) and the lower (Ponghwa) part. And the amount of Fe was approximately $80dS\;m^{-1}$ or greater in the pine mushroom picking soil. From this, we could assume that the growth of the pine mushroom was closely related not only with iron but also soil moisture content.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2023

This study was attempted to find out how the ecological niche and interspecies relationship of Quercus aliena and Q. serrata, which are the main constituents of potential natural vegetation along the riverside of mountains in Korea, under climate change conditions. To this end, soil moisture and soil nutrients were treated with 4 grad ients under climate change conditions with elevated CO₂ and temperature, plants we re harvested at the end of the growing season, growth responses of traits were measured, ecological niche breadth and overlap were calculated, and it was compared with that of the control group(ambient condition). In addition, the relationship between the two species was analyzed by principal component analysis using trait values. As a result, the ecological niche breadth of Q. aliena was wider than that of Q. serrata under the moisture environment conditions under climate change. Under nutrient conditions, the ecological niche of the two species were similar. In addition, the ecological overlap for soil moisture of Q. aliena and Q. serrata was wider than the soil nutrient gradient under climate change. The species with traits in which the increase in ecological niche breadth due to climate change occurred more than the decrease was Q. aliena in both water and nutrient gradients. And in the responses of the population level, due to climate change, the adaptability of Q. aliena was higher than that of Q. serrata under the soil moisture condition, but the two species were similar under the nutrient condition. These results mean that the competition between the two species occurs more severely in the water environment under climate change conditions, and at that time, Q. aliena has higher adaptability than Q. serrata.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.55-65
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• 2016

Background: In this article, it was analyzed how snow melting affects the assembly of lichen and moss communities in a small area of the coastal region of Barton Peninsula, which is in maritime Antarctic. In the small area, even though there is a huge gap of difference of the environment between the snow-filled area and snow-melt one, the latter did not have distinctive environmental gradients. Results: Depending on the snow melting time, coverage and species diversity of lichens and mosses tend to increase remarkably. For species with significant changes depending on the snow-covered period, there are Andreaea regularis, crustose lichens, Placopsis contortuplicata, Usnea aurantiaco-atra, and snow algae. In this area, the process of vegetation assembly process has shown the directional development in the order of snow algae${\rightarrow}$crustose, lichen sub-formation${\rightarrow}$fruticose lichen, moss cushion sub-formation (Andreaea sociation)${\rightarrow}$fruticose lichen, and moss cushion sub-formation (Usnea sociation), according to the order of snow melting. These directional development stages are shown in gradual change in small area with the snow melting phenomena. However, in the snow-free area, where water is sufficiently supplied, it is expected that moss carpet sub-formation (Sanionia sociation) will be developed. Vegetation development in the small area with the snow melting phenomena, depending on differences of resistance on snow kill and moisture settled by species in according to the time of snow melting, tolerance model to form community is followed. Conclusions: The research results explain the development of vegetation in the Antarctic tundra and its spatial distribution according to the period for growth of lichens and mosses in the summer time by differences of snow melting in the small area. In the future, if research for the community development process in a large scale will be done, it will be helpful to figure out temporal and spatial dynamic of vegetation in the Antarctic tundra where snow and glaciers melt rapidly due to climatic warming.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.56-60
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• 2000

A study was performed to determine the maintenance conditions of the earthworm, Lumbricus rubellus, for the acute toxicity test. To fine out climatic and soil conditions, the earthworms were maintained in artificial soil consisting of sand, clay mineral and peat at different levels of conditions for 14 days. Lumbricus rubellus led to an increase of biomass at temperature $22{\pm}2^{\circ}C$, soil pH $7.0{\pm}1$ and moisture 40%. And four fungicides were tested for acute toxicities to Lumbricus rubellus, according to the optimum condition. The test earthworms were exposed to each pesticide with various concentration gradients. After 14 days, the number of surviving earthworms and their weight alteration during the test period was determined. The 14-day $LC_{50}$ values for the Lumbricus rubellus, of carbendazim, benomyl, thiophanate-methyl and thiabendazole were determined to be 59, 53, 64 and 36 mg/ kg soil dry weight, respectively.