Food webs have received global attention as next-generation biomonitoring tools; however, it remains challenging because revealing trophic links between species is costly and laborious. Although a link-extrapolation method utilizing published trophic link data can address this difficulty, it has limitations when applied to construct food webs in domestic streams due to the lack of information on endemic species in global literature. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a link extrapolation-based food web model adapted to Korean stream ecosystems. We considered taxonomic similarity of predation and dominance of generalists in aquatic ecosystems, designing taxonomically higher-level matching methods: family matching for all fish (Family), endemic fish (Family-E), endemic fish playing the role of consumers (Family-EC), and resources (Family-ER). By adding the commonly used genus matching method (Genus) to these four matching methods, a total of five matching methods were used to construct 103 domestic food webs. Predictive power of both individual links and food web indices were evaluated by comparing constructed food webs with corresponding empirical food webs. Results showed that, in both evaluations, proposed methods tended to perform better than Genus in a data-poor environment. In particular, Family-E and Family-EC were the most effective matching methods. Our model addressed domestic data scarcity problems when using a link-extrapolation method. It offers opportunities to understand stream ecosystem food webs and may provide novel insights into biomonitoring.

Herbivorous insects can be exposed to soil contaminants via trophic transfer. To assess the effect of accumulated arsenate (As(V)) in host plants on aphids across generations, Myzus persicae were reared for several generations on pepper (Capsicum annuum) grown in soil treated with 0, 2, 4, and 6 mg of As(V) per kg. In the first generation, the body length of M. persicae significantly (p < 0.05) increased on As(V)-treated plants (μ = 1.29 mm) compared to untreated plants (μ = 1.21 mm). Aphids showed higher fecundity on plants treated with 2mg/kg of As(V) (15.3) compared to untreated ones (10.6), but it decreased again under the 4mg/kg (11.4) and 6mg/kg (11.2) treatments. When newborns were transferred to untreated plants after being reared on each treatment for two previous generations, they exhibited higher fecundity as their parents were treated with higher levels of As(V). While more research is needed to understand the unexpected beneficial effects, this study highlights the complex impacts of soil As(V) on aphid dynamics which span multiple generations.

Ecosystems provide various ecosystem services based on biodiversity. However, biodiversity is facing crises due to anthropogenic factors such as pollution, land use change, and climate change. Threats to biodiversity can significantly impact the provision and stability of ecosystem services, extending beyond simple species decline. To address threats to biodiversity, it is crucial to evaluate how anthropogenic factors affect not only biodiversity but also ecosystem services. This study aims to investigate the energy flux in a post-mining area based on the biodiversity of soil ecosystems and assess its suitability as an evaluation metric. It was observed that as the concentration of the primary pollutant, arsenic, increased, both the biomass of soil organisms and energy flux decreased. Furthermore, soil ecosystem multifunctionality may be negatively affected by pollution. These findings contribute to understanding the impact of pollution on soil ecosystem biodiversity and energy flux in post-mining areas and provide important information for more effective conservation and management of ecosystem services.

The ecosystem provides a diverse array of environmental conditions for organisms, and only those that are capable of successfully adapting to these conditions within their habitats can endure, thrive, and proliferate. Further, the environmental conditions within these habitats can significantly affect the bioavailability of chemicals that are introduced therein, thus resulting in varied adverse impacts on the organisms. The present study aims to evaluate the sensitivity of Yuukianura szeptyckii - a species adapted to riparian - to heavy metals following ISO guideline 11276, with the objective of assessing its potential as an indicator species for ecotoxicological evaluations in riparian habitats. The findings revealed that cadmium and copper both had significant toxic effects depending on their concentrations. For cadmium, the LC50 was 280 mg kg-1, EC50 was 66 mg kg-1, and NOEC and LOEC were 25 and 50 mg kg-1, respectively. For copper, the LC50 was 911 mg kg-1, EC50 was 151 mg kg-1, and LOEC was 50 mg kg-1. Comparative analysis with previous results for the international standard species Folsomia candida and the domestic standard species Allonychiurus kimi indicated that Y. szeptyckii exhibited even greater sensitivity to toxicity values. The adverse effects on survival and reproduction were closely associated with the influx concentration of heavy metals in their bodies. Altogether, the results suggest that Y. szeptyckii is a sensitive species for ecotoxicological assessments in riparian habitats, thus making it suitable as an indicator species, particularly in riparian ecosystems that are characterized by relatively high humidity conditions.

This study conducted an investigation into the effects of fruit type and cultivation practices (organic and conventional) on soil characteristics and soil arthropod communities within apple, blueberry, grape, peach, and pear orchards. The collection of soil arthropod communities was achieved through the utilization of pitfall traps, with concurrent measurements taken for soil moisture content, electrical conductivity, and temperature. The findings of this study unveiled substantial impacts attributed to fruit type and cultivation practices on soil characteristics. Specifically, within organic apple orchards, discernibly higher levels of soil moisture content, electrical conductivity, and temperature were observed when compared to their conventional counterparts. The investigation into soil arthropod communities yielded a total of 1,527 individuals, classified in to five phyla and 15 orders. The range of abundance, species richness, and diversity indices varied across conventional and organic orchards. Cultivation practices were found not to exert a significant influence on soil arthropod community characteristics. However, Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) analysis indicated a significant differentiation in soil arthropod community structure based on cultivation practices. This study underscores the importance of considering vegetation structure and environmental characteristics that may influence soil arthropod communities comprehensively when assessing the impact of cultivation practices on soil arthropods. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need to account for both the characteristics and structure of soil arthropod communities in understanding the implications of cultivation practices on these organisms.

The key to invasive pest management lies in preemptive action. However, most current research using species distribution models is conducted after an invasion has occurred. This study modeled the potential distribution of the globally notorious sweet potato pest, the sweet potato weevil (Cylas formicarius), that has not yet invaded Korea using MaxEnt. Using global occurrence data, bioclimatic variables, and topsoil characteristics, MaxEnt showed high explanatory power as both the training and test areas under the curve exceeded 0.9. Among the environmental variables used in this study, minimum temperature in the coldest month (BIO06), precipitation in the driest month (BIO14), mean diurnal range (BIO02), and bulk density (BDOD) were identified as key variables. The predicted global distribution showed high values in most countries where the species is currently present, with a significant potential invasion risk in most South American countries where C. formicarius is not yet present. In Korea, Jeju Island and the southwestern coasts of Jeollanam-do showed very high probabilities. The impact of climate change under shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios indicated an expansion along coasts as climate change progresses. By applying the 10th percentile minimum training presence rule, the potential area of occurrence was estimated at 1,439 km2 under current climate conditions and could expand up to 9,485 km2 under the SSP585 scenario. However, the model predicted that an inland invasion would not be serious. The results of this study suggest a need to focus on the risk of invasion in islands and coastal areas.

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.

Climate change and biological invasions are the greatest threats to biodiversity, agriculture, health and the global economy. Tomato leafminer(Tuta absoluta) (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is one of the most important threats to agriculture worldwide. This pest is characterized by rapid reproduction, strong dispersal ability, and highly overlapping of generations. Plants are damaged by direct feeding on leaves, stems, buds, calyces, young ripe fruits and by the invasion of secondary pathogens which enter through the wounds made by the pest. Since it invaded Spain in 2006, it has spread to Europe, the Mediterranean region, and, in 2010, to some countries in Central Asia and Southeast Asia. In East Asia, Tomato leafminer was first detected in China in Yili, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in 2017. There is a possibility that this pest will invade South Korea as well. This study provides this by the use of MaxEnt algorithm for modelling the potential geographical distribution of Tomato Leafminer in South Korea Using presence-only data.

Glyphosate, a worldwide most used herbicides, can have complex implications for terrestrial ecosystems, extending beyond its intended target, weed control. This study investigated the cascading effects of glyphosate application on both plant and collembolan communities. Our findings reveal that glyphosate application can reduce the richness of plant communities, and these effects can be pronounced in areas with low initial plant diversity. Furthermore, our results confirm that the fluctuations in plant community composition induced by glyphosate application can also impact the richness of collembolan communities. This research highlights the importance of considering both plant and invertebrate communities when assessing the impacts of herbicide use in agroecosystems.

The process of biological invasion is led by the dynamics of a population as a demographic and evolutionary unit. Spatial structure can affect the population dynamics, and it is worth being considered in research on biological invasion which is always accompanied by dispersal. Metapopulation theory is a representative approach to spatially structured populations, which is chiefly applied in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology despite the controversy about its definition. In this study, metapopulation was considered as a spatially structured population that includes at least one subpopulation with significant extinction probability. The early phase of the invasion is suitable to be analyzed in aspects of the metapopulation concept because the introduced population usually has a high extinction probability, and their ecological·genetic traits determining the invasiveness can be affected by the metapopulation structure. Although it is important in the explanation of the prediction of the invasion probability, the metapopulation concept is rarely used in ecological research about biological invasion in Korea. It is expected that applying the metapopulation theory can supply a more detailed investigation of the invasion process at the population level, which is relatively inadequate in Korea. In this study, a framework dividing the invasive metapopulation into long- and middle-distance scales by the relative distance of movement to the natural dispersal range of species is proposed to easily analyze the effect of a metapopulation in real cases. Increased understanding of the mechanisms underlying invasions and improved prediction of future invasion risk are expected with the metapopulation concept and this framework.

공간 샘플링은 공간모델링 연구에 활용되어 샘플링 비용을 줄이면서 모델링의 효율성을 높이는 역할을 한다. 농업분야에서는 기후변화 영향을 예측하고 평가하기 위한 고해상도 공간자료 기반 모델링에 대한 연구 수요가 빠르게 증가하고 있으며, 이에 따라 공간 샘플링의 필요성과 중요성이 증가하고 있다. 본 연구는 국내 농지 공간샘플링 연구를 통해 농업분야 기후변화연구의 공간자료 활용의 효율성을 제고하고자 하였다. 본 연구는 층화랜덤샘플링 을 기반으로 하였으며, 1 km 해상도의 농지 공간격자자료 모집단 (11,386개 격자)에 대해서 RCP 시나리오별 (RCP 4.5/8.5) 연대별 (2030/2050/2080년대) 공간샘플링을 설 계하였다. 국내 농지는 기상 및 토양 특성에 따라 계층화 되었으며, 샘플링 효율 극대화를 위해 최적 층화 및 샘플 배정 최적화를 수행하였다. 최적화는 작물수량, 온실가스 배출량, 해충 분포 확률을 포함하는 16개 목표 변수에 대해 주어진 정밀도 제한 내에서 샘플 수를 최소화하는 방향으로 진행되었다. 샘플링의 정밀도와 정확도 평가는 각각 변동계수 (CV)와 상대적 편향을 기반으로 하였다. 국내 농지 공간격자 모집단 계층화 및 샘플 배정 및 샘플 수 최적화 결과, 전체 농지는 5~21개 계층, 46~69개 샘플 수 수준에서 최적화되었다. 본 연구결과물들은 국내 농업시스템 대표 공간격자로써 널리 활용될 수 있을 것으로 기대된다. 또한, 기후변화 영향예측 공간모델링 연구들에 활용되어 샘플링 비용 및 계산 시간을 줄이면서도 모델의 효율성을 높이는 데에 기여할 수 있다.

Prediction of the behavior of heavy metals over time is important to evaluate the heavy metal toxicity in algae species. Various modeling studies have been well established, but there is a need for an improved model for predicting the chronic effects of metals on algae species to combine the metal kinetics and biological response of algal cells. In this study, a kinetic dynamics model was developed to predict the copper behavior (5 μg L-1, 10 μg L-1, and 15 μg L-1) for two freshwater algae (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Chlorella vulgaris) in the chronic exposure experiments (8 d and 21 d). In the experimental observations, the rapid change in copper mass between the solutions, extracellular and intracellular sites occurred within initial exposure periods, and then it was slower although the algal density changed with time. Our model showed a good agreement with the measured copper mass in each part for all tested conditions with an elapsed time (R 2 for P. subcapitata: 0.928, R 2 for C. vulgaris: 0.943). This study provides a novel kinetic dynamics model that is compromised between practical simplicity and realistic complexity, and it can be used to investigate the chronic effects of heavy metals on the algal population.

생물다양성협약 (1992년)과 나고야의정서 (2010년)의 체결 이후 우리나라는 한반도의 생물다양성 보전과 생물자원 확보를 위한 자생생물의 조사·발굴 연구에 박차를 가하였다. 이러한 계기로 2007년에 설립된 환경부 소속 국립 생물자원관의 주도로 “한반도 자생생물 조사·발굴 연구사업”이 진행되었다. 본 사업은 2006년 이후 현재까지 15년 동안 5단계 (1단계 2006~2008년, 2단계 2009~2011년, 3단계 2012~2014년, 4단계 2015~2017년, 5단계 2018~2020 년)로 나누어 진행되었다. 연구의 결과, 본 사업의 이전에 29,916종 (2006년)이던 한반도 자생생물이 본 사업의 각 단계가 마무리되는 시점에서 누계로 집계하여 볼 때, 1단계 33,253종 (2008년), 2단계 38,011종 (2011년), 3단계 42,756종 (2014년), 4단계 49,027종 (2017년), 그리고 5단계 54,428종 (2020년)으로 급속히 증가하여 본 사업 기간 동안 한반도 자생생물 기록종이 약 1.8배 증가하였다. 이 통계자료는 이 기간 동안 연평균 2,320종의 한반도 미기록종이 새로이 기록된 것을 보여준다. 또한 전체 발굴종 중에서 총 5,242 종의 신종을 기록하는 학술적 큰 성과를 거두었다. 분류군 별로는 총 연구 기간 동안 곤충 4,440종 (신종 988종 포함), 무척추동물 (곤충 제외) 4,333종 (신종 1,492종 포함), 척추 동물 (어류) 98종 (신종 9종 포함), 식물 (관속식물과 선태식물) 309종 (관속식물 176종, 선태식물 133종, 신종 39종 포함), 조류 (algae) 1,916종 (신종 178종 포함), 균류와 지의류 1,716종 (신종 309종 포함), 그리고 원핵생물 4,812종 (신종 2,226종 포함)이 한반도에서 새로이 기록되었다. 생물표본은 각 단계별로 집계하여 볼 때 1단계 247,226점 (2008년), 2단계 207,827점 (2011년), 3단계 287,133점 (2014년), 4단계 244,920점 (2017년), 그리고 5단계 144,333점 (2020년)이 수집되어 연평균 75,429점, 총 1,131,439점의 생물표본이 채집되었다. 그중에서 곤충 281,054점, 곤충 이 외의 무척추동물 194,667점, 척추동물 (어류) 40,100점, 식물 378,251점, 조류 (algae) 140,490점, 균류 61,695점, 그리고 원핵생물 35,182점이 채집되었다. 본 사업에 참여한 각 단계별 연구원/보조연구원 (주로 대학원생)의 수는 1단계 597/268명, 2단계 522/191명, 3단계 939/292명, 4단계 575/852명, 그리고 5단계 601/1,097 명으로 전체년도의 참여연구자는 연평균 395명, 총 연인원 약 5,000명이 참여하여 전국의 거의 모든 분류학자와 분류학 전공의 대학원생이 참여하였다. 본 사업 기간 동안 전문 학술지 논문 3,488편 (국내학술지 논문 2,320편, SCI급 국제 학술지 논문 1,168편 포함)이 출판되었다. 본 사업 기간 중 자생생물 조사·발굴 사업 및 생물표본 확보 사업에 투입된 예산은 총 833억원 (연평균 55억원)이다. 본 사업은 국가 주도의 대형 연구 프로젝트로서 전국의 거의 모든 분류학자가 참여하고 대규모 예산이 투입되어 단기간에 이루어 낸 한국식 압축성장의 한 성공 사례로 볼 수 있다. 본 사업의 종발굴 성과는 최근의 생물분류 체 계로 분류되어 국가생물종목록으로 만들어졌으며, 전문가와 학생 및 일반 시민에게 제공되고 있다 (https://species. nibr.go.kr/index.do). 본 사업에서 파생된 기재문, DNA 염기 서열, 서식처, 분포, 생태, 이미지, 멀티미디어 등 각 종의 정보는 디지털화되어 생물의 계통, 진화 연구 등 학문적 발전에 기여하였고, 기후변화에 따른 지표종의 변화 같은 생물 분포 모니터링 사업과 바이오산업의 생물소재를 탐색하는 기반이 되었다. 본 사업을 통하여 젊은 분류인력 (주로 대학 원생)의 양성을 지원할 수 있었던 것은 본 사업이 가져온 가장 의미 있는 성과라고 할 수 있다. 과거 15년간 숨 가쁘게 달려온 본 사업은 아직 진행 중이다. 그동안 발굴된 종 들에 대한 이명 (synonym)과 오동정 등을 바로잡아 학문적인 완성도를 높이고, 한반도에 존재하리라 예상되는 약 10만 종의 자생생물 중에서 남겨진 5만 종에 대한 조사·발굴 연구가 지속되어야 한다.