Many changes in the scale and structure of the Korean rice cropping system have been made over the past few decades. Still, insufficient research has been conducted on the sustainability of this system. This study analyzed changes in the Korean rice cropping system’s sustainability from a system ecology perspective using an emergy approach. For this purpose, an emergy table was created for the Korean rice cropping system in 2011, 2016, and 202, and an emergy-based indicator analysis was performed. The emergy analysis showed that the total emergy input to the rice cropping system decreased from 10,744E+18 sej year-1 to 8,342E+18 sej year-1 due to decreases in paddy field areas from 2011 to 2021, and the proportion of renewable resources decreased by 1.4%. The emergy input per area (ha) was found to have decreased from 13.13E+15 sej ha-1 year-1 in 2011 to 11.89E+15 sej ha-1 year-1 in 2021, and the leading cause was a decrease in nitrogen fertilizer usage and working hours. The amount of emergy used to grow 1 g of rice stayed the same between 2016 and 2021 (specific emergy: 13.3E+09 sej g-1), but the sustainability of the rice cropping system (emergy sustainability index, ESI) continued to decrease (2011: 0.107, 2016: 0.088, and 2021: 0.086). This study provides quantitative information on the emergy input structure and characteristics of Korean rice cropping systems. The results of this study can be used as a valuable reference in establishing measures to improve the ecological sustainability of the Korean rice cropping system.

1. 서 론
2. 재료 및 방법
    2.1. 연구 대상 시스템
    2.2. Emergy 분석
    2.3. 연구 자료
3. 결 과
    3.1. Rice cropping system에 투입된 총 에머지
    3.2. Rice cropping system의 면적당 투입된에머지 분석
    3.3. Emergy-based indices 비교
4. 고 찰
    4.1. 에머지 분석 결과
    4.2. 지속가능성의 변화
    4.3. 한계점 및 향후 연구 방향
5. 결 론
적 요
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Declaration of Competing Interest
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES

• 김용은(고려대학교 오정리질리언스연구원) | Yongeun Kim (Ojeong Resilience Institute, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea)
• 이민영(울산과학기술원 생명과학과) | Minyoung Lee (Department of Biological Sciences, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea)
• 홍진솔(고려대학교 오정리질리언스연구원) | Jinsol Hong (Ojeong Resilience Institute, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea)
• 이윤식(부산대학교 생물교육과) | Yun-Sik Lee (Department of Biology Education, College of Education, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea)
• 위준(고려대학교 오정리질리언스연구원) | June Wee (Ojeong Resilience Institute, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea)
• 송재준(고려대학교 환경생태공학과) | Jaejun Song (Department of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea)
• 조기종(고려대학교 환경생태공학과) | Kijong Cho (Department of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea) Corresponding author