• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.414-424
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• 2009

The research was to get a biological assessment on Bokha stream and Dal stream, using the physicochemical factors and the epilithic diatom from June, 2008 to March, 2009. As a result, Bokha stream showed high consistency of total phosphorus ($0.041{\sim}0.886\;mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$), and total nitrogen ($0.336{\sim}10.532\;mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$). Also, the concentration of BOD showed most of the sites polluted as $2{\sim}5\;mg\cdot}L^{-1}$ except for the upstream sites. However, excluding downstream sites and other few sites, Dal stream had very clean water quality having total phosphorus less than $0.06\;mg\cdot}L^{-1}$, and total nitrogen less than $2.0\;mg\cdot}L^{-1}$. Out of the 12 total sites, 98 taxa of epilithic diatoms appeared: 67 taxa from Bokha stream, and 78 taxa from Dal stream. The results of the water quality assessment showed that, Bokha stream, having TDI level over 80, was mostly $\alpha$-mesosaprobic, which indicates a severe pollution. On the other hand, Dal stream, having TDI level below 50, was examined to be xenosaprobic and $\alpha$-oligosaprobic, which indicates a clean water quality. The correlation between DAIpo and TDI measured to be high in correlation coefficent (0.83) from the result of correlation analysis. When the water quality is good, there is an inclination of getting high correlation between chemical and biological water quality assessment results. TDI, which uses numerous taxa of diatoms, showed more stability than DAIpo, which uses less amount of taxa of diatoms to get its result.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.261-268
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• 2023

The benthic macroinvertebrates index (BMI) was developed based on the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), which is the amount of biodegradable organic matter in stream water. However, benthic macroinvertebrates mainly live in the streambed substrate and are affected by the interaction of water quality and substrate. This study was conducted to examine the interactive relationship between water quality items (BOD₅, total phosphorus (TP), total suspended solids (TSS)) and substrate with BMI by performing statistical analyses (four-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation analysis, partial correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis). The data used in the analyses were collected from 19,915 sampling units at 1,937 sites in South Korea from 2010 to 2020. The interaction effect between BOD₅ and substrate types was confirmed through a four-way analysis of variance. Partial correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis estimated the degree of influence on the change in BMI value in the order of mean grain size of the substrate as (𝜱_m) > BOD₅ > TP > TSS. BMI can be regarded as an index that evaluates the comprehensive effects of water quality and streambed status, although it is an index that was developed based on the amount of biodegradable organic matter in a water column.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2001

Since the middle of 1990s, in Korea a few researches on the optimal management technologies combining numerical model and GIS for the management of water environment in drinking watershed area and reservoir such as Paldang Lake have been carried out. In this study, the integrated water environment management system was been suggested to efficiently reflect the public awareness of the environment by integrating the web based distributed data collection system, GIS, public hearing system and water quality model. As all the components of the system have been developed using the World Wide Web and all data have been collected from the relevant agencies through the Internet, the water quality model could be implemented on the web directly. In consequence, the environmental geographic information in Paldang Lake could be acquired and analyzed through the Internet. The system can rapidly respond to the public right to know on environment, so the public will willingly participate in the governmental projects on environment. To verify the usability of the developed system, it has been applied to Paldang Lake. Especially when the web based model has been used, users can easily and confidentially get the prediction results by applying the minimum number of parameters for the water quality model. This model will provide clearness and scientific bases in the process of water quality prediction for the sensitive sites where there are critical conflicts between the residents and the developers. In this study, rapid water environment management technique without spatial and time limit has been suggested, which can contribute to the efforts on the government and the public participation.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.470-477
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• 2017

The aims of this study were to analyze the physico-chemical factors and the characteristics of epilithic diatom community from 15 sites of the Naeseongcheon and tributaries located in the upper region of the Nakdong river from May to October 2016. The biological water quality was assessed using DAIpo and TDI. A total of 163 diatom taxa were identified with 2 orders, 3 suborders, 9 families, 35 genera, 145 species, 16 varieties and 2 forms. Cocconeis placentula var. lineata appeared at every examined sites. Achnanthes lanceolata, Nitzschia fonticola, Nitzschia inconspicua and Reimeria sinuata were common taxa of the Naeseongcheon. Nitzschia inconspicua and Achnanthes minutissima were major dominant species. As a result of the CCA, Electrical conductivity and total nitrogen concentration were important factors determining the diatom species composition. In the result of the biological assessment using DAIpo, the Naeseongcheon was rated at class B with an average of 62.38. In the result of assessment using TDI, the Naeseongcheon was rated at class C with an average of 66.12.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.418-434
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• 2010

As concerns regarding water pollution grow, the need increases for a fast and accurate assessment of ecological risk. In this context, many studies have been conducted to identify biomarkers which can sensitively indicate exposure to and effects of various contaminants in a water environment. However, the utility of most such biomarkers in the real water environment is not yet validated. In this paper, we conducted a thorough review of publications that were related to developing or evaluating molecular and biochemical biomarkers of freshwater fish in ecological risk assessment, and evaluated whether these biomarkers of interest could link to the effects on higher biological levels, such as histopathology and above. Biomarkers of interest included those associated with metabolism, oxidative stress, reproduction and endocrine disruption, genotoxicity, and defense against heavy metal exposure. We found that, when used alone, most molecular and biochemical biomarkers are not sufficient to understand the effects of toxic substances in higher biological levels, due to defense or acclimation mechanisms of organisms. Moreover, some biomarkers respond not only to hazardous substances but also to the changes in water quality and disease outbreak. Molecular and biochemical biomarkers may be most useful in understanding the potential biological effects of toxic compounds when used in parallel with relevant endpoints of higher biological levels.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.355-360
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• 2021

As the domestic water management policy shifted from concentration-oriented water management to load management-centered Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), water quality and aquatic ecosystems brought changed. However, it was difficult to determine whether the water quality and the health of the aquatic ecosystem improved after the implementation of the TMDL due to changes in pollutant sources and discharge fluctuations ect, so the effect was analyzed using a log-linear model and biological indicators (Benthic Macroinvertebrates). As a result, BOD and T-P concentrations in the Jinwi River Watershed were reduced by 30% and 35%, showed the effect of improving water quality, however the benthic macroinvertebrates index (BMI) downgraded from grade D to grade E. Therefore, efforts to cultivate ecologicalrivers are necessary to upgrade the health of the aquatic ecosystem in the river watershed.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.85-97
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• 2011

The tidal flats of Korea today have reduced by 40% in size compared to 1964. To manage this important habitat properly, development of well-organized and nationwide-applicable grading systems is required. There have been several assessment systems proposed previously in Korea, but they are critically flawed in that selected biological indicators are not adequate and grading criteria are obscure and arbitrary. We reviewed the indicators used in these previous evaluation systems (e.g., diversity indices, quantity and quality of benthic macrofauna, halophytes, water birds, etc.) and subsequently proposed new indicators and an improved grading scheme. For the quantitative assessment of macrobenthic community, biomass reflecting production and ecosystem function is recommended over density, which is much less discriminatory among habitats. Of biodiversity indices used, within-, between-habitat and regional biodiversity indices that accurately reflect sampling efforts are suggested. In addition, we proposed to include species rarity, ecosystem engineers, and the ecological quality index ISEP (Inverse function of Shannon-Wiener Evenness Proportion). As for halophytes, their low spatial coverage on benthic habitat suggests that their presence can be used as an ecological indicator of benthic habitat, regardless of their protective status. We stress the need to introduce 1) quantile approach for quantitative indicators (e.g., diversity, biomass, etc.) in relation to grading, 2) presence-absence approach for spatial or aggregate indicators (e.g., boundaries of halophytes and feeding ground of water birds) and 3) benthic habitat mapping that combines all of these indicators.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.1-12
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• 2022

Estuary reservoirs were artificial reservoir with seawalls built at the exit points of rivers. Although many water resources can be saved, it is difficult to manage due to the large influx of pollutants. To manage this, it is necessary to analyze watersheds and reservoirs through accurate modeling. Therefore, in this study, we linked the Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF), Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC), and Water quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) models to simulate the hydrology and water quality of the watershed and the water level and quality of estuary lakes. As a result of applying the linked model in stream, R² 0.7 or more was satisfied for the watershed runoff except for one point. In addition, the water quality satisfies all within 15% of PBIAS. In reservoir, R² 0.72 was satisfied for water level and the water quality was within 15% of T-N and T-P. Through the modeling system, We applied upstream pollutant management scenarios to analyze changes in water quality in estuary reservoirs. Three pollution source management were applied as scenarios, the improvement of effluent water quality from the sewage treatment plant and the livestock waste treatment plant was effective in improving the quality of the reservoir water, while the artificial wetland had little effect. Water quality improvement was confirmed as a measure against upstream pollutants, but it was insufficient to achieve agricultural water quality, so additional reservoir management is required.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.101-106
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• 2009

The previous study developed the Filter-Disinfection-Adsorption (FDA) system to provide clean irrigation water for greenhouse cultivation as well as convenience water to farmers. In this study, the field examination was undertaken to assess performance of the FDA system. The field application was made in the suburb of Daegu, one of the large city in Korea. The study area located near by down-stream of Gum-Ho river is suffering low irrigation water quality problems with no water supply service facilities. Four water quality parameters including Suspended Solid (SS), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), coliform, and turbidity were selected to test the purification performance of FDA system. Also in order to improve the system, this study investigated the defects of using the FDA system through field monitoring. As results, it was found that this system can be used to supply good quality of irrigation water for greenhouse cultivation and also provide convenience water to farmers in the field areas of no water supply services.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.8-18
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• 2019

The objectives of this study were to analyze the influence of chemical water quality on fish guilds, pollution tolerance and the multi-metric ecological health, based on the Fish Assessment Index (FAI) in the main stream of Mangyeong River between 2009-2016. The quality of water with specific conductivity, TP, and $NH_4-N$ got worse dramatically in the down region. During the study, a total of 50 species were collected and the most dominant species was Zacco platypus. Also known as tolerant species, accounted 22.9% of the total abundances, thus indicating a trophic degradation. The downstream region (S5) had the highest number of fish external abnormalities, indicating a degradation of ecological health, based on the fish assemblages. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that relative abundance of tolerant fish species and omnivore fish species had a significant positive correlation(r>0.30, p<0.05) with values of BOD, conductivity and $NH_4-N$. Whereas, the relative abundance of the sensitive species and insectivore species had a significant negative relations (r<-0.30, p<0.001) with the parameters. The mean obtained from the multi-metric fish model, based on the FAI of all sites was 47 (n=40). This indicated a "fair condition" in the ecological health, and the downstream regions (S3-S5) were judged as "bad condition", indicating an influence of the chemical degradation on the ecological health.