River estuaries are dynamic and productive ecosystems with high regional biodiversity. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has become a useful approach to assessing biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. This study was conducted to investigate fish community characteristics and species diversity in two river estuary ecosystems, the Taehwa River and Changwon Stream. We further compared conventional and eDNA metabarcoding analyses of the fish communities. The conventional survey was performed in May, July, and October 2022, while the eDNA analysis was conducted only in May. We observed various fish species with different life histories, including carp, goby, and marine fish. We also found that migratory fish, such as dace Tribolodon hakonensis, sweetfish Plecoglossus altivelis, and eel Auguilla japonica, occurred in the Taehwa River, suggesting high river connectivity. Marine fish species were predominant in the Changwon Stream, as this river is located close to the sea. The diversity indices showed that the Taehwa River generally had higher species richness, evenness, and diversity values than the Changwon Stream. A total of 9-19 species were detected in the conventional survey for the three sites, whereas 11-18 species were found from eDNA analysis. The findings indicate that the sensitivity of eDNA was similar to or higher than that of the conventional method. Our study findings suggest the efficiency and efficacy of eDNA-based fish community monitoring, although with some shortcomings in applying the genetic marker to Korean fish, including no clear-cut distinction for Korean endemic species and/or genetically closely related species groups.

Amphibians are the world's most threatened group of animals, with approximately 41% facing extinction. Contrary to this global trend, the number of amphibian species in Korea has increased by approximately 53.3% over the past 20 years. In particular, salamanders within the genus Hynobius showed even greater diversity, with the number increasing three-fold from two species to seven. However, morphological and ecological traits required for the clear differentiation of these animals are yet to be determined, leading to much confusion. In this study, we investigated the validity of using size traits for species identification, as this method is currently considered a rule of thumb when differentiating Geoje salamanders (Hynobius geojeensis), cryptic Uiryeong salamanders (H. perplicatus), and Korean small salamanders (H. unisacculus). Our study revealed that sex, study period, and habitat were all factors associated with significant differences in snout-vent length, head width, and body weight. Differences in these size traits were evident both between and within species. Our results show that body size traits applied in the recent classification of the three new salamander species could not be seen as a suitable criterion. Such identification methods based solely on body size not only cause great confusion in the field but will also limit future research on Korean Hynobius salamanders.

Through sample-size-based rarefaction analyses, we tried to suggest the appropriate degree of sample concentration and sub-sample extraction, as a way to estimate more accurate zooplankton species diversity when assessing biodiversity. When we collected zooplankton from three reservoirs with different environmental characteristics, the estimated species richness (S) and Shannon’s Hʹ values showed different changing patterns according to the amount of sub-sample extracted from the whole sample by reservoir. However, consequently, their zooplankton diversity indices were estimated the highest values when analyzed by extracting the largest amount of sub-sample. As a result of rarefaction analysis about sample coverage, in the case of deep eutrophic reservoir (Juam) with high zooplankton species and individual numbers, it was analyzed that 99.8% of the whole samples were represented by only 1 mL of sub-sample based on 100 mL of concentrated samples. On the other hand, in Soyang reservoir, which showed very small species and individual numbers, a relatively low representation at 97% when 10 mL of sub-sample was extracted from the same amount of concentrated sample. As such, the representation of sub-sample for the whole zooplankton sample varies depending on the individual density in the sample collected from the field. If the degree of concentration of samples and the amount of subsample extraction are adjusted according to the collected individual density, it is believed that errors that occur when comparing the number of species and diversity indices among different water bodies can be minimized.

본 연구는 한라산천연보호구역의 기초자료 확보를 목적으로 수행된 한라산천연보호구역 기초학술조사 중 버섯류 에 대한 연구로, 2018년 4월부터 10월까지 7개월 동안 성판악탐방로와 돈내코탐방로 사이 지역을 대상으로 수행되었다. 조사된 버섯은 총 65과 184속 392종이며, 이 중 187종의 버섯이 죽은 나무나 나뭇가지에서 발생하였다. 주름버섯목에 속하는 버섯이 184종으로 가장 높게 나타났고, 시기적으로는 7월에 206종으로 가장 많이 발생하였다. 또한 대부분의 버섯은 600~800 m 사이 고도에서 발생하였다. 본 연구에서 조사된 버섯들 중 기후변화 생물지표 종에 해당되는 버섯이 5종, 후보종 2종이 나타났으며, 392 종 중 국외 반출 승인 대상 생물자원에는 163종이 해당되었다(*Appendix 홈페이지에 업로드).

본 연구는 서부 민간인통제선 일대 둠벙에 서식하는 저서 성대형무척추동물 종 다양성 및 군집 구조를 규명하여 향후 보전방향을 제안하고자 하였다. 조사 결과 3문 5강 17목 59 과 192종의 저서성대형무척추동물이 출현하였다. 다른 지역의 둠벙 (61~131종), 다른 유형의 정수성 습지 (47~92종), 그리고 우포늪 등의 보호습지 (48~135종)와 비교할 때, 서부 민간인출입통제구역 일대 둠벙에서 더 다양한 분류군이 출현하는 것으로 나타났다. 환경부 지정 멸종위기야생생물 물방개, 물장군, 대모잠자리를 포함 28종의 특이종이 확인되었으며, 98곳의 조사지에 특이종이 하나 이상 분포하는 것을 확인하였다. 한편 섭식기능군 및 서식기능군 분석에서 이동성이 높은 무리의 우점이 나타난 점, 개별 조사지의 다양도와 특이종의 출현 빈도가 반드시 비례하지는 않는 점을 함께 고려할 때, 서부 민간인출입통제구역 일대 둠벙의 높은 종 다양성은 둠벙과 인근 수생태계의 연결성을 통해 유지되는 것으로 보여진다. 그러므로 서부 민통선 일대 둠벙의 생물 다양성 보전계획을 수립할 때 특별히 종 다양성이 높은 몇 개 둠벙만을 점적으로 보전하는 접근은 부적절할 수 있으리라 판단 되며, 둠벙을 포함한 수서생물의 이동성 서식지 전반의 연결성을 고려한 접근이 적절할 것으로 생각된다.

각기 다른 해양 환경 특성을 보이는 서해, 남해, 동해, 제주 연안역을 대상으로 춘계 (5월)와 하계 (8월)에 출현한 부유성 요각류의 군집구조에 대하여 분석하였다. 봄과 여름에 출현한 부유성 요각류는 총 73종이었으며, 이 중 연안종이 28종이었다. 봄 (49종)에 비해 여름 (58종)에 출현 종이 다양하였다. 요각류 출현 개체수는 봄과 여름 Chl-a 농도가 낮게 나타난 동해연안해역에서 가장 낮았으며, 봄에 Chl-a 농도가 높게 나타난 서해연안해역에서 출현 개체수가 높게 나타났다. 그러나 여름에 제주연안해역에서 Chl-a 농도가 0.6 μg L-1으로 낮게 나타났으나, 높은 출현 개체수를 보였다. 봄에 한국 연안에서 우점적으로 출현하는 요각류는 Acartia hongi, A. ohtsukai, Paracalanus parvus s. l., Oithona similis이었다. 여름에는 이들 종 이외에 A. omorii, A. pacifica, A. steueri, Calanus sinicus, Corycaeus affinis, Corycaeus sp., Pseudodaiptomus marinus, Tortanus forcipatus이었다. Paracalanus parvus s. l.은 봄에 조사 해역에서 최우점종 또는 차우점종으로 생태적 지위를 달리하였으나, 여름에는 전 조사해역에서 최우점종으로 출현하였다. 요각류 군집특성은 수온, 염분, Chl-a 농도 등의 환경 요인에 따라 서해, 남해, 동해, 제주 4구역으로 명확하게 구분되었다.

This study measured the economic values of landscape and species diversity in mountainous pasture using a choice experiment. The attributes considered were landscape (forest, pasture, or pasture in forest), species diversity (180, 200, 225, or 250), and levy (five levels from 4,000 to 12,000 won/household). An online survey was administered to residents in 17 metropolitan cities and provinces in Korea. The results of the multinomial logit model showed that pasture in forest, all variables for species diversity, and levy were statistically significant. Age was statistically significant, implying that older people tend to prefer forest areas. The results also indicated that the willingness to pay for changing 1 ha of forest into pasture decreased by 74.3 won/household, while that for changing forest to pasture in forest increased by 1,338.1 won/household. The marginal willingness to pay for changing from species 250 to 225, 200, and 180 was estimated as -782.7, -2,647.1, and -4,492.6 won/household, respectively. The results of this study can provide useful insights for the development of mountainous pasture in Korea.