• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.102-111
• /
• 2022

Termites are a group of social insects that are one of the primary causes of damage to wooden architectural heritage. Since termite damage impairs the authenticity and structural stability of cultural heritage, it is imperative to prevent it. This study examines the extent of termite damage to wooden architectural heritage as part of efforts to prevent termite damage to nationally designated wooden architectural heritage sites across the country. The extent of termite damage to each cultural heritage was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively and comparatively analyzed by region using the results of the "Investigation on Biological Damage to Wooden Architectural Heritages" conducted by the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage from 2016 to 2019. It involved 362 nationally designated wooden architectural heritages(25 national treasures, 157 treasures, 180 national folklore cultural heritages) and 1,104 buildings. The results were as follows: termite detection dogs reacted at 317(87.6%) of the 362 wooden heritages, with visible termite damage observed in 185 cases(51.1%). Furthermore, termite damage was confirmed using one of two methods(detection dogs or visual inspection) in 324 cases(89.5%). Of the 1,104 buildings, termite detection dogs reacted at 668(60.5%), while 339(30.7%) showed visible termite damage. Employing one of the two methods, damage was confirmed in 702 buildings(63.6%). The country was categorized into nine regions(Seoul Metropolitan Area, Gangwon, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, and Jeju) to examine the termite damage rate and the degree of damage to each cultural heritage according to location. Termite detection dogs reacted to more than 70% of the cultural heritage in all regions. Visible damage was minimal in the Seoul metropolitan area(32.1%) and Gangwon(21.4%) but severe in Chungnam(65.6%), Jeonnam(67.3%), and Gyeongnam(68.2%). By quantifying the degree of termite damage of each cultural heritage as a ratio of the absence of termite damage among the total absence, the average termite damage of the cultural heritage across the country was 9.2%. Regional variance analysis showed that the cultural heritage in Jeonbuk and Jeonnam showed a statistically significantly higher degree of termite damage than the cultural heritage in the Seoul metropolitan area, Chungbuk, and Gyeongbuk. This paper comprehensively analyzed termite damage to nationally designated wooden architectural heritage. The findings are expected to be valuable in establishing policies for the preservation and management of cultural heritage sites in the future.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
• /
• v.34 no.8
• /
• pp.129-136
• /
• 2018

Termites are important sub-baits of natural ecosystems and are beneficial insects that are natural decomposer. However, the building materials used by human beings can not coexist with each other on timber which is a termite food. As of 2017, due to fertile forests, warming, and the spread of boilers, termite damage to timber construction is increasingly occurring day by day. Currently, Korea utilizes fumigation, Beit system, preserved wood, etc. of chemical products as termite control measures. But in the case of control measures, timber that has already been eaten by termites can not serve as a structural material and must be repaired. On the other hand, in the case of overseas, Scale of damage to termites the influence on the construction is also large, and a lot of research has been carried out on the prevention methods. In this thesis, investigate such foreign control measures, Would like to suggest a suitable method for Korea.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1994.07b
• /
• pp.1643-1645
• /
• 1994

It has been reported frequently that damage to underground electric power cable was brought about, due to attack by Insect such as termite (white-ant) and by rodent such as rat, in tropical and semitropical areas. Among these cable damages, we are likely to describe the damage to cable by termites as causing the severe trouble in cable operation and to solve this trouble with termite-proof method regarded as the most effective and economical one. This report covers our experiences of manufacturing the cable for anti-termite purpose and its intrinsic properties in cable operation.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.641-651
• /
• 2019

This study investigates three buildings arranged alongside at the same level, namely, the Josadang, the Buljojeon, and the Palsangjeon. Their backside is blocked by an embankment with an environmental condition unsuitable for wooden buildings. The pillar behind the Josadang had termite damage for which termite damage and environmental investigations had been conducted for the past four years. The termite damage was monitored four times using the termite detection dogs, and the environmental factors were surveyed 27 times, except during the winter season. As a result, the locations of the columns with a high frequency of responses from the termite detection dogs were found and damage was confirmed. According to the surface moisture content investigations, the surface moisture content was highest in the Josadang and lowest in the Buljojeon. After a statistical analysis, the mean, the median, and the mode values were compared. The difference between the mean and the median was found to be less, however, the mode varied significantly. The mode values of the Josadang and the Palsangjeon were 14.5% and 10.8%, respectively, higher than the 6.1% mode value of the Buljojeon. It was concluded that the temperature and the water content affected the termite damage, which increases if the temperature and the water content remain constant owing to the environmental factors.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.197-208
• /
• 2019

Biological damages of wooden cultural properties are closely related to the preservation of the environment; these damages can be accelerated because of rapid climate change. Therefore, to preserve cultural properties, it is important to understand environmental characteristics. This study aims to investigate the status of termite damage and the characteristics of major environmental factors such as micro-meteorology, meso-meteorology, and local-meteorology of the Josadang shrine in the Seonamsa temple at Suncheon. Damage was confirmed by visual observation and the response of the termite detection dog at the north-west corner. Also another damage was observed by the termite detection dog at the north-east corner. These pillars had lower surface temperature and higher moisture content compared with the pillars in the front. The mean temperature of the entire time was similar for the meteorologies; however, the relative humidity differed. High relative humidity, greater than 70%, was observed frequently. In particular, it was determined that the termite activity days were the most inside the Josadang shrine. The statistical analysis confirmed that there was a difference between the meteorology events through the F ratio. In addition, the difference of environmental factors with relative humidity and temperature was identified more great difference in relative humidity through the t-statistics of temperature and relative humidity. And then relative humidity was confirmed most great in the difference of meso-meteorology and local-meteorology.

• 보존과학연구
• /
• s.31
• /
• pp.121-130
• /
• 2010

Wooden structures in Korea are usually damaged by some insects such as termites, wasps, cigarette beetles, powder-post beetles. Especially, the termites inhabiting in Korea are the subterranean termites, Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis Morimoto, that make colonies in underground, therefore it is difficult to predict and control substantial infestations in advance. Accordingly, to enable inspectors to locate the termite infestations before the extensive damage occurs, the pest management industry has begun using several elaborate tools and making the various effect to inspect areas hard to access through a visual inspection. Recently detector dogs were adopted as one of those tools. Detector dogs are useful for locating subterranean termites because they use their acute olfaction rather than vision. We also have used detector dogs to locate termites and investigated 270 buildings from 31 sites since 2007. According to the results, while 144 buildings (53.4%) were in good condition with no damage by termites, 80 buildings (29.6%) were found out to be damaged by termites through visual inspection and detector dog. So it is expected to control termites according to the conservation status if detector dogs are well trained to discriminate live termites from fecal pellets by termites.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.159-167
• /
• 2017

Historical wooden buildings in Korea are being damaged by Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis Morimoto, a type of subterranean termite, and the scale of this damage is increasing gradually because of global warming. This study evaluated the ingestion toxicity of the phenylpyrazole insecticide fipronil to R. s. kyushuensis and its applicability as termite bait with the aim of controlling termite colonies more efficiently. An ingestion toxicity assessment was conducted and the $LT_{50}$ was determined to be 4.43 day at concentrations of 10 ppm, indicating a slow-acting effect; therefore, 10 ppm was selected as an appropriate dose. A field applicability assessment was conducted in which the number of foraging workers and the rate at which the termites fed decreased 2 weeks after baiting, and termite colony activity was no longer apparent after 4 weeks demonstrating the efficacy of fipronil at eliminating colonies. Taken together, these results, indicate that low-dose fipronil eliminated R. s. kyushuensis colonies faster than insect growth regulators; therefore, it is expected to be useful when trying to conserve historical wooden buildings.

• 보존과학연구
• /
• s.22
• /
• pp.41-52
• /
• 2001

The wooden building is mainly damaged by the termite which have an effect of the structure by making emptied inner part of wood. One class, Japanese termite, inhabits throughout Korea and is often detected. So the deterioration by termite attacking the wooden building needs to be controlled. Termites are over 2,800 species in the world, usually they inhabit in the tropical or subtropical region and don’t over winter in dormant condition. So their activity and distribution are chiefly restricted by temperature and humidity. The termite inhabiting in Korea is Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis Morimoto, which known to have an optimal temperature range at $12~30^{\circ}C$ and minimum temperature at $6^{\circ}C$ for activation. These temperatures correspond to the mean temperature($5.6^{\circ}C$~$25.8^{\circ}C$) from March to November and the activity time of termitein Seoul. In addition, as a result of environmental pollution by industrial development, the climate of Korea is getting warm. The increase of mean temperature in Korea has been $1.1^{\circ}C$ for the past seventy five years, so it is expected that the damage of wooden building by termite will increase gradually. Therefore, in order to protect wooden building from damages by termite, it needs not only development of new pest control methods, but also studies on the control of environmental factors having an effect on the activity and growth of termite. For the conservation of the large cultural properties such as the wooden building in the open air, it would be effective to use the methods of fumigation, insecticidal and antiseptic chemical treatment of wood materials, soil termiticideinjection treatment, and termite colony elimination system.

• The Korean Journal of Soil Zoology
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.59-64
• /
• 1997

A study was carried out to investigate the distribution of termites at the southern part of Korea between 1995 and 1996. During the survey, termite samples were collected from the randomly selected areas. Most of thern were collected from the decayed woods in dead trees (usually in pine trees), but some were also collected from woodern walls, floors in houses, or in matured bed logs at the mushroom cultivating areas. Damage by this termite species were also observed by Kim and Hwang (1996) who investigated the insect pests of mushroom in the southern part of Korea. To control the termites, it is urgent to identify them and to conduct ecological study of termites. Thus, we firstly identified termites which were collected from the sampling areas including houses and mushrooms cultivating fields. All termite samples were identified as Reticulitermes speratus. However, there were several morphological differences among them according to the collected areas, and the samples were reexamined, identified and divided into subspecies as R. speratus kyushuensis.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.43 no.6
• /
• pp.818-825
• /
• 2015

This study is conducted to develop new termite colony elimination system that can control termite colony much faster, and to eco-environmentally prevent termite damage occurred in wooden cultural heritage. As a result of laboratory test, we developed a component system, of which fipronil 0.001% (w/w) treated bait was used as a suitable termite colony eliminator. This system can be monitored without taking off underground, and it makes regular monitoring much more efficient. The result of field test showed that 36 termite baiting devices among 367 installed devices were damaged by foraging termites. After baiting, all of termite colonies attracted to devices were eliminated or their activity clearly decreased.