• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.183-191
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• 2008

To determine the age structure of a Hynobius leechii breeding population and analyze relationships between the order of entrance to breeding ponds and physical parameters and age, we studied a wild population of the species in the Research Forests of Kangwon National University in Chuncheon, Kangwon, South Korea from March 16 to April 13, 2005. The age of breeding males ranged one to nine years old and that of females ranged from three to nine years old. The asymptotic sizes of males and females were 6.36 and 6.51 cm, respectively, and the growth coefficients of males and females were 0.71 and 0.81, respectively. The snout-vent length (SVL), head length, and body mass of males were all positively correlated with their age, but female age did not show a significant relationship with any physical parameter. The tail depth, body mass, and condition factors (SVL/body mass $\times$ 100) of both males and females were negatively related with the order of entrance to the breeding pond. The head width and SVL of males were also negatively correlated with the order of entrance, but the SVL of females was positively related with the order of entrance. These results suggest that physical parameters are more important determinants of breeding migration patterns than age. We discuss which of two hypotheses, the mate opportunity hypothesis and the susceptibility hypothesis, is better able to explain the order of entrance to breeding ponds for male and female H. leechii.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.237-243
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• 2005

To study entering and exiting routes of male and female Hynobius leechii to a breeding site and staying time of them within the breeding site, we monitored a breeding population located in the research forests of Kangwon National University. The breeding site was surrounded by a drift fence associated with nine pitfall traps. The breeding season of this population was about one month, from 16 March to 13 April, 2005. Breeding males arrived earlier at the breeding pond than females did. The operational sex ratio (OSR), defined as the ratio of males to females which are ready to mate, over a breeding season was female-biased as 0.67 male vs 1 female (57 males vs 87 females), but daily OSRs, OSR in a particular day, within the breeding pond were male-biased with $1.36\sim7.5$ male vs f female in six days out of seven investigated days. While breeding males stayed in the breeding pond for about 11 days, breeding females left the pond as soon as they completed oviposition. However, the females stayed at terrestrial areas near the pond for about seven days before completely leaving the breeding site. Entering and exiting routes to the breeding site were different between males and females, and between ovulated and oviposited females. Both males and females arrived earlier at the breeding site stayed longer within the site. Males stayed longer within the breeding site lost more body weight.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.306-324
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to analyze green growth issues such as employment, education and training, social capital and nature's standing right from the complementary perspective between natural environment conservation and economic growth. Green growth can be defined as a growth which lowers an increasing rate of entropy and at the same time improves our living standard. Green growth paradigm requires a quite amount of understanding the laws of thermodynamics and the uncertainty principle as the highest orders which regulate our overall socio-economic behaviors. They suggest that socio-economic growth is a mere transformation process of natural energy from one form to another and they increases natural manmade entropy over time. The most important issue of green growth policy may be a problem concerning employment and/or unemployment since green growth may induce inevitable movement of resources from the existing industries to the green sector. In particular, green industries will demand more highly specialized manpower than the existing ones. Without a well-designed new training education system and social capital accumulation toward environmental concerns, green growth may accompany a substantial amount of structural involuntary frictional unemployment. This may increase not only wealth-distribution disparity but also political instability. In order to achieve harmonious green growth, we should recognize that there are important complementary relationships between green and growth. Our society should also be able to innovate the existing educational system to accumulate social capital, to create a new sharing system, and to admit nature's standing right. Although the 2003 lawsuit case of Korean Salamander in Cheonseong Mountain went against plaintiff, it would provide apparently our society with a way of green development ahead.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 2009

To clarify the reproductive function of vibration signals in Hynobius, which has externally fertilized eggs, we quantitatively analyzed the body and tail undulations of male Korean salamanders (Hynobius leechii) in sixteen mating events. One large and one small male, and one female were used in each mating event. We analyzed behaviors recorded over a total of 3 hrs for each mating event; 2 hrs before and 1 hr after female's oviposition. Males touched females using their snouts or body trunk throughout the entire mating periods, but females touched males increasingly more after approximately 1 hr before oviposition. Males conducted body undulations more than 50 times per 10 minutes at a mean frequency of 0.64 Hz. Large males conducted more body undulations than small males, particularly on the tree twig where females attached their egg sacs. Males responded to other males' body undulation throughout the mating period by orienting their head towards, approaching, and touching the undulating male. Females only responded for about 10-20 min before ovipositing, and most responses were directed to the large male's body undulation. Males conducted tail undulations 3.0 times per 10 min at a mean frequency of 1.7 Hz and most tail undulations occurred after one male bit the other male. These results suggest that body undulations function in both male-female and male-male interactions, while tail undulations mainly functions in male-male competition. Also, male H. leechii appear to actively attract females, while females respond to the males only at times close to oviposition.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.381-396
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• 2017

Understanding species distribution plays an important role in conservation as well as evolutionary biology. In this study, we applied a species distribution model to predict hotspot areas and habitat characteristics for endangered herpetofauna species in South Korea: the Korean Crevice Salamander (Karsenia koreana), Suweon-tree frog (Hyla suweonensis), Gold-spotted pond frog (Pelophylax chosenicus), Narrow-mouthed toad (Kaloula borealis), Korean ratsnake (Elaphe schrenckii), Mongolian racerunner (Eremias argus), Reeve's turtle (Mauremys reevesii) and Soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis). The Kori salamander (Hynobius yangi) and Black-headed snake (Sibynophis chinensis) were excluded from the analysis due to insufficient sample size. The results showed that the altitude was the most important environmental variable for their distribution, and the altitude at which these species were distributed correlated with the climate of that region. The predicted distribution area derived from the species distribution modelling adequately reflected the observation site used in this study as well as those reported in preceding studies. The average AUC value of the eigh species was relatively high ($0.845{\pm}0.08$), while the average omission rate value was relatively low ($0.087{\pm}0.01$). Therefore, the species overlaying model created for the endangered species is considered successful. When merging the distribution models, it was shown that five species shared their habitats in the coastal areas of Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheongnam-do, which are the western regions of the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, we suggest that protection should be a high priority in these area, and our overall results may serve as essential and fundamental data for the conservation of endangered amphibian and reptiles in Korea.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 1998

The lysosomal acid hydrolases including lysosomal acid phosphatase (LAP) are believed to play an important role in intracellular and extracellular degradation. LAP was reported to increase its activity in dedifferentiation stage during urodele limb regeneration. In the paresent study, LAP localization in the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) limb regenerates was investigated by immunohistochemistry. LAP immunoreactivity with monoclonal antibody against Korean salamander (Hynobius leehii) LAP was observed mainly in the wound epidermis, blastema cells, muscle, and cartilage which were under dedifferentiation process in axolotl limb regenerates. Moreover, LAP immunoreactivity increased gradually during the early phase of lib regeneration and reached the peak level at dedifferentiation stage. However, as redifferentiation begans, LAP immunoreactivity decreased slowly to the basal level. Retinoic acid (RA) which is known to induce skeleton pattern duplication in regenerating urodele limb appears to enhance LAP immunoreactivity. In the RA-treate limg regenerates, LAP immunoreactivity was higher than in the normal regenerates. In addition, the LAP expression period was more extended in the RA treated regenerates than in the normal regenerates. These results suggest that RA is involved in the extension of dedifferentiation state in RA-treated limb regenerate.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.103-115
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• 2007

Risk assessment by living indicator species provides the information about the ecosystem disturbance, disapperance of symbiosis and change of living group. In the initial stage of this kind research, the degree of contamination was reported using the level of simple number, but simple number may not represent the risk itself which can be casued in the living organisms. Risk assessment using various indicator species overcomes these limitations and can be expanded to the DNA level. In many developed counties, the government has supervised the researches about the indicator species for the monitoring and its application to ecosystem restoration. Several living indicator species found in the vicinity of the abandoned Au mines such as fern, earthworm, bacteria, rhizosphere-rhizoplane, salamamdor and DNA change of these species are described in this paper.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.133-144
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• 1981

The ultrastructures of the pigment cells in the Asiatic land salamander (Hynobius leechi) dorsal skin were obtained by means of electron microscope. The results were as follows; 1. The pigment cells of the epidermis consisted of the melanocytes in the germinal layer and of the melanophores distributing to the keratinocyte layer. The traits of these cells in the epidermis were as follows: A. The nuclei of the melanocytes were round or oval in shape and appeared as partly small or large infoldings of the nuclear envelope. B. Rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulums and Golgi complexes were well developed in infranuclear cytoplasm. Many ribosomes were mainly distributed around the perinuclear portion. C. The melanosomes of the melanocytes were observed as a found or an oval shape and strong electron-dense or less electron-dense melanosomes were observed. D. The infoldings of the nuclear envelope in the melanophore were partly found deeper than those of the melanocyte. The cytoplasm of the melanophore filled with melanosomes caused organelles not to be observed in that. 2. The pigment cells in the dermis were composed of the xanthophores just beneath basement membrane and the melanophores in the connective tissue. The traits of these cells in the dermis were as follows: A. The xanthophores contained round or oval vesicles, and these vesicles were divided into 6 types (type I pterinosome, type II pterinosome, type III pterinosomes, type iv pterinosome, type V pterinosome, type VI pterinosome). B. Most of the nuclei of the melanophores in the dermis were elongate in shape, and a portion of the nuclear envelope was deep infolded. C. Becuase the cytoplasm was filled with the melanosomes of the same electron-density, organelles were not observed in the cytoplasm. D. Two processes of the melanophore in the dermis extended in parallel with a xanthophore and the cytoplasm in those processes were filled with the melanosomes.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.582-590
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• 2018

Although there are many studies of the effect of climate change on the breeding phenology and community diversity of amphibians, the studies of variations in reproductive population size of individual species according to climate change are still lacking. We examined the effect of climate change on the reproductive population size of Rana huanrenensis and Hynobius leechii, which bred in mountain valleys, by surveying the reproductive population of the two species between 2005 and 2012 and analyzing the correlation between the variation of the outdoor population and the surrounding climate change factors, obtained from a meteorological observatory located at 5.6 km from the study site. The size of the reproductive population of the two species commonly fluctuated with aan pproximately 3.5-year cycle. That of H. leechii, in particular, decreased significantly over eight years. The air temperature tended to more closely relate with the reproductive population size of R. huanrenensis as was the case of the precipitation with that of H. leechii. The yearly mean highest temperature and spring mean temperature variation consistently decreased over the eight years, and the latter was related with the significantly decreased size of H. leechii reproductive population. These results showed that recent climate change directly could affect the reproductive population size of amphibians, particularly H. leechii, which breeds in mountain valleys.