• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6B
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• pp.583-596
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• 2006

Evaporation is an essential parameter in Global water-energy cycle and the variability of evaporation affects water resources planning and managements. In this study, the temporal variability of pan evaporation data was analyzed and trend analysis of the data using Mann-Kendall test. The relationships among evaporation and rainfall, air temperature, humidity, cloudness were analyzed. Even though the longterm trends of air temperature and rainfall increases, that of evaporation except Jinju and Yeosoo results decreases as worldwide observations. Results demonstrate that decrease of pan evaporation represents increase of terrestrial evaporation as Brutsaert and Parlange(1998)'s analysis.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.105-116
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• 2021

Background: The creation of the National Institute of Ecology began as a national alternative project to preserve mudflats instead of constructing the industrial complexes by reclamation, and achieve regional development. On the other hand, at the national level, the research institute for ecology was needed to cope with the worsening conditions for maintaining biodiversity due to accelerated climate change such as global warming and increased demand for development. In order to meet these needs, the National Institute of Ecology has the following objectives: (1) carries out studies for ecosystem change due to climate change and biodiversity conservation, (2) performs ecological education to the public through exhibition of various ecosystem models, and (3) promotes regional development through the ecological industry. Furthermore, to achieve these objectives, the National Institute of Ecology thoroughly followed the basic principles of ecology, especially restoration ecology, in the process of its construction. We introduce the principles and cases of ecological restoration applied in the process. Results: We minimized the impact on the ecosystem in order to harmonize with the surrounding environment in all the processes of construction. We pursued passive restoration following the principle of ecological restoration as a process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem degraded for all the space except in land where artificial facilities were introduced. Reference information was applied thoroughly in the process of active restoration to create biome around the world, Korean peninsula forests, and wetland ecosystems. In order to realize true restoration, we pursued the ecological restoration in a landscape level as the follows. We moved the local road 6 and high-voltage power lines to underground to ensure ecological connectivity within the National Institute of Ecology campus. To enhance ecological diversity, we introduced perch poles and islands as well as floating leaved, emerged, wetland, and riparian plants in wetlands and mantle communities around the forests of the Korean Peninsula in the terrestrial ecosystem. Furthermore, in order to make the public aware of the importance of the intact nature, the low-lying landscape elements, which have disappeared due to excessive land use in most areas of Korea, was created by imitating demilitarized zone (DMZ) landscape that has these landscape elements. Conclusions: The National Institute of Ecology was created in an eco-friendly way by thoroughly reflecting the principles of ecology to suit its status and thus the impact on the existing ecosystem was minimized. This concept was also designed to be reflected in the process of operation. The results have become real, and a result of analysis on carbon budget analysis is approaching the carbon neutrality.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2015

Few studies have investigated soil management policy and soil erosion measurement, whereas the occurrence of climate change requires the establishment of robust soil management systems and appropriate control of soil erosion. In this study, we developed a smart sensor for real-time quantitative measurements of soil erosion at the watershed scale. The smart sensor consists of an ultrasonic sensor, a rainfall meter, a solar cell, an RTU (remote terminal unit),and a CDMA (code division multiple access) and it was programmed to take a measurement every 30 minutes. The depths measured by the smart sensor were compared with data from terrestrial LiDAR. Experimental results showed a strong correlation in the depth of soil erosion between LiDAR and the ultrasonic sensor for the period from 22 August to 11 October 2013. Furthermore, the correlation coefficient between soil erosion depth (mm) and soil erosion volume (m³) was 0.9063 in the lower region of the watershed and is 0.9868 in the upper region. The proposed ultrasonic sensor technique can provide high-quality data for soil conservation and management systems in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.15-29
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• 2021

Urban green spaces offer a variety of benefits to living things and humans. However, existing green spaces have been reduced and fragmented due to urbanization, and there is a limit to creating new large green spaces in densely developed cities. Street trees have fewer restrictions on land use, which can be a measure to secure green areas in cities. In Korea, excessive pruning is being done on some street trees for reasons such as blocking of building signboards, contact with electric wires, and restrictions on sidewalk widths. Therefore, it is necessary to quantitatively understand the relationship between the benefits provided by street trees and their structures to come up with an efficient and systematic planning and management plan for urban street trees. In this study, we quantitatively analyzed the relationship between the thermal comfort improvement by the shades of street trees and the vertical structure, planting environment, and types of street trees. To calculate the thermal comfort felt by human body, we calculated UTCI (Universal Thermal Climate Index) of each street tree. For the vertical structure of street trees, we used Terrestrial LiDAR and the point clouds of street tree's crown was sliced vertically at 1m intervals. We conducted a multiple regression analysis on the thermal comfort improvement using the variables we obtained from fields. As a result, in the case of a street tree's vertical structure, the lager the volume of tree's crown located 3-4m (β=0.298, p<.05) and 6-7m (β=0.568, p<.001) above clear length, the better the cooling effect. In addition, the thermal comfort improvement was assessed to decrease as the DBH increased (β=-0.435, p<.001). In general, the crown diameter and DBH are positively correlated, with a cooling effect occurring as crown diameter increases. In this study, the opposite result was obtained due to the small number of trees measured, so additional research is needed by increasing the number of tree samples. In the case of the planting environment, the effect of improving thermal comfort was higher in the shaded area of trees planted to the south (β=-0.541, p<.001). Since unsystematic management of street trees can deteriorate the function of them, quantitative evaluations of the vertical structure of street trees are required, which can provide specific measures for planning and management of urban street trees with thermal comfort effect.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.21-32
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• 2023

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) plays a pivotal role in predicting the potential environmental impacts of proposed developments and planning appropriate mitigation measures to minimize effects on species. However, as concerns over biodiversity loss rise, there's ongoing debate about the efficacy of these mitigation plans. In this study, we utilized data from EIAs and post-environmental impact surveys to understand the trends in biodiversity during construction and operation phases. By examining 30 urban development projects, we categorized species richness indices of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles into pre-construction, during construction, and post-construction operational stages. The biodiversity trends were analyzed based on the rate of change in these indices. The results revealed three distinct biodiversity change patterns: (A) An initial increase in biodiversity indices post-development, followed by a gradual decline over time; (B) a sustained increase in biodiversity as a result of mitigation measures; and (C) a continuous decline in biodiversity post-development. Furthermore, all species exhibited a higher rate of biodiversity decline during the construction phase compared to the operational phase, with mammals showing the most significant rate of change. Notably, the biodiversity change rate during operation was generally lower than during construction. In particular, mammals seemed to be most influenced by mitigation measures, displaying the smallest rate of change. This study provides empirical evidence on the efficacy of mitigation measures and deliberates on ways to enhance their effectiveness in minimizing the adverse impacts of urban development on biodiversity. These findings can serve as foundational data for addressing terrestrial biodiversity reduction.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.11
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• pp.302-309
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• 2017

Background: Large-scale land-use change is being caused by various socioeconomic problems. Land-use change is necessarily accompanied by changes in the regional carbon balance in terrestrial ecosystems and affects climate change. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the correlation between environmental factors altered by land-use change and the carbon balance. To address this issue, we studied the characteristics of soil carbon flux and soil moisture content related to rainfall events in mountain pastures converted from deciduous forest in Korea. Results: The average soil moisture contents (SMC) during the study period were 23.1% in the soil respiration (SR) plot and 25.2% in the heterotrophic respiration (HR) plot. The average SMC was increased to 2.1 and 1.1% in the SR and HR plots after rainfall events, respectively. In addition, saturated water content was 29.36% in this grassland. The soil water content was saturated under the consistent rainfall of more than $5mm\;h^{-1}$ rather than short-term heavy rainfall event. The average SR was increased to 28.4% after a rainfall event, but the average HR was decreased to 70. 1%. The correlation between soil carbon flux rates and rainfall was lower than other environmental factors. The correlation between SMC and soil carbon flux rates was low. However, HR exhibited a tendency to be decreased when SMC was 24.5%. In addition, the correlation between soil temperature and respiration rate was significant. Conclusions: In a mountain pasture ecosystem, rainfall induced the important change of soil moisture content related to respiration in soil. SR and HR were very sensitive to change of SMC in soil surface layer about 0-10-cm depth. SR was increased by elevation of SMC due to a rainfall event, and the result was assumed from maintaining moderate soil moisture content for respiration in microorganism and plant root. However, HR was decreased in long-time saturated condition of soil moisture content. Root has obviously contributed to high respiration in heavy rainfall, but it was affected to quick depression in respiration under low rainfall. The difference of SMC due to rainfall event was causative of a highly fluctuated soil respiration rate in the same soil temperature condition. Therefore, rainfall factor or SMC are to be considered in predicting the soil carbon flux of grassland ecosystems for future climate change.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.455-460
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• 2017

Since a new (unrecorded) species was reported in 2016, a total of four sea snake species are currently listed in Korean waters. Although the possibility of year-round inhabitation of sea snakes in Korean waters has increased due to climate change, the related studies are scarce because of the lack of human resources and available equipment. We placed posters and banners requesting voluntary information on sea snakes in coastal regions and Jeju Island to obtain information on sea snake distributions in the coasts of South Korea and possible specimens through volunteer activities. As a result, we received total 45 reliable reports, including photographs or video, between March 2013 and December 2016. Eighteen reports on three sea snake species and thirteen capture cases of two species were submitted from Jeju Island and southern coastal regions of Korea mostly between August and November. There were twenty-seven false reports including seven cases of terrestrial snakes, eighteen fishes, and one each of invertebrate and inanimate material. Based on the results, we proposed the effective way of sea snake surveys using volunteers.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2016

The essential role of the Division of Earth Sciences(EAR) in the Directorate of Geoscience(GEO) of National Science Foundation of America(NSF) is to support basic research aimed at acquiring fundamental knowledge of the Earth system that can be directly applied to the United States' strategic needs. The 2011 Committee on New Research Opportunities in the Earth Sciences(NROES) of the National Academy of Sciences(NAS) identified specific areas of the basic earth science research scope of the EAR that were poised for rapid progress during the next decade. Quantified by interdisciplinary approaches, the Committee highlighted the following topics relating to the EAR Deep Earth Processes and Surface Earth Processes sections: (1) the early Earth; (2) thermochemical internal dynamics and volatile distribution; (3) faulting and deformation processes; (4) interactions among climate, the Earth surface processes, tectonics, and deep Earth processes; (5) co-evolution of life, environment, and climate; (6) coupled hydrogeomorphic-ecosystem response to natural and anthropogenic change; and (7) interactions of biogeochemical and water cycles in terrestrial environments. We also promote future research challenges such as the critical zone studies. In order to promote more active such a huge future research challenges, additional research support policies are needed.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.425-436
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• 2015

The carbon cycle came into the spotlight due to the climate change and forests are well-known for their capacity to store carbon amongst other terrestrial ecosystems. The annual organic carbon of litter production, forest floor litter layer, soil, aboveground and belowground part of plant, standing biomass, net primary production, uptake of organic carbon, soil respiration, etc. were measured in Mt. Worak in order to understand the production and carbon budget of Quercus serrata forest that are widely spread in the central and southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The total amount of organic carbon of Q. serrata forest during the study period (2010-2013) was 130.745 ton C ha^-1. The aboveground part of plant, belowground part of plant, forest floor litter layer, and organic carbon in soil was 50.041, 12.510, 4.075, and 64.119 ton C ha^-1, respectively. The total average of carbon fixation in plants from photosynthesis was 4.935 ton C ha^-1 yr^-1 and organic carbon released from soil respiration to microbial respiration was 3.972 ton C ha^-1 yr^-1. As a result, the net ecosystem production of Q. serrata forest estimated from carbon fixation and soil respiration was 0.963 ton C ha^-1 yr^-1. Therefore, it seems that Q. serrata forest can act as a sink that absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. The carbon uptake of Q. serrata forest was highest in stem of the plant and the research site had young forest which had many trees with small diameter at breast height (DBH). Consequentially, it seems that active matter production and vigorous carbon dioxide assimilation occurred in Q. serrata forest and these results have proven to be effective for Q. serrata forest to play a role as carbon storage and NEP.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.273-282
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• 2007

For an efficient management and utilization of marine biodiversity information, we made an attempt to develop the Korea Marine Biodiversity Information System (KoMBIS), building a species name inventory of Korea marine organisms. The inventory includes 17 organism groups: phytoplankton, zooplankton, algae and halophyte, sponges, cnidarians, rotifers, nematodes, bryozoans, brachiopods, molluscs, echiurans, annelids, arthropods, echinoderms, urochordates and fish. The species names were collected from 37 different references and reviewed for validity by taxonomists, which resulted in 9,798 valid names in addition to 1,845 synonyms. The Korea marine species inventory is the first one of this kind, for previous Korean species name inventories were mostly composed of terrestrial and freshwater organisms. KoMBIS, the information system developed, contains not only the species name but also information on morphological and ecological characteristics such as distribution, DNA barcode, and references. This system is convenient for the inputting of new data and servicing users through the internet, so that management and utilization of the biodiversity information is more efficient. Linking the DNA barcode data with species information provides an objective measure for identification of a species, which accommodates the recommendation of Consortium for the Barcode of Life, and makes the Korea marine biodiversity information compatible with international databases. Considering the frequent exchange of marine organisms internationally via ballast water and such issues as climate change, this information system will be useful in many areas of marine biodiversity.