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- P-ISSN2765-2203
- E-ISSN2765-2211
- KCI Candidate
Abstract
Among the 13 species of otters in the world, only one Eurasian otter (Lutra lutr) is found in South Korea. In the Korean Peninsula, otter pelts were historically valuable and expensive commodities used for international trade, and otters have long been poached as hunting animals. Recent rapid economic development in South Korea has increased habitat fragmentation and loss, creating a continuing threat to the natural environment. Otters live only in the area of rivers and streams as a family group and are territorial (linear habitat). Due to these limited conditions of otter habitat, the population size of otter is lower than that of onshore mammals. According to recent research, DNA analyses using microsatellite markers have shown that only approximately 7-21 otter individuals inhabit river systems for a length of 50-230 km. Korea's urban streams are associated with many threats that hinder otters from inhabiting them. Many areas around the urban streams are surrounded by high concrete riverbanks, and the risk of roadkill is also high. Nevertheless, ecological restoration projects in the urban rivers will contribute greatly to the stable inhabitation of otters. Detailed otter conservation strategies, such as the elimination of threat factors, improvement of habitat environment, and restoration of food resources and shelter, will provide a positive restoration effect on otter and river ecosystems as well.
Abstract
Nationalism can solidify national unity and ideology but sometimes causes conflicts in human societies. Interestingly, it affects tiger conservation as well. Collaborative efforts are imperative for tiger conservation due to their vast home ranges which cross political boundaries and the limited financial resources. However, tiger states have not shown substantial commitment to collaboration. The nationalism that is entrenched in tiger conservation provides a credible explanation for this passive collaboration among nations. One type of nationalism occurs within a country by favoring one particular subspecies over another. The other type of nationalism occurs when former range countries want tigers. Instead of contributing to saving tigers in current habitats, they are eager to bring tigers back to their political boundaries regardless of the tremendous financial resources required and the lower chance of success. Considering nationalism in tiger conservation, tigers, just like humans, may need a passport for a better chance to survive.
Abstract
Saxifraga hirculus is classified as a vulnerable plant species in Europe, and it is confined to base-rich flushes in the British uplands. However, a lack of available information about its conservation status hampers the development of adaptive strategies for its in-situ conservation, especially with respect to grazing. To assess the effectiveness of sheep grazing in maintaining viable populations of S. hirculus, we compared the community dynamics of the vegetation in a base-rich flush over 44 years in two plots: one sheep-grazed under business-as-usual sheep grazing densities and the other fenced to exclude grazing. The plots were established in 1972, and the abundances of all vascular plants, bryophytes, and litter were measured at six intervals until 2016. Our results showed that although the presence of S. hirculus was maintained in both plots over the 44 years, it declined and reached a minimum between 1995 and 2010, when it was close to extinction. Since 2013, Saxifraga has recovered only slightly. Interestingly, the S. hirculus response appeared to be independent of grazing treatment, but it mirrored wider changes in the vegetation composition and structure within the flush over the 44 years. These changes are similar to others reported in broader uplands that have been attributed to a combination of reduced nitrogen and sulfur deposition and global warming. Thus, the simple adaptive management approach of “just managing” sheep grazing appeared ineffectual for preserving the S. hirculus population. S. hirculus showed signs of recovery at the end of the study period within this base-rich flush.
Abstract
Understanding temporal variations in wildlife populations is a prerequisite for conservation planning of wide-ranging species such as tigers (Panthera tigris). We determined the temporal variation in abundance, population growth, and sex ratios at different age and sex stages for a tiger population in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, India from November 2007 to February 2011 using motion-sensing cameras. We identified 19 male and 21 female tigers from stripe patterns during 16,110 trap nights within an area covering 233 km2. The annual abundance of the population varied from 34.9 (mean)±3.8 (SE) to 23.9±1.5, with a declining trend in the mean annual change of abundance (−12%). The density of adult females remained stable across the study duration, but the densities of adult males and non- breeding tigers fluctuated. The sex ratio was female-biased (0.58 males/female) for breeding tigers and male-biased (1.74 males/female) for non-breeding tigers. Our results reinforce the importance of long-term studies for monitoring the naturally occurring processes in populations to develop population indicators and identify reliable baseline information for conservation and management planning of populations.
Abstract
The analysis of seven islands in Gogunsan archipelago, Korea with insect fauna and vascular plant flora was carried out based on a field survey conducted in May, July, and September. As a result, a total of 2,817 insect individuals including 264 species and 315 taxa of vascular plant were recorded. Bangchukdo the largest island among the seven islands showed the largest number both insect species and plant taxa. The similarity analysis suggested that the nearness of each island strongly affected the insect fauna and vascular plant flora on each island. In addition, there was significant correlation between the areas of each island and the numbers of insect species (Spearman’s correlation coefficient=0.857, P-value=0.014). In the future, the results of this study can be used as data related to island ecology and conservation.
Abstract
Most of the islands of Korea are distributed in the South and West Sea, and it consists of independent small stream. As a result, the fish community that inhabits the island's stream is isolated from the mainland and other island. This study utilized a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) and a random forest model to analyze the relationship between environmental variables and fish communities inhabiting islands in South Korea. Through the SOM analysis, the fish communities were divided into three clusters, and there were differences in biotic and abiotic factors between these groups. Cluster I consisted of sites with relatively larger island areas and a higher number of species and population. It was found that 15 out of 16 indicator species were included. Meanwhile, the remaining clusters had fewer species and populations. Cluster II, especially, showed the lowest impact from physical variables such as water width and depth. As a result of predicting the species richness using the random forest model, physical variables in habitats, such as stream width and water depth, had a relatively higher importance on species richness. On the other hand, forest area was the most important variables for predicting Shannon diversity, followed by maximum water depth, and gravel. The results suggest that this study can be used as basic data for establishing a stream ecosystem management strategy in terms of conservation and protection of biological resources in streams of islands.
Abstract
Natural habitats of the Korean long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) have been fragmented by anthropogenic activities in South Korea in the last decades. Here, the individual identity, genetic variation, and population differentiation of the endangered species were examined via the multiple-tube approach using a non-invasive genotyping method. The average number of alleles was 3.16 alleles/locus for the total population. The Yanggu population (1.66) showed relatively lower average number of alleles than the Inje population (3.67). Of the total 19 alleles, only seven (36.8%) alleles were shared by the two populations. Using five polymorphic out of six loci, four and six different goral individuals from the captive Yanggu (n=24) and the wild Inje (n=28) population were identified, respectively. The allele distribution was not identical between the two populations (Fisher’s exact test: P<0.01). A considerably low migration rate was detected between the two populations (no. of migrants after correction for size=0.294). Additionally, the F statistics results indicated significant population differentiation between them, however, quite low ( FST=0.327, P<0.01). The posterior probabilities indicated that the two populations originated from a single panmictic population (P=0.959) and the assignment test results designated all individuals to both populations with nearly equal likelihood. These could be resulted from moderate population differentiation between the populations. No significant evidence supported recent population bottleneck in the total Korean goral population. This study could provide us with useful population genetic information for conservation and management of the endangered species.’
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the water quality and fish community of the Gudam Wetland, a riverine wetland in the middle-upper reaches of the Nakdong River, during March-October 2020. The main results were as follows: average annual flow rate: 45.0±23.7 m3/s, flow velocity: 0.4±0.3 m/s, water depth: 1.4±0.4 m, water temperature: 17.5±0.8°C, pH: 7.8±0.2, electrical conductivity: 121.6±19.0 µs/cm, dissolved oxygen concentration: 11.4±0.9 mg/L, suspended solids concentration: 3.8±2.0 mg/L, and the water quality was classified as Ia (very good). A total of 754 individual fish belonging to 4 orders, 7 families, and 19 species were investigated. Cyprinidae was the dominant group, with 13 species. The dominant species was Zacco platypus (39.3%), followed by Pseudogobio esocinus (17.5%). There were 8 (42.1%) endemic Korean species and 1 exotic species, Micropterus salmoides. Four species were carnivores, six were insectivores, and nine were omnivores. Regarding tolerance to environmental changes, 6 species were tolerant, 11 had intermediate tolerance, and 2 were sensitive. Fish community analysis revealed dominance of 0.57, diversity of 2.04, evenness of 0.69, and richness of 2.72, indicating a diverse and stable fish community. The fish assessment index showed that the assessment class was B (average 62.5), which was higher than that of major streams of the Nakdong River (class C). For sustainable conservation of the Gudam Wetland, management strategies such as minimizing aggregate collection and preventing inflow of non-point pollutants are required.
