• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.2 s.116
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• pp.145-156
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to evaluate biological health conditions and physicochemical status using multi-metric models at five sites of the Keum-Ho River during August 2004 and June 2005. The research approach was based on a qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI), index of biological integrity (IBI) using fish assemblage, and long-term chemical data (1995 ${\sim}$ 2004), which was obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Korea. For the biological health assessments, regional model of the IBI in Korea (An,2003), was applied for this study. Mean IBI in the river was 30 and varied from 23 to 48 depending on the sampling sites. The river health was judged to be "fair condition", according to the stream health criteria of US EPA (1993) and Barbour et al. (1999). According to the analysis of the chemical water quality data of the river, BOD, COD, conductivity, TP, TN, and TSS largely varied epending on the sampling sites, seasons and years. Variabilities of some parameters including BOD, COD, TP, TN, and conductivity were greater in the downstream than in the upstream reach. This phenomenon was evident in the dilution by the rain during the monsoon. This indicates that precipitation is a very important factor of the chemical variations of water quality. Community analyses showed that species diversity index was highest (H=0.78) in the site 1, while community dominance index was highest in the site 3, where Opsariichthys uncirostris largely dominated. In contrast, the proportions of omnivore and tolerant species were greater in the downstream reach, than in the upstream reach. Overall, this study suggests that some sites in the downstream reach may need to restore the aquatic ecosystem for better biological health.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2006

Since the usage of tributyltin(TBT) has been banned, many chemicals including Sea-Nine 211, Cu-pyrithione, and Zn-pyrithione were developed to use as antifouling agents for ships and coastal structures. However, the toxicity of these antifouling chemicals have not been systematically evaluated in ecotoxicological and biological studies. In this study, we investigated the effect of four antifouling substances on survival of estuarine rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli and amphipod, Monocorophium acherusicum. Survival of S. schlegeli and M. acherusicum during the 96-h exposure period were used to estimate the median lethal concentrations(LC50s) of test chemicals for each test species. Among antifouling agents, Cu-pyrithione($56{\mu}g{\cdot}1^{-1}$;96-h LC50) was most toxic to S. schlegeli, followed by $TBT(73{\mu}g{\cdot}1^{-1}),\;Sea-Nine(184{\mu}g{\cdot}1^{-1})\;and\;Zn-pyrithione(l707{\mu}g{\cdot}1^{-1})$, while TBT($26{\mu}g{\cdot}1^{-1}$) was most toxic to M. acherusicum followed by Sea-Nine($49{\mu}g{\cdot}1^{-1}$), Cu-pyrithione($119{\mu}g{\cdot}1^{-1}$) and Zn-pyrithione($334{\mu}g{\cdot}1^{-1}$). Effect concentrations of the antifouling chemicals estimated in this study can be used when assessing the potential risks of these substances, of which usage is increasing in the coastal environment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.275-287
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• 2013

The Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus is a widespread species in the western North Pacific and major fishery resource. To understand the spatio-temporal variation of anchovy prey items in the coastal waters of southern Korea, the stomach contents of anchovy and the structure of the zooplankton community were analysed at three sites (Jindo, Yeosu and Tong-yeong) from July 2011 to February 2012. The main prey items in Yeosu and Jindo were cyprid stage of barnacle (>35%) and copepod Calanus sinicus (>22%) in July, respectively, while, predominant ones in Tongyeong were small copepods, Paracalanus parvus s.l. (41%) and Corycaeus affinis (22%). During this period, the dominant zooplankton were cladoceran Evadne tergestina (39%) in Yeosu, small copepod, P. parvus s.l. (28%) in Jindo and cladoceran E. tergestina (14%) in Tongyeong. The dominant prey items were barnacle larvae and copepods in summer, phytoplankton and Pseudodiaptomus marinus in autumn and P. parvus s.l. and cold water copepod, Centropages abdominalis in winter. Anchovy prefer the prey item C. sinicus (3%) over E. tergestina (39%), which was a dominant species in the catching site in summer. P. marinus (0.5%) and C. abdominalis (0.9%) were preferred over P. parvus s.l. (30%, 21%) in autumn and winter, respectively. Prey items varied with area and season in the coastal waters of southern Korea. These results suggest that the prey selectivity of anchovy showed high flexibility and adaptability in the study waters.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.195-205
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• 2013

Excessive input of organic matters from fish cage farming has been considered as one of the major factors disturbing benthic ecosystem, especially in semi-enclosed coastal waters. Recently offshore aquaculture in the vicinity of Jeju-do has been introduced to minimize that kind of negative impact. This study was conducted to investigate the ecological impacts of offshore aquaculture on the macrobenthic polychaete communities. A total of ten sampling works were carried out for 28 months, spanning from 10 days after starting giving feed to 3 months after stopping giving feed. During the study period, mean current velocity was quite strong with the range of 50 cm/s to 70 cm/s. TOC of surface sediment was constantly low. Significant changes in polychaete community were detected just three months after starting giving feed, which were the increase of the number of species and density at all stations. Up to 18 months after the start of farming, the amount of feed provided played an important role in the fluctuation of the number of species and density, especially at 0 m and 10 m stations. After reducing the amount of feed provided, dominance of some opportunistic species within 10 m distance from fish cages still lasted to the end of aquaculture. However, opportunistic species disappeared 3 months after the end of farming, which indicated the sign of recovery from the disturbance. From these results, the amount of food input and the period of cultivation were critical factors disturbing polychaete community and ensuing changes in this offshore and oligotrophic waters as well. In addition, study on the changes of polychaete community structure before and after fish farming showed more detailed changes in benthic ecological state than geochemical approach did.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.216-227
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to propose the rational mountain stream management strategy considering the natural conditions and social needs of the Republic of Korea. We reviewed domestic and overseas studies related to mountain streams, identified the study areas by text mining and co-word analysis using the VOSviewer program, and then analyzed the spatial and temporal study trends and topics of each study area. The results showed that domestic studies on mountain streams are still in an initial stage compared to overseas studies. Overseas studies on mountain streams can be classified into four groups: (i) habitat and species composition of fish and invertebrates, (ii) hydrological phenomena and nutrient migration, (iii) transport of sediment and organic materials and the relevant morphological changes by runoff flows, and (iv) plant species composition in mountain streams. Of these study subjects, domestic studies belonging to the (i) group mainly focused on macroinvertebrates while domestic studies belonging to the (iii) group regarded transport of sediment and organic materials as not the ecological disturbance but the source of sediment-related disasters. We then analyzed the rate of each research group to all papers by period and country. The results showed that the overseas studies belonging to (iii) and (iv) groups have increased with time, and the increase was mostly due to the studies in the United States, Brazil, Canada, and China. On the other hand, domestic studies belonging to (i) and (iii) groups increased somewhat with time, but there was a slight lack of correlation between the two subjects. Therefore, the hybridity studies to complement the shortage is necessary for the future.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.529-546
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• 1998

Gonadal part that developed by indifferentiation period for 6 months after hatching is made as gonad and fat body. These gonad are thin semi-transparant and undistinguished germ cell. Germinal epithelium is distinguished by development of gonad epithelial tissue from 7 months after hatching. Sex differentiation is begun by oogonia develoment at 8 months after hatching. Primary oocytes grow over germinal epithelium of gonadal cavity, at 9 months after hatching, gonadal cavity become ovarian cavity as they increasing. As soon as oocytes at 13 months after hatching are filled with the whole part of gonad, degeneration of oocyte is begun. And then, gonad has cavity tissue, a small number of oocyte are located in gonadal cavity. At 15 months after hatching, new primary oocyte develop and cavity of ovarian tissue in the central of ovarian cavity. Spermatogonia multiplicate and cavity tissue consist of testicular tissue. These gonad become hermaphrodite and then ditermine the sex of female and male. These results show the red sea bream is juvenile hermaphrodite and undif-ferentiated gonochoristic teleost. Male and female differentiation type of gonad is divided in undifferentiation stage, oogonia-like stage, ovary-like stage, ovary development stage, hermaphroditic testis stage, hermaphroditic ovary stage, and testis development stage. Undifferentiation stage is continued total lenth 18cm at 13 months after hatching. ovary-like stage is continued total length 11~18cm at 13 months after hatching. Ovary-like stage is continued total length 14~26cm at 10~14 months after hatching. Ovary development stage begins from total length 20cm, 14 months after hatching. At 20 months after hatching, 44 percent of total sampled individuals had ovary. Hermaphroditic ovary stage first begins total length 19~20 cm at 15 months after hatching, but it is not observed total length 28~29cm at 20months after hatching. Hermaphroditic testis stage first begins total length 21~22cm at 20months after hatching and is continued for 20months. Testis development stage first begins total length 20~21cm at 20 months after hatching, and is occupied 33 percent total length 28~29cm at 20 months. The beginning of sex differentiation more than 50 percent is from total length 16cm at 11 months after hatching. Sex determination begins total length 20cm, 14months after hatching in female and total length 20cm, 15 months after hatching in male. Sex determination more than 50 percent begins total length 23cm,, 17 months after hatching. Undifferentiated gonadal part of red sea bream consist gonad and fat body. As differentiation is going on and gonad is growing, fat body shrinks. This appearence is showed the same tendency in 3-year old red sea bream. 1.9mm larvae after hatching grow about 19mm larvae for 47 days. The relationship between the total length and body weight of larvae and juveniles in $BW=4.45{\times}10^{-6}TL^{3.4718}$ r=0.9820. Fishes in cage culture grow to maximum total length 28.4cm. The relationship between the total length and body weight of these fishes is $BW=2.36{\times}10^{-2}TL^{2.9180}$, r=0.9971. Undifferentiated gonadal part of red sea bream consist gonad and fat body. As differentiation is going on and gonad is growing, fat body shrinks.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.119-135
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• 2021

Korea has stepped up efforts to investigate and catalog its flora and fauna to conserve the biodiversity of the Korean Peninsula and secure biological resources since the ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits (ABS) in 2010. Thus, after its establishment in 2007, the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR) of the Ministry of Environment of Korea initiated a project called the Korean Indigenous Species Investigation Project to investigate indigenous species on the Korean Peninsula. For 15 years since its beginning in 2006, this project has been carried out in five phases, Phase 1 from 2006-2008, Phase 2 from 2009-2011, Phase 3 from 2012-2014, Phase 4 from 2015-2017, and Phase 5 from 2018-2020. Before this project, in 2006, the number of indigenous species surveyed was 29,916. The figure was cumulatively aggregated at the end of each phase as 33,253 species for Phase 1 (2008), 38,011 species for Phase 2 (2011), 42,756 species for Phase 3 (2014), 49,027 species for Phase 4 (2017), and 54,428 species for Phase 5(2020). The number of indigenous species surveyed grew rapidly, showing an approximately 1.8-fold increase as the project progressed. These statistics showed an annual average of 2,320 newly recorded species during the project period. Among the recorded species, a total of 5,242 new species were reported in scientific publications, a great scientific achievement. During this project period, newly recorded species on the Korean Peninsula were identified using the recent taxonomic classifications as follows: 4,440 insect species (including 988 new species), 4,333 invertebrate species except for insects (including 1,492 new species), 98 vertebrate species (fish) (including nine new species), 309 plant species (including 176 vascular plant species, 133 bryophyte species, and 39 new species), 1,916 algae species (including 178 new species), 1,716 fungi and lichen species(including 309 new species), and 4,812 prokaryotic species (including 2,226 new species). The number of collected biological specimens in each phase was aggregated as follows: 247,226 for Phase 1 (2008), 207,827 for Phase 2 (2011), 287,133 for Phase 3 (2014), 244,920 for Phase 4(2017), and 144,333 for Phase 5(2020). A total of 1,131,439 specimens were obtained with an annual average of 75,429. More specifically, 281,054 insect specimens, 194,667 invertebrate specimens (except for insects), 40,100 fish specimens, 378,251 plant specimens, 140,490 algae specimens, 61,695 fungi specimens, and 35,182 prokaryotic specimens were collected. The cumulative number of researchers, which were nearly all professional taxonomists and graduate students majoring in taxonomy across the country, involved in this project was around 5,000, with an annual average of 395. The number of researchers/assistant researchers or mainly graduate students participating in Phase 1 was 597/268; 522/191 in Phase 2; 939/292 in Phase 3; 575/852 in Phase 4; and 601/1,097 in Phase 5. During this project period, 3,488 papers were published in major scientific journals. Of these, 2,320 papers were published in domestic journals and 1,168 papers were published in Science Citation Index(SCI) journals. During the project period, a total of 83.3 billion won (annual average of 5.5 billion won) or approximately US $75 million (annual average of US $5 million) was invested in investigating indigenous species and collecting specimens. This project was a large-scale research study led by the Korean government. It is considered to be a successful example of Korea's compressed development as it attracted almost all of the taxonomists in Korea and made remarkable achievements with a massive budget in a short time. The results from this project led to the National List of Species of Korea, where all species were organized by taxonomic classification. Information regarding the National List of Species of Korea is available to experts, students, and the general public (https://species.nibr.go.kr/index.do). The information, including descriptions, DNA sequences, habitats, distributions, ecological aspects, images, and multimedia, has been digitized, making contributions to scientific advancement in research fields such as phylogenetics and evolution. The species information also serves as a basis for projects aimed at species distribution and biological monitoring such as climate-sensitive biological indicator species. Moreover, the species information helps bio-industries search for useful biological resources. The most meaningful achievement of this project can be in providing support for nurturing young taxonomists like graduate students. This project has continued for the past 15 years and is still ongoing. Efforts to address issues, including species misidentification and invalid synonyms, still have to be made to enhance taxonomic research. Research needs to be conducted to investigate another 50,000 species out of the estimated 100,000 indigenous species on the Korean Peninsula.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.378-391
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to determine temporal patterns and longitudinal gradients of water chemistry at eight artificial reservoirs and ten streams within the Han-River watershed along the main axis of the headwaters to the downstreams during 2009~2010. Also, we evaluated chemical relations and their variations among major trophic variables such as total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and chlorophyll-a (CHL-a) and determined intense summer monsoon and annual precipitation effects on algal growth using empirical regression model. Stream water quality of TN, TP, and other parameters degradated toward the downstreams, and especially was largely impacted by point-sources of wastewater disposal plants near Jungrang Stream. In contrast, summer river runoff and rainwater improved the stream water quality of TP, TN, and ionic contents, measured as conductivity (EC) in the downstream reach. Empirical linear regression models of log-transformed CHL-a against log-transformed TN, TP, and TN : TP mass ratios in five reservoirs indicated that the variation of TP accounted 33.8% ($R^2$=0.338, p<0.001, slope=0.710) in the variation of CHL and the variation of TN accounted only 21.4% ($R^2$=0.214, p<0.001) in the CHL-a. Overall, our study suggests that, primary productions, estimated as CHL-a, were more determined by ambient phosphorus loading rather than nitrogen in the lentic systems of artificial reservoirs, and the stream water quality as lotic ecosystems were more influenced by a point-source locations of tributary streams and intense seasonal rainfall rather than a presence of artificial dam reservoirs along the main axis of the watershed.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 1999

Three floating islands have been constructed for water quality improvement for a polluted irrigation reservoir. Each floating island consists of 10 segments. Each segment hay an area of $16m^2$(4×4m) and is made of wood frames and floats(polystyrene foam). We planted three species of aquatic macrophytes(Typha angustifolia, Zizania latifolia, and Phragmites australis) in floating island on June, 1998. They grew very well without death. We would like to evaluate Phragmites australis is the most suitable aquatic macrophyte that could be planted in a floating island because it maintained the best balance of its root and shoot among them. During their grown period, net primary productivity of Typha angustifolia was $962gDM/m^2$, Zizania latifolia was $1,115gDM/m^2$, and Phragmites australis was $523gDM/m^2$. From these data, it would be estimated to 5.0Kg uptake of nitrogen by aquatic macrophytes and phosphorus 0.8Kg in 3 floating islands. The floating islands worked well as a habitat of fish and prawns. Many kinds of insect lived on the floating islands. The floating island has not only the function of water quality treatment but also several advantages: improvement of landscape and species diversity; low cost of maintenance; low technology; unnecessary of energy; less susceptible to variations in pollutant loading. It could be evaluated a good measure of water quality improvement for an irrigation reservoir. However, it should be intensively studied to develop more light, strong, durable and low-priced frames for efficient floating islands.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.131-137
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• 2000

The release of hazardous waste materials into the environment poses serious risks in humans and ecosystems. The risk assessment of environmental pollutants including hazardous chemicals requires a comprehensive measurement of hazard and exposure of the chemicals that can be achieved by toxicity evaluation using a biological system such as biomarkers. In this report we have tried to develop a biomarker used to elucidate a molecular basis of, and to monitor abnormal behaviors caused by diazinon in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) as a model organism. First, an attempt was made to clone tyrosine hydroxylase gene from Japanese medaka that would be a candidate for a biomarker for neuronal modulations and behaviors. For monitoring experiments at behavioral and molecular biological levels, the fish were treated under different sublethal conditions of diazinon and their behavioral responses were observed . In this study we have successfully cloned a partial TH gene from the medaka fish through PCR screening of an ovary cDNA library. DNA sequencing analysis revealed that the amplified fragment was 327 bp encoding 109 amino acids. Comparing the DNA sequence of medaka TH with other species, TH gene revealed the DNA sequence was completely identical to that of rat TH. In the RT-PCR, 330 Up of mRNA was consistently amplified in all the treated samples including control There were no significant differences in the TH expression level regardless of treating concentrations (1∼5,000 ppb) and time (0∼48 hr) The reason appeared to be that RT-PCR was not performed using through a quantitative analysis normalized against an actin gene expression. Organ or tissue - specific detection of TH activity and mRNA as biomarkers will be a useful monitoring tool for neurobehavioral changes in fish influenced by toxic chemicals. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of locomotive patterns and its correlation with the neurochemical and molecular data would be highly useful in measuring toxicity and hazard ofvarious environmental pollutants.