• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2009

Organic carbon (OC) distribution in 32-year-old pitch pine plantation at Mt. Hotae in Kongju, Korea, was studied from August 2007 to July 2008. In order to investigate the OC distribution, OC in plant biomass, litterfall, litter layer on forest floor, and soil within 50cm depth were estimated. The density of P. rigida plantation was 3,200 trees/ha, average DBH was $18.7{\pm}5.53cm$ and average tree height was $11.1{\pm}1.85m$. Organic carbon stored in plant biomass, litterlayer on forest floor and soil in 2008 was 89.46 ton C/ha (46.09%), 4.32 ton C/ha (2.23%) and 100.32 ton C $ha^{-1}$ 50cm-$depth^{-1}$ (51.68%), respectively. Amount of OC returned to forest floor via litterfall was 2.21 ton C $ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$. Total amount of OC stored in this P. rigida plantation was 194.1 ton C/ha. Net increase of OC in above- and below-ground biomass in this pitch pine plantation was 4.82 ton C $ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.19 no.spc
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• pp.108-110
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• 2011

In order to evaluation of beneficial functions for organic farming, we have divided beneficial functions as 9 sub-functions such as flooding control, fostering water resources, purifying the air, mitigating summer climate, purifying water quality, decreasing soil erosion, accumulating soil carbon, conserving biodiversity, and preventing accidents from pesticides. And they were quantified by searching related repots and statistics, and surveying fields. Organic farming, especially organic paddy farming, showed that some functions like fostering water resources, accumulating soil carbon, conserving biodiversity, and preventing accidents from pesticides were higher than conventional paddy farming, while the others were almost similar. The fostering water resources function was evaluated as 4,297 ton $ha^{-1}\;year^{-1}$ to increase about 3.6% comparing with that of conventional farming. New function for accumulating soil carbon at organic paddy fields has been assessed by 4.67 ton $ha^{-1}$ in terms of long periods over 10 years. Considering area of organic paddy farming in Korea and value of carbon price, it was evaluated monetary value as 22.4 to 84.1 billion won using replaced method. It could be also evaluated that flooding control, fostering water resources, purifying the air, mitigating summer climate, purifying water quality, decreasing soil erosion, and preventing accidents from pesticides were 2,980, 123.4, 482.6, 87.5, 0.9, 55.6, and 284.1 billion won, respectively. Conserving biodiversity function would be very big at organic farming though it couldn't be evaluated as monetary value.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.26-29
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• 2001

Sorption/desorption Study was conducted to determine desorption-resistance hydrophobic organic compounds in natural soils with low organic carbon content. Sorption/desorption characteristics of chlorobenzene and phenanthrene for both PPI (Petro Processors, Inc. Superfund site) and BM (Bayou Manchac), soils were investigated. Desorption was biphasic including reversible and desorption-resistant compartments. The biphasic sorption parameters indicated the presence of appreciable size of desorption-resistant phase in these soils. A finite maximum capacity of desorption-resistant fraction (equation omitted) was observed after several desorption steps. The apparent organic carbon based Partition coefficient, K(equation omitted) was 10$^{4.92{\pm}0.27}$ for PPI soil and 10$^{4.92{\pm}0.27}$ for BM soil, respectively. The difference in K(equation omitted) was attributed to different characteristics in soil organic matter. The results suggest that desorption-resistance should be considered in remediation and risk assessments in natural soils and sediments.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.88-96
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• 2007

Organic farming systems based on ecological concepts have the potential to produce sustainable crop yields with no decline in soil and environmental qualities. Recent expansion of sustainable agricultural systems, including organic farming, has brought about need for development of sustainable farming systems based on value judgments for key properties of importance for farming. Chemical and microbiological properties were chosen as indicators of soil quality and measured at soil depth intervals of 5-20 and 20-35 cm in conventional and organic-based apple orchards located in Yeongchun, Gyeongbuk. The orchards were two adjacent fields to ensure the same pedological conditions except management system. Soil pH in organic farming was around 7.5, whereas below 6.0 in conventional farming. Organic farming resulted in significant increases in organic matter and Kjeldahl-N contents compared to those found with conventional management. Microbial populations, biomass C, and enzyme activities (except acid phosphatase) in apple orchard soil of organic farming were higher than those found in conventional farming. Higher microbial quotient ($C_{mic}/C_{org}$ ratio) and lower microbial metabolic quotient for $CO_2(qCO_2)$ in organic farming confirmed that organic farming better conserves soil organic carbon. Biological soil quality indicators showed significant positive correlations with soil organic matter content. These results indicate organic-based farming positively affected soil organic matter content, thus improving soil chemical and biological qualities.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.260-265
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• 2012

Soil respiration under flooded conditions is considered to be very small compared with aerobic soil respiration of soil organic matter. However, anaerobic decomposition of soil plays a key role in carbon cycling in flooded ecosystems. On the other hand, coal-ash wastes, such as fly ash and bottom ash, are known to function as a soil amendment for mitigating $CO_2$ emission and enhancing carbon sequestration in up land soils. In this study, we investigated bottom ash as a soil amendment for mitigating $CO_2$ emission, and thus enhancing carbon sequestration under anaerobic conditions. We observed that amendment of bottom ash without external organic source led to significant reduction in $CO_2$ emission rate and in total cumulative $CO_2$ emission flux over the incubation period, which was proportional to the amount of bottom ash applied. We also found that soil microbial biomass increased in response to application of bottom ash. These results suggest that bottom ash can be utilized to store $CO_2$ as a stable soil organic carbon in flooded ecosystems, as in aerobic situations.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.238-244
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• 2005

Fertilization effects on changes in soil $CO_2$ flux and organic C in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) land managed for biomass production were investigated. The mean daily soil $CO_2$ flux in the manure treatment was 5.63 g $CO_2-C\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$, and this was significantly higher than the mean value of 3.36 g $CO_2-C\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ in the control. The mean daily $CO_2$ fluxes in N and P fertilizer treatments plots were not different when compared to the value in the control plots. Potentially mineralizable C (PMC), soil microbial biomass C (SMBC), and particulate organic C (POC) were highest at the 0 to 10 cm depth of the manure treatment. Potentially mineralizable C had the strongest correlation with SMBC (r = 0.91) and POC (r = 0.84). There was also a strong correlation between SMBC and POC (r = 0.90). Our results indicated that for the N and P levels studied, fertilization had no impact on temporal changes in soil organic C, but manure application had a significant impact on temporal changes in soil $CO_2$ evolution and active C constituents such as PMC, SMBC, and POC.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.341-351
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• 2019

Background: Standing biomass, litter production, rate of litter decomposition, amount of litter on forest floor, and amount of soil organic carbon distribution were investigated from March 2016 to November 2018 in order to evaluate the ecosystem value through organic carbon distribution in the Pinus densiflora forest at Namsan, Seoul Metropolitan City. Results: The amount of organic carbon in the Pinus densiflora forest was 261.09 ton C ha^-1 during the research period, and fixed organic carbon in plant through net photosynthesis was 3.2 ton C ha^-1 year^-1. The organic carbon in plant was 62.77 ton C ha^-1 (24.04%), in litter on the forest floor was 3.65 ton C ha^-1 (1.40%), and in soil was 194.67 ton C ha^-1 (74.56%). The value of plant, litter on forest floor, and soil organic carbon distribution were each 6,277,000 won ha^-1, 365, 000 won ha^-1, and 19,467,000 won ha^-1. The value per ton of fixed organic carbon in plant through net photosynthesis was 320,000 won ha^-1 year^-1 and the value of ecosystem services stored in carbon in the Namsan forest ecosystem was about 26.1 million won ha^-1 for 3 years. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the pine forests of Namsan rapidly decompose leaves due to the high atmospheric temperature and accumulate a large amount of organic carbon in the soil to provide climate control regulatory service function.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.510-516
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• 2016

Soil respiration has been recognized as a key factor of the change of organic matter and fertility due to the carbon and nitrogen mineralization. In this study, we evaluated the effect of soil respiration on the light fraction-C and inorganic N content depending on temperature in soil applied with organic matter. Soil respiration was calculated by using total $CO_2$ flux released from soil applied with $2Mg\;ha^{-1}$ of rice straw compost and rye for 8 weeks incubation at 15, 25, $35^{\circ}C$ under incubation test. After incubation test, light fraction and inorganic N content were investigated. Rye application dramatically increased soil respiration with increasing temperature. $Q_{10}$ value of rye application was 1.69, which was higher 27% than that of rice straw compost application. Light-C and $NO_3-N$ contents were negatively correlated to soil respiration. Light-C in rye application more decreased than that in rice straw compost with temperature levels. These results indicate that temperature sensitivity of soil respiration could affect soil organic mater content and N availability in soil due to carbon availability. Also, light fraction would be useful indicator to evaluate decomposition rate of organic matter in soil under a short-term test.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.260-267
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• 2013

BACKGROUND: In most studies, soil carbon sequestration has been evaluated simply with change of soil organic carbon content. So far, information regarding stability of soil organic carbon is limited. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study was conducted to determine changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) content and stability of carbon in response to compost application rates and plastic mulching treatment during the hot pepper growing season. Under the pot experiment condition, compost was mixed with an arable soil at rates corresponding to 0, 10, 20, and 40 Mg/ha. To determine effects of plastic mulching on soil carbon sequestration, plastic mulching and no mulching treatments were set up in soils amended with the application rate of 20 Mg/ha. The SOC content did not significantly increase with application of compost and plastic mulching at harvest time. No significant changes in bulk density with compost application and plastic mulching was found. These might result from short duration of experiment. While hot water extractable organic carbon content significantly decreased with compost application and plastic mulching, humic substances increased. Belowground biomass of hot pepper was biggest at the recommended application rate (20 Mg/ha) of compost. CONCLUSION: From the above results, continuous application of compost at the recommended application rate could improve increase in SOC content and stability of carbon in long term aspect.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2013

To improve the energy efficiency of conventional thermal treatment, soil remediation with microwave has been studied. In this study, the remediation efficiency of contaminated soil with semi-volatile organic contaminants were evaluated with microwave oven and several additives such as water, formic acid, iron powder, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, and activated carbon. For the experiment, loamy sand and sandy loam collected from Imjin river flood plain were intentionally contaminated with hexachlorobenzene and phenanthrene, respectively. The contaminated soils were treated with microwave facility and the mass removals of organic contaminants from soils were evaluated. Among additives that were added to increase the remediation efficiency, activated carbon and NaOH solution were more effective than water, iron powder, and formic acid. When 10 g of hexachlorobenzene (142.4 mg/kg-soil) or phenanthrene (2,138.8 mg/kg-soil) contaminated soil that mixed with 0.5 g iron powder, 0.5 g activated carbon and 1 ml 6.25 M NaOH solution were treated with microwave for 3 minutes, more than 95% of contaminants were removed. The degradation of hexachlorobenzene during microwave treatments with additives was confirmed by the detection of pentachlorobenzene and tetrachlorobenzene. Naphthalene and phenol were also detected as degradation products of phenanthrene during microwave treatment with additives. The results showed that adding a suitable amount of additives for microwave treatments fairly increased the efficiency of removing semi-volatile soil organic contaminants.