• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.148-152
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• 2003

The phosphorus(P) adsorption capacities of various filter media were investigated in relation to the size and types of fitter media to screen the optimum condition. The objective of this study was to evaluate the constructed wetland longevity by improving P adsorption capacity. The maximum P adsorption capacities of filter media A($4{\sim}10\;mm$), B($2{\sim}4\;mm$) and C($0.1{\sim}2\;mm$) were 8, 10 and 22 mg/kg, respectively, showing those increased as the filter media size decreased. Among the experimental media, the optimum filter media size was $0.1{\sim}2\;mm$. When the filter Medium was supplemented with organic materials which were piled up and decayed in the constructed wetland, the P adsorption capacity was significantly enhanced Under the conditions of optimum fitter media size, the respective Maximum P adsorption capacities of filter media C when supplemented with Ca, Mg, Al and Fe were higher than that of filter media C. However the addition of Ca, Mg, Al and Fe to constructed wetland were not recommended because of the possibility of their secondary pollution. The maximum P adsorption capacity of filter media C was 22 mg/kg, but this was increased to 36 mg/kg when filter media C was supplemented with 2% oyster shell.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.129-137
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• 2006

A study was conducted to investigate the behavior of pollutant forms at each area in the sewage treatment plant by natural purification method. The sewage treatment plant by natural purification method that consisted of aerobic and anaerobic area was constructed. The efficiency of sewage treatment depending on the operation time, the loading amount of pollutant season variation were investigated. The removal amount of BOD, COD, TOC and SS in the aerobic area was significantly increased as the treatment proceeded. Decreased BOD, COD, TOC, SS, T-N and T-P depending on the loading amount of pollutants in the aerobic and ananerobic area were mostly insoluble BOD (IBOD), insoluble COD (ICOD), soluble TOC (STOC), volatile SS (VSS), dissolved T-N (DTN) and dissolved T-N (DTP) types, respectively. The removal efficiency of BOD, COD, TOC, SS, T-N and T-P in hot season (summer and autumn) were more than that in cold season (spring and winter). The removal efficiencies of BOD, COD, TOC, SS, T-N and T-P of the effluent were about 92, 89, 73, 95, 46 and 84% in all seasons, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.104-112
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: Agricultural inputs (fertilizer and organic inputs) and water conditions can influence $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ emission from agricultural soils. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of agricultural inputs (fertilizer and organic inputs) under changing water regime on $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ emission from a soil in a laboratory incubation experiment. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four treatments were laid out: control without input and three type of agricultural inputs ($(NH_4)_2SO_4$, AS; pig manure compost, PMC; hairy vetch, HV). Fertilizer and organic inputs were mixed with 25 g of soil at 2.75 mg N/25 g soil (equivalent to 110 kg N/ha) in a bottle with septum, and incubated for 60 days. During the first 30-days incubation, the soil was waterlogged (1 cm of water depth) by adding distilled water weekly, and on 30 days of incubation, excess water was discarded then incubated up to 60 days without addition of water. Based on the redox potential, water regime could be classified into wetting (1 to 30 days), transition (31 to 40 days), and drying periods (41 to 60 days). Across the entire period, $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ flux ranged from 0 to 13.8 mg $CH_4$/m/day and from 0.4~1.9 g $CO_2$/m/day, and both were relatively higher in the early wetting period and the boundary between transition and drying periods. During the entire period, % loss of C relative to the initial was highest in HV (16.4%) followed by AS (8.1%), PMC (7.5%), and control (5.4%), indicating readily decomposability of HV. Accordingly, both $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ fluxes were greatest in HV treatment. Meanwhile, the lower $CH_4$ flux in AS and PMC treatments than the control was ascribed to reduction in $CH_4$ generation due to the presence of oxidized compounds such as ${SO_4}^{2-}$, $Fe^{3+}$, $Mn^{4+}$, and ${NO_3}^-$ that compete with precursors of $CH_4$ for electrons. CONCLUSION: Green manure such as HV can replace synthetic fertilizer in terms of N input, however, it may increase $CH_4$ emission from soils. Therefore, co-application of green manure and livestock manure compost needs to be considered in order to achieve satisfactory N supply and to mitigate $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ emission.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.435-440
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• 2008

Bovine mastitis is an important disease causing serious economic loss in dairy production and food poison in public health. The major causative agents of bovine mastitis include Escherichia coli (E. coli), Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). These bacteria were found in milk and environmental condition such as feces, water, soil and so on. Recently, many cases of mastitis are derived from environmental contamination of micro-organisms, which important factors for the spread of this disease in farm. Ultraviolet irradiation (UV) has been used as disinfection for waste and water in clinical and industrial facilities. Moreover the UV irradiation has been used as useful bactericidal agents to remove bacterial biofilms in environmental condition. In this study, we determined the bacterial replication in different percentage of water content (PWC) in sterilized saw dust and feces complexes from farm, and results showed that slightly decreased growth pattern of E. coli and S. agalactiae but increased growth pattern of S. aureus in various PWC (200, 400 and 600%) until 144 h incubation. In the bacteriocidal effect of UV irradiation to bacteria in saw dust and feces complex, the results showed that bacteriocidal effect was depended on the UV irradiation time, irradiation distance and PWC. Especially the antibacterial activity of UV irratiation is stronger in low PWC (50%), long time irradiation (50 sec), and short distance (5 cm) than other condition of this study. Furthermore UV irradiation with stirring showed increased the bactericidal effect compared without stirring. These results suggested that bovine mastitis causing agents may survive long time in environmental condition especially saw dust and feces complexes in farm and can cause a various disease including mastitis. Moreover, these data can be used as basis for application and development of UV disinfection to control of bovine mastitis from environmental contaminated bacteria in dairy farm.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Water quality of rural areas are susceptible to agricultural nutrient input and supply such as chemical fertilizer and livestock manure. This study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of nutrient (N and P) indices in understanding spatial variations of water quality across Chonnam province which is a typical agricultural region in Korea. METHODS AND RESULTS: The nutrient indices including chemical fertilizer supply, livestock manure production, and nutrient balance were correlated with water quality data (T-N, T-P, BOD, and COD) for the twenty-two districts of the province. Concentration of T-N were positively correlated with chemical fertilizer supply, livestock manure N production, and nutrient balance (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Meanwhile, T-P concentration was not correlated with these nutrient indices; however, there was a tendency that T-P concentration increases with livestock manure P production (P=0.06) and with nutrient balance (P=0.09). These results suggest that T-N concentration is susceptible to both chemical fertilizer and livestock manure; whereas T-P is likely to be affected by livestock manure rather than chemical fertilizer. The concentrations of BOD and COD were also positively (P<0.05 or P<0.01) correlated with livestock manure production. CONCLUSION: This study shows the usefulness of nutrient indices in understanding spatial variations of water quality and suggests that livestock manure rather than chemical fertilizer can be a more critical water pollution source and thus highlights the need for more attention to livestock manure treatments for rural water quality management.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: The carbon (C) isotope ratio (${\delta}^{13}C$) of dissolved organic C (DOC) is an indicator of water pollution source. In this study, the potential use of two pre-treatments for the ${\delta}^{13}C$ analysis, alkaline persulfate oxidation coupled with carbonate precipitation (precipitation) and freeze drying (drying), were compared to suggest a more feasible pre-treatment method. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two reference materials with different ${\delta}^{13}C$ values were used for the experiments; chemical grade glucose ($-12.0{\pm}0.02$‰) and pig manure compost extract ($-23.3{\pm}0.04$‰). In the precipitation method, the measured ${\delta}^{13}C$ values were consistently lower than the theoretically calculated values as dissolved $CO_2$ could not be removed due to the alkaline property of the reagents and the dissolution of air $CO_2$ into the alkaline solution. The drying method also resulted in more negative ${\delta}^{13}C$ than the calculated ${\delta}^{13}C$; however, the difference was systematic ($3.9{\pm}0.3$‰) and there was a strong correlation (${\delta}^{13}C_{calculated}=0.87{\times}{\delta}^{13}C_{measured}-0.624$, $r^2=0.98$) between the calculated and measured ${\delta}^{13}C$. Calibration of ${\delta}^{13}C$ using the relationship between the calculated and the measured ${\delta}^{13}C$ values produced reliable and accurate ${\delta}^{13}C$ values. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the drying method is more accurate pre-treatment method to minimize the influence of air $CO_2$ compared to the precipitation method for the determination of ${\delta}^{13}C$ of DOC.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.216-224
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• 2014

Decrease in dissolved oxygen concentrations associated with temperature fluctuation is an important criteria to evaluate the mortality rate of the species. Based on this parameter, we investigated the survival rate, physiological response and histological change of warty sea squirt. It was found that the survival rate of the warty sea squirt species was 63.3% at $23^{\circ}C$ and 56.6% at $26^{\circ}C$ respectively. However, exposure of six days at $29^{\circ}C$ caused deaths among species, which indicated the 6day-$LT^{50}$ of the tested species to be $24.58^{\circ}C$ ($19.48{\sim}35.48^{\circ}C$). Further, after 11 day of exposure, the dissolved oxygen concentration has been found to decrease, with the survival rate of 20% at $4.0mg\;L^{-1}$ and deaths at $2.0mg\;L^{-1}$, thus 11day-$LC^{50}$ calculated to be $3.88mg\;L^{-1}$ ($3.29{\sim}4.57mg\;L^{-1}$). In addition, decrease in rate of oxygen consumption and excretion of ammonia was also noted at this critical water temperature and dissolve doxygen concentration. Moreover, there has been common histopathological changes were observed in warty sea squirt's gill pouch, digestive tract, and tunic as follows such as: proliferation of epithelial cells, condensation and necrosis, permeation of phagocyte and blood cell, loss of cilium and muscular fiber degeneration. Based on our study results, we suggest that these parameters can also be useful to evaluate the survival rate and physiological response in other species.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.404-415
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• 2020

We investigated the seasonal variations in growth and physiological responses of the kelp species Ecklonia cava to different nitrogen sources to establish indoor culture conditions for mass production. Ecklonia cava was cultivated for 10 days in 16 combinations of seawater temperatures (15, 17, 21, and 25℃) and different nitrogen sources (control; NH-NH₄⁺ 100 μM; NO-NO₃^- 100 μM; and NHNO-NH₄⁺ 50 μM+NO₃^- 50 μM). The growth and growth rate of the blade were affected by temperature. The mean fresh weight and area-based daily growth rate were the highest (5.8±0.5 and 6.6±0.5% day^-1, respectively) at 15℃ and the lowest (2.2±0.2 and 3.0±0.3% day^-1, respectively) at 25℃. The daily growth rate was the highest in the NH and NO treatments and lowest in the control. The nitrate reductase activity of E. cava varied with water temperature (season). The highest activity was in the control (1.32±0.10 μmol NO₂^- g^-1 dry weight h^-1) and the lowest was in the NH treatment (0.25±0.02 μmol NO₂^- g^-1 dry weight h^-1). The photosynthetic pigment concentrations reached a maximum value in the NHNO treatment and a minimum value in the control. These results showed that water temperature played an important role in the cultivation of E. cava and that a single supply of NH₄⁺ or NO₃^- may induce the accelerated growth of E. cava. The growth and physiological responses of E. cava to different nitrogen sources during each season provide valuable information for determining the optimal nitrogen source in E. cava cultivation under indoor conditions.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.333-342
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• 2020

The aim of this study was to define the toxic effects of phenanthrene (PAHs) on the fertilization and normal embryogenesis rates in the two species of sea urchin (Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus and Mesocentrotus nudus). The sperm and fertilized eggs of both sea urchin species were exposed to serial dilutions of phenanthrene for 10 min and 48 hours, respectively. The fertilization rate and normal embryogenesis rate of H. pulcherrimus and M. nudus were decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. The EC₅₀ for the fertilization rate of H. pulcherrimus and M. nudus was 17.48 mg L^-1 and 16.21 mg L^-1, and the EC₅₀ for the normal embryogenesis rate was 2.99 mg L^-1 and 0.36 mg L^-1, respectively. Between the two species, H. pulcherrimus was more sensitive to phenanthrene exposure, and 48 h normal embryogenesis was the more sensitive endpoint. Therefore, the results of this study demonstrated that the exposure of both sea urchin species to phenanthrene caused alterations in egg fertilization and the early developmental stages.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.145-155
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• 2012

The matric suction and volumetric water content of Jumunin standard sand with a relative density of 60% were measured using an Automated Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) apparatus during both drying and wetting processes. The test time for the drying process was longer than that for the wetting process, because the flow of water is likely to be protected by air trapped in voids within the soils during the drying process. Based on the matric suction and volumetric water content, the SWCC was estimated using the model proposed by van Genuchten (1980). For the drying process, the unsaturated fitting parameters ${\alpha}$, n, and m were 0.399, 8.586, and 0.884, respectively; for the wetting process, the values were 0.548, 5.625, and 8.220, respectively. The hysteresis phenomenon occurred in the SWCCs, which means the SWCC of the drying process is not matched with the SWCC of the wetting process. Using these unsaturated parameters, we estimated the Suction Stress Characteristic Curve (SSCC), based on the relationship between suction stress and the effective degree of saturation. The suction stress showed a rapid decrease when the matric suction exceeds the Air Entry Value (AEV). Therefore, the effective stress of unsaturated soils is different from that of saturated soils when the matric suction exceeds the AEV. The suction stress of the drying process exceeds that of the wetting process for a given effective degree of saturation. The hysteresis phenomenon was also recognized in SSCCs. The hysteresis phenomenon of SSCCs arises from that of SWCCs, which is induced by the ink bottle effect and the contact angle effect. In the case of a sandy slope, the suction stress is positive and acts to enhance the slope stability as the water infiltrates the ground, but is negative when the suction stress exceeds the AEV. The results obtained for the wetting process should be applied in analyses of slope stability, because the process of water infiltration into ground is similar to the wetting process.