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- P-ISSN2765-2203
- E-ISSN2765-2211
- KCI Candidate
Abstract
To restore the Gold-spotted pond frog (Pelophylax chosenicus), a Korean endangered frog, 600 captive-reared individuals were reintroduced between August and September 2019 into an aquatic garden in the National Institute of Ecology where P. chosenicus had previously inhabited. After reintroduction, six post-release monitoring sessions were conducted from August 2019 to May 2020. Monitoring was performed using three methods (counting calls, observation, and capture) from sunset to midnight near release sites, eliminating potential threat factors. Snout-vent lengths and body weights of recaptured individuals were measured before they were released immediately. We noted that both snout-vent lengths and body weights of recaptured individuals were slightly higher than those before. The average recapture rate was 4.66%. Reintroduced frogs were recaptured at the last monitoring session conducted in May 2020, indicating that these reintroduced frogs hibernated during the winter successfully. We found that these reintroduced frogs successfully settled after release. This result will be useful for establishing management strategies for endangered frogs in Korea. Particularly, post-release monitoring could be an essential approach in the restoration program of a target species.
Abstract
The oriental stork (Ciconia boyciana) is listed as an endangered species internationally. Its resident population has been extirpated in South Korea since 1971. Its predicted historical habitat included forests (54%), rice paddy fields (28%), grasslands (17%), river-streams (less than 1%), and villages (less than 1%) based on pre-extirpation records in a previous study. However, habitat attributes of recently reintroduced oriental storks since 2015 remain unknown. To examine habitat use patterns and home ranges of recently reintroduced oriental storks, 2015-2017 tracking data of 17 individuals were used to analyze their spatial attributes with a Kernel Density Estimate method and breeding status. Their habitat use patterns from peripheral to core areas were highly associated with increasing rice paddy fields (26%) and decreasing forested areas (55%). Scale-dependent home ranges were 51% smaller for breeders than for non-breeders on average. Our study results highlight that the habitat use pattern of reintroduced oriental storks seems to be comparable to the historical pattern where the used area is likely to be more centralized for breeders than for non-breeders in South Korea. Furthermore, the direction of habitat management for oriental storks should focus on biodiversity improvement of rice paddy fields with chemical free cultivation and irrigation.
