Laos People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) is a country selected by Korea’s priority foreign policy – New Southern Policy. It is also one of Korea’s 24 priority partner countries. The objective of this study was to understand the current status of rice industry and recommendations for improving rice productivity in Laos based on “Agriculture Development Strategy to 2025 and Vision to the Year 2030” published by the Lao government. In Laos, major crops are rice, vegetables, maize, coffee, cassava, sugar cane, and others. Laos achieved rice self-sufficiency in 1999. Its rice production reached up to 3,580,000 tons in 2018. It aims to harvest a total of 5 million tons of paddy rice with a target yield of approx. 1.5 million tons in 2025. Rice consumption per capita totals 160 kg/year in Laos, the highest in the world. The national nutrient program sets its targets as follows: of 2,600 kcal, a recommended daily calorie intake for adults, it aims to lower rice and starch, while increasing calories from meat, vegetables, fat, and so on. This shows that the rice policy is formulated with consideration of improving health of people in Laos as well as boosting rice exports. Based on the agricultural policy and strategy of Laos, it is viewed that the rice industry in Laos can advance further and produce results only when rice industry is linked to the following areas: economic development, farm size expansion, higher productivity through novel varieties and cultivation technologies, scaling-up of agricultural mechanization, greater efficiency in processing, and infrastructure expansions such as roads and reservoirs. If an ODA (Official Development Assistance) project takes a tailored approach considering its actor-specific characters and tasks, it is believed that the project can contribute to the goal of securing sustainability for the rice industry.

아고산(sub-alpine)지역의 환경은 척박하고 서식처가 좁지만, 지구환경변화로 인한 북방계 식물의 피난처(refugia)로써 중요한 생태학적 가치를 가지는 지역이다. 한편 황병산(1,407m)은 백두대간보호구역으로 지역적·생태적 가치가 높은 지역이다. 현재 황병산 일대의 목장 및 관광객 유입으로 인하여 산지의 일부가 교란 되고 있어 보전대책 마련이 필요하다. 따라서 본 연구의 목적은 황병산 일대 보전 및 관리방안 마련을 위한 기초자료를 확립하는데 있다. 황병산 일대 해발 1,000m 이상의 지역을 대상으로 총 24개소의 원형방형구를 설치하여 임분조사를 실시하였다. 군집의 유형은 신갈나무-분비나무(군집 1), 신갈나무(군집 2), 분비나무(군집 3)로 분류되었다. 중요치 분석 결과 군집 1은 신갈나무(21.4), 분비나무(19.1), 당단풍나 무(8.2), 피나무(6.0) 등의 순으로 나타났으며, 군집 2 신갈나무(34.9), 분비나무(17.7), 피나무(10.2), 사스래나무(7.2) 등 그리고 군집 3은 분비나무 (40.0), 신갈나무(11.9), 당단풍나무(6.4), 피나무(6.4) 등의 순으로 나타났다. 황병산 분비나무림은 각 임상에 따른 모자이크형 패치형태의 군집구조로 나타나 향후 혼효임분의 동태를 파악하고, 각 우점 군집의 보전을 위하여 버퍼구역을 통한 보전대책 마련이 필요하다.

A diversification of external morphology and genital characteristics among conspecific animal populations that are geographically divided is particularly important to study the context of evolution and it is regarded as the early stage of allopatric speciation. The aim of the present study is to understand the morphological variations of Callipogon relictus Semenov from the three different populations (South Korea, China, Russia) in the Eastern Palaearctic region. A morphometric analysis was performed based on 87 selected external and internal characteristics from 95 specimens. As results of the present study, South Korean specimens shows remarkable morphological differences in genital characteristics compare to Russian ones. In Principal Component Analysis (PCA), South Korean and Russian populations are divided into two groups and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) analysis indicate that these two populations have significant differences in 14 morphometric characteristics.

본 연구는 능소화를 대상으로 화분형태 및 RAW264.7 대식세포에서의 세포생존에 미치는 영향을 조사하여 유해성 여부를 파악하고자 한다. 주사전자현미경을 이용한 화분 형태를 확인해 본 결과, 화분립 형태는 장구형이고 발아구의 형태는 3공구형이며 화분 표벽 (extine)은 망상의 형태이고 외부로 돌출된 돌기는 관찰되지 않았다. 능소화 70% MeOH 부위별 (꽃, 잎, 줄기) 추출물 및 화밀을 24, 48시간 동안 농도별 (10, 20, 50, 100 μg mL-1)로 RAW264.7 대식세포에 처리한 후 MTT assay로 측정하였다. 그 결과, 능소화 추출물 및 화밀을 농도별로 24시간 처리하였을 때 모든 농도에서 99.0% 이상의 세포생존율을 보여 세포독성은 나타나지 않았다. 48시간 처리하였을 때 꽃, 잎, 줄기 추출물은 50 μg mL-1농도 이하에서 세포독성은 나타나지 않았으나, 화밀의 경우 저농도인 10 μg mL-1부터 농도의존적으로 세포독성이 높아지는 것을 확인하였다.

The great part of the traditional knowledge on ethnobotanical plants and their uses is gradually vanishing due to industrialization, therefore ethnobotanical studies that explore and preserve the knowledge are in urgent needed before the knowledge are lost ever. This study was conducted to record and conserve the traditional knowledge of botanical taxa in Korea from 2006 to 2014. According to the survey results, derived from 17,328 sheets of 1,771 residents at 868 places, the ethnobotanical plants in Korea consisted of a total 924 taxa; 130 families, 493 genera, 813 species, 7 subspecies, 92 varieties and 12 form. Of them, herbs were 619 taxa (67.0%) and woody plants were 305 taxa (33.0%). 707 taxa (76.5%) out of 924 taxa grow wild, 44 taxa (4.8%) were cultivated wild species, 145 taxa (15.7%) were introduced for cultivation, and 28 taxa (3.0%) were naturalized plants. The analysis of usage for 924 taxa showed that the edible use was the highest with 58.9%, followed by medicinal with 26.9%, material with 3.7% and ornamental with 2.3%, respectively. The leaf of plant was the most useful part, followed by stem and root. Quantitative analysis of the ethnobotanical plants in Korea was performed by the basic values of FC, NU and UR, and indices of CI, RFC, RI and CV. As a result, The CI place Artemisia princeps in first position, followed by Aster scaber, Kalopanax septemlobus. The RFC place A. scaber in first position, followed by A. princeps, Aralia elata. The RI place A. princeps in first position, followed by Pinus densiflora, Morus alba. The CV place A. princeps in first position, followed by P. densiflora, K. septemlobus.

Juniperus chinensis (Cupressaceae) is a valuable woody plant resource, but this rare plant is only distributed in restricted regions in Korea. In this study, we surveyed the geographic distribution regions, variation of sex ratio and the dynamics of natural populations of J. chinensis. in order to establish conservation strategies for the sustainable conservation of this important resource tree. The 17 natural populations of J. chinensis are restrictively distributed in the shore cliffs of (1) Ulleungdo island, (2) Gyeongju-si to Gangneung-si of the eastern coast, the riverside cliff along (3) Donggang-river of Jungsun-gun and Pyeongchang-gun and (4) branch of Nakdonggang-river in Uiseong-gun. The populations in Ulleungdo island showed continuous population distribution of over 200 individuals, but populations in other regions had discontinuous population distribution of under 200. The population of J. chinensis surveyed in Korea was estimated in ca. 3,200 individuals. The sex ratio (male/female) among populations of J. chinensis was diverse with variation from 0.46~1.67 range, but showed no significance. The sex ratio of the total individuals by species level was 0.74, and the percentage of female tree was significantly higher than the male. The results of dynamics analysis within population among regions showed that seedlings and saplings of J. chinensis in three regions surveyed were continuously regenerating. The distribution of DBH class showed a stable population structure of inverse J shape graph, but fragmentation and decrease in populations because of invading broad-leaved shrubs and trees from the surroundings were concerned. Further studies, and in situ and ex situ conservation strategies for the sustainable conservation on natural populations of this rare resources woody plant, J. chinensis in Korea are recommended.