• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.567-579
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• 2004

To investigate the spatial distribution and community structure of heterotrophic protists, we collected water samples at 23 stations of central Barents Sea in August, 2003. This study area was divided into three area with physico-chemical and chi-a distribution characteristics: Area I of warm Atlantic water mass, Area III of cold Arctic water mass and Area II of mixed water mass. Chl-a concentration ranged from 0.18 to $1.04{\mu}g\;l^{-1}$ and was highest in Area I. The nano-sized chi-a accounted fur more than 80% of the total chi-a biomass in this study area. The contribution of nano-sized chi-a to total chi-a was higher in Area I than in Area II. Communities of heterotrophic protists were classified into three groups such as heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), ciliates and heterotrophic dinoflagellates (HDF). During the study periods, carbon biomass of heterotrophic protists range from 11.3 to $38.7{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ (average $21.0{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$), and were highest in Area I and were lowest in Area III. The biomass of ciliates ranged from 4.2 to $19.3{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ and contributed 31.5-66.9% (average 48.1%) to the biomass of heterotrophic protists. Ciliates to heterotrophic protists biomass accounted fur more than 50% in Area I. Heterotrophic dinoflagellates biomass ranged from 5.7 to $18.4{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ and contributed 27.1 to 56.3% (average 42.8%) of heterotrophic protists. Heterotrophic dinoflakellates to heterotrophic protists biomass accounted fur about 50% in Area III. Heterotrophic nanoflageltate biomass ranged from 0.5 to $3.4{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ and contributed 3.2 to 19.6% (average 9.2%) of heterotrophic protists. Heterotrophic nanoflagellates to heterotrophic protists biomass accounted fur more than 10% in Area III. These results indicate that the relative importance and structure of heterotrophic protists may vary according to water mass. Heterotrophic protists and phytoplankton biomass showed strong positive correlation in the study area The results suggest that heterotrophic protists are important consumers of phytoplankton, and protists might play a pivotal role in organic carbon cycling In the pelagic ecosystem of this study area during the study period.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.140-147
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• 2002

We investigated the temporal variations in the heterotrophic dinoflagellates (hereafter HTD), tintinnid ciliates(TC), and naked ciliates(NC) from August to November 1999 in the coastal waters off the southern Saemankeum areas where a huge red tide dominated by Cochlodinium polykrikoides/Gymnodinium impudicum was first observed in 1998. We took water samples from 2-5 depths of 4 stations in each of the 5 cruises and then measured the species composition and abundances of HTD, TC, and NC The maximum species numbers and densities of HTD, TC, and NC(11, 12, and 10 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively) were observed when the density of diatoms was highest (August 10), while the lowest values (1.0, 0.5, and 2.4 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively) were found when the red tide dominated by C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum took placed (October 18). On August 10 and November 11 when diatoms dominated the abundance of phytoplankton, the correlation coefficients between TC, NC and diatoms were relatively high. However, On September 16 and October 18 when autotrophic+mixotrophic dinoflagellates(ATD+MTD) were abundant, the correlation coefficients between HTD and ATD+MTD were relatively high. The large HTD Noctiluca scintillans was the most dominant heterotrophic protists during the C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum red tide on October 18. N. scintillans has been known to feed on the prey cells when the swimming speeds of C. polykrikikoides/G. impudicum markedly reduced at the decline stage of the red tide. Therefore, N. scintillans could be effective grazers on C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum. The maximum densities of HTD, TC, and NC in the study area were fairly lower than those obtained in the waters off Kohung-Yeosu areas in the summer-fall, 1997. The results of the present study provide the basis of understanding predator-prey relationships between dominant phytoplankton and heterotrophic protists and the roles of the protist grazers in bloom dynamics in the waters off the western Korea.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.413-425
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• 1995

Abundances and bacterivory of heterotrophic and mixotrophic nanoflagellates were investigated fourtimes between October 1993 and March 1995 in an estuarine system of the Mankyung and Dongjin rivers to understand distributions of nanoflagellates and ecological significance of bacterivory of nanoflagellates. Bacterivory of nanoflagellates were measured with fluorescently labeled bacteria (FLB). Heterotrophic and autotrophic flagellates showed a rage of 438-4,159 cells ml/SUP -1/ (mean of 2,145 cells ml/SUP -1/, n=20) and 971- 4,935 cells ml/SUP -1/ (mean of 2,2226 cells ml/SUP -1/, n-20), respectively. These two groups of nanoflagellates generally showed similar distributions of abundance. Abundances of heterotrophic nanoflagellates, known as major grazers of bacteria, and those of autotrophic nanoflagellates with chloroplasts showed statistically significant correlations with bacterial abundance (respectively, r$^2$=0.51 and r $^2$=0.47, p>0.05). Mixotrophic nanoflagellates seemed to comprise at least 4-23% of autotrophic nanoflagellate populations. Individual predation rates of heterotrophic nanoflagellates ranged from 2.2 to 14.2 bacteria flagellate/SUP -1/ h/SUP -1/ (mean of 4.9 bacteria flagellate/SUP -1/h/SUP -1/, n=16), and those of mixotrophic nanoflagellates from 1.6 to 9.7 bacteria flagellate/SUP -1/ h/SUP-1/ (mean of 3.7 bacteria flagellate /SUP -1/ h/SUP -1/, n=16). Bacterivory by mixotrophic nanoflagellates comprised from 30 to 69% of total nanoflagellates grazing on bacteria, indicating the significant role of mixotrophic nanoflagellates as grazers on bacteria in the study area. The ratios of grazing rates on bacteria to bacterial secondary production ranged widely from 0.06 to 1.23. In June, when abundances of total nanoflagellates were low, removal of bacteria by bacterivory of nanoflagellates was also a small fraction (0.08${\pm}$ 0.01, n=4) of bacterial production. In other seasons, nanoflagellates usually grazed on bacteria in significant fraction (0.06${\pm}$0.37, n=9) of bacterial production. Both heterotrophic and mixotrophic nanoflagellates appear to be major grazers on bacteria, and might transfer bacterial secondary production to higher trophic level in an estuarine system of the Mankyung and Dongjin rivers.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.44-57
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• 2003

Seasonal variations of bacterial abundance and production, heterotrophic nanoflagellate (HNF) abundance and HNF ingestion rates on bacteria using FLB together with environmental variables were investigated at intervals of a month in Kyeonggi Bay from December 1991 to November 1998. Bacterial abundance and production ranged from 0.38$\times$10$^{9}$ ~ 3.25$\times$10$^{9}$ cells 1$^{-1}$ (average 1.19$\pm$0.69$\times$10$^{9}$ cells 1$^{-1}$ ) and from 1.51 to 20.4 cells 1$^{-1}$ h$^{-1}$ (average 6.04$\pm$ 1.88$\times$10$^{6}$ cells 1$^{-1}$ h$^{-1}$ ), respectively. Bacterial abundance and production showed no differences at the high tide and low tide, and bacterial abundances were not different with depth, but bacterial production decreased with depth. Seasonal variation of bacterial abundance showed almost similar fluctuation pattern to those of DOC (dissolved organic carbon). HNF abundances ranged from 388 to 4,374 cells ml$^{-1}$ (average 1,344$\pm$130 cells ml$^{-1}$ ), were high in March, April, July and August. HNF abundance showed no difference between the high tide and low tide, and was not different with depth. The ingestion rates of HNF on bacteria were 1.0 to 6.3$\pm$10$^{6}$ bacteria 1$^{-1}$ h$^{-1}$ (average 3.12$\pm$0.55$\times$10$^{6}$ bacteria 1$^{-1}$ h$^{-1}$ ), resulting ingestion rates of HNF removed 19.4 to 141.4 %(average 62.3$\pm$12.0%) of bacterial production. Ingestion rates and grazing pressure of HNF on bacteria showed high correlation with HNF abundance. Although we cannot exactly discussion about seasonal variation of bacteria community in this study area where physical and chemical parameters were very complex, the results indicate that bacterial abundance and production were mainly controlled by resources supply as dissolved organic carbon and chlorophyll-a(bottom-up) except March which bacterial abundance and production uncoupled chlorophyll-a because of low dissolved organic carbon and low temperature, and were controlled by HNF grazing pressure(top-down) in the warm seasons except the winter.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.19-30
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• 2005

To investigate the seasonal distribution and grazing impacts of benthic protozoa in mud flat, their abundance, biomass and grazing rates of benthic protozoa were evaluated at interval of two or three month in Gangwha Island from April, 2002 to April, 2004. Heterotrophic flagellates and ciliates accounted for an average 98% of benthic protozoa biomass. Abundance and carbon biomass of heterotrophic flagellates ranged from $0.2{\times}10^5$ to $5.9{\times}10^5\;cells\;cm{-3}$ and from 0.02 to $9.2\;{\mu}gC\;cm^{-3}$, respectively. Biomass of heterotrophic flagellates was high in spring and fall, and showed no differences among stations. Abundance and biomass of heterotrophic flagellates decreased with the depth and were high within the surface 2.5 m sediment layer. The majority of heterotrophic flagellates were less than $10\;{\mu}m$ in length, and few euglenoid flagellates were larger than $20\;{\mu}m$. Abundance and carbon biomass of ciliates ranged from $0.1{\times}10^3$ to $17.8{\times}10^3\;cells\;cm^{-3}$ and from 0.02 to $9.1\;{\mu}gC\;cm^{-3}$, respectively, and those of ciliates were high in spring and fall. Biomass of ciliates was high within the surface 2.5 mm sediment layer and was higher at st. J2 and st. J3 than st. J1. Among the revealed benthic ciliates, the hypotrichs were the most important group in terms of abundance and biomass. During the sampling periods, an average 66% of benthic protozoa biomass was covered by ciliates. The seasonal distribution of benthic protozoa showed an almost similar fluctuation pattern to that of chlorophyll-a. The results suggest that the biomass of benthic protozoa were mainly controlled by prey abundance, for example, diatoms. Based on ingestion rates, benthic protozoa removed from 13.4 to 40.7% of bacterial production and from 20.1 to 36.4% of primary production. Ingestion rates of benthic protozoa on bacteria and microphytobenthos were high in April. Benthic protozoa in this study area may play a pivotal role in the carbon flow of the benthic microbial food web during spring.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.401-410
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• 2007

In Korea the study of marine heterotrophic protists started in the late 1980s, and since the early 1990s many studies have been conducted in various marine environments. In this article, studies on the distribution and abundance of protists and the biotic interactions(bacteria-protists, phytoplankton-protists) conducted in Korean coastal waters are reviewed, and a field study is reported and discussed. The field study in Masan Bay was carried out from February 2004 to November 2005 at seven selected stations representative of the bay. During the study, the mean abundance of heterotrophic bacteria and the mean concentration of chlorophyll-a were $2.1{\times}10^6\;cells\;mL^{-1}$ and $9.8{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$, respectively. Heterotrophic protists consisted of heterotrophic dinoflagellates, heterotrophic nanoflagellates(excluding dinoflagellates) and ciliates, and their abundances were means of $7.9{\times}10^4\;cells\;L^{-1}$, $1.2[\times}10^3\;cells\;mL^{-1}$, and $4.0{\times}10^4\;cells\;L^{-1}$, respectively. Generally, the chlorophyll-a concentra+CZ14tions and the abundances of heterotrophic bacteria and protists were higher in the inner zone of the bay, where there are high concentrations of organic matters, than in the middle and outer zones. Using the grazing rates of heterotrophic nanoflagellates on bacteria previously reported in this area, it can be calculated that about 69% of bacterial producton was removed by HNF grazing activity. About 24% of initial chlorophyll-a concentration was removed by microzooplankton grazing activity. In conclusion, this study suggests that in Masan Bay heterotrophic protists control the growth of bacteria and phytoplankton, and heterotrophic protists represent an important link of bacterial & microalgal biomass to higher trophic levels.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.101-112
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• 2007

In order to examine the short-term variations of phytoplankton and heterotrophic protozoa community structures with bloom events, water samples were collected every other day at one site in the coastal water off Incheon, Korea, from August 15-September 30, 2001. $Chlorophyll-{\alpha}$ concentrations varied widely from 1.8 to $19.3\;{\mu}g\;l^{-1}$ with the appearances of two major peaks of $Chlorophyll-{\alpha}$ concentration during the study period. Size-fractionated $Chlorophyll-{\alpha}$ concentration showed that net-size fraction ($>20\;{\mu}m$) comprised over 80% of total $Chlorophyll-{\alpha}$ during the first and second bloom periods, nano-size fraction ($3{\sim}20\;{\mu}m$) comprised average 42% during the pre- (before the first bloom) and post-bloom periods (after the second bloom), and pico- size fraction ($<3\;{\mu}m$) comprised over 50% during inter-bloom periods (i.e. between the first and second bloom periods). Dominant phytoplankton community was shifted from autotrophic nanoflagellates to diatom, diatom to picophytoplankton, picophytoplankton to diatom, and then diatom to autotrophic nanoflagellates, during the pre-, the first, the inter, the second, and the post-bloom periods, respectively. During the blooms, Chaetoceros pseudocrinitus and Eucampia zodiacus were dominant diatom species composed with more than 50% of total diatom. Carbon biomass of heterotrophic protozoa ranged from 8.2 to $117.8\;{\mu}gC\;l^{-1}$ and showed the highest biomass soon after the peak of the first and second blooms. The relative contribution of each group of the heterotrophic protozoa showed differences between the bloom period and other periods. Ciliates and HDF were dominant during the first and second bloom periods, with a contribution of more than 80% of the heterotrophic protozoan carbon biomass. Especially, different species of HDF, thecate and athecate HDF, were dominant during the first and the second bloom periods, respectively. Interestingly, Noctiluca scintillans appeared to be one of the key organisms to extinguish the first bloom. Therefore, our study suggests that heterotrophic protozoa could be a key player to control the phytoplankton community structure and biomass during the study period.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.78-93
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• 2003

To investigate seasonal variation and structure of the microbial community in Kyeonggi Bay, abundance and carbon biomass of nano-and micrzooplankton were evaluated in relation to size fractionated chlorophyll-a concentration, through the monthly interval sampling from December 1997 to November 1998. Communities of nano-and microzooplankton were classified into 4 groups such as heterotrophic nanoflagellate(HNF), ciliates, heterotrophic dinoflagellates(HDF) and zooplankton nauplii. Abundance and carbon biomass of HNF ranged from 380 to 4,370 cells ml-1(average 1,340$\pm$130 cells ml-1) and from 0.63 to 12.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 4.35$\pm$0.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of ciliates ranged from 331 to 44,571 cells ml-1(average 3,526$\pm$544 cells ml-1) and from 1.3 to 119.7 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 13.7$\pm$3.0 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of HDF ranged from 88 to 48,461 cells 1-1(average 9,034$\pm$2,347 cells 1-1) and from 0.05 to 54.05 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 6.9$\pm$2.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of zooplankton nauplii ranged from 5 to 546 indiv. 1-1(average 83$\pm$15 indiv. 1-1) and from 0.17 to 43.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 6.3$\pm$1.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Eash component of microbial biomass was not different from tidal cycle except tintinnids group. Depth integrated nano-and microzooplankton biomass ranged from 124 to 1,635 mgC m-2(average 585$\pm$110 mgC m-2) and was highest in March and May. The relative contribution of each component to the nano-and microzooplankton showed difference according to seasons. Community structure of nano-and microzooplankton was dominated by planktonic ciliate group. During the study period, carbon biomass of nano-and microzooplankton was strongly positively correlated with size fractionated chlorophylla-a. It implied that prey-predator relationship between microzooplankton and phytoplankton was important in the pelagic ecosystem of Kyeonggi Bay.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.198-206
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• 2017

From June 2007 to May 2008, seasonal variations of bacterial abundance and heterotrophic nanoflagellate (HNF), together with environmental factors, were investigated at weekly and monthly intervals in Kyeonggi Bay. During the study period, the water temperature and salinity varied from $1.9^{\circ}C{\sim}29.0^{\circ}C$ and 31~35.1 psu, respectively. The concentration of ammonia, nitrate+nitrite, phosphate, and silicate ranged from 0.01 to $3.22{\mu}M$, 2.03 to $15.34{\mu}M$, 0.06 to $1.82{\mu}M$, and 0.03 to $18.3{\mu}M$, respectively. The annual average concentration of Chl. a varied from $0.86{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ to $37.70{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$; the concentration was twice as much at the surface than at the deeper layers. The abundance of bacteria and HNF ranged from $0.29{\times}10^6$ to $7.62{\times}10^6cells\;mL^{-1}$ and $1.00{\times}10^2$ to $1.26{\times}10^3cells\;mL^{-1}$, respectively. In particular, there were significant correlations between bacteria and HNF abundance (p<0.05), and then the high abundance of HNF was frequently observed with an increase of bacterial abundance in summer (p<0.001). Our results therefore indicate that bacterial abundance in the bay was mainly controlled by resources supplied as organic and inorganic substances from Lake Shihwa due to the daily water exchange after dike construction. Also, the bacterial abundance was significantly controlled by HNF grazing pressure (top-down) in the warm seasons, i.e. excluding winter, in the Kyeonggi Bay.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.141-150
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• 2015

Dinoflagellates are ubiquitous and important primary producers in the oceans. They have diverse trophic modes, i.e., phototrophic, heterotrophic, and mixotrophic modes and thereby, play important ecological role in marine microbial food-web. While many studies have been focused on planktonic dinoflagellates in pelagic ecosystems, benthic, sand-dwelling dinoflagellates that inhabit in intertidal zone have been very poorly documented worldwide. We investigated biodiversity, occurrence, and molecular phylogeny of benthic, sand-dwelling dinoflagellates from the intertidal flat of Dongho, west coast of Korea during low-tide, monthly from November 2012 to February 2014. About 27 species of 13 genera in orders Gonyaulacales, Gymnodiniales, Peridiniales, Prorocentrales have been identified, of which members in the genus Amphidinium constituted a major part of the sand-dwelling dinoflagellates in this area. A total of 34 isolates from 16 species of the sand-dwelling dinoflagellates were isolated from Dongho, Mohang, Gamami, and Songho in the west coast and Hyupjae in Jeju of Korea, their 28S rDNA sequences were successfully amplified, and applied for molecular phylogenetic analyses. In the 28S rDNA phylogeny, Amphidinium species diverged across three major clusters within the order Gymnodiniales and formed polyphyletic group. Based on the unambiguously aligned partial 28S rDNA sequences including variable D2 region, the genotypes of Amphidinium mootonorum Korean strains greatly differed from that of Canadian strain with 19.2% of pairwise nucleotide difference, suggesting that further ultrastructural studies may provide additional characters to clearly separate these genotypes. Two potential toxic species, Amphidinium carterae and A. operculatum appeared occasionally during this study. Quantitative assessment and toxicity of those species should be addressed in the future.