• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2005

The phytoplankton community, environmental factors, and rainfall were investigated from July to October in 2001 and 2003 on Dam site in Daechung Reservoir. The monthly average rainfall in the investigated period were 91.3 and 265.3 mm in 2001 and 2003, respectively. The maximum chlorophyll a concentration was observed higher at 131.5 ㎍ L/sup -1/ in 2003 than at 45.4 ㎍ L/sup -1/ in 2001. The cyanobacterial number in 2001 was counted up to over 200,000 cells mL/sup -1/, which was much higher than the maximum number of 49,000 cells mL/sup -1/ in 2003. The relative abundance of cyanobacteria in the phytoplankton community was about 97% in 2001 and 74% in 2003. Microcystis spp. were absolutely dominant species in 2001, while a couple of cyanobacteria such as Oscillatoria spp., Phormidium spp. Chroococcus spp. and Microcystis spp. were dominant species in 2003. Consequently, it seemed that rainfall affected the diversity of phytoplankton species and decreased the density of bloom-forming cyanobacteria.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.121-129
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• 2024

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCBs) are caused by the rapid proliferation of cyanobacteria and are believed to be exacerbated by climate change. However, the extent to which HCBs will be stimulated in the future due to increased temperature remains uncertain. This study aims to predict the future occurrence of cyanobacteria in the Nakdong River, which has the highest incidence of HCBs in South Korea, based on temperature rise scenarios. Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) were used as the basis for these scenarios. Data-driven model simulations were conducted, and out of the four machine learning techniques tested (multiple linear regression, support vector regressor, decision tree, and random forest), the random forest model was selected for its relatively high prediction accuracy. The random forest model was used to predict the occurrence of cyanobacteria. The results of boxplot and time-series analyses showed that under the worst-case scenario (RCP8.5 (2100)), where temperature increases significantly, cyanobacterial abundance across all study areas was greatly stimulated. The study also found that the frequencies of HCB occurrences exceeding certain thresholds (100,000 and 1,000,000 cells/mL) increased under both the best-case scenario (RCP2.6 (2050)) and worst-case scenario (RCP8.5 (2100)). These findings suggest that the frequency of HCB occurrences surpassing a certain threshold level can serve as a useful diagnostic indicator of vulnerability to temperature increases caused by climate change. Additionally, this study highlights that water bodies currently susceptible to HCBs are likely to become even more vulnerable with climate change compared to those that are currently less susceptible.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.3 s.113
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• pp.420-428
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• 2005

Effects of three biological control agents such as Xanthobacter autotrophycus, Tanichthys albonubes and Oryzias latipes on the morphology and growth of cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa were studied. The experiments were consisted of six treatments of living organism (LO) and culture filtered water of three organisms (CFW). Three LOs effectively decreased the density of M. aeruginosa, and then cyanobacteria hardy showed in the microscopic field after 5 days of cultivation. All LO and CFW agents induced the colonial formation of cyanobacterium M. aeruginosa, although there were little differences in colony formation according to the kinds, density and type of treatment. In particular, the higher density treatment of fish CFW induced effectively the colony formation of cyanobacteria, compared to the bacterial LO and CFW. Thus, the application of bio agents to control the cyanobacterial bloom is needed to the further study to diminish the adverse effects such as the enhancement of colony formation towards on the new bloom against the aquatic ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.67-79
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• 2016

Cyanotoxins in aquatic ecosystems have been investigated by many researchers worldwide. Cyanotoxins can be classified according to toxicity as neurotoxins (anatoxin-a, anatoxin-a(s), saxitoxins) or hepatotoxins (microcystins, nodularin, cylindrospermopsin). Microcystins are generally present within cyanobacterial cells and are released by damage to the cell membrane. Cyanotoxins have been reported to cause adverse effects and to accumulate in aquatic organisms in lakes, rivers and oceans. Possible pathways of microcystins in Lake Suwa, Japan, have been investigated from five perspectives: production, adsorption, physiochemical decomposition, bioaccumulation and biodegradation. In this study, temporal variability in microcystins in Lake Suwa were investigated over 25 years (1991~2015). In nature, microcystins are removed by biodegradation of microorganisms and/or feeding of predators. However, during water treatment, the use of copper sulfate to remove algal cells causes extraction of a mess of microcystins. Cyanotoxins are removed by physical, chemical and biological methods, and the reduction of nutrients inflow is a basic method to prevent cyanobacterial bloom formation. However, this method is not effective for eutrophic lakes because nutrients are already present. The presence of a cyanotoxins can be a potential threat and therefore must be considered during water treatment. A complete understanding of the mechanism of cyanotoxins degradation in the ecosystem requires more intensive study, including a quantitative enumeration of cyanotoxin degrading microbes. This should be done in conjunction with an investigation of the microbial ecological mechanism of cyanobacteria degradation.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.183-191
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• 2008

The effect of silver ion solution on the growth of Microcystis aeruginosa UTEX 2388 (cyanobacterium) and Chlorella sp. KCTC AG20136 (green alga) was investigated using separated and mixed culture in filtered natural water and BG11 medium. In separated culture, M. aeruginosa UTEX 2388 and Chlorella sp. KCTC AG20136 were found to be sensitive to 0.01 and 0.1 mg L$^{-1}$ of silver ion, respectively. Also, the silver ion concentrations for the growth inhibition of M. aeruginosa UTEX 2388 and Chlorella sp. KCTC AG20136 in the mixed culture were same in separated culture. Cyanobacteria were more sensitive to the silver ion solution than green algae. In bloom sample, the minimal inhibition concentration of silver ion solution for the low Chl-${\alpha}$ sample (110$\sim$190 ${\mu}g$ L$^{-1}$) and high Chl-${\alpha}$ sample (1,500$\sim$1,900 ${\mu}g$ L$^{-1}$) was about 0.1 and 3.0 mg L$^{-1}$, respectively. The silver ion concentration for the inhibition of algal bloom sample was affected by the algal biomass. In order to use silver ion solution for the control of algal bloom, the silver ion concentration must be determined in consideration of a minimal effect on the environment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2017

This study was carried out to apply the UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) coupled with Multispectral sensor for the algae bloom monitoring in river. The study acquired remote sensing data using UAV on the midstream area of Gum River, one of four major rivers in South Korea. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is used for monitoring algae change. This study conducted water sampling and analysis in the field for correlating with NDVI values. Among the samples analyzed, the chlorophyll concentration exhibited strong and significant linear relationships with NDVI, and thus NDVI was chosen for algae bloom index to identify emergence aspect of phytoplankton in river. Aerial remote sensing technology can provide more accurate, flexible, cheaper, and faster monitoring methods of detecting and predicting eutrophication and therefore cyanobacteria bloom in water reservoirs compared to currently used technology. As a result, there was high level of correlation in chlorophyll-a and NDVI. It is expected that when this remote water quality and pollution monitoring technology is applied in the field, it would be able to improve capabilities to deal with the river water quality and pollution at the early stage.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.4 s.92
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• pp.366-373
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• 2000

Toxin production and low digestibility of cyanobacteria are known to cause low exploitability of cyanobacteria by zooplankton. In this study, we compared relative tolerance and compatibility of zooplankton taxa in eight eutrophic lakes, exposed to frequent cyanobacterial blooms, uring the summer season of 1999. Microcystis, Anabaena, Oscillatoria and Phormidium were common cyanobacteria in all lakes. with relatively lower $NO_3-N$ concentration (<0.2 mgN/l) and TN/TP ratio (<20), compared with other lakes where colonial cyanobacteria dominated. Rotifers were dominant zooplankton in most lakes, and among them, Keratella, Polyarthra and Hexathra were common. The laboratory feeding experiment showed that relative copepods that greatly decreased (90%) after 4 day when cyanobacteria were used as the food source of zooplankton, while rotifers gradually increased with the change of dominant taxa from Keratella through Pompholyx to Monostyla. These results suggest that rotifers may be capable of coexisting with cyanobacteria by exploiting them for the food source.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.491-498
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• 2011

We investigated the ranges of total cellular microcystins content of cyanobacterial blooms collected in Korean lakes and rivers from 2005 to 2009. The amount and composition of microcystins of Korean cyanobacteria varied depending on the sampling water bodies and dominant cyanobacterial genera. Toxic cyanobacterial cell numbers equivalent to $1{\mu}g$ MCYSTs/L using total cellular microcystin content of Korean cyanobacteria were in the range of 2,348 to 66,980,638 cells/mL. Only four samples among forty nine samples showed less cell numbers than current criterion of Harmful Algae Alert System, 5,000 cells/mL indicating current criterion do not reflect properly the microcystins content of Korean cyanobacteria. Anabaena and Aphanizomenon spp. showed three to six times higher cell numbers equivalent to $1{\mu}g$ MCYSTs/L than Microcystis spp. To propose criteria of Harmful Algae Alert System for Korean toxic cyanobacteria, we calculated about 50% selective geometrical means of cyanobacterial cell numbers equivalent to $1{\mu}g$ MCYSTs/L in order of toxic content. The proposed criteria for Microcystis, Oscillatoria, Anabaena, and Aphanizomenon spp., are 10,000, 20,000, 40,000, and 80,000 cells/mL, respectively.

• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.195-206
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• 2021

Increasing inputs of dissolved organic matter (DOM) to northern lakes is resulting in 'lake browning.' Lake browning profoundly affects phytoplankton community composition by modifying two important environmental drivers-light and nutrients. The impact of increased DOM on native isolates of red and green-pigmented cyanobacteria identified as Pseudanabaena, which emerged from a Dolichospermum bloom (Dickson Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada) in 2015, were examined under controlled laboratory conditions. The genomes were sequenced to identify phylogenetic relatedness and physiological similarities, and the physical and chemical effects of increased DOM on cellular performance and competitiveness were assessed. Our study findings were that the isolated red and green phenotypes are two distinct species belonging to the genus Pseudanabaena; that both isolates remained physiologically unaffected when grown independently under defined DOM regimes; and that neither red nor green phenotype achieved a competitive advantage when grown together under defined DOM regimes. While photosynthetic pigment diversity among phytoplankton offers niche-differentiation opportunities, the results of this study illustrate the coexistence of two distinct photosynthetic pigment phenotypes under increasing DOM conditions.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.405-415
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• 2019

Microcystins (MCs) are toxins produced by cyanobacteria causing a major environmental threat to water resources worldwide. Although several MCs have been reported in previous studies, microcystin-LR (m-LR) has been extensively studied as it is highly toxic. Among the several techniques employed for the removal of this toxin, adsorption with AC has been extensively studied. AC has gained wide attention as an effective adsorbent of m-LR due to its ubiquity, high sorption capacity, cost effectiveness and renewability. In this review, the adsorption of m-LR onto AC was evaluated using the information available in existing scientific literature. The effects of the pore volume and surface chemistry of AC on the adsorption of m-LR considering the structural and chemical properties of ACs were also discussed. Furthermore, we identified the parameters that influence adsorption, including natural organic matter (NOM), pH, and ionic strength during the m-LR adsorption process. The effect of these parameters on MCs adsorption onto AC from previous studied is compiled and highlighted. This review may provide new insights into future activated carbon-m-LR adsorption research, and broaden its application prospects.