• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.19-29
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• 2012

Numerous studies suggested that fish assemblage structure reflects the status of stream ecosystems. The status of streams integrity, including various trophic levels, water quality and habitat degradation, can be assessed by fish assemblages. In this study, we investigated the relationships between fish assemblages and streamline geometry of streams. Previous studies suggested that geomorphologic parameter can be a critical factor of permeability between adjacent two systems. From a landscape ecological perspective, edges may partially control the flow rate of energy between two adjacent systems. Thus, the Streamline geometry can be a geomorphologic parameter that exhibits the integrity of stream. We selected the Nakdong river for study areas, which is one of major rivers and the longest (525 km) River in South Korea. We used the revised IBI representing overall ecological characteristics of Korean fish assemblages and eight sub-assessment criteria of IBI, collected from 82 sampling sites in the Nakdong River. For calculating the Streamline geometry, we measured fractal dimension index that generally used in biology, ecology and landscape ecology. We used the digital land-use/land-cover map and generated a 1-km buffer for each sampling site and refined the shape of the Streamlines. Pearson correlation analyses were performed between Streamline geometry and IBI and sub-assessment criteria of IBI. The results show that IBI and eight sub-assessments of fish are significantly correlated with geometry of Streamline. The fractal dimension of Streamline geometry were related with IBI (r = 0.48) and six sub-assessments of IBI, including total number of native fish and native species, the number of riffle benthic species, sensitive species, tolerant species and native insectivore. Especially, the number of tolerant species(r = -0.52) and native insectivore(r = 0.52) show strong correlation with geometry of Streamline. These results indicate that lower Streamline geometry can result in poor fish assemblages, while higher geometry of Streamline can enhance fish assemblages by potentially supplying insects and better habitat conditions. We expect the results of our study to be useful for stream restoration and management. However, we see the necessity of study investigating the mechanisms how Streamline geometry affect fish assemblages.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.129-140
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• 2019

Majangcheon is a small agricultural stream which is located in Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do. To understand ecological characteristics of Majangcheon as biological habitats, we surveyed its physical environment and fishes from June 2016 to September 2016. The altitudinal difference between lowest and highest point of the stream was 3 meters and the first-order stream under a map drawn on a scale of 1:25,000. The flow rate of stream was slow in overall with $0.09-0.48m{\cdot}s^{-1}$. More than 50% of clay were found in all points except for the point St. 3 in the riverbed structure surveyed. A total of 2,532 individuals of 22 species in nine families were collected from Majangcheon. Of them, stillwater-living species (Acheilognathinae and Carassius auratus) and floating species (Zacco platypus and Oryzias sinensis) were mainly collected. In Majangcheon, thus, both of stillwater-living and floating fishes were specifically coexisted. The correspondence analysis, based on fishes collected from Majangcheon and past research, showed that Majangcheon is closer to the flat streams in Gyeonggi-do rather than the mountainous streams in Gangwon-do but it appeared as an independent group from those of two regions. As a result, Majangcheon is a stream with specificity of fish community.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.161-172
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• 2018

A mixed farming system that includes organic rice production and freshwater fish farming is being called into attention in Korean agricultural industry and rural areas in order to improve farm management and environmental conservation. This study was conducted to evaluate the environmental and ecological value of such mixed farming practices. Expert assessment and rapid assessment method (RAM) of wetland evaluation were employed for this study. Experts have responded that biodiversity conservation including amphibian and reptile habitat (2.39), aquatic insect habitat (2.36), Fishery habitat (2.34), vegetation diversity (2.13), avian habitat (2.05), and experience and education were the most important function of mixed farming. The wetland function evaluation conducted using modified RAM indicated that rice-fish mixed system showed improvements in most of the evaluated functions, compared to the conventional rice paddies. The overall wetland function of rice paddies in rice-fish mixed system was greatly improved as compared with the conventional rice paddies. Rice paddies are known to play an important role in biodiversity maintenance, and provide ecosystem services such as climate modulation and carbon reduction. Rice-fish mixed system of farming may not only improve various ecosystem services of rice paddies, but may increase farm income through value added fish farming, as well as promotion of social services such as education and maintenance of tradition. Additional research is needed for quantitative analysis of the values gained from the most improved wetland function when mixed farming system is actually put into practice, and to utilize the results in advertising of the organic rice, and in various sectors such as food, education and direct payment policy.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.243-250
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: Recently, the use of $^{131}I$ for diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer has been increasing, and the radionuclide is continuously released into aquatic ecosystem. This study was carried out to investigate the $^{131}I$ concentrations in mainstreams, tributaries, and sewage wastewater treatment plants (SWTPs) of the Yeongsan River Basin and to identify their origins from the assessment of behaviors in the rivers. METHODS AND RESULTS: The water samples were collected from 19 sites including mainstreams (13), tributaries (4) and SWTPs (2). The $^{131}I$ concentration was measured using a gamma-ray spectrometry with a HPGe detector. The $^{131}I$ in SWTPs was detected mostly in the discharged effluent at the sampling sites. However, from the surface water of the rivers, $^{131}I$ was found only at two sites from each sampling period of the first (MS4 and MS10) and the second half (MS4 and MS7) of the year 2017. The concentrations of $^{131}I$ in the effluent discharged from SWTPs were in the range of 0.0870 to 3.87 Bq/L for SWTP1, and $^{131}I$ in the river revealed that it was not detected in the upper streams of the mainstreams and tributaries, while continuous detection was found in the SWTPs and downstream sites affected by the effluent. However, the concentration of $^{131}I$ decreased downstream, eventually becoming undetectable. Such behavior was closely related to the behavior found in the SWTPs. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that medically-derived $^{131}I$ was discharged to the river via sewage effluent at the SWTPs. It is necessary to evaluate the influence of aquatic ecosystems through continuous monitoring in the future.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.260-269
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• 2009

Hwabuk Dam has been under construction to reduce flood damage in Nakdong River watershed and to supply stable water for middle area of Gyeongbuk Province. Therefore, fish investigation in up and downstream of the dam was conducted from 2004 to 2008 in order to determine any negative effect on fish community due to dam construction and to use as fundamental data for conserving species diversity and maintaining stream health. According to data analysis on water quality, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, suspended solids, and total E-coli had seasonal variation, but they did not significantly differ in sites. However, biological and chemical oxygen demand, chlorophyll-a, nitrogen, and phosphorus representing organic matter and nutrient concentration were higher in upper site and decreased to lower site so that they differed by site. Concentration of arsenic among the heavy metals was less than 0.05 mg $L^{-1}$, which is regulated for protection of human health in water quality standard, except for 0.092 mg $L^{-1}$ in June 2005. During the study period, the total number of fish caught from the 6 sites was 10,263 representing 7 families 19 species. Among them, dominant and subdominant species were Korean chub (Zacco koreanus, 62.5%) and Chinese minnow (Rhynchocypris oxycephalus, 10.6%) which inhabit mostly in mid and upper streams, Korea. Among the 19 species, Korean endemic species were 9 species (47.4%) including Korean slender gudgeon (Squalidus gracilis majimae), Korean dark sleeper (Odontobutis platycephala), and Korean shiner (Coreoleuciscus splendidus). There was several individuals of the $1^{st}$-class endangered species, Naktong nose loach (Koreocobitis nahtongensis), caught in 2005${\sim}$2007, and no introduced species of fish was found in entire sampling period. According to result of community analysis, dominance index decreased toward lower site, but diversity and richness indices increased toward lower site. The equation of length-weight relationship on the dominant species was TW=0.000003$(TL)^{3.2603}$. The parameter b in the equation was greater than 3.0 indicating good nutritional condition in the populations. Compared to populations of Korean chub in other streams, the population in Hwabuk Dam watershed had higher mean of condition factor by size indicating better growth rate. With fish fauna and multi-metric health assessment model in each sampling attempt, index of biotic integrity (IBI) was evaluated and it resulted mostly in good (26${\sim}$35) and excellent (36${\sim}$40) condition in all sites, and the mean of IBI was the highest in site 5. The results indicate that it is very important to study not only environmental impact assessment with fish composition but also stream health assessment in order to conserve healthy aquatic ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.84-98
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• 2022

Estuary is important in terms of biodiversity because it has the characteristics of transition waters, created by the mixing of fresh- and seawater. The estuarine water circulation provides a variety of habitats with different environments by inducing gradients in the chemical and physical environment, such as water quality and river bed structure, which are ultimately the main factors influencing biological community composition. If the water circulation is interrupted, the loss of brackish areas and the interception of migration of biological communities will lead to changes in the spatial distribution of biodiversity. In this study, among the sites covered by the Estuary Aquatic Ecosystem Health Assessment, we selected study sites where changes in biodiversity can be assessed by spatial gradient from the upper reaches of the river to the lower estuarine area. The α-, γ- and β-diversity of diatom, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish communities were calculated, and they were divided into open and closed estuary data and compared to determine the trends in biodiversity variation due to estuarine circulation. As results, all communities showed higher γ-diversity at open estuary sites. The benthic macroinvertebrate community showed a clear difference between open and closed estuaries in β-diversity, consequently the estuarine transects were considered as a factor that decreases spatial heterogeneity of their diversity among sites. The biodiversity trends analyzed in this study will be used to identify estuaries with low γ- and β-diversity by community, providing a useful resource for further mornitoring and management to maintain estuarine health.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.271-296
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• 2021

Since the thermal stratification in a reservoir inhibits the vertical mixing of the upper and lower layers and causes the formation of a hypoxia layer and the enhancement of nutrients release from the sediment, changes in the stratification structure of the reservoir according to future climate change are very important in terms of water quality and aquatic ecology management. This study was aimed to develop a data-driven inflow water temperature prediction model for Daecheong Reservoir (DR), and to predict future inflow water temperature and the stratification structure of DR considering future climate scenarios of Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP). The random forest (RF)regression model (NSE 0.97, RMSE 1.86℃, MAPE 9.45%) developed to predict the inflow temperature of DR adequately reproduced the statistics and variability of the observed water temperature. Future meteorological data for each RCP scenario predicted by the regional climate model (HadGEM3-RA) was input into RF model to predict the inflow water temperature, and a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model (AEM3D) was used to predict the change in the future (2018~2037, 2038~2057, 2058~2077, 2078~2097) stratification structure of DR due to climate change. As a result, the rates of increase in air temperature and inflow water temperature was 0.14~0.48℃/10year and 0.21~0.41℃/10year,respectively. As a result of seasonal analysis, in all scenarios except spring and winter in the RCP 2.6, the increase in inflow water temperature was statistically significant, and the increase rate was higher as the carbon reduction effort was weaker. The increase rate of the surface water temperature of the reservoir was in the range of 0.04~0.38℃/10year, and the stratification period was gradually increased in all scenarios. In particular, when the RCP 8.5 scenario is applied, the number of stratification days is expected to increase by about 24 days. These results were consistent with the results of previous studies that climate change strengthens the stratification intensity of lakes and reservoirs and prolonged the stratification period, and suggested that prolonged water temperature stratification could cause changes in the aquatic ecosystem, such as spatial expansion of the low-oxygen layer, an increase in sediment nutrient release, and changed in the dominant species of algae in the water body.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.215-226
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• 2000

We evaluated the aquatic ecosystem of Keum-Ho River through applications of the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) using fish assemblages and Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) during June-November 1999. Overall IBI values ranged from 13 to 37 with mean of 23 (n=25, Std. error= 1.16), indicating a "Poor" or "Very Poor" condition according to the criteria of Karr (1981) and U.S. EPA (1993). The values of mean IBI declined at the rate of $0.22km^{-1}$(($r^2$=0.91, p< 0.05) along the longitudinal distance from the headwaters to the down-river. Reduced IBI values at down-river (St. 4 and 5) were attributed to the decreases in riffle benthic species and the relative abundance of insectivore and increases in tolerant species, anormalies and exotic species. Spatial pattern in IBI agreed with QHEI values, which showed a linear relation ($r^2$=0.998, p< 0.001) with mean number of species. Field measurements of conductivity and pH, indicators for variation of conservative ions, showed that the river water was diluted up to 30% by summer precipitation and surface run-off from the watershed, resulting in physical and chemical instability during the monsoon. For these reasons, average IBI values during monsoon and postmonsoon decreased more than 20% compared to pre -monsoon. Before the perturbation of the system (i.e., pre-monsoon), values of QHEI were inversely correlated (r=-0.99, p< 0.0001) with realtive abundance of native omnivore and were positively correlated (r=0.87, p=0.05) with relative abundance of native carnivore. These results indicate that spatial degradation of habitat quality modified the species richness and trophic structure, producing decreased IBI values. (Biological integrity, IBI, Monsoon, Habitat, River, Korea)bitat, River, Korea)

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.82-90
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• 2014

To assess the adverse effects of suspended solids on fishes, the hatching rate of embryo, and survival and growth of larvae were measured with common fish species of river such as crusian carp (Carassius auratus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and medaka (Oryzias latipes). Bioassay on hatching rate of embryo was conducted with a range of turbidity as 10 levels from 0.2 to 8,080 NTU. Another bioassay on 4-day larval survival and 21-day larval growth were also conducted with a range of turbidity as 8 levels from 0.1 to 8,260 NTU, and 6 levels from 0.7 to 2,030 NTU, respectively. The hatching rate of C. auratus was not significantly different from that of control at turbidity below 4,040 NTU, whereas it decreased when turbidity was 8,080 NTU (p<0.05). The hatching rate of C. carpio was not affected by concentration of suspended solids. For O. latipes, the hatching rate significantly decreased from 254 NTU (p<0.001) and it was zero when turbidity was 8,080 NTU. The 4-day survival of larvae of all 3 species was not affected by turbidity, while the larval growth of all 3 species was significantly affected. The turbidity effect on the growth of C. auratus and C. carpio was observed from 7 days after the exposure at turbidity level of 145, 143 NTU, respectively. The turbidity effect on the growth of O. latipes was observed from 14 days after the exposure at turbidity level of 254 NTU. The results of this study will provide the basic information for the derivation of water quality criteria on suspended solids for the protection of aquatic ecosystem and the quantitative ecological risk assessment of freshwater environment.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2012

Worldwide development of harmful algal blooms causes serious problem for public health and fisheries industries. To evaluate the algicidal impact on the harmful algae bloom species in aquatic ecosystems of coast, a new algicide thiazolidinedione derivative (TD49) were tentatively examined in the growth stages (i.e., lag, logarithmic and stationary phase) of rapidophyceae $Heterosigma$ $akashiwo$, $Chattonella$ $marina$ and $Chattonella$ sp..Three strains could easily destroy in the lag phase due to relatively weak cell walls than those of the logarithmic and stationary phase. It is thought that inoculation of TD49 substances into initial or developmental natural blooms with a threshold concentration ($2{\mu}M$) can maximize the algicidal activity. Also, bio-chemical assays revealed that the algicidal substances from all culture strains were likely to be extracellular substances because those cells have easily destroyed in cell walls. On the other hand, natural zooplankton communities were influenced within the exposure experiments of $2{\mu}M$, which is showed the maximum algcidal activity of tested organisms. These results indicate that although the TD49 substance is potential agents for the control of $H.$ $akashiwo$, $C.$ $marina$ and $Chattonella$ sp. in the enclosed eutrophic bay and coastal water, more detailed research of acute toxicity effect on high trophic organism in marine ecosystems need to be conducted.