• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.251-258
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• 1997

Few attempts have been made to discover the ecological function of coarse woody debris (CWD) despite its importance to small mammal population. Twenty-five pitfall traps and a hundred live traps were placed in three sites with high amounts of CWD and three sites with low amounts of CWD. Eleven species were caught, and Peromyscus maniculatus was the most abundant (45.6%, n=605). Among 11 speices, abundance of Tamias townsendii and Clethronomys gapperi were higher in sites with high amounts of CWD than in sites with low amounts of CWD. Home range size was larger in breeding season than in non-breeding season indicating mating search. Resident time of Peromyscus maniculatus was longer in sites with high amounts of CWD implying better stability in population. The increasing amount of coarse woody debris (CWD) enhanced the habitat use by small mammals, and animals in high amounts of CWD were more abundant and stable in population fluctuation. This study, therefore, concludes that CWD is a critical habitat element for small mammals in forest ecosystem.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.512-523
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• 1995

The central theme of Habital heterogeneity is to provide animals with habital complexity or structural diversity and to allow resource partitioning among individuals. In turn, the leads to population stability because prey can escape more easily with more hiding places causing less population fluctuation. Species diversity is characterized due to more potential niches both horizontally and verticall. Empirically, in homogeneous habitats population was less abundant, reproduction and survival were lower, spacing behavior, competition and dispersal were higher than in heterogeneous habitats. The results imply that diversity and conservation of species can be maintained through providing heterogeneous habitats.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.513-513
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• 1995

The central theme of Habital heterogeneity is to provide animals with habital complexity or structural diversity and to allow resource partitioning among individuals. In turn, the leads to population stability because prey can escape more easily with more hiding places causing less population fluctuation. Species diversity is characterized due to more potential niches both horizontally and verticall. Empirically, in homogeneous habitats population was less abundant, reproduction and survival were lower, spacing behavior, competition and dispersal were higher than in heterogeneous habitats. The results imply that diversity and conservation of species can be maintained through providing heterogeneous habitats.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.88 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 1999

This study was conducted to clarify the differences in small mammal populations due to habitat structure caused by different forest practices within natural deciduous forests at National Forest, Pyoungchang, Kangwon Province, Korea from May to November, 1996. Three sites, 1ha each, were selected as cutting, thinning, and control for live trapping of small mammals. Total captures of small mammals in all sites were combined Apodemus peninsulae(45.1%, n=64) and Eothenomys regulus(54.9%, n=78). A. peninsulae was captured in the cutting and the control site. And E. regulus was captured in the thinning and the control site. The number of captured small mammals in a month were the highest in the control site and the lowest in the cutting site. A. peninsulae's mean body weight of adult individuals was more higher in the control site than in the cutting site. And E. regulus's mean body weight of adult individuals was more higher in the control site than in the thinning site. Habitat structure seems to be an important factor in abundance and species composition of small mammals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.1324-1331
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• 1999

The aim of this paper is to propose the preservation of buffaloes not only as productive livestock, but also as a part of the biodiversity of wetlands and especially of the Greek wetlands. The water buffalo used to be an integral part of the biodiversity of many Greek wetland ecosystems, enriched their landscape, and provided invaluable services and products to the rural people and to the economy in general. Its total population before the 1950s was over 100,000 animals. Presently, it is found only in four wetland sites in Macedonia and Thrace and in the estuaries of Rivers Gallikos and Axios, with a total population of a few hundred animals. These wetlands are Ramsar Sites. Even this small population is threatened with immediate extinction because of the rapidly changing rural socio-economic conditions and the expansion of cultivated fields into wet meadows. Farmers and consumers are rapidly losing contact with this mammal and its products. This species possesses minimum requirements for treatment and is characterized by the ability of utilizing roughage of variable nutritional value. These factors are promising to render buffalo breeding a valuable branch of the Greek livestock sector, which can also contribute to the maintenance of the wetlands.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.257-261
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• 2003

Population of small mammals (Apodemus agrarius and Crocidura lasiura) was monitored to identify the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Gumho river basin around Daegu city. The small mammals were captured during 28 of May~12 of June, 2002. The techniques of live-trapping and snap-trapping were applied to capture the animals. A total of 39 animals were captured among which 53.3% (16130) of population were reached to breeding. Heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd) were analyzed. According to the analysis of heavy metal elements, Zn was more accumulated in kidney (6.83 mg $kg^{-1}$) than in liver (3.66). However, the accumulation of Cu was higher in liver than in kidney. Even though this site was relatively away from major industrial zones, heavy metals were wide spread along the stream of Gumbo River. This is the first quantitative study of small mammal bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Korea so that further research should be followed in other industrial areas that heavy metals were widely dispersed.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.143-154
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• 2020

Background: Korean wild boars (Sus scrofa coreanus Heude), because of their adaptability, are a widespread large mammal; however, they sometimes cause problems by invading farms and eating the crops, creating insufficiencies of some foods in South Korea. To understand the diet composition of Korean wild boars according to sex and body size, we collected their feces from Mt. Jeombongsan, Seoraksan National Park, South Korea. The sizes of fecal samples were measured, and genomic DNA was extracted from the samples. We amplified specific loci targeting plants (rbcL and trnL) and animals (COI) to detect the food sources of this omnivore and amplified the ZF and SRY regions to determine the sex. Results: In the wild boar feces, Rosaceae and Bryophyte were the most frequently detected plant food sources at the family level and Diptera and Haplotaxida were the most frequently detected animal food sources at the order level. As a result of sex determination, the sex ratio of wild boars collected in the Mt. Jeombongsan area was approximately 1:1. Our result suggested that there is no significant difference between the diet composition of male and female boars. Based on the average cross-sectional area of the feces, the top 25% were classified into the large body size group and the bottom 25% were classified into the small body size group. The large body size group mainly preferred Actinidiaceae, and the small body size group most frequently consumed Fagaceae. The diet of the large body size group was more diverse than the small body size group. Conclusions: Our results showed that the wild boars preferred Rosaceae, especially Sanguisorba and Filipendula, as plant food sources, and Diptera and Coleoptera of Insecta as animal food sources. Based on the results, the dietary preferences of wild boar appear to be distinguished by not their sex but their body size. Our study could help to elucidate the feeding ecology and population structure of wild boar, as well as address conservation and management issues.