• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.197-206
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• 2009

Benthic macroinvertebrate communities were collected from six different sites in the Dobong Stream in Seoul, Korea to investigate spatial and temporal changes in benthic macroinvertebrate communities in response to natural disturbances such as floods and droughts. We collected samples monthly or semimonthly with a Surber net ($30cm{\times}30cm$), and measured environmental factors, including stream temperature, discharge, width, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH at each sampling site. Benthic macro invertebrates were strongly affected by floods as well as droughts. In addition, benthic macroinvertebrate communities displayed different responses to the onset of the rainy season in summer 2006 and 2007, apparently due to differences in the intensity and amount of precipitation. Chironomids were particularly sensitive to heavy rain. Floods and droughts also affected the proportions of functional feeding groups during the survey period: the proportion of scrapers was high right after heavy rains, while the proportion of predators tended to increase in intermittent-type streams as the riffle zone decreased. Finally, although species richness and abundance were strongly influenced by heavy rain, they recovered to background levels for within one month, and varied consistently among stream types, indicating habitat stability.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.415-420
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• 2022

It is essential that continual assessments of the impact of mine-derived water as a long-lasting burden on freshwater environments. Abundance-based evaluations of benthic macroinvertebrates have been conducted to evaluate anthropogenic disturbances and devise policies to reduce their impact. In this study, the status of a stream habitat was evaluated based on the body length and biomass weight of benthic macroinvertebrates of the family Baetidae. Following the renewal of the mining water treatment plant, the abundance of Baetidae assemblages recovered to a level comparable to that of a reference site. However, relatively low values were found for both body length and biomass weight in Baetidae species inhabiting the reddened streambed area, suggesting that the habitat has not yet been completely recovered despite the recovery of the abundance of the Baetidae assemblages. Therefore, continuous investigation and evaluation of this disturbed stream are necessary until their growth conditions of the habitat have functionally recovered.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.36-47
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• 2020

Three large scale weirs were constructed 2010 - 2011 in the Namhan river, Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates and the influence of environmental factors at the weirs 2014 - 2015. The number of species was higher in the riparian zone than in the transition or the limnetic zone. This seems to be because of the diversification of microhabitats and food sources according to the development of littoral zones. From the riparian zone to the limnetic zone, the individual abundance proportion of gathering collectors among functional feeding groups decreased, and that of filtering collectors increased. In the limnetic zone, sprawlers and climbers among habitat orientation groups decreased, and burrowers increased. This means that coarse particulate organic matter originated from land or riparian zone was transformed to fine particulate organic matter in the limnetic zone. Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) and chironomids were dominant species based on individual abundance. Asian clam, a major taxon considering biomass, was abundant toward the limnetic zone. This is becasue of the shallow depth, suitable water current, slightly coarse substrate, and good water quality. There was no significant relationship between the water quality and the characteristics of the benthic macroinvertebrate community because the water quality was spatially not heterogenous. The more influential factors for benthic community were physical factors, especially water depth. Water depth showed a markedly significant correlation with Shannon-Weaver's species diversity (r=-0.90), Margalef's species richness (r=-0.82), and McNaughton's dominance (r=0.86). Water depth showed a positive correlation (r=0.68) with the Kong and Kim BMSI (Bentic Macroinverebrates Streambed Index), and this may be related to the coarse substrate of the limnetic zone.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Environment and Ecology Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.140-142
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• 2006

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.84-94
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• 2019

The Seocheon and Yubu Island mudflats in Geum Estuary are important stopover sites for migratory birds as energy supplementation area in the East Asia-Australasian Flyway. Benthic invertebrates in the tidal flats are important food resources for the migratory birds. In other words, benthic invertebrates in the tidal flats play an important ecological role in energy flow. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between benthic invertebrate assemblages and environmental factors in Seocheon and Yubudo tidal flats in the Geum Estuary. As a result of the benthic invertebrate assemblage during the fall migration season, the total species number was 147, density and biomass were $1,772{\pm}1,342individuals/m^2$ and $445.1{\pm}807.6g/m^2$, respectively. Based on the appearance species and the density data, the result of analysis of mutual similarity among sampling sites was divided into two groups. Group A was the Macrophthalmus-Heteromastus community and Group B was the Spio-Urothoe-Mandibulophoxus community. Group B showed higher mean species number, density and biomass than Group A. The BIO-ENV analysis showed that the benthic invertebrate assemblages were most affected by the combination of sand content % and sediment sorting (${\rho}=0.500$). The variables of significant relationship with species number and biomass were sediment sorting (p=0.015) and the pore water DO(Dissolved Oxygen, p=0.003) in sediment, respectively.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.95-103
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• 2023

This study aimed to identify the initial migratory macroinvertebrate species in two newly created mountain wetlands. To analyze the initial immigration species of macroinvertebrates, two experimental sites and two control sites were selected after habitat creation and investigated thrice from spring to fall. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected quantitatively from each site using a Surber sampler and Modified D-frame deep net. After restoration at the two experimental sites, the number of macroinvertebrate species and individuals gradually increased from spring to fall and continued to increase over time with the development of waterside vegetation and habitat stabilization at the experimental sites. The species initially introduced to mountain wetlands after their creation were Ephemera strigata, Ephemera orientalis, Chironomidae sp., and Aquaris paludum. Subsequently, predators such as Davidius lunatus, Sieboldius albardae, Oyamia nigribasis, and Sialis longidens were introduced. Additionally, as a differentiating physicochemical factor between the two habitats, current velocity, which determines the distribution characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates, and water temperature, which impacts the growth of organisms, showed a relatively stronger influence.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1383-1394
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• 2011

Environmental impacts of suspended solids (SS) released in coastal area by dredging, reclamation and construction can cause serious damages to coastal habitats and benthic organisms. Acute toxicity tests (4-7 days) were conducted to identify the relationship between SS concentration and mortality of three marine benthic species; benthic copepod (Tigriopus japonicus) adult, Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) spat, and olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) fry. Benthic copepod was the most sensitive to SS followed by olive flounder fry and Pacific abalone spat, with an $LC_{50}$ (lethal concentration of 50% mortality) value of 61.0 mg/L and LOEC (lowest observed effective concentration) value of 31.3 mg/L for benthic copepod. LOEC and 7 day-$LC_{50}$ for Pacific abalone spat were 500.0 mg/L and 1887.7 mg/L, and those for olive flounder fry were 125.0 mg/L and 156.9 mg/L, respectively. The tolerance limits of the test species to SS revealed the various concentration ranges of SS, which reflects the physiology and ecology of the test species. These results are very valuable for the determination of SS concentration of effluents released into the coastal area by dredging, reclamation and construction etc. Also, sharp increase of SS can cause long-term damages to the benthic and sessile fauna by blanketing of benthic substratum. These experimental procedures for marine bioassay and acute toxicity results can be a useful guideline for practical management planning of SS discharge into coastal area.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.192-203
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• 2018

Headwater streams provide various microhabitats, resulting in high diversity of macroinvertebrate community. In this study, we compared the differences of communities between two adjacent headwater streams (Jangjeon stream (GRJ; GRJ1-GRJ5) and Haanmi stream (GRH; GRH1-GRH3)) in Jungwang and Gariwang mountains, Gangwon-do and evaluated the effects of habitat condition to the macroinvertebrates community composition. In order to characterize the macroinvertebrate communities and extract influential environmental factors, we applied to Cluster analysis (CA), Indicator species analysis and Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). Total 33,613 individuals in 3 phyla, 5 classes, 13 orders, 51 families, and 114 taxa (genera or species) were collected. Gammarus sp. was dominant at the upper stream of GRJ, whereas Chironomidae spp. was abundant at GRH and the downstream of GRJ. The CA classified samples into six clusters (1-6) reflecting spatial and temporal variation of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Benthic macroinvertebrate community composition was significantly different between two adjacent streams. Sweltsa sp. 1, Psilotreta kisoensis, Rhyacophila shikotsuensis and Serratella setigera were identified as representative indicator species for clusters 1, 2, 3 and 5, respectively. Similar to CA results, NMDS revealed the spatial and temporal differences of benthic macroinvertebrate communities, indicating the difference of community composition as well as microhabitat condition. Forest composition, proportion of boulders (>256 mm), and water velocity were main factors affecting the macroinvertebrate community composition.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.347-370
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• 2013

A study on the presence of benthic dinoflagellates in the intertidal zone along the coasts of Jeju Island, Korea was conducted during 2011 and 2012. Identification and taxonomic observations were made of the benthic dinoflagellate samples using light and epifluorescence microscopy. Thirty-seven dinoflagellate taxa belong to five orders, nine families, 18 genera and 30 species, which are new records for Korean waters, were detected in this study. The detailed nomenclature, references, distribution, and illustrations are presented here. The commonly occurring genera were Amphidinium, Coolia, Ostreopsis, Prorocentrum, and Thecadinium. Among the recorded species, 26 were found only in sand sediment, seven in macroalgal samples, and four were found in both sand and macroalgal samples. Of the 37 species, nine were potentially toxic. These results suggest that diversified benthic dinoflagellates including several potentially toxic species occur in sand sediment and macroalgae in the intertidal zone along the coasts of Jeju Island. The morphological features of the identified species were more or less similar to observations made by previous studies in Korea and elsewhere. The presence of known toxic species may indicate a potential risk of toxicity in the marine ecosystem of Jeju Island. The present study can be helpful for further detailed taxonomic, toxicological, molecular phylogenetic studies and may help in the management and conservation of Jeju Island's marine ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2020

In this study, we investigated the relationships between benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and various environmental factors in Iancheon (NIA) and Bukcheon (NBC) streams, Korea. We collected benthic macroinvertebrates and 33 environmental factors in April 2017 at 9 sites (5 sites in NIA and 4 sites in NBC). We identified 93 species(5 phyla, 9 classes, 16 orders, and 53 families) and 69 species(5 phyla, 9 classes, 17 orders, and 47 families) in NIA and NBC streams, respectively. Considering benthic macroinvertebrate index (BMI), NIA (88.2) and NBC (80.2) streams were in "very good" status. Upstream areas showed the highest scores, 95.5 (NIA1) and 94.2 (NBC1), whereas BMI score was the lowest in downstream areas of both streams, especially in NBC4 (51.0 "bad" status). Cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis represented the differences of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages according to spatial and anthropogenic gradients. Our findings provide reference data and highlight the need for the continued monitoring to maintain the good status and manage macroinvertebrate diversity in these two streams, in Sangju-si, Korea.