• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.395-405
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• 2013

The aim of this study is to suggest an optimal survey method for coastal habitat monitoring around Weno Island in Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). This study was carried out to compare and analyze differences between in situ survey (PHOTS) and high spatial satellite imagery (Worldview-2) with regard to the coastal habitat distribution patterns of Weno Island. The in situ field data showed the following coverage of habitat types: sand 42.4%, seagrass 26.1%, algae 14.9%, rubble 8.9%, hard coral 3.5%, soft coral 2.6%, dead coral 1.5%, others 0.1%. The satellite imagery showed the following coverage of habitat types: sand 26.5%, seagrass 23.3%, sand + seagrass 12.3%, coral 18.1%, rubble 19.0%, rock 0.8% (Accuracy 65.2%). According to the visual interpretation of the habitat map by in situ survey, seagrass, sand, coral and rubble distribution were misaligned compared with the satellite imagery. While, the satellite imagery appear to be a plausible results to identify habitat types, it could not classify habitat types under one pixel in images, which in turn overestimated coral and rubble coverage, underestimated algae and sand. The differences appear to arise primarily because of habitat classification scheme, sampling scale and remote sensing reflectance. The implication of these results is that satellite imagery analysis needs to incorporate in situ survey data to accurately identify habitat. We suggest that satellite imagery must correspond with in situ survey in habitat classification and sampling scale. Subsequently habitat sub-segmentation based on the in situ survey data should be applied to satellite imagery.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.235-247
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• 2022

A marine protected area (MPA) is a spatially designated section of the ocean where the biodiversity is high. Munseom MPA has a unique underwater landscape including soft coral, subtropical fish, and benthos, attracting many scuba divers. This paper intends to evaluate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the scuba diving management policy in the Munseom MPA. As a stated preference valuation method, a choice experiment was applied to assess divers' preferences with economic values for the policy. The attributes used in the study included zoning (temporal closure), conservation education, daily permit, soft coral area, and diving fee. We collected 333 questionnaires through online and field surveys and used 296 after excluding incomplete responses for the final data analysis. Study results show that a six-month closure, a decrease in soft coral habitat, and the diving fee were statistically significant. A positive coefficient with regard to the six-month closure variable indicates that divers preferred the policy, and the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) was estimated to be KRW 8,637 per person per dive. The aggregate WTP of KRW 233 million was obtained by multiplying the MWTP by the number of visiting divers per year. When comparing the levels of recreation specialization, more skilled divers preferred the management option. The results of this study will help predict the priority of management measures and the levels of acceptability among divers when diving management is implemented in Korea in the future. This study suggests that marine environmental policies need to consider divers as one of the important stakeholders for marine conservation.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2021

Post-disturbance recovery pattern of subtidal soft corals-macroalgae mixed community and the role of water depth were investigated. The experiment was conducted in a subtidal rock wall of Munseom, Jeju Island, Korea for 2.5 years. Artificial disturbance was done at established treatment plots at depths of 10, 15 and 20 m and were then compared with undisturbed control plots. After disturbance, recovery of soft corals was very slow, whereas macroalgae quickly occupied the plots and reached a similar level as the control in 6 months, and this pattern was consistent at all water depths. This unbalanced speed of recovery caused higher macroalgae establishment than soft corals in treatment compared to control plots, indicating a possible phase shift in the community structure. This study provides an important implication for the necessity of monitoring the influence of disturbance at a larger scale, from a conservation perspective of soft corals in Jeju coast.

• 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.