• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.393-401
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• 2013

The objectives of this study were to analyze structures of fish community and the ecological health using a multi-metric fish model, the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) in the Backje Weir of Geum River during two periods namely before-the-fishkill ($B_f$) and after-the-fishkill ($A_f$). The total number of fish species observed were 32 and among them 10 species (35%) were Korean endemic species. The exotic species observed were 3 which decreased by 0.4% after-the-fishkill ($A_f$). The dominant species were Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis (13%) at the Bf period and Squalidus japonicus coreanus (17%) at the Af period in the Backje Weir. At after the fishkill ($A_{f-I}$) total biomass was about 10 times lower than the biomass before-the-fishkill ($B_f$). The biomass of Carassius auratus decreased 98% after-the-fishkill and as time passed by the biomass recovered to nearly 100%. Similar decrease in the biomass occurred in the population of Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis, while Rhinogobius brunneus population increased. According to the structure analysis of fish community, species richness index, evenness index and species diversity index were high but after-the fishkill, the values of indices decreased. Tolerant species (64%) dominated the fish community, and the sensitive species (2%) were rare, indicating the degradation of the ecosystem. According to analysis of the multi-metric model (IBI), the mean model value of the fish community in Backje Weir was estimated as 17.5 indicating a "fair condition".

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.311-321
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate effect of stream channel naturalness on ecological health by using environmental factors and Fish Assessment Index (FAI) in the Han River of South Korea. These samples and data have been released from the research project titled Stream/River Ecosystem Survey and Health Assessment, which was conducted in 444 sites in the Han river watershed from 2008 to 2016. All samples were classified into five groups according to a degree of morphological changes of stream. Water chemistry analyses indicated a decline in water quality by decreasing stream channel naturalness, it is assumed that channelized stream was vulnerable to aquatic pollution compared to the natural meandering stream. In the result of frequency of dominant species, sensitive species and insectivore such as Zacco koreanus, Rhynchocypris kumgangensis and Pungtungia herzi were frequently dominated in the natural meandering stream while tolerant species and omnivores such as Carassius auratus and Cyprinus carpio were more dominated in the channelized streams. The FAI in the channelized stream shows decline to average of $46{\pm}25$ compared with that of the natural meandering stream ($80{\pm}20$). The decrease in FAI was highly influenced by changes in matrixes of fish assemblage structure such as number of sensitive species (M3), portion of omnivores (M5) and insectivores (M6). Moreover, annual average FAIs from 2008 to 2016 were significantly correlated with water chemistry, especially TN, TP and BOD ($r^2=0.59$, p<0.0001). Taken together, all the results suggest that the stream channelization could negatively impact on the water quality and fish assemblage structure, leading to degradation in aquatic ecosystem health.