• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.301-313
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• 2006

Abundance and distribution of phytoplankton in seawater at southwestern East/Japan Sea near Gampo were investigated by HPLC analysis of photosynthetic pigments during summer of 1999. Detected photosynthetic pigments were chlorophyll a, b, $c_{1+2}$ (Chl a, Chl b, Chl $c_{1+2}$), fucoxanthin (Fuco), prasinoxanthin (Pras), zeaxanthin (Zea), 19'-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin (But-fuco) and beta-carotene (B-Car). Major carotenoid was fucoxanthin (bacillariophyte) and minor carotenoids were Pras (prasinophyte), Zea (cyanophyte) and But-fuco (chrysophyte). Chl a concentrations were in the range of $0.16-8.3\;{\mu}g/land$ subsurface chlorophyll maxima were observed at 0-10m at inshore and 30-50 m at offshore. Thermocline and nutricline tilted to the offshore direction showed a mild upwelling condition. Results from size-fraction showed that contribution from nano+picoplankton at Chl a maximum layer was increased from 18% at inshore to 69% at offshore on average. The maximum contribution from nano+picoplankton was found as 87% at St. E4. It was noteworthy that contribution from nano+picoplanktonic crysophytes and green algae to total biomass of phytoplankton was significant at offshore. Satellite images of sea surface temperature indicated that an extensive area of the East/Japan Sea showed lower temperature ($<18\;^{\circ}C$) but the enhanced Chi a patch was confined to a narrow coastal region in summer, 1999. Exceptionally high flux of low saline water from the Korea/Tsushima Strait seemed to make upwelling weak in summer of 1999 in the study area. Results of comparisons among Chi a from SeaWiFS, HPLC and fluorometric analysis showed that presence of Chi b cause underestimation of Chi a about 30% by fluorometric analysis but overestimation by satellite data about 30-75% compared to HPLC data.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.194-205
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• 1989

In order to study the biomass of primary producer, phytoplankton is collected monthly September 1985 to August 1986 in Ch$\check{o}$nsu Bay. Phytoplankton carbon contents which are calculated from phytoplankton volume were ranged from $26.7{\mu}gC/l$ to $960.7{\mu}gC/l$, and average carbon contents of each month lie in the range of $58.6-684.7{\mu}gC/l$(annual mean $208.5{\mu}gC/l$). For net plankton analysis with the carbon contents, cell numbers, and chlorophyll concentrations show a close correlation, while for nanoplankton the correlation was low, indicating that nano-fraction includes a significant portion of picoplankton. Also, the multiple regression analysis with carbon content, cell number, and chlorophyll concentration to size fraction well illustrate the prime importance of the net-fraction in phytoplankton group. C/Chl-a ratios ranged from 9.1 to 100.5, average rations of net- and nanoplankton are 111 and 6.4, respectively. The greater net plankton faction is, the higher C/Chl-a ratio is, however in case of high nanoplankton portion C/Chl-a ratio show low level. These results indicate that the difference of C/Chl-a ratio per phytoplankton cell size be main factor for the variation of C/Chl-a ratio in Ch$\check{o}$nsu Bay. As C/Chl-a ratio fluctuates greatly in coastal ecosystem, that use of a direct conversion of convert chlorophyll to organic carbon may lead erronous estimation.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.91-99
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• 2002

With physico-chemical environmental factors such as temperature, DO, pH, conductivity and nutrients, size fractionated of phytoplankton standing crops and chlorophyll a concentrations $(>8\mu{m},\;3-8\mu{m},\;<3\mu{m})$ and their relationships were investigated at each station of Kyungan Stream and Togyo Reservoir from April to November in 1997. The two sampling sites showed different nutrient status: Kyungan Stream was eutrophic, while Togyo Reservoir was mesotrophic. Large sizes of phytoplankton and chl. a were higher in Kyungan Stream, opposite to those of Togyo Reservoir; Standing crops of phytoplankton $(>8\mu{m)$ and chl. a $(3-8\mu{m)}$ were high in Kyung-an Stream, while phytoplankton $(3-8\mu{m)}$and chi. a $(<3\mu{m)$ were abundant in Togyo Reservoir. These results imply that phytoplankton community in the highly eutrophicated water mainly comprised the large filamentous and/or colonial algae, such as Microcystis spp. and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, which easily enriched by nutrients loading.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.855-863
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• 2007

In order to understand the temporal distribution of pico- and nanoplankton and factors controlling its distribution at a station in Okkye Bay of Masan Bay located in the southern part of Korea, this study was conducted on two weeks interval from April 2005 to April 2006, and several abiotic and biotic factors were measured. During the study, picoplankton consisted of picoflagellates, cyanobacteria and heterotrophic bacteria, and nanoplankton consisted of nanoflagellates excluding dinoflagellates. The concentration of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) was a mean of $4.33\;{\mu}g/L$, and the nanoplanktonic ($<20\;{\mu}m$) chl-a size fraction was a mean of 39.5 % and significantly correlated with water temperature. The abundances of cyanobacteria and photosynthetic flagellates (PF) were means of $24.4{\times}10^{3}\;cells/mL\;and\;2.87{\times}10^{3}\;cells/mL$, respectively. The contribution of picoflagellates to the PF abundance varied among the sampling occasions and was a mean of 29 %, but to the PF carbon biomass was 2.6 % only. The PF abundance had significant relationships with water temperature, and silicate and TIN concentrations, suggesting that the PF abundance seemed to be primarily bottom-up regulated. The abundance of heterotrophic bacteria was a mean of $3.18{\times}10^{6}\;cells/mL$ and unlike other ecosystems it did not have relationships with chl-a and heterotrophic flagellates (HF), suggesting that bacterial abundance did not seem to be bottom-up or top-down regulated. HF mostly consisted of cells less than $5{\mu}m$ and its abundance was a mean of $2.71{\times}10^{3}\;cells/mL$. Of the HF abundance, picoflagellates occupied about 31 %, and occupied about 9 % of the HF carbon biomass. HF grazing activity on heterotrophic bacteria was relatively low and removed about 10 % of bacterial abundance, suggesting that HF might not be major consumers of bacteria and there seems to be other consumers in Okkye Bay. These results suggest that Okkye Bay may have a unique microbial ecosystem.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.77-87
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• 2017

Picophytoplankton, an important primary producer especially at the oligotrophic region, is known to contribute a significant portion of the total phytoplankton biomass in the East Sea of Korea. During autumn in the southwestern East Sea, frequent upwellings and oligotrophic conditions occur and annual variation of primary productivity is known to be significant. Moreover sea surface temperature (SST) of the East Sea is steeply increasing compared to global average increase, so various changes in marine ecosystem related with increase of SST are reported. Taking such circumstances into consideration, we measured the contribution from picophytoplankton fraction to total phytoplankton composition by size fraction of phytoplankton biomass during the autumn seasons from 2011, 2013 and 2015 and examined the variation of the phytoplankton composition. As a result of size fraction analyses, we found that the variation of contribution from picophytoplankton(<$3{\mu}m$) to total community of phytoplankton was high and the average fractions of picophytoplankton were measured as 38% (2011), 59% (2013), 7% (2015), respectively. The difference between measured SST and annual mean SST (${\Delta}T$) was highest ($+1.6^{\circ}C$) in autumn of 2013 and lowest ($-0.9^{\circ}C$) in autumn of 2015. The close positive correlation between ${\Delta}SST$ and fraction of picophytoplankton was confirmed($R^2$ > 0.9). The increase in SST at the southern East Sea was confirmed as one of the main environmental factors in the increase in the increase of the contribution from picophytoplankton. Monitoring of changes in the community structure of primary producers and the influences of the environmental factors including SST in the East Sea is necessary to understand the interactions of ecosystem of the East Sea and the climate change in the near future.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.287-301
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• 2014

In order to understand environment condition and phytoplankton community before and after coastal upwelling, the influences of upwelling events on phytoplankton community were studied at 18 stations located the Southern part of East Sea, Korea from May to August 2013. The surface water masses showed low temperature and high salinity due to upwelling events at coastal stations (A1, B1, C1). Correlation between temperature and nutrients (DIP, r=-0.218, p<0.01; DIN, r=-0.306, p<0.01; silicate, r=-0.274, p<0.01) was significantly negative. This result could be explained that nutrients were supplied to surface water by the upwelling of bottom water. Phytoplankton communities were composed of 186 species. Phytoplankton abundance were relatively high in May (C1, $726{\times}10^3cells\;L^{-1}$) and July (A1, $539{\times}10^3cells\;L^{-1}$). Total chlorophyll a and micro-size fraction ($&gt;20{\mu}m$) increased at coastal stations in July and August, while phytoplankton abundance and total chl. a was much low in June. Dominant species in June was Pseudo-nitzschia spp. of which the cell size was $309{\mu}m^3$. Cell size of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. was smaller than dominant species in other period. Therefore, the increase in total chloro-phyll a and the size of phytoplankton was resulted in the sufficient supply of nutrients. In contrast, these tendencies were not observed at outside stations. These results suggested that coastal upwelling was an important influencing factor to determine the species composition and standing stock of phytoplankton community in the coastal waters of the Southern part of East Sea, Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.54-69
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• 2022

We conducted a field survey from 2018 to 2020 to analyze the spatial distribution of phytoplankton communities at 13 stations in the East Sea. The diatom Chaetoceros curvisetus appeared as the dominant species in winter, and small flagellates less than 20 ㎛ prevailed in all seasons except winter. The seasonal average range of the micro (>20 ㎛), nano (20 ㎛≥Chl-a>3 ㎛), and picophytoplankton (≤3 ㎛) was 20.6-26.2%, 27.1-35.9%, and 40.8-49.0%, respectively. The composition ratio of nano and picophytoplankton was high at the surface mixed layer from spring to autumn when the water columns were strongly stratified. Especially, the stability of the water mass was increased when the summer surface water temperature was higher than that of the previous year. As a result, the nutrient inflow from the lower layer to the surface was reduced as the ocean stratification layer was strengthened. Therefore, the composition ratio of nano and picophytoplankton was the highest at 77.9% at the surface mixed layer. In conclusion, the structure of the phytoplankton community in the East Sea has been miniaturized, which is expected to form a complex microbial food web structure and lower the carbon transfer rate to the upper consumer stage.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.1 s.115
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• pp.93-99
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• 2006

Primary productivity was determined by using $^{13}C$ tracer according to different cell size of phytoplank-ton through in situ incubation experiments in upper stream of the Lake Shihwa. The average concentration of chlorophyll a was 14 ${\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ demonstrating an eutrophic water. The ratio of POC/Chl-a was lower than 30, reflecting that the origin of organic matter might be mainly phytoplankton. The primary productivity was 93.9 mgC m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ at St. 1, which was about 40-fold lower than the average value of the lake (3,972 mgC m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$) determined by Choi et al. (1997) before opening of gate but it was higher than the average primary productivity (3.98 mgC m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$) reported by KOWACO in 1993 before constructing dam. The fractionated size (20 ${\sim}$ 53 ${\mu}m$) of phytoplankton community account for 51% of total primary productivity, indicating the highest assimilation rate. This study suggest that $^{13}C$ tracer methodology should be applied as a useful approach for the water ecological research in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2014

In order to estimate the effect of additional nutrients on phytoplankton growth and horizontal phytoplankton community distribution during the autumn season in 2010 and 2011, we investigated the abiotic and biotic factors of surface and bottom waters at 20 stations of inner and offshore areas in Gwangyang Bay, Korea. Also, nutrient additional experiments were conducted to assess additional nutrient effects on phytoplankton assemblage using the surface water. In both years, the total nutrients were high at the enclosed inner bay and the mouth of Seomjin River, whereas it was low at the St.15~20 where in influenced by the surface warm water current from offshore of the bay. On the other hand, nano- and pico-sized Chl. a were gradually increased towards the outer bay and their trends were significant in 2011 than in 2010. The cryptophyta species occupied more than 85% of total phytoplankton assembleges in 2010, whereas their abundance in 2011 remainds to be 1/10 levels of 2010. Following the cryptophata species, the diatom Chaetoceros spp. and Skeletonema-like spp. were found to be dominant species. Further the biosaasy experimental results shows that the phytoplankton biomass in the +N and +NP treatments was higher compared to control and +P treatments and its trend was significant at St.8 and St.20 where nutrient concentration were low. Based on the bioassay and field survey, providing the high nutrients may have stimulated to phytoplankton growth such as S. costatum-like spp.. In particular, opportunistic micro-algae such as Cryptomonas spp. were able to achieve the high biomass under the relatively mid nutrient condition from bottom after break down of seasonal stratification in the Gwangyang Bay.