Earticle

Opportunities are open and growing for scientists and students working for ecology. The assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) is the central function of a recently launched international initiative, IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). As with the case of the climate change which is assessed by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) at a global scale, biodiversity and ecosystem services become the key themes for many international organizations as well as many UN Conventions. As the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services is one of the key activities of ecological research and science, the importance and the potential contribution of ecological research to 'Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services' will be suggested in the presentation. In addition, the opportunities and the challenges that can be given and faced to scientists and students working for ecology are discussed at national as well as international levels. Examples of the ecological research are suggested from the cases of the International Long-term Ecological Research (ILTER) network, the international Ecological Observatory Network (EON), and the Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation Network (AP BON) activities.

Disturbances are ubiquitous across life system hierarchy from molecules to ecosystems due to unprecedented economic growth and human aggregation. Ecological sciences enter a new phase due to urgency of ecosystem stability in parallel with rapid development of information and communication techniques at the same time. Ecological life events, however, are extremely complex and difficult to analyze: multi-disciplines are involved in pursuing ecological projects regarding ecological contents (ecosystems, taxa, and size) and connection to humans (academic fields and human involvements). A key concept for solving complex ecological problems is “integration” by utilizing four components that have been already ready for establishing the system: gene information, mathematical biology, mobile sensor networks, and modelling techniques. Ecological informatics and modeling garner a special attention in analyzing life events objectively and quantitatively in integrative aspect. In acquiring information on ecological contents effectively, surveys/experiments could be conducted by utilizing mesocosms and mobile sensor networks. A structure property residing in interplay between social pressure and disturbance in ecosystems could be a basis for social concerns caring more about the public property than private property. Based on suitable information provision and appreciating ecological efficiency, altruistic feedbacks by humans could be arisen to resolve the tragedy of the common consequently in human societies.

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is the causative agent of pine wilt disease. It is a devastating forest disease that has caused huge economic losses and has become a serious worldwide threat to forest ecosystems. Pine wilt disease was first discovered in Nanjing Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in China in 1982. In a few short years, this disease also happened in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, Taiwan, Hong Kong et al. And now it has been found in Dalian, which is in the northeast of China. After invading healthy trees, B. xylophilus feeds on parenchymal cells and migrate through the tissues to spread over the tree, leading to wilting symptoms that result in the death of the tree within a year of infection. When the tree is dying, B. xylophilus feeds on fungi which invade the tree and reproduces quickly. While food is available, B. xylophilus develops through four moults (ie. four larval stages L1, L2, L3, L4 and adult) and reproduce within wood tissue. When conditions are adverse (ie. food becomes limiting), B. xylophilus enters specialized third-stage dauer larva (DL3). When stimulated by the presence of the vector beetle, the DL3 molts to become the fourth-stage dispersal larva (DL4) in preparation to board the vector. As the adult beetle emerges, the nematodes move and settle beneath the elytra or within the trachea of the beetles and are transported to another food source. It was found that dauer diapause was controlled by endocrine signals in response to environmental cues. Up to now, based on the study of B. xylophilus genome, 23 DL3 formation related genes were found. Those DL3 formation related genes were from three signaling pathways: cyclic guanosine monophosphate, transforming growth factor β and insulin-like signaling.

Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson) is the only endemic species of the genus Abies. The habitats of Korean fir are confined to southern Korea peninsula, Mt. Halla-san on the Jeju island is the southernmost part of South Korea along with the Mt. Jiri-san in the southern part of the peninsula and the northernmost population of Mt. Deogyu-san. Those regions are the most prominent habitats of Korean fir known since the description of the species by Wilson in 1920. Because of drastic climate change, those habitats have been seriously decreased recently, which might inevitably result in loss of genetic diversity. Genetic diversity is prerequisite for sustainable existence of the population against future environmental changes which might be expected to be harsh for survival at the present habitats. Conservation of genetic diversity and in situ restoration of extinct genetic diversity should be considered as the urgent forest practice for Korean fir. Strategy of such practices will be proposed.

Forest medicinal plant generally refers to the plant species that usually grow and get harvested around the forest areas. It has been highlighted as a new potential source of foresters' income, as there are a variety of plant species with different effectiveness and growth areas by climate and soil quality. Its usage has been increasingly widened, ranging from medicinal herbs and food ingredients to various products with natural substances, such as functional food products, drinks, cosmetics, etc. Raw materials of forest medicinal plants have good quality for highly functional component, bioequivalence evaluation division, and standardization process. To develop the substitution for imported medicinal herbs, FMRRC selected research plants from Korea native plants in consideration of cultivation efficiency, commercialization potential, marketability, and research requirement. Especially, plant-derived natural products are used as functional phytochemicals considering valuable resources of bioactive components in our life. One of our goals is to build up the ‘natural products map’ of major forest medicinal plants based on the contents and activities of biomarkers from various cultivation sites in Korean peninsula. Natural products map is focused on selection of ideal cultivation sites which show the best medicinal effects.

The introduction of vegetation on slopes is one of the major goals of slope protection activities. To successfully achieve the goal of slope protection activities with regard to slope vegetation, vegetation succession after slope protection activities should be predicted on the basis of the surrounding landscape and ecosystem. To this end, long-term monitoring of the vegetation dynamics is required. Thus, we investigated the vegetation dynamics of experimental embankment slopes from 1980 to 2014, using a lysimeter, to evaluate invasion and growth condition at 7, 10, 32, 34, and 35 years since the start of the experiment. Additionally, uprooting was conducted in 2014 (35 years after the start of experiment). At this time, 16 species comprising 577 individuals of woody vegetation inhabited the experimental sites, the majority of which was Cryptomeria japonica (400 individuals), followed by Chamaecyparis obtusa (96 individuals). Regarding herbaceous vegetation, only a few plants were observed, including one individual of Fallopia japonica and one individual of Eulalia grass, indicating a drastic decrease in the number of species and individuals compared to those in 2013. These results indicate that the dominance of C. japonica and C. obtusa likely resulted from natural selection owing to interspecific competition, and thereby the dense shade canopy (less than 5% relative illuminance in this study) created by these two species can make it virtually impossible for seedlings and/or herbaceous vegetation to grow underneath them. In addition, we found that invasion by these plants on the experimental slopes was greatly affected by the dispersal of seeds from surrounding hillslopes. Consequently, the vegetation status and dynamics of surrounding environments should be preferentially considered when undertaking vegetation slope protection activities.

Rapid reforestation of devastated hillslopes is important for preventing sediment-related disasters due to soil erosion during heavy rains. This study aimed to examine the contribution of jellyfish soil amendment on tree seedling growth as part of a hillside reforestation effort at landslide sites based on 7 years of field monitoring. In 2010, 100g jellyfish soil amendment was applied to each planting hole of 3-year-old Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) seedlings in an attempt to improve the survival and growth of the trees in a strip-terracing system. In the first year, seedling mortality rate was significantly lower in the treatment (4.4%) compared to the control (8.3%) group (p < 0.05). Both mean height and root diameter of C. obtusa seedlings were significantly different between the treatment and control groups and were 95.0 cm and 1.07 cm in the treatment and 40.6 cm and 0.74 cm in the control group in the first year, respectively, 316.1 cm and 3.81 cm in the treatment and 263.6 cm and 3.27 cm in the control group in the fourth year, and 458.0 cm and 6.90 cm in the treatment and 343.0 cm and 4.75 cm in the control group in the seventh year (p < 0.05). The positive growth of C. obtusa seedlings in the treatment group can be explained by a higher soil moisture retention in the initial growth stage and a higher availability of nutrient supply from the jellyfish soil amendment, which acted as a fertilizer. These results suggest that jellyfish soil amendment may contribute greatly to the rapid restoration of devastated hillslopes.

The global warming and accelerating forest degradation and deforestation in Mongolia attracting the special attention of foresters. Deforestation of Tujyn nars forests was one of the most pressing issues since 1990s in Mongolia. Current region characterized by harsh climate environment and sensitivity to anthropogenic impacts and considered as the main point of genetic resources of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Over 70 percent of forest area in Tujyin nars was already disappeared due to repeated forest fires, overexploitation and illegal logging during the transition period to market economy. Even though reforestation of Tujyin nars started since 1970s, the reforestation activities have intensified since the beginning of 2000. The successful reforestation during relatively short-time period of time is closely related to active initiatives of State and Local government, and their investments. Therefore, contribution of governmental and NGOs, International organizations, and citizens has played important role in forest regeneration. Besides of domestic investments, foreign governmental and non-governmental organizations from Korea, Japan and Netherland showed financial support to seedling production and tree planting activities. Among them Korea has been still playing the most leading role in forest reforestation and seedling production. Currently, there are over 20 thousand ha of area have reforested in a territory of Tujyin nars National Park. Today we have paying special attention to forest conservation and improvement of forest productivity in plantations by conducting of thinning treatments.

The Setouchi Region, which is located on the seaward side of Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture, Japan, is potentially vulnerable to a substantial tsunami that could be induced by a future Nankai earthquake. To reduce the potential damage from such a tsunami and assure time for evacuation, local residents have constructed coastal disaster prevention forests along the coast in cooperation with members of Matsuyama rotary club since 2012. To build these forests, Pinus thunbergii seedlings were planted and jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai) chips were applied as a soil amendment fertilizer. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of jellyfish chips on the survival and growth of P. thunbergii seedlings in a coastal area based on a 5-year field investigation. Seedling mortality rate was significantly lower in the treatment (3.8%) than in the control (25.0%) plot in 2012 indicating the potential effectiveness of the jellyfish chips. Furthermore, the 5-year increase in height was significantly greater in the treatment (3.41 m) than in the control (2.32 m) plots in 2017 (p < 0.01). This trend for height increase was also observed in another section of the forest that was planted in 2013. These results revealed that jellyfish chips can contribute to improving soil condition by contributing to soil moisture retention during the early growth stage and supplying nutrients to the seedlings over time. Our findings indicated that jellyfish chips can be used effectively as an organic fertilizer for the construction of coastal disaster prevention forests.

This study was carried out to identifiy topographical feature of mountain areas, where the occured the shallow landslide. In this study, the topographic features were classified as slope type, zero order basin, and micro-topography. The criteria of topography are curvature, upslope contributing area and slope. The study site was Mt.Umyeon, where landslide occurred in 2011, and the shallow landslide site was interpreted using aerial photographs. The interpreted collapsed sites were classified into 5 types. As a result of the study, 70 collapsed sites were identified, the average area was 67.27m2 and the average slope was 29.52°. The slope type can be classified into 9 types based on the plan and profile curvature, and 48.6% of the shallow landslide occurred in the convergence(in plan curvature)-flat type(in profile curvature). The zero order basin was formed at an upslope contributing area of less than 17,000m2 and 67% of the shallow landslide occurred at an upper slope contribution area of less than 500. The micro-topography can be confirmed by turning line of slope, and 81% of shallow landslide occurred on the side slope of slope above 25°..

Recently, natural fiber derived from lignocellulosic materialsis considered to have better properties than the petroleum-based synthetic fiber. Several natural fibers that are potential to be developed are kapok and balsa seed pod fibers. Both of kapok and balsa fibers’characteristics must be known to determine its suitability for many applications. The purpose of this study is to analyze some important basic properties of kapok and balsa fibers including its dimension, morphology, chemical compound and wettability. The results of study showed that the average fiber length of kapok and balsa were 1.63 cm and 1.30 cm, respectively. Kapok and balsa fibers had thin cell wall and large lumen filled with air. The essential chemical components of kapok fiber observed were α-cellulose, lignin and wax content by 38.09%, 14.09%, and 2.34%, respectively. While, balsa fiber observed contains chemical components of 44.62% α-cellulose, 16.60% lignin and 2.29% wax content, respectively. There were similarities between kapok and balsa fibers’ characteristics due to the XRD, FTIR and DSC data obtained. The contact angle between aquadest and kapok as well as balsa fibers was more than 90°, so that both fibers had hydrophobic and low wettability properties due to the presence of wax content on the fiber surface.

Low-carbon landscape architecture requires proper design and construction to enhance carbon sequestration through greenspace enlargement and to reduce carbon emissions through fossil fuel saving. This study reviewed the growth and development of low-carbon landscape design over time in Korea and explored essential issues and tasks of the field for the future. A quantitative research on low-carbon urban landscape was started from the middle of the 1990s. The initial research quantified a role of urban greenspace in sequestering and storing atmospheric carbon. In the late 1990s, a few studies estimated effects of tree planting on heating and cooling energy savings and explored low-carbon planting design around buildings. A research on urban greenspace management was conducted at that time to quantify energy consumption and carbon release from mowing, pruning, irrigation, and fertilization. The studies about carbon sequestration by urban landscape trees in the initial stage applied biomass equations from forest trees. In the 2010s, quantitative models to estimate carbon sequestration of urban landscape trees were developed through a direct havesting method. The models found out a significant difference from carbon sequestration of forest trees and contributed to ensuring the reliability of carbon estimates for urban open-grown trees. A research work in the middle 2010s estimated carbon emissions from manufacture of wood landscape facilities including pergola, bench, and deck. However, there are still few design and construction practices regarding carbon sequestration and reduction in Korea. Future essential tasks for carbon sequestration in the field of landscape architecture require establishment of greenspace supply indicator to offset carbon emissions, carbon input into and output from urban soils, carbon emissions from greenspace management, and design criteria for greenspace types. The tasks for energy saving and carbon reduction include low-carbon eco-design and construction of landscape facilities, landscape material and resource recycling, and low-carbon spatial and road design.

Urban development and population have augmented the increase of impervious land-cover. This phenomenon has amplified the effects of climate change and increasing urban island effects due to increases of urban temperatures. Many researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have attempted to reduce the rise in urban temperatures through the application of multi-scalar green spaces and habitat patches such as parks, street trees, cemeteries, golf courses and botanical gardens. Seoul, South Korea is one of the largest metropolitan cities in the world with a population of about 14 million. While land uses in Seoul vary, land cover patterns have not changed much (under 2%) in the past 10 years, making the city a prime target for studying the effects of land cover types on the urban temperature. This research seeks to generalize the urban temperature of Seoul through a series of statistical tests using multi-temporal remote sensing data focusing on multiple scales and typologies of green space to determine its overall effectiveness in reducing the urban heat. With a focus on urban forests, land cover types were classified into 9 types: water surface, forest, cultivation, green space, unused area, urban infrastructure, road, residential area and commercial area. The average temperature of the urban forests was lower about 0.022°C than of whole land use types. The Land Surface Temperature (LST) values in small-scale urban forests (less than 10,000m2) showed the largest distribution. As size of urban forests increased, distribution of LST values was reduced. It means that changing temperature of large-scale green spaces is less influenced because the broad distribution could be resulted in various external variables such as slope aspect, topographic height and density of planting areas, while small-scale urban forests is more affected from that. The large-scale green spaces contributed significantly to lowering urban temperature by showing a similar mean LST value. Both of concentration and dispersal of urban forests affected the reduction of urban temperature. Therefore, the findings of this research support that creating urban forests in an urban region could reduce urban temperature regardless of the scale.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the preferences of urban dwellers for various attributes of the urban forest near residential area by choice experiment. Sampling and data collection were conducted by a polling agency targeting Seoul citizens in 2017. Respondents were asked to choose one of three hypothetical alternatives, which are bundles of six attributes at different levels that comprise the urban forest. The main effects model was utilized to construct hypothetical alternatives. The attributes were FOREST TYPE, TRAIL PAVEMENT TYPE, SLOPE, TRAIL LENGTH, ACCESSABILITY, and FUND. The sample size was 600, and respondents’ ages were limited to 20–59 due to sampling costs. As a result of the calibration, it was found that all attributes except TRAIL LENGTH were statistically significant. Specifically, respondents’ preference for each attribute level was as follows: (a) respondents preferred deciduous and mixed forest to coniferous forest; (b) they preferred soil-type pavement and wood deck to porous elastic pavement; and (c) they preferred flat and hilly slope to mountainous slope. Also, they preferred easily accessible urban forest, but they were reluctant to raise fund. The research suggests various managerial implications of the findings based on the characteristics of visitors.

This study is carried out to understand soil carbon storage in fifteen urban parks in Daejeon Metropolitan City. The carbon concentration is measured as 0.87 %, 0.64 %, and 0.42 % in soils to a depth of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm, respectively, showing a tendency of deceleration from topsoil to subsoil. Soil carbon storage is measured as 4.97 tonC/ha, 2.72 tonC/ha, and 2.40 tonC/ha at a depth of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm, respectively, showing a tendency of deceleration as soil depth increased. Mean soil carbon storage in the upper 30 cm across the whole survey area is 10.09 tonC/ha. Since soil carbon storage according to planting structure is 8.77 tonC/ha in the single-layer planting and 10.97 tonC/ha in the multi-layer planting, soil carbon storage in the multi-layer planting is found to be approximately 20 % higher than that in the single-layer planting.

The purpose of this study was to quantify annual carbon sequestration by urban forests in Seoul, and to suggest desirable planning strategies to improve the carbon sequestration. A total of 155 sites were selected through a systematic random sampling method to survey horizontal and vertical structures of urban forests. Density and cover of trees planted averaged approximately 22.4 tree/100 m2 and 50.1% for parks, and only 5.8 tree/100 m2 and 12.1% for streets, respectively. Trees with dbh of below 30 cm accounted for about 80% of all trees sampled, as represented by a young, growing tree population. Annual carbon sequestration by urban forests averaged approximately 3.9 t/ha/yr. Total annual carbon sequestration were about 117,382 t/ha/yr. Urban forests annually offset carbon emissions by 7% against annual consumption of household electricity in Seoul. Thus, urban forests played an significant role in reducing atmospheric carbon concentration. The role of carbon sequestration could be improved through better planning of urban forests. This study suggested desirable planning strategies including multi-layered and multi-aged tree planting, minimization of extensive grass area, and full planting in available growing spaces.

Agroforestry projects have been implemented in arid and semiarid regions to prevent desertification and to increase income. However, the survival of trees and crops is poor due to strong winds and dryness, and therefore agroforestry benefits are limited. The purpose of this study was to analyze impacts of tree planting on windspeed reduction and crop productivity at an agroforestry site in Mongolia. The study established shelterbelts with 3-row tree planting and sowed income crops within the shelterbelts in May, 2014. Tree species planted were Populus sibirica and Hippophae rhamnoides, which are native to desert regions. Income crops included potato, oat, wheat, and alfalfa, reflecting residents’ attitudes and a short growing season. The study measured changes in windspeed and crop production inside and outside the shelterbelts over the growth periods for 4 years from 2014 to 2017. The tree planting reduced windspeed by a maximum of about 60% at a leeward distance and increased crop productivity by maximally about 7 times. The study explored desirable shelterbelt structures to maximize the function of windspeed reduction. Study results could be internationally useful for agroforestry practices to improve ecological and economic benefits.

Landscape planting design for carbon sequestration requires proper species selection and planting techniques. However, conventional planting design is characterized by extensive grass area, single-layered planting, low tree density, and poor species composition. This study explored desirable strategies of planting design including better species to maximize carbon uptake by landscape trees. The amount of carbon uptake was variable with different landscape tree species. The tree species which grow well even under adverse urban environments showed greater effects of carbon uptake. Carbon uptake by open-grown trees was higher than that by forest-grown trees due to less crown competition and greater leaf area for the same species. Ecological planting technique with multilayered and multiaged structures showed highest carbon uptake per unit area, compared to the other planting techniques. Grass area was not a carbon sink but a carbon source. It is desirable to restrict extensive grass area, which is available growing space of trees. This study explored planting design strategies for different growth environments of gardens, parks, and streets. Study results are expected to be useful for planting projects to create low-carbon landscapes.

Venom of spiders is composed of various peptides, which have distinct physiological characteristics. We collected venom derived from domestic indigenous spiders including Argiope bruennichi and Pardosa astrigera, and proceeded evaluation for antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Growth inhibitory effects of spider venom against gram-positive (B. cereus and S. aureus), gram-negative (E. carotovora and E. coli) bacteria, and fungi (F. oxysporum) was determined, respectively. Analysis of cell membrane permeability showed that the venom from both spiders possess significant antimicrobial activity via increasing bacterial and fungal cell permeability. Cytotoxic effects of the spider venom were performed on normal cell line (hAD-MSCs) and cancer cell lines (HepG2, AGS, HeLa, and H460 cells). We found anti-proliferative activity of venoms against cancer cells, while the up-regulation of apoptosis related genes appeared to be correlated with such cytotoxic effects against cancer cell lines. De novo peptide sequencing was conducted, and partial sequences of venom peptides were verified. We found that the identified peptides are novel, but share homology with toxin related peptides reported in Araneae database. We selected domestic indigenous spider, A. bruennichi, and performed RNA sequencing to identify the expression of the venom specific genes. We finally identified five novel toxin-like peptides, predicted by utilizing the homology and its structural characterization analysis of acquired genes. These results imply the feasibility in developing antimicrobial and anticancer agents by utilizing novel peptide derived from spider venoms.

Spiders are divided into two classes, wandering and web-building spiders, according to their ecological characteristics, and thus their living environment and the process of collecting preys are distinct. In this study, we investigated the differences in functional properties of spider venom according to the ecological characteristics of wandering spider and web-building spider, respectively. We determined growth inhibition effects of selected spiders using gram-positive (B. cereus) and gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria. In addition, the activation or inhibition of ion channel (Ca2+ channel, Na+ channel, and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor) were confirmed by measuring intracellular Ca2+ concentration in SH-SY5Y cells using the selected spider venoms. Analysis of antibacterial and neurotoxic activities of the venom indicated that wandering spiders are more effective for antibacterial function compared to web-building spiders, while web-building spiders are more cellular neurotoxic than wandering spiders. Furthermore, the analysis of sequences of expressed RNA in the venom gland was performed by using Argiope bruennichi to identify the peptides containing antimicrobial and neurotoxic activities. We evaluated the effect of the identified venom peptides in growth inhibition of fungi (F. oxysporum) and the activation or inhibition on the Ca2+ channel. Our results showed that two novel venom peptides have antifungal activity, which exhibit the function to enhance the cell membrane permeability of F. oxysporum. Moreover, we verified two distinct venom peptides that significantly inhibited Ca2+ channels. Antimicrobial activity and the efficacy in inactivating Ca2+ channel, which were found in the peptides specific for the venom derived from Argiope bruennichi, can be utilized in development of natural antifungal agents as well as anesthetic or painkiller related to its neurotoxicity.

Current status of Korean Araneology and global use of spiders were analyzed and explored. General biological and ecological information such as geological history, biodiversity, taxonomic status and relatives of spiders is summarized. A total of 712 publications during 1907-2016 including original description on the Korean spiders and records of taxonomic description were critically reviewed. Records only from locations within the present borders of South Korea are listed. A total of 795 spider species of 273 genera belonging to 46 families are confirmed to exist in Korea. In Korea, spider studies are mainly focused on taxonomic description, followed by faunistic studies, biological characteristics, ecological characteristics, checklists, and scientific exploitation. Overall, spider studies in Korea have been concentrated on classical fields such as taxonomic and faunistic studies, and the physiologically active substances and bioavailability of spiders have been analyzed to be very poor. Recent studies on the use of arachnids have been deviated from the classical use of spider webs, herbal medicines, pets including tarantulas, nutrients for human and animals or natural enemies against agricultural and forest pests. Among them, the nutritional use and pets of spiders has been a big market until recently. In addition, the spiders are currently regarded as an environmental indicator of various environmental pollution and climate change. Recent studies on the use of spiders have approached the active use of physiologically active substances produced by spiders such as spider poisons and spider webs. Research using spider poisons has led to the development of bio-pesticides and various therapeutic agents. On the other hand, the research to use the spider silk is very wide. The use of spider silk has attracted attention as a fifth-generation textile and bio-steel, and is being used in the production of bulletproof vests. In addition, it is an important material for surgical suture and nerve repair, and recently it has also attracted attention as an phonomic materials. Arazyme, secreted by microorganisms living in the stomach of golden web spiders in Nephilidae, has been put to practical use in the removal of pollutants, reagents, medicines and cosmetic products. Until now, there have been few systematic studies on the use of spiders in Korea, but it is time to look at the active use of spiders.

Climate temperature varies gradually along latitudinal gradients and such temperature variations are an important determinant to derive changes of species distributions along latitudinal gradients. Thus understanding whether and how the structure of current species distributions varies along latitudinal gradients will be an important predictive tool for assessing how these species will respond to climatic changes in near future. There are two species of uroctoid spiders in Korea and their distributions are separated along latitudinal gradients. We investigated their distribution patterns along the latitudinal gradients in the Korean Peninsula and then determined their current distribution pattern. All of both species were found around temperature line of 12-13 ℃. Thus this temperature line would be southern boundary of U. lesserti and northern boundary of U. compactilis. Using GIS, we estimated how their geographic ranges change in near future according to the climate change scenarios. According to the estimation of the geographic range in relation to the climate change scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP 8.5), If current trend of global warming continues, the boundary line of the two species will move up to Gangwon province up to 2100.

In order to preserve global biodiversity, the International Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 and the ABS (Access to genetic resources and Benefit Sharing) Nagoya Protocol in 2010 were adopted. In particular, biological sovereignty, the basic concept of the ABS Nagoya Protocol to be implemented in earnest this year, has been the most important consideration of biodiversity research. The concept of biological sovereignty is the concept that each country has the right to protection, conservation, and sustainable use of its biodiversity. Especially, its effectiveness of biological sovereignty became concrete by ABS. To respond to biological sovereignty and ABS, National Institute of Biological Resources(NIBR) was established in 2007 by the government (Ministry of Environment). The main function of NIBR is to survey and discover indigenous species in Korean peninsula and to analyze the industrial usefulness of these species. Among the indigenous species estimated to live in about 100,000 species, approximately 700 spiders are recorded. Spiders are being actively studied from the fields of taxonomy to application researches such as venom, silk and etc in worldwide. It is suggested new direction and future of biodiversity research aimed at strengthening biological sovereignty on the Korean peninsula as a model of spider research.

Forest fire occurrence and spread are closely related to the moisture content of forest fuel. The correlation between moisture content and weather factor is an important, particularly, the moisture content of forest fuel is determined by weather factor in forestland. The study analyzed changes in forest fuel moisture content by broadleaf Quercus dentata leaves and coniferous Pinus densiflora leaves daily from March 1, 2013 to May 15, 2015 during the Korean forest fire danger season in spring(February 1 to May 15) and fall(November 1 to December 15). To analyze the relationship between fuel moisture content and forest weather, we installed a weather-measuring device(HOBO data logger, U12-012) as well as weather factors outside the forest measured by the Chuncheon weather station. As a result, the weather station data during the spring forest fire danger season, for Pinus densiflora, moisture content correlates very well with relative humidity, while for Quercus dentate, moisture content correlates very well with high temperature, relative humidity. During the fall forest fire danger season, the moisture content in both leaf types did not show a significant correlation with the weather. As for the forest weather data, Pinus densiflora moisture content is correlated with high temperature and relative humidity in the spring, while Quercus dentata moisture content is highly correlated with average temperature, high temperature, and relative humidity. In the fall season, Pinus densiflora moisture content has a highly significant correlation with the relative humidity, and Quercus dentata moisture content is highly correlated with the high temperature.

Severe droughts may alter soil bio-geochemical properties thereby affecting carbon balance in a forest ecosystem. In order to examine the major driving factors affecting forest soil responses during drought, we conducted rainfall exclusion experiment by excluding throughfall using transparent roofs in a coniferous plantation. Three replicates of 6 x 6 ㎡ throughfall exclosures were constructed to manipulate precipitation while throughfall fully exposed adjacent three control plots. Soil respiration (SR) was measured about bi-weekly by separating autotrophic and heterotrophic CO2 efflux with soil temperature and moisture, and examined the relationship between soil temperature and soil moisture at soil depth 10 cm. SR was significantly higher (P<0.05) in control plots (707.61 mgCm-2h-1) compared to roof plots (325.53 mgCm-2h-1). The relationship between soil temperature and total SR, autotrophic (AR) and heterotrophic respiration (HR) were stronger in roof plots than control plots. The relationship between any type of soil respiration and soil water content (%) didn’t show clear relationship for both exlusion and control plots. This study will increase our understanding of the main drivers affecting forest soil CO2 response under drought stress.