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- P-ISSN2765-2203
- E-ISSN2765-2211
- KCI Candidate
Abstract
Two unrecorded fungi, Diaporthe perseae and Fusarium falciforme, were isolated from soil sampled from Dokdo in Korea. There have been many reports of Diaporthe sp. and Fusarium sp. in mainland Korea but none of them have reported in Dokdo so far. We used the morphological features and two molecular markers including the internal transcribed spacer and translation elongation factor 1-α region to compare and analyze these species with the closely related taxa. As a result, we confirmed that these fungi were unrecorded soil fungi in Korea. Then, the cultural and morphological characteristics such as the conidia of these two fungal species could be clarified. These results are expected to help us to understand the distribution of fungi in Dokdo and manage the Dokdo Island Natural Reserve.
Abstract
Most of ants seem to be beneficial, whereas some of them are annoying or harmful. Among harmful creatures red imported fire ants have been notorious for not only destroying farm plants and domestic animals but also biting and killing human beings. The red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren and Solenopsis richiteri Forel, will feed on the buds and fruits of numerous crop plants. Large nests located in fields interfere with and damage equipment during cultivation and harvesting. They respond rapidly and aggressively to disturbances, and ant attacks inhibit field worker activities. A single fire can sting its target repeatedly. Young and newborn animals as well as humans are especially susceptible to the stings’ venom. These pests can damage the environment by displacing native ant species and reducing food sources for wildlife. In Korea Solenopsis invicta Buren were found for the first time in Busan Gamman port in 2017. Then they were found in Incheon port, Pyongtaek port, North Daegu, Ansan in 2018 and Gwangyang in 2021. Once they invaded and occupied the terrestrial area, we have no proper solution to prevent them. I can assume that they have been successfully enlarging their colonies toward inland since they can move freely by flight. Therefore, I strongly suggest that we need to study ants in order not only to control harmful ants properly but also to preserve and use beneficial ants in this country.
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
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
The Chinese crested tern (Thalasseus bersteini) is one of the most globally endangered species, listed as “Critically Endangered (CE)” on the IUCN Red List, with only approximately 30-49 individuals surviving in the wild. Chinese crested terns were discovered to breed in South Korea for the first time in 2016 while conducting a census on uninhabited islands. The Ministry of Environment has declared the breeding habitat of the Chinese crested terns as “Specified Island” to protect this CE species. However, brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) inhabiting the breeding grounds of the Chinese crested terns and Black-tailed gulls may potentially pose a threat to the breeding of these avian species. Therefore, we conducted a study on the feeding behavior of brown rats involving stable isotope analysis to determine their food sources. Fecal analysis showed that brown rats mainly fed on plants, whereas they scarcely fed on animals, such as insects. In addition, the stable isotope analysis showed that the δ13C values of brown rats, insects, and Indian goosegrasses were approximately –16 to –11‰, whereas the δ13C value of Chinese crested terns that obtained their food from the marine ecosystem was approximately –22 to –18‰. Hence, we conclude that the source of carbon for brown rats on this island is the terrestrial ecosystem. We ruled out the possibility of any direct prey– predator interaction between the brown rat and the Chinese crested tern or Black-tailed gull.
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
This study was conducted from March 2018 to December 2019 to identify bird diversity and environmental correlates within the Mulchat-oream wetlands in the Jeju Islands of South Korea. A total of 255 individual belonging to 37 species were recorded form Mulchat-oream. The observation produced a species diversity of 3.14, species richness of 6.54 and species evenness of 0.88 in 2018, and in 2019, the observed species diversity was 3.02, species richness was 6.56 and species evenness was 0.84. The highly dominant species are composed of Passeriformes. The absence of diverse submerged plants, deep water depth and isolated geographical locations makes difficult for aquatic birds to prefer this area, and this has resulted in the dominance of Passeriformes. The appearance of the birds was the lowest in the winter and highest during the summer. The analysis showed that the species richness and evenness increased with an increase in temperature and precipitation. However, the number of species appearing during Mulchat-oream significantly dependent on the temperature ( <0.001, df=2). To date, there has been little research on bird diversity together with environmental factors for the Hallasan National Park. This study shows the environmental factors and seasonal patterns that affect bird population.
Abstract
DNA markers have been studied and used intensively to identify plant species based on molecular approaches. The genus Medicago belongs to the family Fabaceae and contains 87 species distributed from the Mediterranean to central Asia. Five species of Medicago are known to be distributed in South Korea; however, their morphological characteristics alone cannot distinguish the species. In this study, we analyzed the phylogenetic relationships using collected five species of Medicago from South Korea and 44 taxa nucleotide information from NCBI. The constructed phylogenetic tree using gibberellin 3-oxidase 1 and tRNALys (UUU) to maturase K gene sequences showed the monophyly of the genus Medicago, with five species each forming a single clade. These results suggest that there are five species of Medicago distributed in South Korea. In addition, we designed polymerase chain reaction primers for species-specific detection of Medicago by comparing the plastid sequences. The accuracy of the designed primer pairs was confirmed for each Medicago species. The findings of this study provide efficient and novel species identification methods for Medicago, which will assist in the identification of wild plants for the management of alien species and living modified organisms.
Abstract
The trade-off between morphology and physical function may vary according to ecological traits. Taking a quantitative approach, we attempted to analyze the differences in the skeletal shape of the lower body and limbs in relation to the ecological traits of four anuran species (Dryophytes japonicas, Glandirana rugose, Pelophylax nigromaculatus, and Lithobates catesbeianus) occurring in South Korea. Body size, locomotor mode, microhabitat, trophic positions, and predator defense mechanisms were selected for the ecological traits of the anurans. The pelvis, ilium, and urostyle, which are associated with locomotor performance, were selected for the skeletal shape of the lower body. The ratio of limbs, which is related to locomotor mode and microhabitat, was confirmed by analyzing the skeletons of the forelimbs (radio-ulnar and humerus) and hindlimbs (femur and tibiofibular). Both landmark-based geometric morphometrics and traditional methods were used for skeletal shape comparison. The skeletal shape of the lower body was completely different among the four species, whereas the ratio of the limbs was only different in D. japonicas. The skeletal shape of the lower body may be related to body mass and predator defense mechanisms, whereas the ratio of the limbs was related to the locomotor mode and microhabitat. Quantifying these morphological differences among various species can help elucidate the mechanisms of behavioral and morphological changes in response to ecological effects.
Abstract
To present the spatial variation of fish assemblages in the Geum River in Korea, the concept of beta diversity (β-diversity) estimates based on the variance of the community data table was applied. Fish communities and environmental variables were collected from 13 sampling sites along the in mid-low reaches of the River. We calculated the β-diversity and local contribution to beta diversity (LCBD) values at each site depending on the two types of data, ‘occurrence’ with Jaccard and Sørensen dissimilarity coefficients, and ‘abundance’ with Hellinger distance. Multivariate and correlation analyses were also performed to determine the relationships between LCBD and other variables, such as community indices and physicochemical and hydrological factors. The β-diversity values of fish communities in the River were estimated as 0.218 and 0.145 for occurrence data table with Jaccard and Sørensen respectively, and 0.268 for abundance data. Similar patterns of LCBD along the sampling sites were detected in two dissimilarity measurements of occurrence table, and LCBD values with abundance data were slightly different. The LCBD values are strongly correlated with community indices, and also suitable for indicating the uniqueness of fish assemblages. However, further research is needed to determine the LCBD value as an indicator of environmental variability.
