• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.768-783
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• 2006

Biological stream environment assessment has been an essential trend of aquatic ecosystems among advanced countries, because the chemical water quality assessment has limitations that only represent temporal water environmental status. Benthic macroinvertebrates are the most popular bioindicator group useful to biological water quality assessment for a long time. In addition, a number of indices using benthic macroinvertebrates have recently been developed not only for water quality assessment but also for ecological health assessment. In this paper Korean Saprobic Index (KSI) based on Zelinka-Marvan's saprobic valency concept is developed by applying DIN 38410 in Germany. The KSI value was widely applicable to most Korean streams with the exception of sand-based large streams, for example main stream of Nakdong River. But as a result of non-linear regression analysis the correlation between KSI and $BOD_5$ concentration was high and KSI reflected water quality alteration for mid and long-term period. In spite of applicability of KSI, it should be supplemented and developed to make it strong by accumulating field data as well as to manage integrated water environment in general through continuous biomonitoring.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.934-942
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• 2010

Bentic macroinvertebrate and fish fauna were investigated from September 2008 to October 2009 in the middle reach of the Suyoung river in Busan. During the survey period benthic macroinvertebrates were collected total 35 species at the three sites (Hanmul-gyo, Dongcheon-gyo, Seokdae Jct.) of Suyoung river. At that sites, species diversity index was 1.9, 1.5, 1.6, dominance index was 0.75, 0.81, 0.86 and Korean Saprobic Index (KSI) was 1.8(B), 4.4(D), 4.4(D) on average, respectively. Dominant species was Caenis Kua, Chironomidae sp., at Hanmul-gyo site and Limnodrilus gotoi, Chironomidae sp., at Dongcheon-gyo and Seokdae Jct. sites. Fish fauna was also investigated at the two sites (Hanmul-gyo and Seokdae Jct.) of Suyoung river. Total caught fishes were 10 species 32 individuals in the first survey and 6 species 26 individuals in the second survey. Dominant species was Carassius auratus in the both surveys. Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) value was C grade at the Hanmul-gyo and D grade at the Seokdae Jct.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.218-227
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• 2011

The objective approach for assessment of stream naturalness is an essential part of the stream restoration project. This study proposes the methodology for the assessment of stream naturalness considering physical, biological and chemical factors. Physical factors consists of riffle and pool, river bed material, bank protection, floodplain vegetation and levee materials; biological factors are benthic macroinvertebrate, KSI (Korean Saprobic Index), and IBI (Index of Biological Integrity) and chemical factors are pH, DO (dissolved oxygen), and TP (total phosphorus). This procedure is applied to the Mokgamcheon. As a result, the downstream of Mokgamcheon (zone I) needs the prompt improvement of stream naturalness, compared to the others (zone II and III). This evaluation technique will be an effective tool to quantify the stream naturalness and can be used to set the target of stream restoration project.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.327-343
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• 2013

The aim of this study is to perform community analysis and biological assessment of water quality using benthic macroinvertebrate from Wangpi-cheon watershed which is defined as conservation areas of ecosystem and landscape by ministry of environment in Korea. Field survey of the study area was carried out 2 times from June to September in 2012. As a result of the field survey, total 155 species of benthic macroinvertebrates in 74 families, 15 orders, 7 classes and 5 phyla were collected. The findings of community analysis using the classified species and individuals showed relatively low DI(Dominant Index) value of 0.22 and very high value of average H'(Diversity index) as 4.24. And the analyzed results of SI(Similarity Index) according to habitat types using functional feeding groups showed higher values of 94.51% and 93.19% respectively to tributary and main stream after the designation of conservation areas of ecosystem and landscape. These results infer that various species and lots of individual are widely distributed at Wangpi-cheon watershed and stream ecosystem of the study area is healthy and well maintained after the designation of conservation areas. And also, the calculated EPT value was 62.9% as high enough to explain the cleanness of Wangpi-cheon watershed. We evaluated environmental condition and biological water quality by using ESB(Ecological Score of Benthic macroinvertebrate community) and KSI(Korean Saprobic Index). The average evaluated ESB shows very high value of 208.2, therefore Wangpi-cheon watershed is designated as 'First priority protection waters' area and the value of KSI is 0.32 which meets the saprobic water quality standard as 'First class'.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.383-399
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• 2018

In the present study, the community distribution, functional feeding groups, and habitat groups of the benthic macroinvertebrates from Gayasan National Park were investigated at eight different sites from 2015 to 2016. The correlation between habitat altitude and each group type was analyzed statistically. Biodiversity indices, including dominance, diversity, richness, and evenness indices, were calculated. The results showed a total of 4,216 individual benthic macroinvertebrates were collected, including 4 phyla, 6 classes, 16 orders, 40 families, and 100 species. Gammarus sobaegensis was dominant with 0.141% dominance, and the subdominant species was Epeorus nipponicus with 0.088% dominance. The EPT group(Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Tricoptera) accounted for 71.00% of the total species and 67.69% of the total individuals. The number of scraper species was highest, and the number of gathering collector individuals was highest among functional feeding groups. The individual number of scrapers(r=-0.358, p < 0.05) and gathering collectors(r=-0.343, p < 0.05) decreased with increasing altitude. The numbers of species and individuals of clingers and sprawlers were highest among the habitat groups. The individual number of clingers(r=-0.547, p < 0.01) and burrowers(r=-0.331, p < 0.05) significantly decreased with increasing altitude. The diversity and richness indices were higher in St. 3 than in the other sites. The dominance index was highest in St. 2, and the evenness index was highest in St. 7. We evaluated the biological water quality with several known methods, and concluded that ESB(Ecological score of benthic macrovertebrates community) and GPI(Group polution index) were more suitable than KSI(Korean saprobic index) and BMI (Benthic macrovertebrate index) to assess the biological water quality of Gayasan mountain stream water.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.81-91
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• 2016

This study was performed to investigate and monitor changes in aquatic ecological communities, particularly benthic macroinvertebrates from the upper reaches to the down reaches of Songchu valley before the project of Songchu valley translocation initiates. We aimed to verify the translocation effects of the valley on the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. A field investigation was conducted over three rounds from November 2012 to August 2013. A total of four sites were selected: one to represent the control site (St. 1), two for the translocation sites (St. 2, 3), and one for the downstream sites (St. 4). Our quantitative sampling revealed that the total number of benthic macroinvertebrates were 3,805, which belong to 62 species, 32 families, 9 orders, 5 classes and 4 phyla. As a result of the community analysis at the control site, dominant index was 0.52(${\pm}0.16$), diversity index was 1.95(${\pm}0.44$), evenness index was 0.81(${\pm}0.04$), and richness index was 2.25(${\pm}0.85$). Thus, the community structure was found to be relatively stable. For the EPT ratio of species and individuals that appeared, the control site showed the highest values at 67.60(${\pm}5.66$)% and 66.30(${\pm}2.06$)% respectively, but its value became lower towards the downstream sites. Upon the statistical analysis of the functional feeding groups, it was found that gathering-collectors and filtering-collectors increased toward the downstream sites while shredders decreased. From the point of habitat-oriented group evaluation, sprawlers decreased and burrows increased toward the downstream sites. According to the analysis using Korea Saprobic Index (KSI), the control site is categorized as grade A with average value at 0.75(${\pm}0.10$). However, the grade gradually falls from A to B toward the lower reaches, as the KSI value increases at the translocation and downstream sites.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.689-699
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• 2018

The changes on community structures of benthic macroinvertebrates, relevance to the environment and interrelationship between benthos were studied over two years in stream with large environmental disturbance, which caused by localized heavy rain during Typhoon Chaba in October 2016. As a result, the number of species and individuals were increased after localized heavy rain, especially numbers of individuals of Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera were greatly increased. On the contrary, those of Semisulcospira libertina and Semisulcospira forticosta of Mesogastropoda were greatly decreased. Dominant species was Baetis fuscatus of Ephemeroptera, numbers of species and individuals of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera(EPT group) were dramatically increased from 26 species, 110 individuals to 32 species, 365 individuals respectively. This suggests that the change of river bed and flow velocity due to heavy rain provided a suitable environment for the EPT group that preferred the rift of a stream. In the functional feeding group, only gathering collectors and filtering collectors were identified in autumn of 2017 because some functional groups preferentially adapted to the changed environment. The interspecific competition and environmental condition were the worst in autumn after heavy rain due to the increase individuals of some species. The ecological score of benthic macroinvertebrate community(ESB) was higher after the heavy rain than before. Results of the Group Pollution Index(GPI), Korean Saprobic Index(KSI) and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index(BMI) were similar to those before and after heavy rainfall. Therefore, ESB was the most discriminating method for estimating the biological water quality in this study. Some species that are sensitive to water quality changes still appear or increase individuals in the area under investigation after the heavy rain. On the other hand, the individuals of some pollutant species decreased. This is thought to be because the habitat fluctuation caused by heavy rainfall has improved the water environment.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.72-81
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• 2012

We investigated the effects of acid mine drainage (AMD) from abandoned coal mines on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the upper reaches of the Nakdong River from May to October in 2009. Qualitative and quantitative sampling (Surber sampler: $50{\times}50$ cm; mesh size, 0.2 mm) was conducted at 7 study sites and 3 control sites in the study area. We thus sampled 117 species belonging to 53 families, 15 orders, 6 classes, and 5 phyla; the Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera group (EPT-group) represented the majority of the benthic macroinvertebrate community (71 species; 64.5%). In the quantitative sampling, a total of 11,575 individuals belonging to 58 species of benthic maroinvertebrates were sampled from the study sites (Sites 1-7), whereas 2,844 individuals belonging to 79 species were sampled from the control sites (Sites A-C). Tolerant species such as oligochaetes, $Epeorus$ $pellucidus$, $Baetis$ $fuscatus$, Hydropsychidae species, and Chironomidae species were predominant in the study sites. The community indices for the study sites, such as MacNaughton's dominance index (DI) (mean${\pm}$SD, $0.52{\pm}0.21$; range, 0.33-0.85) and the Shannon diversity index ($H^{\prime}$) ($2.06{\pm}0.60$; 1.06-2.57), were different from those for the control sites (DI: $0.29{\pm}0.07$, 0.22-0.35; $H^{\prime}$: $3.13{\pm}0.14$; 3.03-3.30). In the study sites, shredders and scrapers were scarce, whereas gathering-collectors (mainly Chironomidae species) were relatively abundant, as were clingers and burrowers. The detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and similarity analyses showed that benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the study sites were clearly separated from those of the control sites, with the greatest dissimilarity being noted at the uppermost study site (Site 1), which is located close to an abandoned coal mine. The Korean saprobic index (KSI) and the ecological score using benthic macroinvertebrates (ESB) showed that the uppermost study site (Site 1) was ${\alpha}$-mesosaprobic or heavily polluted, whereas other study sites were in a fair or relatively good condition.