Changes in Water Quality, Flora and Vegetation of Cheonggye Stream Before, During and After its Restoration

The monitoring of vegetation and water quality before(2003), during(2004) and after(2005) the restoration work of Cheonggye Stream indicated that $BOD_5$ concentration before the project averaged 51.1mg/L and that both the inflow of water from Hang River and the funnel of subway station water into the stream lowered the $BOD_5$ to 3.3mg/L, improving its water quality to the third grade. Species of plants slightly increased from 121 to 132 after the restoration. Specifically, perennial plant comprised 35.6%, an increase from 24.8% recorded before the restoration. Phragmites communis and Zoysia japonica communities were observed as the introduction vegetation. However, Humulus japonicus and Erigeron canadensis communities, which were classified into the first grade according to the vegetation conservation classification, were found to be still prevailing though they were dominant community before the restoration, meaning that the ecological condition of plants had not changed very significantly. An the other hand the water quality of the reference reach was classified into the first grade based on $BOD_5$, which implies the water quality of the section was better than the project reaches. Besides the section had more diverse plant species which numbered 154, and furthermore, the rate of immigrated plants comprised 13% which was lower than 28.8% recorded by the project sections. The project reaches are considered to be inferior to the reference section in terms of ecological condition. The effectiveness of the stream restoration cannot be determined only by such short-term investigation as was conducted in this study, and it is considered that the effectiveness of the restoration of Cheonggye Stream can be determined only if investigations in other major factors are conducted over the long-term period.

청계천 복원공사 전.중.후의 수질과 식물 및 식생의 변화

청계천 복원공사 전(2003) 중(2004) 후(2005)의 수질과 식물 및 식생모니터링결과 청계천의 수질등급은 공사 전에는 $BOD_5$가 평균 51.1mg/L로서 등급 외이었으나, 공사 후에 한강수와 지하철 역사의 물이 공급되면서 $BOD_5$가 3.3mg/L로 낮아져 수질이 3등급으로 향상되었다. 식물의 경우는 공사 전에 총 121종에서 공사후에 132종으로 다소 증가하였다. 특히 다년초의 비율이 공사 전 24.8%에서 공사 후 35.6%로 증가되었으며, 갈대군락과 잔디군락이 도입식생으로 관찰되었다. 그러나 공사구간은 공사 전 우점 군락이었던 식생보전등급 1인 환삼덩굴과 망초군락이 여전히 우세하여 식물의 생태성은 공사전과 후의 변화가 크지 않았다. 또한 이 같은 조사내용을 비교대상구간과 비교하면 비교대상구간의 수질은 $BOD_5$ 0.8mg/L인 1등급으로 공사구간보다 양호하고, 식물종수도 154종으로 공사구간보다 다양할 뿐 아니라 귀화식물의 비율은 13%로서 공사구간의 28.8%보다 낮았다. 따라서 현재까지는 공사구간이 비교대상구간보다 생태적으로 떨어지는 것으로 평가된다. 그러나 하천복원이란 장기적이며 복합적인 과정으로서 본 연구 에서와 같은 단기조사만으로 복원의 효과성을 논할 수 없으며, 앞으로 장기간에 걸친 다른 주요항목에 대한조사도 병행되어야만 청계천 복원의 효과성을 검증할 수 있을 것이라고 사료된다.