• Title/Summary/Keyword: Ecosystem stability

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Ecological Stability of the Shihwa Lake Evaluated by Zooplankton Distribution in the Lake Shihwa and Adjacent Coastal Area (시화호와 인근 해역의 동물플랑크톤 분포로 본 시화호의 생태적 안정성)

  • Park, Chul;Huh, Sung-Hoi
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.87-91
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    • 1997
  • Ecological stability of the Lake Shihwa, artificially made by the construction of the Shihwa Dike, was evaluated by the species composition and variation in biomass of zooplankton. Species composition and seasonal variation in biomass in the seaside stations were similar to those observed in nearby bays and coastal zone. However, those in the lake sites showed very different patterns. The brackish water copepod, Sinocaianus tenellus, held the first rank in every season (with more than 66% in spring, 98% in summer and fall, and 80% in winter). The species composition was very simple and the biomass (in terms of total individuals $m^{-3}$) varied markedly with season up to the order of $10^4$ magnitude. These results imply that the lake ecosystem made by the construction of Sihwa dike is in very unstable stage probably due to the input of industrial wastes as well as unpredictable variation in salt content caused by irregular control of the watergate of the dike and resultant irregular flow direction of the water through the gate.

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Dinophyceae Fluctuations in Two Alpine Lakes of Contrasting Size During a 10-Year Fortnightly Survey

  • Trevisan, R.;Pertile, R.;Bronamonte, V.;Dazzo, F.B.;Squartini, A.
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.22 no.6
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    • pp.754-762
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    • 2012
  • Colbricon Superiore and Inferiore are two small adjacent high-mountain lakes located in the Paneveggio Natural Park (Italy) that offer the rare opportunity to study two iso-ecologic water environments differing only by area and volume in a ratio of 2:1 and 3:1, respectively. We took advantage of this setting to investigate phytoplankton dynamics, compare variability and productivity differences between the two basins, and assess size-dependent issues. The phytoplankton group of the Dinophyceae was chosen as the indicator organisms of ecological perturbation owing to their high sensitivity to environmental variations, as well as their acknowledged nature of versatile proxy to report global climatic changes. The study was conducted for over 10 years with fortnightly samplings. Results indicated that (a) the Dinophyceae communities in the smaller lake were significantly more resistant to changes exerted by the fluctuation of lakewater transparency and pH; and (b) the smaller lake sustained a consistently higher production with an average Dinophyceae density 1.73 fold higher than that of the larger lake. The coefficients of variation show that the chemical parameters in the smaller lake display higher time-related fluctuation while being spatially homogeneous and that such conditions correlate with a higher stability of the Dinophyceae assemblage. The use of this setting is also proposed as a model to test relationships between ecosystem production and physical stability.

Development of Sustainability Criteria for Forest Landuse Planning (지속가능한 산지개발을 위한 환경기준 설정에 관한 연구)

  • Youn, Yeo Chang;Kim, Sang Yoon;Kwon, Tae Ho;Lee, Chang Suk
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.53-63
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    • 1999
  • This study aims to develop a set of criteria for evaluating the sustainability of forest landuse, which could facilitate the environmentally friendly development of forest lands in Korea. The concept of sustainable development in forest landuse was reviewed from literature and by interviews with experts in forest-related fields. Delphi technique was employed for gathering experts' opinions. According to the results of Delphi test, the concept of sustainable development in forest landuse was confirmed as "Use of forest lands in a lasting manner within the carrying capacity of the ecosystem involved". There are 16 factors which should be considered with care when the development of forest lands is planned. They include the ratio of forest cover left undeveloped, ecological stability, and landscape naturalness. Among them are the ecological factors rated most important. The experts emphasized the importance of local characteristics in setting up the criteria for sustainable forestland development. The study did not attempted to apply the criteria to real settings. Therefore, before applications in real situations, further case studies should be made for the criteria to be safely used in landuse planning.

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Carbon Sequestration of Teak (Tectona grandis Linn. f.) Plantations in the Bago Yoma Region of Myanmar

  • Oo, Thaung Naing;Lee, Don Koo;Combalicer, Marilyn
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.96 no.5
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    • pp.602-608
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    • 2007
  • Forest plantations become important strategy not merely for the financial aspect, but for carbon sequestration and ecosystem stability. Forest plantations increase the density of the forest biomass, which reduce the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Biomass density is also a useful variable for comparing structural and functional attributes of forest ecosystems across a wide range of environmental conditions. In this study, carbon sequestration of teak (Tectona grandis Linn. f.) in the individual tree and plantation levels estimation was carried out Site-specific allometric equation for the estimation of teak tree biomass was developed based on the direct measurement of fifteen (15) harvested trees in the Oak-twin Township of the Bago Yoma Region, Myanmar. A regression equation of the diameter at breast height (DBH) and the aboveground biomass (carbon content) was constructed to estimate the carbon storage level of plantations, which averaged 79 ton/ha. The average carbon accumulation in the soil (up to 30 cm in depth) was estimated 38.89 ton/ha, The highest mean annual increment (MAI) of total carbon was found in the 6-yr-old teak plantation (12.10 ton/ha/yr) whereas the lowest MAI was in the 26-yr-old teak plantation (4.31 ton/ha/yr).

Molecular Parameters for Assessing Marine Biotoxicity: Gene Expressions of Rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) Exposed to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

  • Woo, Seon-Ock;Yum, Seung-Shic;Park, Hong-Seog;Jung, Jee-Hyun;Lee, Suk-Chan;Kim, So-Jung;Lee, Taek-Kyun
    • Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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    • v.3 no.4
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    • pp.267-272
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    • 2007
  • Environmental and anthropogenic changes affect the health and stability of marine ecosystem. In this study we aimed to identify molecular biomarkers for ecotoxicological pollutants risk assessment in the rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli). We designed primers based on conserved sequences by multiple alignments of target genes from related species, and cloned the partial cDNAs of cytochrome P450 (CYP1A1), glutathione S-transferase (GST), metallothionein (MT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ubiquitin (UB), vitellogenin (VTG) and $\beta$-actin by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from S. schlegeli. Northern blot results indicated that these six genes expressions were significantly induced by benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, 1 ${\mu}M$) and that the level of each of their transcripts increased in BaP-exposed rockfish in a time-dependent manner. This study suggests that transcriptional changes in these six genes may be used for monitoring environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Quantification of Ecological Impact as a Basis for Evaluation (독일에서의 환경영향의 정량적 평가)

  • Schweppe-Kraft, Burkhard
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.59-71
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    • 1993
  • Evaluation methods are employed in environmental impact assessment to choose between different project site, to determine the required measures to compensate impact and to decide whether the environmental impacts are more important than the social or economic effects of a project. The main obstacles that restrict use of quantitative evaluation method are a Lack of knowledge about the environmental effects (e.g. if impacts on wildlife or landscape amenities are predicted) and the relative importance of economic and social issues compared with nature conservation stability of ecosystem or landscape beauty. In Germany, the most common method for site planning is the "ecological risk analysis". It is a kind of multi-criteria-decision-method based on quantitative and qualitative description and ordinal ranking. The various kinds of "ecological balancing methods" that are more recently developed (within the last decade) to quantify the required amount for compensatory measures instead often use cardinal figures to express the value of ecosystems, the intensity of impacts, the need for additional measures to compensate for long recuperative periods when restoring ecosystems and so on. There are still only a view attempts to quantify decisions between environmental and socio-economic issues. Multicriteria-analysis as well as cost-benifit-analysis was used. Some new approaches which are still in a preliminary status are based on contingent valuation and on calculations for compensatory payments (instead of compensatory measures).

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Numerical Analysis of Bacterial Community in Cheonsu bay (천수만 해역 세균 군집의 수리학적 분석)

  • 정현미;김명운;이건형;김상종
    • Korean Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.27 no.3
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    • pp.265-271
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    • 1989
  • Bacteria isolated from Cheonsu Bay at 4 seasons were analyzed by numerical taxonomic method. Results of 48 morphological, physiological and biochemical tests showed different adaptability of bacteria to temperature in consequence with sampling season and isolated bacteria were able to survive at various environmental conditions, Identification results revealed that Enterobacteriaceae, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas and Vibrio were dominant genera in geterotrophic bacterial community. For each season, Aeromonas was most dominant in spring and autumn, Pseudomonas and Enterobacteriaceae in summer and winter, respectively. Cluster ananlysis was performed and all vacteria were clustered into 29 phenetic groups. Seasonal characteristics were distict in each group. Different physiological characteristics and species compositions for each season contribute to the stability and diversity of environmental ecosystem.

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Changes in Benthic Macrofauna of the Saemangeum Tidal Flat as Result of a Drastic Tidal Reduction (급격한 조석 감소에 의한 새만금 갯벌 대형저서동물 변화)

  • Koo, Bon-Joo;Shin, Sang-Ho;Lee, Seok
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.30 no.4
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    • pp.485-495
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    • 2008
  • Tidal ranges of inner Saemangeum were largely reduced after the final dyke enclosure, resulting in the former tidal flats becoming either permanently exposed, still influenced by changing tide, or permanently submerged. The effect of reduced tidal range on survival and population stability of tidal flat macrofauna were investigated at three shifted habitats after the dyke completion. At the exposed area, several species survived for 80 days after the dyke enclosure. However, within 120 days, all macrofauna died off due to the elevated temperature during summer. At the intertidal area, some species were maintained until 170 days after the dyke enclosure with a large decrease of the faunal abundance. Species of the submerged area were seen to be more tolerant of the changed environments. The opportunistic species, such as Sinocorophium sinensis, Theora fragilis and Pseudopolydora Kempi, were massively introduced into the submerged area after the dyke enclosure, in which the benthic ecosystem was severely disturbed.

Function of Habitat Heterogeneity for the Biodiversity and Demography of Population in Small Mammal Community (소척추동물군집에서 개체군 변동과 생물다양성 유지를 위한 서식지 이질성의 기능)

  • Lee, Sang-Don
    • The Korean Journal of Ecology
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.513-513
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    • 1995
  • The central theme of Habital heterogeneity is to provide animals with habital complexity or structural diversity and to allow resource partitioning among individuals. In turn, the leads to population stability because prey can escape more easily with more hiding places causing less population fluctuation. Species diversity is characterized due to more potential niches both horizontally and verticall. Empirically, in homogeneous habitats population was less abundant, reproduction and survival were lower, spacing behavior, competition and dispersal were higher than in heterogeneous habitats. The results imply that diversity and conservation of species can be maintained through providing heterogeneous habitats.

Assessment of Physical Stream Disturbances by River Improvement - Case Studies of Nam River and Youngcheon River - (하천정비에 의한 하천의 물리적 교란 평가 - 남강과 영천강을 대상으로 -)

  • Kim, Ki-Heung
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.83-97
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    • 2009
  • The objects of study is to propose criteria for physical river disturbance assessment and as case study to show the application results for river improvement. For this purpose, the river disturbance assessment method for past disturbance process and the present-day potential natural state of stream is proposed. To assess the disturbance of the Youngcheon River caused by river improvement, One ares of Nam River was selected for the reference reach and two areas of Youngcheon River were selected for the comparison reach. And these reaches were surveyed and analyzed according to applying criteria of the river disturbances assessment. The assessment indices were physical factors as like epifaunal (bottom), embededness, velocity/depth regime, sediment deposition, channel flow status, channel alteration, frequency of riffles, bank stability, vegetative protection and riparian zone etc. The results showed that physical river environment in Youngcheon River area was disturbed by artificial revetment and bed excavation, consequently this disturbance give rise to impact of ecosystem in river. Hereafter, the criteria for river disturbance assessment are needed to consider various river characters as bed materials and bed slop etc.