• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2012

The variation of dissolved oxygen (DO) was monitored with high frequency by an automatic data-logging sensor in a eutrophic urban stream (the Anyang Stream) located in a metropolitan area of Seoul, South Korea. In general, DO showed the diel variation of increase in daytime and decrease at night, implying that primary production is a major mechanism of oxygen supply in this ecosystem. The fluctuation of oxygen was determined by rainfall. DO depletion was most obvious after a rainfall resulting in an anoxic condition for a day, which is thought to be caused by scouring of periphyton and organic ooze at the stream bottom. Seasonally DO was higher in winter and frequently depleted in warm seasons. DO depletion was often at a dangerous level for fish survival. Fish survey showed that little fish was living at the study site and oxygen depletion may be the major stress factor for aquatic animals. From the results it can be suggested that a high frequency monitoring of oxygen should be established for the proper assessment of aquatic habitats and better management strategy.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.368-378
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• 2005

Inorganic matters originated from stone quarries and manufacturing plants could alter the ecological characteristics of adjacent aquatic systems, especially the structure and function of benthic macroinvertebrate community. In such situation, the locality of stone quarry and the quantity of inorganic matters would be important factors that determined the disturbing strength to the benthic macroinvertebrate community. Locality patterns of stone quarries were classified into 3 types in relation to the stream ecosystem; stream-proximity, upstream-inclusion and tributary-inclusion type. In the result of species:abundance analysis, stone quarry B (upstream-inclusion type) showed geometric distribution, while others showed broken-stick distribution pattern. The benthic macroinvertebrate communities closer to stone quarries showed smaller species numbers and standing crops among all types of stone quarries. However the values of species evenness index were not seriously different between controls and directly affected sites. These results indicated that the effect of inorganic disturbance would differ from those of organic pollution that induced the highly dominant state occupied by tolerant species. Number of occurred species, standing crops, community indices and biotic indices indicated that the community of upstream-inclusion type was the most seriously damaged from the inorganic disturbance, and the community would be very simple and unstable. Tributary-inclusion stone quarry heavily damaged to tributary system in biologically, but influence to the main stream seemed to be depended on the scale of main stream. Among 3 types of stone quarry localities, stream-proximity type induced the least damages to benthic macroinvertebrate community, though the degrees of damage were different along with distances between stream and stone quarry.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.267-276
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• 2013

An Improvement of channel structure for sound fish habitat suitability enhancement is investigated. The restoration target species of Zacco Koreanus which is represented a sound aquatic ecosystem is selected by investigating results of the fish fauna and the river environments. The changes of lower channel width for enhancing suitability indices for water velocity and depth result in habitat suitability enhancement in general by PHABSIM simulation. The habitat suitability enhancement is not guaranteed consistently by the changes of lower channel is confirmed. The optimal lower channel widths at each reach are presented by genetic algorithm of optimization which is considering the enhancement of suitability indices for water velocity and depth with given instream flows. The suggested plan of the lower channel modification will contribute to the various projects for the environmental improvement of aquatic system.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.704-715
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• 2012

To examine temporal and spatial variation in salinity and nutrients in the shallow pore water of intertidal sandflats, we measured salinity and nutrient concentrations (dissolved inorganic nitrogen [DIN], phosphorus [DIP], and silicate [DSi]) in pore water of the intertidal zone along the coastline of Jeju Island at two and/or three month intervals from May 2009 to December 2010. Geochemical parameters (grain size, ignition loss [IL], chemical oxygen demand [COD], and acid volatile sulfur [AVS]) in sediment were also investigated. The surface sediments in intertidal sandflats of Jeju Island were mainly composed of sand, slightly gravelly sand and gravelly sand, with a range of mean grain size from 0.5 to 2.5 ${\O}$. Concentrations of IL and COD in sediment were higher along the eastern coast, as compared to the western coast, due to differences in biogenic sediment composition. Salinity and nutrient concentrations in pore water were markedly different across time and space during rainy seasons, whereas concentrations were temporally and spatially more stable during dry seasons. These results suggest that salinity and nutrient concentrations in pore water depend on the advective flow of fresh groundwater. We also observed an imbalance of the DIN/DIP ratio in pore water due to the influence of contaminated sources of DIN. In particular, nutrient concentrations during rainy and dry seasons were characterized by high DIN/DIP ratios (mean-127) and low DIN/DIP ratios (mean-10), respectively, relative to the Redfield ratio (16) in offshore seawater. Such an imbalance of DIN/DIP ratios in pore water can affect the coastal ecosystem and appears to cause outbreaks of benthic seaweed along the coastline of Jeju Island.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.694-703
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• 2012

To understand the characteristics of sedimentary and benthic environments in habitats of naturally-occurring intertidal benthic macroalgae, various geochemical parameters of sediment (grain size, ignition loss [IL], chemical oxygen demand [COD], and acid volatile sulfur [AVS]) and pore water (temperature, salinity, pH, and nutrients) were measured in the southern intertidal zone of Hampyeong Bay at two month intervals from April to October 2009. Ecological characteristics including the distribution and biomass of benthic macroalgae were also investigated. Benthic macroalgae were distributed below 4 to 5 m depth from mean sea level near the lower portion of the intertidal zone where air exposure time is relatively short. The distribution area and biomass of benthic macroalgae gradually decreased during the study period. The surface sediments in the benthic algal region were mainly composed of finer sediments, such as slightly gravelly mud and mud. The temperature, salinity, pH, and nutrient concentrations (except dissolved inorganic nitrogen) in pore water did not differ in regions with and without benthic macroalgae, whereas the mean grain size and the concentrations of IL, COD, and AVS in sediments were much higher in regions harboring benthic macroalgae. The correlation between mean grain size and IL in sediments displayed two distinct gradients and the slope was much steeper in regions harboring benthic macroalgae, indicating that the content of organic matter in benthic algal region is not solely dependent on mean grain size. Our results indicate that the benthic macroalgae in the southern intertidal zone of Hampyeong Bay play an important role in the accumulation of organic matter in sediment.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2014

Three species of Nortamea concinua (NC) and Haliotis discus hannai (HDH) from Tongyeong and Sulculus diversicolor supertexta (SDS) are widely distributed on the coast of the Yellow Sea, southern sea and Jeju Island in the Korean Peninsula under the innate ecosystem. There is a need to understand the genetic traits and composition of three mollusk species in order to evaluate exactly the patent genetic effect. PCR analysis was performed on DNA samples extracted from a total of 21 individuals using seven decamer oligonucleotides primers. Seven primers were shown to generate the unique shared loci to each species and shared loci by the three species which could be clearly scored. A hierarchical clustering tree was constructed using similarity matrices to generate a dendrogram, which was facilitated by the Systat version 10. 236 specific loci, with an average of 56.3 per primer, were identified in the NC species. 142 specific loci, with an average of 44.7 per primer, were identified in the HDH species. Especially, 126 numbers of shared loci by the three species, with an average of 18 per primer, were observed among the three species. Especially, the decamer primer BION-75 generated 7 unique loci to each species, which were identifying each species, in 700 bp NC species. Interestingly, the primer BION-50detected 42 shared loci by the three species, major and/or minor fragments of sizes 100 bp and 150 bp, respectively, which were identical in all samples. As regards average bandsharing value (BS) results, individuals from HDH species (0.772) exhibited higher bandsharing values than did individuals from NC species (0.655). In this study, the dendrogram obtained by the seven decamer primers indicates three genetic clusters: cluster 1 (CONCINNA 01~CONCINNA 07), cluster 2 (HANNAI 08~HANNAI 14), cluster 3 (SUPERTEXTA 15~SUPERTEXTA 21). Comparatively, individuals of HDH species were fairly closely related to that of SDS species, as shown in the hierarchical dendrogram of genetic distances.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.364-369
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• 2006

The investigation of the Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in tissues (brain, eye, muscle and serum) of crucian carp (Carassius auratus) exposed to the waterborne parathion was carried out for application as biomarker of organophosphate pesticides. The AChE activities were significantly inhibited in the experimental organs of C. auratus treated ${\geq}63{\mu}g/L$ of concentrations of parathion. The AChE activity of C. auratus was significantly reduced in response to brain (79.1~92.4%), eye (76.0~91.5%), muscle (89.7~97.6%) and serum (68.9~78.0%) after 30 days exposure. No significant mortality occurred during the experiment duration but behavioral changes occurred in the carp after exposure to the parathion were erratic swimming and convulsions. The anomaly in the carp exposed to parathion were observed in the form of scoliosis. The use of AChE activity and other adverse responses of the carp might be use as a reliable monitoring tool to detect parathion in aquatic ecosystem which might produce significant population changes.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.796-804
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• 2006

The objective of this research was to develop ecological multi-metric models using natural fish assemblages for a diagnosis of current stream health condition, and apply the model to nationwide lotic ecosystems of the Geum River, the Youngsan River, and the Sumjin River. The ecological stream health model was based on the index of biological integrity (IBI), which was originally developed in North American streams by Karr (1981), and the Rapid Bioassessment Protocol (RBP), which was scientifically established by the US EPA (1999). The metric numbers and metric attributes were partially changed for the regional applications, so the scoring criteria was modified for the assessment. Overall, metric values, based on the IBI calculations, reflected conventional water quality characteristics, based on nutrient regime, and agreed with results of staticeco-toxicity tests. Some stations impaired in terms of stream health were identified by the IBI approach, and also major key stressors affecting the stream health were identified by additional evaluations of physical habitats. Our preliminary results suggested that biological integrity in stream ecosystems was largely disturbed by habitat degradation as well as chemical pollutions. This new approach would be used as a key tool for ecological restorations and species conservations in the degraded aquatic ecosystems in Korea and applied for elucidating major causes of ecological disturbances. Ultimately, this approach provides us an effective management strategy of stream ecosystems through establishments of ecological networks in various watersheds.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.319-327
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• 2015

The present study was carried out to develop biological criteria for aquatic ecosystem health assessment using composition and diversity of collected species. The sampling sites were a total of 67 sites in the Han River (29 sites) and the Nakdong River (38 sites), May and September 2012. During the survey period fish were collected totally 93 species. In each water system, 73 and 61 species were collected in the Han River and the Nakdong River respectively. The current composition of fish species between the Han River and Nakdong River showed similar pattern. The dominant species was Zacco platypus of the Han River, and the Nakdong River was Opsariichthys uncirostris. In particular, ecological characteristics of O. uncirostris frequently appeared in general polluted waters. In conclusion, in the Nakdong River, average value of FAI (Fish Assessment Index) was averaged 41.3, indicating a "poor condition", and the Han River was 53.1, indicating a "poor condition". The aquatic health of the Nakdong River assessed based on FAI was considered to be worse than that of the Han River.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.473-478
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• 2012

To protect human health and manage increasing hazardous chemicals in stream area, it is necessary to expand water quality hazardous items based on risk assessment with proper monitoring data. Also, it is essential to set up the suitable monitoring frequency to produce reliable exposure data to derive water quality guidelines. However, there has been no harmonized monitoring frequency for risk assessment in both domestic and international monitoring systems. In addition, the monitoring frequency for risk assessment has been selected as 'Research needs' in the International Conference on Deriving Environmental Quality Standards for the Protection of Aquatic Ecosystems (EQSPAE) of 2011. In this study, Cases of UNEP/WHO, EU, European countries, USEPA, ANZECC/ARMCANZ, CCME, Japan, and Korea were analyzed to propose the monitoring frequency for risk assessment. Monitoring frequencies depending on environmental conditions, monitoring object, measurement parameters, and monitoring duration were extensively collected. We observed that a monthly monitoring has been applied at most of organizations including EU, USEPA, and UNEP/WHO. In this study, monitoring frequency of minimum 6 times during 3 years were proposed to conduct the risk assessment based on the current domestic status. However, it is necessary to make agreements among interested parties, and perform additional studies about optimal monitoring frequency to protect the aquatic ecosystem and human health in Korean rivers and streams.