• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.626-636
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• 2022

Shellfish are exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates that consume various organic and inorganic substances floating in seawater through filter feeding. Heavy metals are known as absorbed and accumulated in seawater. Some of the toxic heavy metals are highly accumulated in seawater, and exposure to them can cause a variety of risks to the human body. Since Koreans like to eat seafood, they are more likely to be exposed to contaminated seafood with heavy metals. In this study, nine types of heavy metals were analyzed on ten different shellfish species in the coastal area of South Korea. The risk assessment was also done on shellfish in which heavy metals were detected. Zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) were identified at an average of 56.7 mg/kg (6.70 to 466 mg/kg) and 13.2 mg/kg (0.064 to 143 mg/kg), respectively. Lead (Pb) average of 0.208 mg/kg (0.000750 to 1.02 mg/kg), cadmium (Cd) average of 0.454 mg/kg (0.0388 to 1.56 mg/kg) and mercury (Hg) average of 0.0266 mg/kg (0.00548 to 0.174 mg/kg) were identified. Additionally, arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and silver (Ag) were also identified as average concentrations of 4.02 (0.460 to 15.0 mg/kg), 0.167 (< limit of quantification [LOQ] to 0.820 mg/kg), 0.281 (< LOQ to 1.46 mg/kg), and 0.158 mg/kg (< LOQ to 1.15 mg/kg). The result indicates that the monitoring results of heavy metals in most shellfish satisfied the Korean standard. However, Pb and Cd have exceeded some foreign standards, such as the United States and the EU. The permissible human exposure calculated using the heavy metal intake and detection amount was lower than the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives human safety standard, and the risk of heavy metals from shellfish consumption was at an acceptable level.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.335-344
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• 2023

Community composition and abundance of aquatic invertebrates are important for ecological functions. Community characteristics of insects and gastropods were compared in five regions to investigate the effect of geological factors in surveys conducted between June and August to analyze seasonal changes in invertebrate communities. Underwater traps were used to obtain a constant collection effect. Insect communities were dominated by Hydrochara affinis, Rhantus suturalis and Sigara nigroventralis, and nMDS analysis demonstrated the separation of their communities by region. H. affinis and Sternolophus rufipes were not found in Haenam and Cheolwon, respectively. The results showed the effects of regional temperature on the distribution of aquatic insects. Pomacea canaliculata, Hippeutis cantori and Austropeplea ollula were dominant in the gastropod community. The seasonal variation in the abundance of P. canaliculata was the most pronounced, and its abundance in August was 38.2 times higher than in June. The abundances of several species including Hippeutis cantori were negatively correlated with that of P. canaliculata. These results suggest that P. canaliculata is a pivotal factor that drives seasonal changes in gastropod community.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the natural river conservation work and to find remedies for them, targeting Jangsu-cheon with high frequency of use by citizens among the rivers in Incheon Metroplitan City, Korea; for this, this study conducted investigations and analyses of Jangsu-cheon completed in December, 2008. As a result of investigating 3 spots for the water system of Jangsu-cheon over a total of 3 years (2009, 2010, 2014), it was found that benthic macro-invertebrates of a total of 3 phyla, 5 classes, 11 orders, 26 families, 56 species, and 980 specimens were distributed there. When they were analyzed by year, 18 families and 30 species in 2009, right after the natural river conservation work, and 22 families and 37 species in 2010, 2 years after the work, were found, with 7 species increasing in number; after that, as a result of the investigation in 2014, 22 families and 38 species were found, which tells the river has entered the stabilization stage since the recovery in 2010.Therefore, this study could identify: the water environment of the river was improved due to the natural river conservation work for Jangsu-cheon; in addition, Jangsu-cheon showed good ecological environment due to the continuous maintenance of the good wetlands in Incheon Grand Park in the upper area of the river; and the natural river conservation work of Jangsu-cheon created positive effects.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.367-373
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• 2012

Population ecology (Ecological characteristics) of Squalidus japonicus coreanus from the Namhan River(Yangpyeong-gun Yangpyeong-eup Changde-ri), Gyeonggi-do, Korea were investigated from January to December 2011. Short barbel gudgeon inhabits habitats run of the lower river. The stream bed was mostly covered sand. Their current velocities were 0.14~1.38m/sec and depths were 80~120cm. The sex ratio of female to male was 1 : 0.82. It is presumed that the spawning season is from June to July and water temperatures were $18.5{\sim}24.3^{\circ}C$. Sexually matured individuals appeared over the two year of age. Frequency analysis of total length indicated that the group with 34~50mm in total length was one year old, the 51~74mm was two years old, and the group over 75mm was three years old. The average number of eggs in the ovaries was estimated as 1,871 per matured female. Stomach content of S. japonicus coreanus were Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, Rotatoria, Crustaceae, Copepoda, Ephemeroptera, Diptera, and Nematoda. omnivorous, mainly feeds on benthic invertebrates such as chironomidae larvae.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.275-280
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• 2022

Suspended solids play an important role in the growth and survival of aquatic organisms. The marine zooplankton species tested in this study were Tigriopus west (Copepoda) and Haustorioides koreanus (Amphipoda) sampled from the intertidal zone, including Artemia nauplii(Branchiopoda) hatched from cysts. The study design included six concentrations (0, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1,000mg L^-1) of the suspended test particles assayed in triplicate. Experimental cultures in 500 mL-round polycarbonate bottles were subsampled after 96 h to count dead zooplankton. The culture bottles were agitated at 4 RPM on a rotating wheel at 23℃ and 30 PSU. The survival rates of Artemia nauplii and T. west were not affected by suspended solid concentrations higher than 50.0 mg L^-1, whereas the survival rate of H. koreanus decreased with increasing concentrations (p<0.05). In conclusion, H. koreanus and T. west, which were continuously exposed to suspended solid concentrations higher than 50.0 mg L^-1, were affected by low-intensity ecological stress. However, in the case of H. koreanus, a concentration of 50.0 mg L^-1 may be considered to be the limit of tolerance to suspended solids, suggesting that the number of individuals who eventually die will increase if continuously exposed.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.35-42
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• 2024

The aquatic ecosystem of rivers, where various biological groups inhabit, is influenced by suspended sediment. However, there is a lack of quantitative and objective methods and criteria for evaluating this impact. The purpose of this study is to analyze through experiments the effects of suspended sediment on Glyptotendipes tokunagai, a benthic invertebrate in rivers. Experiments were conducted to investigate the survival count of individuals exposed to varying suspended sediment concentrations (turbidity) and exposure durations. Various regression analysis methods were performed on the experimental results to propose a model for evaluating the impact of suspended sediment on Glyptotendipes tokunagai. The coefficient of determination (R-squared) of the proposed model was 0.903, indicating a high degree of fit. The findings of this study could serve as foundational data for assessing the influence of suspended sediment on various organisms inhabiting rivers.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.427-433
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• 2010

Aquatic invertebrates are the major important fauna to sustain the paddy ecosystem as predators of the lower trophic level and prey for birds in food-web dynamics as well. The nationwide distribution of scavenger beetles (Hydrophilidae) that is the top predator in an aquatic insect in the paddy field was investigated. A total of 15 scavenger beetles were recognized. Enochrus simulans (98.6%) and Laccobius bedeli (87.7%) showed a high frequency of occurrence on a nationwide scale. The majority of scavenger beetles were higher frequency of occurrence in mountainous regions(33.7%) than in open field regions(5.0%). On the other hand, E. uniformis, Coelostoma stultum and Berosus japonicus showed a low occurrence frequency. Hydrochara affinis, Sternolophus rufipes, Amphiops mater, B. elongatulus, B. signaticollis punctipennis, B. lewisius and H. libera showed regional specific distribution aspect. Therefore, these species can be used as biological index to research the biotic changes in paddy ecology according to an agro-environmental changes including climatic change in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.888-895
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• 2016

The population ecology (Ecological characteristics) of Squalidus chankaensis tsuchigae were investigated at Geum River from March to November, 2013. This species inhabited midstream of the river where was mostly covered with cobble and sand. The depth of the habitat was 30~60 cm and velocity of stream was 2.27~4.88 cm/sec. The sex ratio of female to male was 1 : 0.86. They were sexually mature when they were over two years of age. The spawning period was from June to July with water temperatures from $25^{\circ}C$ to $25^{\circ}C$. Sexually matured individuals appeared over the two year of age. Frequency analysis of total length indicated that the group with 55~70 mm in total length was one year old, the 71~90 mm was two years old, and the group over 91 mm was three years old. The average number of eggs in the ovaries was estimated as 2,219 per matured female. The number of matured eggs size in ovaries was 0.64~0.98 (mean: 0.85) mm. Calulation length-weight relation of S. chankaensis tsuchigae show the value of contant a as 0.0002 and b as 2.81, and condition factor (K) was 1.06 on average. The stomach contents were Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, Crustaceae, Copepoda, Nematota, Actithocephala, and Ephemeroptera, Hemiptera, Diptera, and Trichoptera that belong to Aquatic insect, and dormant bud of Pectinatella that belongs to Phylactolaemata. The diet of S. chankaensis tsuchigae was omnivorous, mainly vegetable feed on attached algae (filament form), and mainly animality feeded on benthic invertebrates such as Chironomidae larvae.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.565-572
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• 2006

This study examined the decomposition of blades and culms of aquatic emergent plant species, Zizania latifolia, Phragmites communis and Typha angustata, which were the most frequent in Lake Paldang. The experiment was carried out from July to December, 2005 in fresh water of lake Paldang using litter bag method. The litter bags had 1.2 mm mesh size and were suspended at 1 m depth of water surface. Remaining mass of blades and culms of each species after 97 days was 21.2% and 22.6% of initial mass in Z. latifolia, 32.5% and 56.4% in P. communis and 44.7% and 38.1 % in T. angustata, respectively. The plant tissue having high N concentration and low C/N exhibited the faster decay rate than the others. However, the tissue of high content of lignin, cellulose, lignin:N, and cullulose:N showed a slow decomposition rate. Water temperature was the most effective environmental factor on the emergent macrophyte litter decomposition in aquatic ecosystems. According to the water temperature, DO, $NO_3^-$-N, and total phosphate concentration were changed in the linear way. The mass loss of plant tissue of emergent macrophytes showed positive relationship with P concentration in water. The experiments on the decomposition of the litter using different mesh sized litter bag did not show significant differences between them. The results suggest that the decomposition of emergent macrophytes in fresh water of lake Paldang, which showed features of lentic and lower part of a stream, was affected by microbial activities better than the micro-invertebrates such as shredders.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.332-342
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• 2013

We collected zooplankton from May to October, 2011, with the aim of understanding the zooplankton community distribution and food web interaction between the open water and littoral (aquatic plants) zones in two small reservoirs with different land covers (Sobudang, Myeongdong). Small-sized reservoirs are more abundant in South Korea, and a total of 51 and 65 species of zooplankton were identified at the two small reservoir (Sobudang and Myeongdong), where zooplankton densities were more abundant in the littoral zone than in the open water zone. Cladocerans and copepods densities were also higher in the littoral zone, in contrast, rotifers showed higher densities in the open water zone (t-test, P/0.05). Epiphytic zooplankton dominated at the littoral zone (Lecane, Monostyla, Alona and Chydorus) because aquatic plants provided refuge spaces for attachment. Some rotifers (e.g. Brachionus, Keratella and Polyarthra) were more abundant in the open water zone because of their small size, which might help them to go unnoticed by predators. In two-way ANOVA, rotifers related to two reservoirs or habitat space (littoral zone and open water zone), but cladocerans and copepods showed a statistically significant relationship on only two reservoirs. The results of stable isotope analysis showed that zooplankton in the littoral zone tended to depend on organic matter attached to aquatic plants as a food source, which indicates the avoidance of competition of zooplankton with other macro-invertebrates (e.g. Damselfly larva, Cybister brevis and Neocardina denticulate). As a result, zooplankton community distribution is determined by not only habitat space (aquatic plant zone and open water zone) but also by food source (phytoplankton).