• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.79-89
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• 2012

This study was compared to the differences in the habitat, species composition and community structure of revegetation and nature area in Korea. Plant number in plot of revegetation and nature area was 10.3 and 15.0 taxa, respectively, and coverage was 90.6 and 88.1%, respectively. Revegetation and nature area was very heterogeneous, due to low similarity index (0.38) and less common plants. Festuca arundinacea frequency (56.7%) was highest in revegetation area, and Oplismenus undulatifolius frequency (66.7%) was highest in nature area. Plant appearing of revegetation and nature area was 111 and 136 taxa, respectively. Herb appearing of revegetation and nature areas was 93 (83.3%) and 72 (52.9%) taxa, respectively, tree was 18 (16.2%) and 64 (47.1%) taxa, respectively. Plant communities of revegetation area was classified into Lespedeza bicolor, Indigofera amblyantha, Alnus sibirica, Festuca arundinacea, Eragrostis curvula, Miscanthus sinensis, Humulus japonicus, Setaria faberii, Rudbeckia bicolor, Pueraria lobata community. Plant communities of nature area was classified into Pinus densiflora, Quercus aliena, Quercus acutissima, Quercus variabilis, Quercus serrata, Castanea crenata, Pinus rigida, Robinia pseudoacacia, Populus tomentiglandulosa, Phyllostachys bambusoides community. Habitat, species composition and community structure of revegetation and nature area showed a large difference.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.2
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• pp.179-188
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• 2020

Weeding refers to the process of removing weeds around crop trees, which cause competition in nutrients, moisture, and light, and has a great effect on the early growth and survival of crop trees for establishing forest resources. This study was conducted to find out the timing and method of weeding that is the most suitable for the major afforestation species in national forests. We investigated (1) weeding time and frequency for each afforestation species and (2) the height of crop trees and the length of weeds. Up to 99% weeding operation was carried out until 5 years following afforestation. Pinus densiflora, Larix kaempferi, Chamaecyparis obtusa, Prunus sargentii, and Betula platyphylla plantations accounted for more than 70% of the total weeding sites. Once-a-year weeding process was conducted from late June to late July (67%), and twice-a-year weeding process was the highest in June-August by 31%. Most species were shorter than the weeds until the first and second year of planting, but the height of the crop trees was higher than that of the weeds by 48% in average from the third year. Therefore, from the third year of afforestation, except for some species, it is possible to reduce the cost of weeding operations while reducing nutrient competition by the weeds through the removal of weed sprouts, mainly woody weeds, rather than clear cutting. This study contributes to efficiently develop forest resource establishment while reducing operational costs through a detailed weeding schedule and species-specific method.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.275-285
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• 2020

Background: In Korea, Symplocos prunifolia Siebold. & Zucc. is only found on Jeju Island. Conservation of the species is difficult because little is known about its distribution and natural habitat. The lack of research and survey data on the characteristics of native vegetation and distribution of this species means that there is insufficient information to guide the management and conservation of this species and related vegetation. Therefore, this study aims to identify the distribution and vegetation associated with S. prunifolia. Results: As a result of field investigations, it was confirmed that the native S. prunifolia communities were distributed in 4 areas located on the southern side of Mt. Halla and within the evergreen broad-leaved forest zones. Furthermore, these evergreen broad-leaved forest zones are themselves located in the warm temperate zone which are distributed along the valley sides at elevations between 318 and 461 m. S. prunifolia was only found on the south side of Mt. Halla, and mainly on south-facing slopes; however, small communities were found to be growing on northwest-facing slopes. It has been confirmed that S. prunifolia trees are rare but an important constituent species in the evergreen broad-leaved forest of Jeju. The mean importance percentage of S. prunifolia community was 48.84 for Castanopsis sieboldii, 17.79 for Quercus acuta, and 12.12 for Pinus thunbergii; S. prunifolia was the ninth most important species (2.6). Conclusions: S. prunifolia can be found growing along the natural streams of Jeju, where there is little anthropogenic influence and where the streams have caused soil disturbance through natural processes of erosion and deposition of sediments. Currently, the native area of S. prunifolia is about 3300 ㎡, which contains a confirmed population of 180 individual plants. As a result of these low population sizes, it places it in the category of an extremely endangered plant in Korea. In some native sites, the canopy of evergreen broad-leaved forest formed, but the frequency and coverage of species were not high. Negative factors that contributed to the low distribution of this species were factors such as lacking in shade tolerance, low fruiting rates, small native areas, and special habitats as well as requiring adequate stream disturbance. Presently, due to changes in climate, it is unclear whether this species will see an increase in its population and habitat area or whether it will remain as an endangered species within Korea. What is clear, however, is that the preservation of the present native habitats and population is extremely important if the population is to be maintained and expanded. It is also meaningful in terms of the stable conservation of biodiversity in Korea. Therefore, based on the results of this study, it is judged that a systematic evaluation for the preservation and conservation of the habitat and vegetation management method of S. prunifolia should be conducted.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.565-577
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to understand the factors influencing the decline and the patterns of changes in Abies nephrolepis populations on Mt. Seorak. We installed permanent quadrats in the areas of the Gwittagicheongbong (peak), Gwanmoneungseon (ridge), and the Seorak Falls and have monitored the community structure, population dynamics, radial growth, and vitality in the quadrats since 2009. Excluding the Seorak Falls, the three research sites showed a three-layer structure in which the low-tree layer forms the canopy. Major tree species were Khingan fir, Korean arborvitae, Mongolian oak, Erman's birch, and Korean maple. The significance of Khingan fir in Seorak Falls decreased from 45.3% in 2009 to 36.8% in 2018. The number of shoots ($DBH{\geq}5cm$) was highest at 1,800 individuals/ha and 1,700 individuals/ha at the Gwittagicheongbong 2 and the Gwanmoneungseon, respectively. The mortality rates over the past 10 years were very high, at 38.3% and 35.3%, respectively, in the Gwittagicheongbong 1 and Seorak Falls. The most stable inverse J-shaped distribution in the Gwittagicheongbong 1 area was shown in the size-frequency distribution of the Khingan fir populations. The average annual ring growth of the Khingan fir was 0.96 ~ 1.73 mm/year, and the ring growth tended to decrease in the areas of Gwittagicheongbong 1, Gwanmoneungseon, and Seorak Falls, where the vitality was low. If the monitoring process continues, it will be possible to obtain basic data for the conservation and management of subalpine vegetation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 1979

The study was carried out to determine the frequency distribution of trees by diameter classes according to the method of Bruce and Reineke's alignment with the data of pitch pine (Pinus rigida Miller) and Italian poplar (Populus euramericana Guinier) which are prepared for the purpose of yield table construction. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. All through the tree species studied, when their diameters were larger, their distribution range became wider, while the percentage of their distribution frequency became lesser. 2. As for frequency percentage of trees in an average D.B.H. of stands, it became smaller when average D.B.H. of the stand is larger: the percentage of pitch pine stand is 36.2 and that of Italian poplaris 29.0. 3. In case of smaller D.B.H. under the average, the larger their D.B.H. became, the lesser the cumulative frequency percentages became.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2006

We investigated the effects of 835-MHz electromagnetic field (EMF), one of the most popular communication frequency band in Korean code-division multiple-access (CDMA) mobile phone system, on cellular signal transduction. For this, we examined the change of intracellular calcium $([Ca^{2+}]_i)$, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and F-actin polymerization after exposure to 835-MHz EMF followed by the treatment of agonists in Rat-2 fibroblast cells. Culture cells were pretreated with serum-tree medium and concomitantly exposed to 835-MHz at specific absorption rate (SAR) of 4.0 W/kg for 24 hr in a specialized designed apparatus based on Transverse Electro Magnetics (TEM) wave theory. Intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ responses to lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) in Rat-2 fibroblast after exposure to 835-MHz EMF were shown to be similar pattern as observed in normal cultured cells. However, the LPA-induced calcium spiking was slightly delayed to 7 sec and sustained thereafter to a little higher ground level under 835-MHz EMF radiation compared to unexposed cells. ROS production level by LPA in the exposed cells was not different from that in control. Furthermore, LPA induced the production of stress fibers with no significant difference in the exposed and unexposed cells. These results suggest that mobile phone radiation (835-MHz, SAR 4.0 W/kg) may not be directly related to signal transduction in Rat-2 fibroblasts except the slight effect of calcium spiking in LPA-induced cells but remain to be further elucidated for possible indirect intervention.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.419-427
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• 2009

The Minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, is the smallest baleen whale in the suborder Mysticeti. Because this species inhabits coastal areas, it became a main target species of coastal small-type whaling in the North Atlantic and the Northwest Pacific Oceans, and the species' population size dramatically decreased because of over-exploitation. As a result, the International Whaling Commission declared a global moratorium on whaling and launched the development of a management procedure for protecting the whales. Morphological studies, whaling history analysis, and genetic studies conducted mainly by Japanese scientists showed the existence of one unique "E" stock that inhabits the waters around the Korean peninsula and mixes with the "O" stock in the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk. We used the mitochondrial DNA control region polymorphism of 348 Minke whales bycaught or stranded in Korean waters from 30 October 1998 to 25 June 2005 to assess the whale population structure by year. The frequency of the 10 major haplotypes from the 40 identified haplotypes was not significantly different among groups, suggesting that a subpopulation was not present. A comparison of the genetic distances calculated with Tamura-Nei's method showed that the distances between groups were lower than those within groups, which suggests that there was no genetic difference in the Minke whale populations. The Fst comparison between groups and the phylogenetic tree constructed using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and Neighbor Joining (NJ) method also detected no obvious sub-stock structure.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.29-40
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• 2006

This study was conducted to obtain the fundamental data for the ecological management in the Pinus koraiensis natural forest in Seoraksan National Park. The community types of the P. koraiensis forest were divided into Ainsliaea acerifolia group and Rhododendron schlippenbachii group. A. acerifolia group was subdivided into Acer tschonoskii var. rubripes subgroup and Calamagrostis arundinacea subgroup. The importance value of major species showed higher value in the order like Pinus koraienses, Abies nephrolepis, Acer barbinerve, Betula ermani, Acer pseudo-sieboldianum, Sorbus commixta and Quercus mongolica. The value of species diversify ranged from 0.44 to 0.86, and showed stronger competition in the interspecific association than in the intraspecific one. The number of individuals of P. koraiensis below 10 centimeters in the 15 study sites was 35, and it was considered that the population of P. koraiensis could be succeeded to the other species in the present situation because of lower frequency in the low layer though the canopy of tree layer was dominated with P. koraiensis. The radial growth patterns of P. koraiensis individuals were mainly fluctuated for the entire life time, which was considered to be caused by frequent disturbance.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.525-547
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• 2021

The main purpose of this study is to examine the use of plant species in ecological restoration projects. To this end, planting drawings from 58 sites that had completed the return of the ecosystem conservation cooperation fund for the past six years were collected and analyzed. The analysis used the construction completion and design drawings to determine the overall selection status and analyze frequency by classifying planted plants into wild and cultivated plants by nature, size, vegetation climate, and upland and wetland habitat. The investigation and analysis process found many cases of wrong plant names, so an analysis was also performed on the matter. In the 58 investigation sites, 282 plants were used for planting: 91 tree species, 69 shrub species, 11 vine species, and 111 herbal species. The most commonly used plant species was Spiraea prunifolia f. simpliciflora, followed by Sorbus alnifolia, Quercus acutissima, Zoysia japonica, Callicarpa dichotoma, and Weigela subsessilisin that order. The most commonly used tree species was Sorbus alnifolia,followed by Quercus acutissima, Zelkova serrata, Chionanthus retusus, and Cornus officinalis, in that order. The most commonly used shrub species was Spiraea prunifolia f. simpliciflora, followed by Weigela subsessilis, Callicarpa dichotoma, Rhododendron yedoense f. poukhanense. and Euonymus alatusin that order. The most commonly used herbal plant species was Zoysia japonica, followed by Dendranthema zawadskii var. latilobum, Aster koraiensis, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, and Pennisetum alopecuroidesin that order. In the analysis by vegetation climate, Spiraea prunifolia f. simpliciflora, Callicarpa dichotoma, and Sorbus alnifoliawere most used in that order in both the temperate central and the warm temperate forest zones, but the pattern does not properly reflect the climate characteristics. In the analysis by habitat, Miscanthus sacchariflorus and Lythrum salicariawere most used in the wetland. In particular, the ratio of wild plants to cultivated plants was 76% to 24%, indicating the ratio of selecting cultivated plants was high. The names of plants on the drawings were mostly common names that did not appear in the Korea National Arboretum or the National Species List of Korea. It is necessary to use proper plant names in the future. Regarding the use of planting plants for ecological restoration, it is necessary to adopt the approach of diversifying selected plants, selecting plants according to characteristics of climate zones, and lowering the specifications of plants used for ecological restoration. Moreover, it is important to fully understand the ecological characteristics of wetland plants and minimize the ratio of using cultivated plants to ensure the plant selection centered on wild plants.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.907-916
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of vegetation structure, vegetation succession, and species diversity of artificially planted Chamaecyparis obtusa (CO) stands. The study was carried out by performing vegetation survey for eight CO stands located in Jeollanam-do Province, Korea. Analysis on vegetation classification and ordinations of the stands was conducted using the data from the vegetation survey, and as a result, the stands were classified into five types of communities. Community I showed a considerably lower index of species diversity when compared to other communities because the canopy of the dominant CO was so highly dense that the low-height vegetation was not able to develop or the low-height vegetation almost disappeared due to elimination of weed trees. Meanwhile, the Community II - IV had relatively higher indices of species diversity because various native tree species mixed with the low-height vegetation and competed with each other in the understory and shrub layers to some degree of stability or in their early stage of vegetation development. Community V, lastly, showed higher use intensity as a recreational forest, thus developing simpler vegetation structure on account of artificial intervention. There was positive correlation between photosynthetically active radiation entering the forest floor, number of observed species and index of species diversity. Such characteristics of vegetation structure in CO stands are closely associated with forest management and prescription for planting reforestation, thinning, and brush cutting in the past. There was a slight difference in vegetation structure and species diversity by communities, based on rotation time of the vegetational succession, process of disturbance frequency and disturbance, development, and maturity by planting CO stands. However, when compared to natural forests, the CO stands showed simpler vegetation structure. Because artificial forests are vulnerable in ecosystem service with lower species diversity, a drive for ecological management is needed for such forests to change into healthy ecosystems that can display functions of public benefit.