Community composition and abundance of aquatic invertebrates are important for ecological functions. Community characteristics of insects and gastropods were compared in five regions to investigate the effect of geological factors in surveys conducted between June and August to analyze seasonal changes in invertebrate communities. Underwater traps were used to obtain a constant collection effect. Insect communities were dominated by Hydrochara affinis, Rhantus suturalis and Sigara nigroventralis, and nMDS analysis demonstrated the separation of their communities by region. H. affinis and Sternolophus rufipes were not found in Haenam and Cheolwon, respectively. The results showed the effects of regional temperature on the distribution of aquatic insects. Pomacea canaliculata, Hippeutis cantori and Austropeplea ollula were dominant in the gastropod community. The seasonal variation in the abundance of P. canaliculata was the most pronounced, and its abundance in August was 38.2 times higher than in June. The abundances of several species including Hippeutis cantori were negatively correlated with that of P. canaliculata. These results suggest that P. canaliculata is a pivotal factor that drives seasonal changes in gastropod community.

Climate change due to global warming causes a rise in atmospheric air temperature to rise and extreme shift in precipitation patterns. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is widely known as one of the major cause of global warming and accounts for about 72% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture is more vulnerable to climate change than other industries. Many studies have been conducted to investigate how agroecosystems, both natural and controlled, will respond to the rising level of CO2. Studies on the responses of crops and agricultural environments to climate change are crucial in predicting changes in agro-ecosystems. Research facilities for various types of CO2 treatment have been developed. The representative research facilities are SAR (Soil-Plant-Atmosphere-Research), OTC (Open Top Chamber), FACE (Free Air CO2 Enrichment System), and TGC & CTGC (Temperature Gradient Chamber & CO2-Temperature Gradient Chamber). Therefore, this study reviewed research data and their application in agriculture.

Paddy fields are important habitats for maintaining the biodiversity of agricultural ecosystems. Recently, as the need for safe food and biodiversity conservation has increased, the rice cultivation methods have undergone changes. This study was conducted to investigate the fish fauna in Environmentally Friendly Paddy fields (EFP) and Conventional Paddy fields (CP), and compare the characteristics of Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Aphyocypris chinensis populations in EFP and CP. A total of 2,703 fish were collected and classified into six families and 13 species. Our results showed that there was a difference in the proportion of fish populations in the two paddy fields, and the number of individuals in EFP was higher than in CP. The weight values of M. anguillicaudatus were higher in EFP than in CP, and the total length, body length, and weight values of A. chinensis were higher in EFP than in CP. Conditional factor (K) values also showed similar trends in EFP and CP. Our results indicate that the farming practices in paddy fields have a significant effect on the characteristics of M. anguillicaudatus and A. chinensis populations, and the results of this study can be used as basic data for securing biodiversity in future agricultural ecosystems.

Global warming has a major impact on the Earth’s precipitation and temperature fluctuations, and significantly affects the habitats and biodiversity of many species. Although the number of alien plants newly introduced in South Korea has recently increased due to the increasing frequency of international exchanges and climate change, studies on how climate change affects the distribution of these alien plants are lacking. This study predicts changes in the distribution of suitable habitats according to RCPs climate change scenarios using the current distribution of the invasive alien plant Conyza sumatrensis and bioclimatic variables. C. sumatrensis has a limited distribution in the southern part of South Korea. Isothermality (bio03), the max temperature of the warmest month (bio05), and the mean temperature of the driest quarter (bio09) were found to influence the distribution of C. sumatrensis. In the future, the suitable habitat for C. sumatrensis is projected to increase under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 climate change scenarios. Changes in the distribution of alien plants can have a significant impact on the survival of native plants and cause ecosystem disturbance. Therefore, studies on changing distribution of invasive species according to climate change scenarios can provide useful information required to plan conservation strategies and restoration plans for various ecosystems.

Pantala flavescens is a dominant Odonata species in the rice fields in Korea. To determine the effects of different temperatures on its larval growth and emergence, field and laboratory experiments were conducted. Larval growth was also monitored in mono-cropping and double-cropping rice fields. The growth of larvae was monitored every week by measuring the head width. In the field experiment, no difference was found in larval growth and emergence between the control temperature and +1.9°C of the control temperature. The larval growth was greater at 23°C than at 20°C laboratory temperatures, and no emergence was recorded at either temperature after eight weeks of monitoring. There was a quadratic relationship between larval growth and temperature in an incubator at five temperature regimes of 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35°C. Midseason water drainage caused the extinction of the existing individuals and newly hatched larvae dominated after re-watering in the rice fields. Larval size was greater in double-cropping fields than in mono-cropping fields in late July but the tendency was reversed in early August. The results of this study suggest that temperature warming will directly promote the larval growth of P. flavescens and indirectly influence seasonal growth via changes in water management in rice fields.

화산섬인 울릉도는 내륙과는 다른 기후, 토양, 지형 특성을 가지고 있으며, 농업 또한 차별화된 특징을 나타낸다. 본 연구에서는 울릉도 농경지에 출현하는 식물종의 종조성 및 그 특성을 밝히고자 하였다. 식물상 조사는 2016년 5월과 2020년 7월과 8월 총 3차례, 37개 지점에서 수행되었다. 그 결과, 울릉도 농경지에 출현하는 관속식물은 53 과 132속 160종 14변종 5아종, 1잡종으로 총 186분류군으로 조사되었다. 과별 분포현황은 국화과가 가장 많은 33 분류군을 차지하였고, 다음으로 벼과 25분류군, 마디풀과 12분류군, 콩과가 12분류군, 마디풀과 11분류군, 백합과 9 분류군으로 나타났다. 울릉도 농경지에 출현하는 식물의 생활형 유형은 일년생식물-단립식물-중력산포형-직립형 (Th-R5-D4-e)으로 나타났다. 희귀식물로는 섬고사리, 섬기린초, 섬나무딸기, 섬바디, 섬쥐똥나무, 섬쑥부쟁이, 물엉겅퀴, 섬말나리, 왕둥굴레 등 9분류군이 확인되었다. 생태계 교란 식물은 애기수영, 환삼덩굴 2분류군이 확인되었다. 귀화식물은 13과 33속 44종 1변종으로 총 45분류군이 확 인되었고, 도시화지수는 13.9%, 귀화율은 24.2%를 나타냈다.

Analysis of water quality distribution is very important for river water quality management. Recently, various studies have been conducted on the analysis of water quality distribution according to reduction methods of nonpoint pollutant. The objective of this study was to select the probability distributions of water quality constituents (T-N, T-P, COD, SS) according to the farming forms (control, slow release fertilizer, water depth control) during non-storm period in the paddy fields. The field monitoring was conducted monitoring site located in Baeksan-myun, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do, Korea during non-storm period from May to September in 2016. Our results showed that there were no differences in water quality among three different farming forms, except for SS of control and water depth control. K-S method was used to analyzed the probability distributions of T-N, T-P, COD and SS concentrations discharged from paddy fields. As a results of the fitness analysis, T-N was not suitable for the normal probability distribution in the slow release fertilizer treatment, and the log-normal probability distribution was not suitable for the T-P in control treatment. The gamma probability distribution showed that T-N and T-P in control and slow release fertilizer treatment were not suitable. The Weibull probability distribution was found to be suitable for all water quality constituents of control, slow release fertilizer, and water depth control treatments. However, our results presented some differences from previous studies. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the characteristics of pollutants flowing out in difference periods according to various farming types. The result of this study can help to understand the water quality characteristics of the river.

In this study, the morphology and antioxidant content of shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) cultivated in smart farms and general farms have been compared. With regard to morphology, mushrooms produced in the smart farm system exhibited a slightly thicker and wider pileus and thicker and longer stipe than those in the general farm system. The stipe in the mushrooms from moderate-sized farms was harder, because the low relative humidity of cultivation rooms could induce mushroom tissue to harden. With regard to the antioxidant content, the free radical scavenging activity was evaluated by the DPPH assay. Among the various treatments, hot water extracts of freeze-dried shiitake produced from smart farms exhibited the highest DPPH value of 37.8%. In contrast, the lowest activity of 12.2% was observed in a 70% fermented alcohol extract of shiitake that was dried by hot air. The polyphenol content was higher in hot water extracts than in 70% fermented alcohol extracts. Additionally, the polyphenol content was higher in the freeze-dried samples than in hot-air dried ones. The smart-farm system was preferred over the general cropping system for cultivating shiitake mushrooms, because the antioxidant activity and polyphenol content of mushrooms from the smart-farm system was better; the functionality of this system was more improved than that of the general cropping system, and it enables mushrooms to be cultivated more efficiently. The antioxidant content is represented as the mean±SD of three replicates. Different letters indicate significant differences among samples, i.e., p<0.05.

In this study, shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) cultivated in smart-farm and general farm were compared in morphology and physiology. In morphology, mushrooms produced in smart farm system showd a little bit thicker and wider pileus and thicker and longer stipe compared with those produced from general farm. The hardness of stipe was higher in the mushrooms from moderate farm, since low relative humidity in cultivation rooms can induce the mushroom tissue harder. In the aspect of physiology, the free radical scavenging activity was evaluated by DPPH assay. Among the various treatments, hot water extracts of freeze-dried shiitake produced from smart farm represented the highest DPPH value as 37.8%. In contrast, 70% ferment alcohol extract of shiitake which was dried by hot air showed the lowest activity value of 12.2%. The hot water extracts showed higher polyphenol contents than 70% ferment alcohol extracts. And the freeze-dried samples showed higher polyphenol contents than hot-air dried ones. When cultivating the shiitake by the smart was sold rather than cultivating with the general cropping system, using the system, the antioxidant activity and polyphenol content makes the mushroom in which the functionality improves more highly than me and general cropping system and it will be helpful.

The total polyphenol and physiological activities of Pleurotus ostreatus 30% fermented ethanol using different drying methods and extraction periods were investigated. Based on the observed polyphenol content and physiological activity, freezedrying showed better results than hot air-drying method for P. ostreatus extracted with 30% fermented ethanol for more than 15 days. The total phenolic compound content of ‘Gosol’ following thefreeze-drying method for 15 days showed the highest value of 0.49±0.02 mg/mL. Freeze-drying with extraction for 30 days for ASI 2344 showed the highest antioxidant activity based on the DPPH radical scavenging rate of 35.50±3.29%. Freeze-drying ‘Gosol’ for 30 days resulted inthe highest anti-inflammatory and nitrite scavenging activity of 48.40±3.38%. Our results showed that P. ostreatus is a functional food.

Isaria farinosa (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) is a cosmopolitan entomopathogenic fungus affecting a wide range of arthropod hosts. It has mainly been studied as a insecticidal agent to control the agricultural pests. To investigate the useful secondary metabolite(SM) genes in Isaria farinosa C1012 strain, de novo assembly and genome mining were carried out. A whole genome sequencing with PacBio RSII system generated NGS reads greater than 4Gb, which were assembled into 16 contigs using FALCON program. The total size of genome was 33.36Mb. The N50 and N90 were 6,686,213 and 1,912,865bp, respectively. The assembled genome data was analyzed with antiSMASH3 program with a default setting to localize the gene region responsible for synthesizing SMs, such as non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) and polyketide synthase (PKS). In this study, we predicted 16 NRPS, 13 PKS, and 9 PKS-NRPS hybrid gene clusters in I. farinosa genome.