• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.318-333
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• 2020

The Nakdong-Jeongmaek extends north and south from Taebaek-si of Gangwon-do to Busan metropolitan city and includes a wide range of forest zone from temperate to the warm-temperature forest. The purpose of this study was to analyze the vegetation structural characteristics of the Quercus mongolica-dominant community, which was distributed in the largest area in Baekdudaegan and Jeongmaek, by region and communities in the Nakdong-Jeongmaek. For the study, a representative 6 sites were selected: Baekbyeongsan, Chilbosan, Baegamsan, Unjusan, Goheonsan, and Gudeoksan. The survey of the 6 sites showed that the canopy had over 85% the importance percentage of Quercus mongolica. In the understory, Rhododendron schlippenbachii, Fraxinus sieboldiana, etc. were located and Fraxinus sieboldiana, Lespedeza maximowiczii, Tripterygium regelii and so on were found in the shrub. The importance percentage of 4 communities of Quercus mongolica, which were separated by TWINSPAN, in the canopy was more than 80%, and the dominant species in the understory and shrub were the same. Currently, Quercus mongolica has been identified as the understory following the canopy, and the Quercus mongolica-dominant community is expected to continue unless there are external factors. In the temperate forest regions in Korea, Quercus spp.and Carpinus laxiflora form the major forest physiognomy in the natural forest state. Based on these characteristics, the Quercus mongolica-dominant community on the ridge of the Nakdong-Jeongmaek is considered to have characteristics of temperate forests in Korea. The Quercus mongolica community is a representative cool-temperate deciduous forest and known as a climatic climax in the upper section of the mountains in the Korean Peninsula. Trees of the same species should be distributed at each layer to maintain the dominant species' status in the canopy's climax forest. Therefore, the Quercus mongolica community is considered the climax forest in the ridge of the Nakdong-Jeongmaek.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.168-175
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• 2014

In order to understand the phytoplankton community structure based on their cell size duringlow water temperature periods, we studied 10 stations in the East Sea, Korea on March, 2012. The minimum standing crops of total phytoplankton were $3.4{\times}10^6cells\;L^{-1}$ at the station 5. The maximum values were $7.6{\times}10^6cells\;L^{-1}$ at the station 8, which is two times the amount of the minimum. The carbon mass at the station 4 ($6.3{\times}10^8pg\;L^{-1}$) was more than forty times higher compared with station 5 ($0.08{\times}10^8pg\;L^{-1}$). From these results, we found a significant difference between standing crops and carbon mass which might have caused due to their differences in community structure and cell size. Therefore, we considered the types of plankton biomass to estimate the primary product in the specific location and/or time. The phytoplankton communities were classified in 3 types: microplankton (> $20{\mu}m$), nanoplankton (< $20{\mu}m$) and picoplankton (< $2{\mu}m$). In the case of picoplankton, various morphological types were observed during the study period. These various picoplankton species were further classified as S (spherical), SF (spherical&flagella), O (oval), OF (oval&flagella) or R (rod) type, and we analyzed their community structure based on these categories. The picoplankton was found to be the most dominant type at 8 stations and S type as the most popular. The picoplankton seems to be the significant organism in the marine ecology during low water temperature periods in the coastal waters of East Sea. Therefore, picoplankton \;-with scientific surveys can be considered as the database for their identification. In conclusion, we suggest that cell size of the phytoplankton would be the best criteria to accurately analyze their community structure and to reveal groups having more ecological influence.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.447-452
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• 2019

This study was conducted in 2016-2017 to provide the basic ecological data needed to establish environmental conditions for the cultivation of wild vegetables. It used TWINSPAN to classify the vegetation structure of natural habitats of wild vegetable nationwide and DCCA ordination to analyze the correlation between the by community structure and environmental factors. We performed TWINSPAN on 100 taxa with high importance values in 91 plots of major habitats of wild vegetables. The vegetation was classified into Cirsium setidens and Synurus deltoides group, Ligularia fischeri and Hemerocallis fulva group, Adenophora divaricata var. manshurica group, Platycodon grandiflorum and Aster scaber group, Aralia elata and Pteridium aquilinum group, and Pimpinella brachycarpa and Osmunda japonica group communities. We then performed DCCA ordination of 11 communities classified by TWINSPAN and 11 environmental factors. The results showed that the altitude had the strongest correlation with the vegetation. The Cirsium setidens, Synurus deltoids, and Lifularia fischeri communities were distributed in areas with similar environmental factors such as high altitude, gentle slope, and nutrient. The Aralia elata and Osmunda japonica communities were distributed in the location environment with low altitude, pH, O.M, T-N, $Ca^{2+}$, and C.E.C. The Hemerocallis fulva community was distributed in the location environment with moderate northeastern and northwestern slope, low altitude and pH, and high $P_2O_5$, whereas the Adenophora divaricata var. manshurica community was distributed in the location environment with gentle southeastern and southwestern slope, high altitude and pH, and low $P_2O_5$, which was the opposite tendency of the location environment from Hemerocallis fulva community. The Platycodon grandiflorum community was distributed in the location environment with gentle southwestern slope, low altitude, pH, O.M, T-N, $P_2O_5$, $Ca^{2+}$, and C.E.C., and high $Mg^{2+}$. The Pteridium aquilinum community was distributed in the location environment with southwestern slope, low altitude, O.M, T-N, C.E.C, $P_2O_5$, $Ca^{2+}$, and $K^+$. The Aster scaber and Pimpinella brachycarpa communities were widely distributed in many plots with various location environments.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 1999

The optimum sampling area which can be applied to the benthic community study is estimated from large survey data in the Songdo tidal flat and subtidal zone of Youngil Bay, Korea. A total of 250 samples by 0.02 $m^2$ box corer for the benthic fauna in Songdo tidal flat and 50 samples by 0.1 $m^2$ van Veen grab in Youngil Bay were taken from the total sampling area of 5 $m^2$. It was assumed that the sampling area could contain sufficient information on sediment fauna, if cumulative number of species, ecological indices, and similarity index by cluster analysis reflect the similarity level of 75% to those found at total sampling area (5 $m^2$). A total of 56 and 60 species occurred from Songdo tidal flat and Youngil Bay, respectively. The cumulative curve of the species number ($N_{sp}$) as a function of the sampling area (A in $m^2$ ) was fitted as $N_{sp}=37.379A^{0.257}$ ($r^2=0.99$) for intertidal fauna and $N_{sp}=40.895A^{0.257}$ ($r^2=0.98$) for subtidal fauna. Based on these curves and 75% of similarity to the total sampling area (5 $m^2$), the optimum sampling area was proposed as 1.6 $m^2$ for the intertidal and 1.5 $m^2$ for the subtidal fauna. Ecological indices (species diversity, richness, evenness and dominance indices) were again calculated on the basis of species composition in differently simulated sample sizes. Changes in ecological indices with these sample sizes indicated that samplings could be done by collecting fauna from < 0.5 $m^2$-1.5 $m^2$ on the Songdo tidal flat and from < 0.5 $m^2$-1.2 $m^2$ in Youngil Bay. Changes in similarity level of all units of each simulated sample size showed that sampling area of 0.3 $m^2$ (Songdo tidal flat) and 0.6 $m^2$ (Youngil Bay) should be taken to obtain a similarity level of 75%. In conclusion, sampling area which was determined by cumulative number of species, ecological indices and similarity index by cluster analysis could be determined as 1.5 $m^2$ (0.02 $m^2$ box corer, n=75) for Songdo tidal flat and 1.2 $m^2$ (0.1 $m^2$ van Veen grab, n=12) for Youngil Bay. If these sampling areas could be covered in the field survey, population densities of seven dominant species comprising 68% of the total faunal abundance occurring on Songdo tidal flat and six species comprising 90% in Youngil Bay can be estimated at the precision level of P=0.2.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.707-718
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• 2012

This study was conducted to monitor 4 years of changes in the vegetation structure starting from 2007 when restoration began and propose vegetation management ideas for the riparian ecological restoration areas in the purchased land around Nakdonggang(River). The study was conducted in each of 15 locations ($208,342m^2$) in the riparian ecological restoration areas in November 2007, September 2008, October 2009 and September 2010. The analysis results of the changes in planting species and population showed that, in the case of trees, Acer pseudo-sieboldianum, Quercus acutissima, Acer ginnala, Quercus aliena, Quercus variabilis indicated relatively little changes in their numbers and Quercus dentata, Cornus walteri, Morus alba, Styrax obassia, Sorbus alnifolia var. macrophylla indicated a 100% withering rate. Most shrubs withered due to the oppressive pressure of herbs and climbing plants. The planting density decreased over 4 years on average 28 plants/$100m^2$ to 20 plants/$100m^2$ to 16 plants/$100m^2$. Shortly after the restoration, The the amount of growth was reduced by restoration stress. however as time goes on after the restoration tended to stabilize. The changes in the basal area showed a decrease from $507.1cm^2/100m^2$ in 2007 right after restoration to $301.8cm^2/100m^2$ in 2008 and afterwards showed an increasing trend by going to $324.9cm^2/100m^2$ in 2009 and $372.7cm^2/100m^2$ in 2010. To improve the planting structure of the riparian ecological restoration area, the selection of tree species that have been considered for soil moisture and the differentiation of suitable planting structures that have been considered for local conditions were needed.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2020

To assess the characteristics of phytoplankton community structures related to environmental factors, seasonal surveys were conducted in the vicinity of Dokdo. In 2019, phytoplankton of four phyla and 69 species were observed. During winter, unidentified nanoflagellates dominated, with an average of 3.19×10⁴ cells L^-1. In spring, unidentified nanoflagellates occupied about 50% of the composition and a variety of dinoflagellates appeared. The summer phytoplankton population showed very low abundance. In autumn, various species of Chaetoceros appeared, along with diatoms, such as Bacteriastrum spp., Guinardia striata, and Pseudo-nitzschia spp. In addition, tropical species Amphisolenia sp. and Ornithocercus sp. were observed in both 2018 and 2019. The diversity was high in the summer of 2018 and the winter of 2019 and the characteristics of each index varied. Cluster analysis was divided into four groups according to species and population characteristics regardless of the season. The stratification of spring was particularly weak. In the autumn of 2018, the water mass was stabilized in the same way as in the summer, which is considered a suitable condition for phytoplankton growth. However, in 2019, the water masses were mixed, resulting in a low population. In a phytoplankton comparison, the dominant group showed seasonal differences, except for summer when the population was low, and the difference was most pronounced in autumn. Therefore, the waters surrounding Dokdo have different environmental and ecological characteristics from the East Sea, but the seasonal characteristics of each year are considered to be different depending on the topography, various currents, the island effect, and other factors.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.2 s.112
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• pp.196-206
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• 2005

The fish community in the mid-upper region of Gam Stream was examined seasonally from 2001 to 2003 in order to perform an environmental impact assessment prior to a construction of Gamcheon Multipurpose Dam. Additional investigation was conducted in August 2004 to confirm the fish fauna reported and to examine the ecological characteristics of Zacco temminckii population. The total number of fish caught from the study sites was 1,081 fish representing 5 families 14 species. There were 6 Korean endemic species including Coreoleuciscus splendidus, Squalidus gracilis majimae, Microphysogobio yaluensis, Liobagrus mediadiposalis, Coreoperca herzi and Odontobutis platycephala, but no endangered or vulnerable species were found. Length-weight relation, condition factor (K) and relative condition factor (Kn) of Zacco temminckii were compared by the study sites and stream. The equations based on length-weight relation in Buhang and Gam Streams were TW\;=\;0.000004TL^{3.2357}$ and TW\;=\;0.000002TL^{3.3566}$, respectively indicating the fish in Gam Stream became more rotund as length increases. The condition factor (K) and relative condition factor (Kn) against total length of Zacco temminckii at two streams indicated that the fish (>70 mm) in Cam Stream (mean K and Kn= 1.116, 1.21 respectively) had better nutritional condition than those in Buhang Stream (mean K and Ln = 1.046, 1.14 respectively). The results were corresponded with natural disturbances such as drought and intensive rainfall from 2001 to 2003 followed by human activities such as stream repair works. Therefore, it is considered to perform environmental impact assessment with not only confirmation of fish composition but also examination of ecological characteristics in population- level.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.8-34
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• 2014

We reviewed foreign evaluation systems based on the macrobenthic and macroalgal communities and developed a system, composed of a set of ecological indices able to evaluate the functionality (FI, Functional Index; estimation of stability and productivity) and maturity (MI, Maturity Index; comparisons with biological parameters of natural reefs) of artificial reefs by comparing the status in the adjacent natural reefs in Korean coastal waters. The evaluation system was applied to natural and artificial reefs/reef-planned areas (natural reefs), established in the 5 marine ranching areas (Bangnyeong-Daechung, Yeonpyung, Taean, Seocheon and Buan) in the west coast of Korea. The FI ranged between 31.6 (Bangnyeong-Daechung) and 72.5% (Buan) and MI did between 53.1 (Seocheon) and 76.9% (Taean) in average. The evaluation of artificial reefs by the two indices, showed the most appropriate status in Taean. The FI between the adjacent artificial and natural reefs were in significant linear relationship ($r^2=0.83$, p=0.01). This indicated the local status of biological community may be critical in determining the functionality of the artificial reefs. We have suggested an integrative but preliminary evaluation system of artificial reefs in this study. The output from the evaluation system may be utilized as a tool for environment/resource managers or policy makers, responsible for effective use of funds and decision making. Given the importance, we need to use the options to enhance and improve the accuracy as follows: (1) continuous validation of the evaluation system and rescaling the criteria of indicators, (2) vigorous utilization of observation and experience through the application and data accumulation and (3) development and testing of brand-new indicators.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.183-191
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• 2009

This study was to evaluate ecological health of Dongjin River in October 2007. The ecological health assessments was based on the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI), and water chemistry. For the study, the models of IBI and QHEI were modified as 8 and 11 metric attributes, respectively. We also analyzed spatial patterns of chemical water quality over the period of 2005${\sim}$2008, using the water chemistry dataset, obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Korea. In Dongjin River, values of IBI averaged 19 (n=3), which is judged as a "Fair" condition after the criteria of Barbour et al. (1999). There was a distinct spatial variation. IBI score at Site 1 was estimated as 28, indicating a "Good" condition whereas, IBI at Site 2 and Site 3 were as 18 and 12, indicating "Fair" and "Poor" condition, respectively. Habitat analysis showed that QHEI values in the river averaged 117 (n=3), indicating a "Fair${\sim}$Good" condition after the criteria of Barbour et al. (1999). Values of BOD and COD averaged 2.3 mg $L^{-1}$ (scope: 0.1${\sim}$8.9 mg $L^{-1}$) and 5.5 mg $L^{-1}$ (scope: 1.8${\sim}$12.6 mg $L^{-1}$), respectively during the study. Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) averaged 2.7mg $L^{-1}$ and 0.127mg $L^{-1}$, respectively, and the nutrients showed large longitudinal gradients between the upper and lower reach. Overall, dataset of IBI, QHEI, and water chemistry showed that river health was a gradual decline at upstream to downstream. So, Dongjin River should be protected from habitat disturbance and chemical pollutions.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.184-194
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• 2021

Since the construction of a dike in 1983, the water quality in the Bunam Lake has continued to deteriorate due to algal bloom caused by agricultural nutrient loading. Therefore, we evaluated the change in water quality and phytoplankton ecological characteristics in Bunam Lake and Cheonsu Bay, Korea. Water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand (COD), chlorophyll, and phytoplankton community were surveyed in April during the dry season and in July during the rainy reason. As a result, during the dry period, phytoplankton proliferated greatly and stagnated in the Bunam Lake while a very high population of cyanobacteria Oscillatoria spp. (8.61×10⁷ cells L^-1) was recorded. Most of the nutrients, except, nitrate and nitrite, were consumed due to the large growth of phytoplankton. However, during the rainy period, concentrations of ammonia, phosphate, silicate, nitrate, and nitrite, were very high towards the upper station due to the inflow of fresh water. Cyanobacteria Oscillatoria and Microcystis spp. were dominant in the Bunam Lake during the rainy period. Even in the Cheonsu Bay, cyanobacteria dominated due to the effect of discharge and diatoms, such as, Chaetoceros spp. and Eucampia zodiacus, which also proliferated significantly due to increased levels of nutrients. Since the eutrophication index was above 1 in Bunam Lake, it was classified as eutrophic water and the Cheonsu Bay was classified as eutrophic water only during the rainy season. In addition, a stagnant seawater-derived hypoxia water mass was observed at a depth of8m in the Bunam Lake adjacent to the tide embankment and the COD concentration reached 206 mg L^-1 in the bottom layer at B3. Based on this result, it is considered that the water quality will continue to deteriorate if organic matters settle due to continuous inflow of nutrients and growth of organisms while the bottom water mass is stagnant.