• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.432-440
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• 2017

Compound specific isotope analysis of amino acids (CSIA-AAs) is being highlighted as an alternative approach for overcoming some restrictions in application of stable isotope analysis of bulk tissue (SIA) for trophic position (TP) estimation. However, this approach has rarely been applied in Korea. The present study determines TP of two Polychaeta (Nephtyidae and Glyceridae) and two fish species(Platycephalus indicus and Lophius litulon) collected from the Geum River estuary using nitrogen isotope ratio of amino acid and compared with the TP values estimated by SIA. The Polychaeta species, sampled in two sites, showed similar TP between SIA(2.7 and 3.1) and CSIA-AAs (2.6 and 3.1). However, for both fish species, TP values displayed a large difference between SIA (3.1 and 2.3) and CSIA-AAs (3.8 and 3.7). In this study TP values estimated by CSIA-AAs showed more similar to the previously reported gut content analysis of both fishes compared with the results of SIA. Current study suggests the applicability of nitrogen isotope ratio of amino acid to understand coastal ecosystem structure and trophic ecology.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.699-703
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• 2007

Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) by isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) interfaced with gas chromatography (GC) is a state of the art analytical technique for stable isotopes in earth sciences, environmental sciences and forensics. Since early 1990s, GC-IRMS has been widely used to investigate the authenticity of food in forensic science and to trace the sources of organic contaminants in environmental science. In Korea, a GC-IRMS was firstly installed at the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) in early 2005. In this study, we introduce the GC-IRMS of the KBSI shortly to stimulate various isotope-related researches of Korea, and report preliminary CSIA results for BTEX of different manufacturers.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.244-254
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• 2020

This study investigates prehistoric human subsistence and pottery use on the Korean peninsula through the organic residue analysis of archaeological potsherds. Ancient human subsistence is one of the core topics in Korean archaeology. However, due to the high acidity of sediments, which prevents the long-term preservation of organic remains, archaeologists have been short of critical information on how these early prehistoric dwellers lived. Ceramic vessels can contain well-preserved lipids originating from past culinary practices. For a better understanding of human subsistence on the prehistoric Korean peninsula, food-processing behaviors were reconstructed by analyzing ancient lipids extracted from a pottery matrix. The potsherd samples used in the analysis in this paper were collected from major prehistoric habitation sites. The results show that subsistence strategies differed according to both location and time period and reveal how organic residue analysis can contribute to a better understanding of prehistoric human subsistence strategies.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.218-228
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• 2023

Invasive predators are one of the most damaging species groups to biodiversity. In the Nakdong River, the lake skygazer Chanodichthys erythropterus is a dominant species that is fiercely carnivorous and a concern for commercial fish. Although it is important to understand the ecological characteristics related to the feeding habit, studies on the diets of lake skygazer in Nakdong River have been limited to studies of gut contents. In this study, the trophic position (TP) and feeding habits of C. erythropterus were studied by calculating TPs using samples collected from 13 sites throughout the Nakdong River. Compound-specific isotopic analysis of amino acids provided reliable TPs from the muscle of Lake skygazer C. erythropterus without any isotope baseline. The results were approximately 3 to 3.6 and suggesting a carnivorous but size-dependent prey variation. In particular, the TP variability of C. erythropterus observed in the Nakdong River showed that it had a selective feeding habit compared to carnivorous fish species of relatively similar trophic levels.