This paper describes the role of ethnoecology in supporting tourism. We conducted a case study on the island of Bali (Indonesia), the famous tourism destination. We review the culture, nature and ecotourism prospects of Bali and then extend our discussion to examine the role of indigenous philosophies in building the destination’s image. Bali has a rich culture and natural resources that have been utilized and managed through an indigenous philosophy called Tri Hita Karana. Ethnoecology is widely applied and appreciated in the society and has produced Balinese cultural landscapes that have become significant tourism attractions. There has been a recent increase in tourist desire to explore genuine Balinese culture, so ethnoecology has a significant role in the quest to preserve and conserve such indigenous cultural landscapes. Ethnoecology is a key to ensuring and sustaining the images and authenticity of Bali Island. In this paper, we considered the landscape of rice paddies as a cultural landscape and resource for tourism. The structure and function of paddy terrace landscapes is based on the ethnoecology of Tri Hita Karana; therefore, in order to understand nature and ecotourism in Bali Island, knowledge of indigenous philosophy is indispensable. Cultural landscapes that link human and natural systems are not only places of natural beauty but also provide background information about the history of human adaptations to nature.
Artemisia capillaris and Artemisia iwayomogi are weeds used as medicinal plants in Korea under the name ”Injin“. I collected leaves of A. capillaris and A. iwayomogi, examined them for phytotoxic effects from volatile substances and determined the composition of monoterpenes in the leaves. The effects of volatile substances from each species on seed germination and radicle elongation in each of the two Artemisia species were assessed. The volatile substances of A. capillaris did not negatively affect the seed germination of A. capillaris, but they did inhibit radicle elongation. Rates of seed germination of A. iwayomogi decreased when the seeds were exposed to high concentration of A. capillaris volatile substances. The inhibition of seed germination and radicle elongation by volatile substances from both Artemisia species was stronger for A. iwayomogi than for A. capillaris. I identified the monoterpenoids from the leaves with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The main constituents of A. capillaris were acenaphthylene (37.91%), β-pinene (12.08%), 4-carene (10.61%) and γ-curcumene (9.92%), while those of A. iwayomogi were germacrene-δ (32.15%), borneol (21.24%), camphor (20.45%) and trans-caryophyllene (7.75%).
This study was conducted to investigate ectomycorrhizal (ECM) diversity on Pinus densiflora seedlings in a disturbed pine forest. Pine seedlings less than one year old were collected from disturbed and undisturbed sites in the Mt. Songni region. The belowground ECM fungal communities colonizing P. densiflora seedlings were studied using morphotyping and DNA sequencing. The relative abundance of ECM root tips was significantly higher in the undisturbed sites than in the disturbed sites, and the ECM species diversity was lower in the disturbed sites than in the undisturbed sites. In addition, the ECM community composition was significantly different in the disturbed and undisturbed forest sites.
An arthropod community in a rice ecosystem was surveyed to determine the impact of two insecticides frequently used in Korean rice ecosystems: carbofuran 3GR, which targets the rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the early season and fenobucarb EC, which targets the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) in the mid- and late seasons, respectively. Overall, the application of the insecticides reduced density of total arthropods by 48.4% compared to the untreated field, but their impact on each functional group were different. Carbofuran GR treatment on 1 June reduced the L. oryzophilus population significantly until mid-season. The population of filterfeeding chironomids was also reduced by 50%, whereas the spider population was less disturbed. Fenobucarb EC treatment on 16 August significantly reduced N. lugens and detrivorous entomobryid populations until the late season. Both web-building and wandering spiders were also significantly disturbed by fenobucarb EC although the impact differed according to their behavioral differences. While the population of web-building spiders significantly decreased over time, that of wandering spiders recovered from the disturbance a few weeks later.
Organic carbon (OC) distribution in 32-year-old pitch pine plantation at Mt. Hotae in Kongju, Korea, was studied from August 2007 to July 2008. In order to investigate the OC distribution, OC in plant biomass, litterfall, litter layer on forest floor, and soil within 50cm depth were estimated. The density of P. rigida plantation was 3,200 trees/ha, average DBH was 18.7 ± 5.53 cm and average tree height was 11.1 ± 1.85 m. Organic carbon stored in plant biomass, litterlayer on forest floor and soil in 2008 was 89.46 ton C/ha (46.09%), 4.32 ton C/ha (2.23%) and 100.32 ton C ha-1 50cm-depth-1 (51.68%), respectively. Amount of OC returned to forest floor via litterfall was 2.21 ton C ha-1 yr-1. Total amount of OC stored in this P. rigida plantation was 194.1 ton C/ha. Net increase of OC in above- and below-ground biomass in this pitch pine plantation was 4.82 ton C ha-1 yr-1.
Brood caring behavior was observed in Amaurobius ferox (Araneae, Amaurobiidae), a semelparous subsocial spider, from cocoon construction until the emergence of spiderlings from the cocoon. Unlike most spiders, which emerge from cocoon by their own means, A. ferox mothers intervene in the process of the emergence of their young. I manipulated broods by removing the mother prior to emergence to determine the effects of maternal behavior on the emergence of spiderlings. My results showed that maternal intervention making the cocoon expansion and its exit, is not absolutely necessary for the emergence of A. ferox spiderlings from the cocoon. Nine clutches out of ten were able to get out of the cocoon by their own means without their mother's help. There was no difference between control groups ('with mother') and experimental groups ('without mother') in the number of spiderlings that emerged (96.9 ± 25.3 vs. 90.4 ± 14.2, respectfully) and in the time from the beginning to the end of emergence (36 ± 12 vs. 41 ± 17 hours). Time from eclosion until the emergence of the first individual in a clutch, however, was greater in the mother-absent group (3.5 days) than in the control group (2.0 days). The construction of the cocoon by the mother required always occurred in the same area within the retreat, and took approximately 6 hours, and the mother guarded the eggs during the incubation period. The emergence of the spiderlings followed a sigmoidal pattern. After emergence, the spiderlings formed a very compact group on the cocoon, which may be important in securing maternal care. The absence of cribellum and calamistrum, structures likely involved in their survival, observed in individuals of the first instar suggests that in the first stage of life, the spiderlings are dependent on their mother.
For last 150 years, blackbirds have moved from their ancestral habitat, the woodland edge, to man-made habitats such as farmland, parks and gardens. These alternative habitats have become one of main blackbird habitats. I compared density of nests and blackbirds in parks, woodland and campus of University of East Anglia to investigate habitat preference. Blackbirds preferred the area covered by 10~50% of tree or bush patches for their foraging and nesting sites. Blackbirds were more frequently found near buildings rather than far from buildings. Nest characteristics did not affect predation rate and nest preference. This study suggests that man-made habitats may be important for avoiding predation.
The soil carbon stock for a Pinus densiflora forest at Gwangneung, central Korea was estimated using the soil carbon model, Yasso. The soil carbon stock measured in the forest was 43.73 t C ha-1, and the simulated initial (steady state) soil carbon stock and the simulated current soil carbon stock in 2007 were 39.19 t C ha-1 and 38.90 t C ha-1, respectively. Under the assumption of a 0.1℃ increase in mean annual temperature per year, the decomposition and litter fractionation rates increased from 0.28 to 0.56 % year-1 and the soil carbon stock decreased from 0.03 to 0.12 % year-1. Yasso is a simple and general model that can be applied in cases where there is insufficient input information. However, in order to obtain more accurate estimates in Korea, parameters need to be recalibrated under Korean climatic and vegetation conditions. In addition, the Yasso model needs to be linked to other models to generate better litter input data.
We analyzed the factors driving succession and the structure, and dynamics of vegetation on sand and gravel bars in order to clarify the differences in vegetation succession in rivers with different river bed substrates. Woody plant communities (dominated by Salix), perennial herb communities (dominated by Miscanthus), and annual plant communities (dominated by Persicaria) appeared in that order from upstream to downstream on the sandbar. The results of DCA ordination based on vegetation data reflected a successional trend. This result suggests that sandbars grow in a downstream direction. Various vegetation types different in successional stage, such as grassland, young stands of Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora), two-layered stands of young and mature pines, and mature pine stands also occurred on gravel bars, but the vegetation in earlier successional stage was established upstream, which is the opposite to the direction found on sandbars. Those results demonstrate that the dynamics of the bed load itself could be a factor affecting vegetation succession in rivers. In fact, sands suspended by running water were transported downstream over the vegetated area of sand bar and thereby created new areas of sandbar on the downstream end of the sandbar. Meanwhile, gravel, which is heavy and thereby is shifted by strong water currents, accumulated on the upstream end of the vegetated area, and thus created new areas of gravel bar in that direction. These results showed that allogenic processes drive vegetation succession on sand and gravel bars in streams and rivers.
We compared two nondestructive methods for leaf area estimation using leaves of 16 common plant species classified into six types depending on leaf shape. Relatively good linear relationships between actual leaf area (LA) and leaf length (L), width (W), or the product of length and width (LW) were found for ordinary leaves with lanceolate, oblanceolate, linear and sagitttate shapes with entire margins, serrate margins, mixed margins with a entire form and shallow lobes, and ordinary incised margins. LA was better correlated with LW than L or W, with R2 > 0.91. However, for deeply incised lobes, LA estimation using LW showed low correlation coefficient values, indicating low accuracy. On the other hand, a method using photographic paper showed a good correlation between estimates of area based on the mass of a cut-out leaf image on a photographic sheet (PW) and actual leaf area for all types of leaf shape. Thus, the PW method for LA estimation can be applied to all shapes of leaf with high accuracy. The PW method takes a little more time and has a higher cost than leaf estimation methods using LW based on leaf dimensions. These results indicate that researchers should choose their nondestructive LA estimation method according to their research goals.