Earth’s average temperature has risen by 0.78°C over the past century, and is projected to rise another 1.1 to 6.4°C over the next hundred years based on recent announced RCP8.5 climate change scenario. Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in biosphere. Based on climate change scenario, local distribution of well-known species should be changed in near future. Models, if applied appropriately, give useful and rapid predictions of the potential distribution of the target species. CLIMEX is one of modeling systems that may provide insights into the climatic factors that limit the geographical distribution of a species in different parts. Climatic parameters and the climate matching function of CLIMEX enable the risks of an exotic species as well as well-known species to be assessed by directly comparing the climatic condition of a given location with any number of other locations without knowing the full distribution of a species. However, CLIMEX supports only three locations in Korea (Seoul, Pusan and Kangnung province). We generated detail weather database of Korea for CLIMEX, and simulated using the data of American serpentine leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess), a key pest and well-known species in Korea for application of future risk assessment under possible climate change condition in Korea.

Population dynamics of maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais, and their parasitoids Anisopteromalus calandrae were examined while considering the spatio-temporal interactions using population modelling as a tool. The modelling of two species host-parasitoid systems identified the some factors concerning the long-term dynamics of interacting populations. In the single host system, the total density of S. zeamais increased exponentially and reached a saturated, asymptotic level with time. This stabilization in the density could be explained by the spatio-temporal dynamics among the patches. S. zeamais disperses continuously from patches of high density to those of low density. This density-dependent dispersal could be one of the mechanisms for stabilizing the S. zeamais population density. In the S. zeamais-A. calandrae system, both populations showed long-term coexistence. The long term coexistence could be attributed to spatio-temporal interactions of S. zeamais and A. calandrae resulted from dispersal of host and a non-random searching behavior of the parasitoid. Because such spatio-temporal variation in population dynamics, the overall host-parasitoid system may have been in a stable state, although the local population system in each patch was unstable.

Recently, an integrated approach in insect ecology that including development of biological models and estimation of various effects using a logical model has become important. Through the biological components of ecosystem having complex temporal and spatial patterns, and complicated interactions of biotic and abiotic factors, dynamic models can be useful tools to investigate the whole ecosystems. Pollutants in terrestrial ecosystem can be transferred to insect body through insect’s sucking plant tissue, and effect on their biological properties. Trend of pollutants transfer from soil to plant root can be estimated using free ion activity model (FIAM), and distribution and accumulation in plant parts can be described by dynamic model with water potential, water translocation, and transfer rate. Biological response of plant and insect can be illustrated the dynamics model based on experiment data. The combination of these models show an overall behavior of toxicant and the interaction between plant and insect with time. The objectives of the research are to comprehensively analyze the transfer and effects of pollutant in soil, plant and insect system and to develop the assessment technique for soil ecosystem using dynamic modelling concerning the causal relationship and feedback processes. We are aimed specifically at prediction and assessment of various polluting scenarios of soil ecosystem through data collection from laboratory and field investigation, modelling and evaluation using module software programing.

Spatial association of entomopathogenic and free-living nematode populations were analyzed at the landscape scale. Free-living nematodes were classified into functional guilds based on their trophic level (i.e. bacterivores, carnivores, fungivores, and omnivores) and life history characteristics (i.e. r-selected colonizing versus K-selected persisting species) in the soil ecosystem. Differences in life history traits were hypothesized to result in different spatial associations of populations. Spatial aggregation indices were calculated for each nematode group. Spatial associations were analyzed and compared for entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) and each trophic/life history group of free-living nematodes based on spatial analysis of distance indices (SADIE). Spatial aggregation indices (Ia) revealed that taxa with more K-selected persisting life history were less aggregated in their habitat, whereas more r-selected colonizer life history types showed more aggregation. Spatial aggregation index of EPN populations was similar to that of relatively r-selected colonizer type free-living nematodes, which share several life history traits including high reproductive rates and insect phoresy. There were substantial spatial associations between EPN and r-selected colonizer life history free-living nematode taxa.

Terrestrial toxic effects of soil arsenate were studied using a model system consisting of Capsicum annum, Myzus persicae, Aphidus colemani. We investigated the transfer of arsenic from soil to aphid and toxic effect of elevated arsenic on each trophic level. Artificial soil was treated with arsenate at 0, 2 and 6 mg/kg, then arsenic concentration of soil, plant tissues (root, stem, leaf) aphids were measured to observe the arsenic transfer. Toxic effects of elevated arsenic concentrations on each species were investigated at population level. Physiological and biochemical responses of plant and aphid were observed. In addition, enzyme activities against reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by arsenic stress were also investigated. Host choice capacity and parasitism success of the parasitoids were examined. The results suggest that arsenic concentration in plant tissues and aphids were elevated with increased concentration of arsenic in soils. Physiological responses of plants were not affected by soil arsenic but there was change of biochemical responses. Decreased fecundity and honeydew excretion of aphids were observed, elevated activity of antioxidant enzymes indicated that aphids received the ROS stress induced by arsenic. Decreased eclosion rate of parasitoids were observed with increased arsenic treatment in soil. The results showed low concentration of arsenic in soil can transfer through food chain and can impact on higher trophic level species.

Effects of environmental stressors such as pollutants and anthropogenic perturbance on the health of aquatic/terrestrial ecosystems usually involve a series of biological responses ranging from the biomarkers to the individual, population and community levels. Extrapolation is the use of existing information for the prediction of events in another situation that is biologically different from that where the existing information was gathered. To establish relationships and to determine the feasibility of extrapolating between higher and lower levels of biological organization, temporal or spatial patterns in organism responses to contaminant Invertebrates are widely regarded as powerful monitoring tools in environmental management because of their great abundance, diversity and functional importance, their sensitivity to perturbation, and the ease with which they can be sampled loading have been studied with various living organisms and ecosystems. By identifying and establishing relationships between levels of biological organization of invertebrates we should be better able to understand the mechanisms of stress responses in ecological systems that could ultimately result in improved predictive capability of ecological risk assessment and also allow for more informed decisions regarding remedial actions.

The use of aquatic species in ecotoxicity research is well established in developed countries. However there are limitations of using the species that are not native to Korea, and the toxicity data produced by domestic test species are significantly needed to reflect the domestic situation. In this study, the applicability of 3 kinds of native species, Chironomus yoshimatsui Martin et Sublette, Ephemera orientalis McLachlan and Heterocypris incongruens Ramdohr, as aquatic toxicity test species was studied. Also, the integration method of each species response to various industrial effluent and surface water was developed. In ecotoxicological researches using macro invertebrates, temperature is one of the most important toxicity-modifying factors, and temperature effect is species specific. Besides temperature effect, there are other physico-chemical factors that can affect test organisms, such as pH, water hardness and dissolved organic matter. The ideal test species for freshwater quality assessment is very sensitive to various pollutant but resistant to wide ranges of physico-chemical properties of environmental media. Behaviour is the cumulative interaction of a variety of biotic and abiotic factors that represents the animal′s response to internal and external factors and relates one organism to another. So, it is a major mechanism by which animals adapt to changes in their environment, including exposure to contaminants. Despite the importance of behavioral ecotoxicological test, there are few researches to assess the quality of freshwater and its sediment, in part due to the difficulties to obtain detailed quantitative data. This study shows the potentiality of behavioral test for water quality assessment using burrowing behavior of midge species exposed to several heavy metals. Finally, we propose a method which integrates each test into one concise and useful index and can be applied to various field water.

Population dynamics of American serpentine leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii, were modeled and simulated to compare the temperature effects of air and tomato leaf inside greenhouse using DYMEX model simulator. The DYMEX model simulator consisted of series of modules with the parameters of temperature dependent development and oviposition model of L. trifolii from pre-published data. Leaf surface temperature of cherry tomato leafs was monitored according to three tomato plant positions using an infrared temperature gun. Air temperature was monitored at same three positions using a self-contained temperature logger. Data sets of observed air temperature and average leaf surface temperatures were prepared, and incorporated into DYMEX simulator to compare the effects of air and leaf surface temperature on population dynamics of L. trifolii. The number of L. trifolii larvae was counted by visual inspection in tomato plants to verify the performance of DYMEX simulation. The egg, pupa, and adult stage of L. trifolii were not counted due to its availability of visual inspection. Based on correlation analysis, L. trifolii was affected greatly by the leaf temperatures, rather than air temperatures.

We evaluated the effect of water pH (6, 7, 8 and 9) and hardness (40mg/L and 160mg/L as CaCO3) on the growth of H. incongruens. Both water pH and hardness affected the growth parameter of H. incongruens such as head capsule width and maturity time. The head capsule width of the adults in the highest ph condition was 9.7% increased compared to the lowest ph condition. The maximum difference of the maturity time was 192 hours among the test conditions. Overall, as water ph level increase makes head capsule size of the test animal large, the inter-molt period and maturity time become shorter significantly. The effect of water hardness increasing showed a similar tendency with ph level. Especially, the difference of the growth parameter among the test conditions was increased by growing test animal. There are strong correlation between available amount of intake calcium and growth parameters of test animal. These results indicate that because of calcium demand for growth, water pH level and hardness are the important effect factor in life-cycle of the H. incongruens..

Population dynamics of greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, were modeled and simulated to compare the temperature effects of air and tomato leaf inside greenhouse using DYMEX model simulator. The population phenology model of T. vaporariorum was developed and simulated. Leaf temperature on reversed side of cherry tomato leafs was monitored according to three tomato plant positions (top, >1.6m above the ground level; middle, 0.9 - 1.2m; bottom, 0.3 - 0.5m) using an infrared temperature gun. Air temperature was monitored at same three positions using a temperature logger. The leaf temperatures from three plant positions were described as a function of the air temperatures. The number of T. vaporariorum immatures was counted by visual inspection in three positions to verify the performance of DYMEX simulation. A significant positive correlation between the observed and the predicted numbers of immature and adults was found when the leaf temperatures were incorporated into DYMEX simulation, but no significant correlation was observed with air temperatures. This study demonstrated that the population dynamics of T. vaporariorum was affected greatly by the leaf temperatures, rather than air temperatures in cherry tomato greenhouses. This work was supported by Development of field-oriented model for forecasting outbreak of diseases or insect pests based on GIS and IT Program (R1003852) from Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

In this study, the toxic effects of fenoxycarb on biological traits of nontarger arthropod P. rosea, Collembola. The tests were assessed in the OECD artificial soil under two different exposure condtions, one was exposed in the bulk soil, and the other was exposed in the compacted soil which unidirectional force was applied to the soil surface. In the bulk system, survived adults and hatched juveniles were counted after 28-day exposures, and in the compact system, survived adults, eggs, hatched juveniles and molts were counted everyday until no more hatching. The toxic effect of fenoxycarb on survival and juvenile production of P. rosea in the bulk system was more toxic than that of the compact system. Juveniles and eggs were seriously affected as compared with toxic effect for adults. Particularly, toxic effect on hatching rate (3.75 mg/kg EC50juvenile) were very higher than that on oviposition (200.868 mg/kg EC50egg) or survival rate of adults ( >1200 mg/kg LC50). The molting freauency of P. rosea was decreased in a concentration dependent manner. These results suggest that the IGRs fenoxycarb exhibit significant impacts on the biological traits of non-target organisms P. rosea and its toxic effects are differently assessed depending on the exposure conditions.

Pesticide application pattern for agricultural insect pest was modeled and simulated by temperature change scenarios using DYMEX simulator. For modeling pesticide application pattern, we evaluated bioassay using two-spotted spider mites (TSSM) in vitro. Four separated bioassay was evaluated at four different temperature conditions (20, 25, 30, and 35℃). Selected four commercial pesticides were Acrinathrin-Spiromesifen mixture, Fenpropathrin, Abamectin, and Azocyclotin, respectively. All the pesticide was used its recommended dose, except Abamectin (1/10 of recommended dose). Each mortality of TSSM were counted after 24 and 48 hours. Based on the bioassay results, increasing temperature made decreasing mortality in Acrinathrin-Spiromesifen mixture and Fenpropathrin, whereas increasing mortality in Abamectin and Azocyclotin, respectively. A TSSM model was developed and simulated under four temperature increasing scenarios (present condition, average 1, 2, and 3℃ increased conditions) using DYMEX simulator. The DYMEX results showed that the pesticides application pattern were different among four pesticides under climate change scenario. In conclusion, the pesticide application should be changed for sound management of agricultural insect pest under climate change scenario.

Proteomics may help to detect subtle pollution-related changes, such as responses to mixture pollution at low concentrations, where clear signs of toxicity are absent. Also proteomics provide potential in the discovery of new sensitive biomarkers for environmental pollution. We utilized SELDI-TOF MS (surface enhanced laser desorption. / ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry) to analyze the proteomic profile of Heterocypris incongruens exposed to several heavy metals (lead, mercury, copper, cadmium and chromium) and pesticides (emamectin benzoate, endosulfan, cypermethrin, mancozeb and paraquat dichloride). Several highly significant biomarkers were selected to make a model of classification analysis. data sets obtained from H. incongruens exposed to pollutants were investigated for differential protein expression by SELDI-TOF MS and decision tree classification. Decision tree model was developed with training set, and then validated with test set from profiling data of H. incongruens. Machine learning techniques provide a promising approach to process the information from mass spectrometry data. Even thought the identification of protein would be ideal, class discrimination does not need it. In the future, this decision tree model would be validated with various levels of pollutants to apply field samples.

This study was conducted to examine the potential of surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) to screen Tetranychus urticae resistance to pyridaben and dicofol. T. urticae is one of the most important pests in greenhouse and orchard, and huge expense is needed to control because of its strong resistance to acaricides. Consequently speedy and accurate monitoring of acaricidal resistance is the key factor of IPM for T. urticae. SELDI-TOF MS is a novel approach to biomarker discovery that combines two powerful techniques: chromatography and mass spectrometry. It can provide a rapid protein expression profile of acaricidal sensitive and resistant T. urticae. In this study we had different protein and peptide patterns between sensitive and resistant strains to pyridaben and dicofol. In the future this results could be a useful data to develop a good monitoring tool of site and host specific mite resistance to various acaricides.

The use of insect growth regulators (IGRs) has been gaining popularity as an environmentally friendly option to improve existing integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. Although IGRs have a selective effect on target organisms, they may exert a more selective effect on non-target organisms. In this study, the toxic effects of teflubenzuron on biological traits of P. rosea, Collembola, were assessed in the OECD artificial soil under two different exposure conditions, one was exposed in the bulk soil, and the other was exposed in the compacted soil which unidirectional force was applied to the soil surface. After 28 days of exposure, the toxicity of teflubenzuron on the survival and juvenile production of P. rosea in the bulk system was more toxic than that of the compact system. Moreover, not only the egg production but also the hatching rate and molting frequency of P. roseas was decreased in a concentration dependent manner. These results suggest that the IGRs teflubenzuron exhibit significant impacts on the biological traits of non-target organisms P. rosea and its toxic effects are differently assessed depending on the exposure conditions.

Soil contamination can be one path for stream and groundwater contamination. In this study, the toxicity of soils sampled in the vicinity of the abandoned mine located in the Gyeonggi province was evaluated using freshwater organisms Heterocypris incongruens. Two different exposure scenarios, one is in the aqueous only exposure, and the other is in the aqueous + soil exposure. The seven different soil samples were tested depending on the contamination level; reference (1 soil), moderately contaminated (4 soils) and highly contaminated (2 soils). In the toxicity tests, H. incongruens were exposed to water extracts (aqueous only exposure) and soils (aqueous + soil exposure) which were serially two-fold diluted with either EPA moderate hardwater or clean sand, respectively. After 6 days of exposure, no significant impact on the survival was found in the both systems for reference soil, while only significant impact was found in the aqueous + soil system for moderately contaminated soil. And the survival of H. incongruens was dramatically decreased with decreasing dilution series for highly contaminated soils. Interestingly, the toxicity of aqueous + soil system was higher than that of aqueous only system, implying the exposure of chemicals to H. incongruens may be a consequence of its foraging behavior onto the surface of sediment. From the results of this study, the freshwater organism H. incongruens can be used as surrogate test species to assess the soil contamination.

Sedimentation of soil particles in water is perhaps the most significant pathway to contamination of aquatic ecosystems. In this scenario, the use of freshwater organisms for assessing sediment toxicity will be considered more ecologically relevant than tests that use aqueous soil extracts. To evaluate the toxicity of soils sampled in the vicinity of the abandoned mine located in the Gyeonggi province, Daphnia magna were exposed to a 1:4 of soil to water which soil samples were serially two-fold serially diluted with clean sand to concentrations ranging from 6.25 to 100 % % (w/w) for 24- and 48-h. Irrespective of exposure time, the survival of D. magna for reference soil was not decreased, while the survival of D. magna showed high sensitivity to the soils with moderate as well as high metal concentrations. Moreover, the heavy metal concentrations in the water samples increased with increasing the heavy metal concentrations in the soils, which indicates the increased sensitivity is the consequences of the bioavailable fraction of contaminants in soils. These results clearly showed that the freshwater organism D. magna can be used as test species to assess the potential impact of soil contaminants into aquatic ecosystems.

two different sizes of yellow sticky traps (small trap: 9.6×8.0cm; large trap: 9.6×16cm) for sampling greenhouse whitefly (GHWF), Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), adults in four commercial cherry tomato greenhouses. The patch size of GHWF immatures between plants was also estimated using visual counts. Two variogram models were fitted to the empirical variograms developed from the data collected by each sampling method. All the variograms reached the sill indicating the presence of spatial dependence among the spatial data obtained by the two sampling methods. For GHWF adults on sticky traps the range of variogram (a measure of attractive distance) was not different between the two trap sizes. This result indicated that the attractive distances of the two different yellow sticky traps were very similar. The ranges of the variograms for the visual count of immatures on plants were always less than those for adults, indicating that the attractive distance of the traps for GHWF adults extends beyond the patch size for immatures on cherry tomato plants. These data have implications for developing sampling plans for the management of GHWF in tomato greenhouses.

Biological control of greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum in greenhouse tomatoes with the parasitoid Encarsia formosa has been evaluated in Korea. However implementation of biological control program is retarded due to the reasons that lacks of site specific strategies. Aims of the present research are: (1) To develop an effective biological control method of the whitefly in tomato plants; the following were studied: (a) development of proper introduction rate of parasitoid, E. formosa, for the control of whiteflies, and (b) development of the effective control method of American serpentine leafminers with a parasitoid, Diglyphus isaea. (2) To build a computer-simulation model in which all factors are incorporated which have been studied in the relationship between whitefly and the parasitoid. The computer-simulation models would be used to estimate the effect of future developments in the greenhouse industry on the biological control of the greenhouse whitefly using E. formosa. More general goals are to develop reliable evaluation techniques to test the pest-control ability of natural enemies prior to their use in practical situations and to determine which role simulation models may play in estimating the results of biological control in new situations.

In recent, the ISO has suggested a new guideline by using an avoidance behavior of soil invertebrates for the use of screening tools in the evaluation of soil contamination. In this study, we used a collembolan, Paronychiurus kimi which is native to Korea, as a test species because of its ecological relevance to Korean soil. The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether the exposure time (24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h) and cadmium concentration (50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of dry soil) affect the avoidance behavior of P. kimi. Twenty collembolans were introduced to the center of the soil which divided into two sections; cadmium untreated soil was placed in one of the section, and the cadmium treated soil was placed in the opposite section. To minimize soil structural effect on the avoidance behavior, the both soils were compacted by applying unidirectional force to the soil surface. The avoidance behaviors of P. kimi were not significantly affected by cadmium concentrations after 24 and 48 h of exposure, but were significant after 72-120 h. There results showed that avoidance behavior appears to be a good endpoint for the use in evaluation of soil contamination with 72 h of exposure duration.