Abstract
The relationship between primary productivity and changes in water quality was investigated at Mulgum station, a site downstream of the Nakdong River, Korea. Phytoplankton production was characterized by blooms of Microcystis aeruginosa during the summer and Stephanodiscus hantzschii during the winter. Primary production and secondary production by bacterioplankton ranged from 1.5~53.5 mg-C/ι day and 0.1~0.3 mg-C/ι day, respectively. Distribution of total organic carbon appeared to be highly correlated with phytoplankton biomass, especially during blooms of M. aeruginosa, when particulate organic carbon was 81% of total organic carbon and the main source of organic materials supplied into the water. The correlation coefficient between chlorophyll-a and BOD was 0.86. Thus it was concluded that autochthonous phytoplankton mostly affected the BOD level. Total bacterial numbers were also highly correlated with chlorophyll-a ($r^2$= 0.84) and the bacterial community appears to be regulated by phytoplankton biomass in this area.
