• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.159-169
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• 2008

This study was aimed to classify the intertidal macrozoobenthic community status after 2 years of Sea Prince oil spill, and oil spill effects along oil spreading track from heavily impacted to unaffected reference site. Field sampling was initiated in late February and continued through November 1998 seasonally, after 2.5 years of oil spill. 7 rocky sampling sites were selected among coastal regions coated and/or affected by the Sea Prince spilled oil. Identified species was 158 species, 65 family, 24 order, 9 class, 5 phylum. Mollusca was the dominant faunal group comprising 100 species (63.3%), and followed by 38 species of Crustacea (24.1%), 12 species of Echinodermata (7.6%), 5 species of Porifera (3.2%), and 3 species of Cnidaria (1.9%). On Dugpo of Sori Island, the fewest species was collected from 28 species to 35 species seasonally among sampling stations. But far away Dugpo toward Gamak Bay, the number of species increased, collecting the maximum on Sohwoenggan Island. At the wreck site of Sori Island, especially the species number of attached animals such as poriferans and anthozoans was very low compared to another site. The density and biomass on the higher tidal zone increased toward the low affected sites, but biomass on middle tidal zone decreased. The invertebrate biomass of study area was dependent on the sessile animals. The major dominant species were small-sized barnacles, Chthmallus challengeri, periwinkles, Littorina brevicula, mussels, Septifer virgatus, and so on. The biomass of C. challengeri and L. brevicula on the higher tidal zone was highest in the wreck site of Sori Island and decreased further and further. However, mussels on the middle tidal zone showed the inverse trends because of the larger individual size of mussel inhabited in Sori Island than those of another sites. As a result of community analysis, the effect of oil spill was not found distinctly. Several ecological indices and cluster analysis did not show the meaningful variation with oil track despite of the conspicuous differences among tidal heights. These indicate that the macrozoobenthic community level of oil spreaded zone recovered in some degree after the Sea Prince oil spill accident, but population or individual levels of dominant sessile animals took more recovery times.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.717-731
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• 2021

We analyzed the characteristics of the habitat environment for the Seonam study area in Ulsan, the southern shore of the East Sea using bathymetry and seafloor environment data. The depth of the study area ranges from about 0 m to 23 m. In the west of the study area, the water depth is shallow with a gentle slope, and the water depth becomes deeper with a steep slope in the east. Due to the right-lateral strike-slip faults located in the continental margin of the East Sea, the fracture surfaces of the seabed rocks are mainly in the N-S direction, which is similar to the direction of the strike faults. Three seafloor types (conglomeratic-grained sandy, coasre-graiend sandy, fine-grained sandy) and rocky bottom area have been classified according to the analyses of the bathymerty, seafloor image, and surface sediment data. The rocky bottom areas are mainly distributed around Seaoam and in the northern and southern coastal area. But the intermediate zone between Seonam and coastal area has no rocky bottom. This intermediate area is expected to have active sedimentation as seawater way. The sandy sediments are widely distributed throughout the study area. Underwater images and UAV images show that Cnidarians, Brachiopods, Mollusks are mostly dominant in the shallow habitat and various Nacellidae, Mytilidae live on the intertidal zone around Seonam. Annelida and Arthropod are dominant in the sandy sediments. The distribution of marine organism in the study area might be greatly influenced by the seafloor type, the composition and particle size distribution of the seafloor sediments. The analysis of habitat environment mapping with bathymetry, seafloor data and underwater images is supposed to contribute to the study of the structure and function of marine ecosystem.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.23-36
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• 2010

The Cat Ba Islands in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam, consist of a large limestone island with a maximum height of 322 m above sea level and 366 small limestone islets with a total area of about $180\;km^2$. The islands are relicts of karst limestone mountains that became submerged during the Holocene transgression 7000 - 8000 year ago. The combination of the longtime karst process and recent marine processes in the monsoonal tropical zone has created a very diversity landscape on the Cat Ba Islands that can be divided into 3 habitat types with 16 forms. The first habitat type is the karst mountains and hills, including karst mountains and hills, karst valleys and dolines, karst lakes, karst caves, and old marine terraces. The second habitat type is the limestone island coast, including beaches, mangrove marshes, tidal flats, rocky coasts, marine notch caves, marine karst lakes, and bights. The third habitat type is karst plains submerged by the sea, including karst cones (fengcong) and towers (fengling), bedrock exposed on the seabed, sandy mud seabed, and submerged channels. Like the landscape, the biodiversity is also high in ecosystems composed of scrub cover - bare hills, rainy tropical forests, paddy fields and gardens, swamps, caves, beaches, mangrove forests, tidal flats, rocky coasts, marine krast lakes, coral reefs, hard bottoms, seagrass beds and soft bottoms. The ecosystems on the Cat Ba Islands that support very high species biodiversity include tropical evergreen rainforests, soft bottoms; coral reefs, mangrove forests, and marine karst lakes. A total of 2,380 species have been recorded in the Cat Ba Islands, included 741 species of terrestrial plants; 282 species of terrestrial animals; 30 species of mangrove plants; 287 species of phytoplankton; 79 species of seaweed; 79 species of zooplankton; 196 species of marine fishes; 154 species of corals; and 538 species of zoobenthos. Many of these species are listed in the Red Book of Vietnam as endangered species, included the white-headed or Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus), a famous endemic species. Human activities have resulted in significantly changes to the landscape end ecosytems of the Cat Ba islands; however, many natural aspects of the islandsd have been preserved. For this reason, the Cat Ba Islands were recognized as a Biological Reserved Area by UNESCO in 2004.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.182-197
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• 1993

Algal community on the subtidal rocky zone of the South Sea of Korea was divided into two or three sequencing zones. The upper subtidal zone was characterized by the wave exposure-tolerant surf wrack(Pachymeniopsis, Gigartina), which formed dense swirling carpet. Its vertical range was from the surface to $3{\sim}5$ meters in depth, and more deeply extended in turbid waters including Sorido, Yokchido, Pijindo, Manjedo. The mid subtidal zone ranging from 5 to 25 meters in depth was characterized by a large brown algal forest (Ecklenia, Sargassum). But it was generally unrecognizable in that turbid waters, in which the vertical limit of vegetation was at most $10{\sim}15$ meters in depth. The low subtidal zone was characterized by a general lack of algal species and was not easily distinguished from the mid or sometimes from the upper zone. There was a distinct difference in abundance of vegetation between turbid waters and clear waters including Munsom, Kwantaldo, Yosodo, Hongdo, Ch'ujado. In turbid waters the vegetation was much poorer because the tubidity caused from the muddy sediment inhibited an algae to settle down and to grow up. On the basis of the phytogeographical methods using UPGMA, the 10 studied islands were classified into two groups, Munsom and the others. This floristic discontinuity between the two groups might be caused from the difference of water temperature.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.324-331
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• 2010

Seasonal variation in seaweed biomass was examined along vertical shore gradients on the rocky shores of Nachido and Odo Islands, the Yellow Sea, Korea, from August 2007 to April 2008. The average annual biomass of seaweed was 404.07 g wet wt/$m^2$, with seasonal variation from 232.61 g in the spring to 754.90 g wet wt/$m^2$ in the summer at Nachido Island. At Odo Island, average biomass was 270.82 g wet wt/$m^2$ and ranged from 48.35 g in the winter to 451.66 g wet wt/$m^2$ in the spring. Seaweed biomass exhibited an even distribution across the shore gradient from the high intertidal zone to -5 m depth at Nachido Island, whereas seaweed biomass was concentrated from the mid intertidal zone to -1 m depth in the subtidal zone at Odo Island. Sargassum thunbergii was the most dominant species, occupying 28.24% (114.12 g wet wt/$m^2$) and 36.57% (99.05 g wet wt/$m^2$) of total biomass at Nachido and Odo Islands, respectively. Subdominant seaweed species was Gelidium amansii, comprising 15.23% (61.52 g wet wt/$m^2$) and 14.70% (39.82 g wet wt/$m^2$) of total biomass at Nachido and Odo Islands, respectively. Dominant functional group was the coarsely branched-form group, which grows under moderate environmental conditions and comprised 93.34% (377.15 g wet wt/$m^2$) and 66.96% (181.35-g wet wt/$m^2$) of total biomass at Nachido and Odo Islands, respectively. Percentage biomass of sheet-form seaweeds growing at relatively disturbed and polluted areas was approximately 20.83% (56.40 g wet wt/$m^2$) of total biomass along the Odo rocky shore. Based on the biomass and functional-form composition of seaweeds, we concluded that Nachido Island provides better environmental conditions than does Odo Island. In addition, the vertical distribution and dominant species of seaweeds on the two islands were very similar, but the functional-form composition of seaweeds at Nachido Island differed slightly from that at Odo Island.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.207-212
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• 2008

Bathymetry, side scan sonar, and magnetic survey data for the summit area of Dokdo obtained by Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute in 1999, 2004, and 2007 were analyzed to investigate the geophysical characteristics of the summit. Bathymetry and topographic data for the summit of Dokdo show uneven seabed and irregular undulations from costal line to -90 m in water depth, indicating the effects of partial erosions and taluses. The stepped slope in the bathymetry is supposed to be a coastal terrace suggesting repetition of transgressions and regressions in the Quaternary. The bathymetry and the side scan sonar data show a small crater, assumed to be formed by post volcanisms, at depth of $-100\;{\sim}\;-120\;m$ in the northeastern and the northwestern parts of the survey area. Except some areas with shallow sand sedimentary deposits, there are rocky seafloor and lack of sediments in the side scan sonar images of the survey area, dominantly. The analytic signal of the magnetic anomaly coincides with other geophysical results regarding to the location of the residual crater. The geophysical constraints of the summit of Dokdo propose that the islets and the rocky seabed elongated northeastward and northwestward from the islets might be the southern crater of the Dokdo volcano.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.69-77
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• 2010

The Jeongdori windbreak forests of Wando island, located between the sea and the land, are very important as ecological succession areas that protect cultivated lands and fishing villages. Among the Jeongdori windbreak forests, the rocky seashore areas are occupied by Sageretia theezans mantle community, and their inner sections by sub-tree layers such as Ligustrum japonicum and Ligustrum obtusifolium. More specifically, the inner sections of the rocky seashore areas were found to be the habitat of Ligustrum japonicum-Quercus variabilis community, Ligustrum jarponicum-Viburnum erosum community, Ligustrum japonicum-Cinnamomum japonicum community, Cinnamomum japonicum-Carpinus tschonoskii community, and Pinus densiflora-Viburnum erosum community. The average height of tree layers of the Jeongdori windbreak forests is 10.3m, and the average diameter at breath height are 30.3cm. Though the windbreak forests was artificially made, it is now virtually natural forest and deserves protection for ecological reasons. Designated as a scenic spot 3, it is always in the danger of being damaged by frequent tourist visits. So the Jeongdori windbreak forest needs to be continuous maintenance and management by the National Park Service. Considering of the precious cultural treasures of the famous pebble stones covering Gugyedeung and the naturality of the Jeongdori windbreak forests, the Jeongdori windbreak forests as a scenic spot have to designated as the national monument in future and will preserve by the Cultural Properties Administration.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.665-669
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• 2015

The Kepler mission has shown that small planets are extremely common. It is likely that nearly every star in the sky hosts at least one rocky planet. We just need to look hard enough-but this requires vast amounts of telescope time. MINERVA (MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array) is a dedicated exoplanet observatory with the primary goal of discovering rocky, Earth-like planets orbiting in the habitable zone of bright, nearby stars. The MINERVA team is a collaboration among UNSW Australia, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Penn State University, University of Montana, and the California Institute of Technology. The four-telescope MINERVA array will be sited at the F.L. Whipple Observatory on Mt Hopkins in Arizona, USA. Full science operations will begin in mid-2015 with all four telescopes and a stabilised spectrograph capable of high-precision Doppler velocity measurements. We will observe ~100 of the nearest, brightest, Sun-like stars every night for at least five years. Detailed simulations of the target list and survey strategy lead us to expect $15{\pm}4$ new low-mass planets.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.spc
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• pp.74-82
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• 2014

A perennial plant species of Ranunculaceae, Pulsatilla tongkangensis is a very rare species only found in limestone vegetation of South Korea. It is not only rare but also has great value as a horticultural resource, thus resulting in serious problems of overexploitation and habitat disturbance. For the conservation of the rare species and its development as a resource, the study was conducted with the following three aims: first, to investigate any new geographical distribution of the species; second, to identify the site condition and vegetation structure of its habitat; and third, to compare the ecology of P. tongkangensis in other microhabitats such as rock, slope and ridge area. A new distribution was found in limestone vegetation at Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do. It was, therefore, confirmed that the distribution of P. tongkangensis exactly coincides with the area of distribution of limestone, indicating a possibility that the species might be a calcicole. 87% of the microhabitats found in rocks. Compared to P. tongkangensis, at ridges or slopes, number of P. tongkangensis plants were few in rocks. It is possibly due to the lack of microhabitats that could settle in rocky areas. Once established on rocks, however, plants grew large enough to flower with higher number of leaves and flowers per plant, resulting in higher flowering rate on rocky areas. Cracks in/between rocks are likely to be safe places for the plants with favorable light conditions, abundant fine particles to root down and reduced competition for resources. Yet, further research is necessary in terms of determining whether the species is indeed a calcicole, whether other limiting factors work in its establishment stage, and genetic diversity exists in the population.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.192-203
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• 2018

The surfgrass Phyllospadix iwatensis is native in the exposed rocky shores of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. In Korea, P. iwatensis is mainly found on the rocky subtidal zone in the central eastern coast. In this study, to examine the ecological characteristics of P. iwatensis, we investigated changes in morphological characteristics, density, biomass, and leaf productivity as well as changes in the underwater irradiance and water temperature of its habitat monthly from August 2017 to July 2018. Underwater irradiance and water temperature showed clear seasonal changes; increases in spring and summer and decreases in fall and winter. Morphological characteristics, shoot density, biomass, and leaf productivities of P. iwatensis exhibited significant seasonal variations, increasing in winter and spring and decreasing in summer and fall months. P. iwatensis leaf productivities both per shoot and per unit area showed significant positive correlations with underwater irradiance. The average leaf productivity of P. iwatensis per area was $6.3{\pm}1.3g\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$, while minimum and maximum values were $2.4{\pm}0.3g\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$ in February 2018 and $16.4{\pm}4.4g\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$ in May 2018, respectively. The optimum water temperature for the growth of P. iwatensis in this study was between $12-13^{\circ}C$.