• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2016

In this year, Koreans have a shortage in agricultural and drinking water due to severe algal blooms generated in major lakes. Waste oyster shells were obtained from temporary storage near the workplace at which oysters were separated from their shells. Heating ($1000^{\circ}C$ for 1 h in air) was employed to convert raw oyster shell powders into calcium oxide powders that reacted efficiently with phosphorus and nitrogen to remove algal blooms from eutrophicated wastewater. As the dispersed amount of heated oyster shell powders was increased, water clarity and visual light penetration were improved. Coagulation, precipitation and carbonation process of the heated oyster shell powders in a water purifier facilitated removal of eutrophication nutrient such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which is both beneficial and economically viable. $CO_2$ implantation by carbonation treatment not only produced thermodynamically stable CaO in oyster shells to derive precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) but also accelerated algal removal by activation of coagulation and precipitation process. The use of oyster shell powders led to a mean reduction of 97% in total phosphate (T-P), a mean reduction of 91% in total nitrogen (T-N) and a maximum reduction of 51% in chemical oxygen demand (COD), compared with the total pollutant load of raw algal solution. Remarkable water quality improvement of algal removal by heated oyster shell powders and PCC carbonation treatment will allow utilization as water resources to agricultural or industrial use.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.200-207
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• 2009

The feeding habits of Micropterus salmoides were investigated and two lakes, Lake Okjeong and Lake Yongdam, between March 2007 and March 2009. In Lake Okjeong, M. salmoides was likely introduced almost 20 years ago and in Lake Yongdam was less than 10 years ago. Food contents in M. salmoides from each lakes showed a significant difference in Index of Relative Importance (IRI) value. Fishes was most important prey item in Lake Okjeong whereas decapoda in Lake Yongdam. The difference in IRI of the Decapoda means that their abundance of this prey item in Lake Yongdam is higher than in Lake Okjeong. These decrease of the Decapoda in the lake may be caused by the feeding of M. salmoides. In Lake Yongdam the proportion of the Decapoda in the food of M. salmoides decreased during the study period, while the fishes increased from 2007 to 2008, suggesting related relationship to the feeding activity of M. salmoides as was seen in Lake Okjeong.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.223-230
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• 2007

To understand the origin and biogeochemistry of the organic matter in surface sediments of Lake Shihwa and Lake Hwaong, organic nitrogen, inorganic nitrogen, labile organic carbon, and residual organic carbon contents as well as stable isotope ratios for carbon and nitrogen were determined by KOBr-KOH treatment. Ratios of organic carbon to organic nitrogen $(C_{org}/N_{org})$ (mean = 24) were much higher than ratios of organic carbon to total nitrogen $(C_{org}/N_{tot})$ (mean= 12), indicating the presence of significant amounts of inorganic nitrogen in the surface sediments of both lakes. Stable isotope ratios for organic nitrogen were, on average, $5.2\%_{\circ}$ heavier than ratios of inorganic nitrogen in Lake Shihwa, but those same ratios were comparable in Lake Hwaong. This might be due to differences in the origin or the degree of degradation of sedimentary organic matter between the two lakes. In addition, stable isotope ratios for labile organic carbon were, on average, $1.4\%_{\circ}$ heavier than those for residual organic carbon, reflecting the preferential oxidation of $^{13}C$-enriched organic matter. The present study demonstrates that KOBr-KOH treatment of sedimentary organic matter can provide valuable information for understanding the origin and degradation state of organic matter in marine and brackish sediments. This also suggests that the ratio of $(C_{org}/N_{org})$ and stable isotope ratios for organic nitrogen can be used as indexes of the degree of degradation of organic matter.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.267-276
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• 2012

Terminal lakes are widely distributed in the arid and semi-arid Gobi of Mongolia, and serves as important water resource for local people and livestock. However, such lakes are subject to great fluctuations in its size depending on climatic conditions and human water utilization. The Orog Lake is one such example that has shown remarkable fluctuation in recent years. In this study, we investigated the temporal changes of Orog Lake surface area by using 16-day MODIS 250 m NDVI products from 2000 to 2010. The results were compared with climate variability represented by monthly precipitation and temperature. Our results show that the Orog Lake gradually shrank for the period from 2000 to 2010, but with a significant range of seasonal and inter-annual variability. The lake area showed considerable seasonal variations, as it expanded in spring and fall, primarily due to snow melt and summer precipitation, respectively. Extreme drought period from 2000 to 2002 triggered the substantial reduction in lake area, leading to dry-up in year 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009. After dry-up once occurred in 2005, the lake repeated reappearance and disappearance depending on seasonal and annual precipitation. Our findings implicate that the ground water fluctuated around the lake bottom level since 2005. This suggests the highly vulnerable nature of Orog lake, which greatly depends on future precipitation change.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.419-428
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• 2012

Taxonomic identification of phytoplankton has been a difficult task, even for the experienced taxonomist. Many non-descript, yet abundant, phytoplanktons do exist without distinguishing features which cause difficulties in morphological identification. Using PCR(polymerase chain reaction)-DGGE(denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis)method, which is known to be a powerfulfingerprinting technique to analyze diversity and dynamics of microbial populations, this study aimed to find the way to overcome the limitation of morphological identification. As a result, a total of 46 bands from samples in five lakes were detected in September and 27 bands in November. Fingerprinting results showed convenient and comparative analyses among each sampling site. In this study, PCR-DGGE method was used to figure out diversity and dynamics of plankton community in the lakes of North-Han River system. Also, the possibility of DGGE technique as an identification tool for phytoplankton was estimated.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.232-237
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• 2012

Total suspended solids (TSS), settleable suspended solids (SSS) and nonsettleable suspended solids (NSSS) were compared in streams and lakes during rain events. Samples were collected in Lake Soyang and nine agricultural streams during storm events over two years. To measure NSSS, samples were settled in 1 L cylinders for one hour and then 50% of the total sample volume was taken from the center of the cylinder. The SSS/TSS ratio in streams (0.50) was higher than in Lake Soyang (0.20). The ratio of TSS to turbidity decreased from 1.21 in the inflowing river to 0.69 in the reservoir outlet. Turbidity and NSSS showed higher correlation ($r^2$=0.82) compared with the correlation between turbidity and TSS ($r^2$=0.66). Median particle size decreased from $11.4\;{\mu}m$ in the inflowing river to $4.2\;{\mu}m$ in the lake outlet. The results indicate that only fine particles of less than $5{\sim}10\;{\mu}m$ can be transported downstream of the lake. Because fast-flowing water in streams includes not only fine particles but also coarse particles, an overestimation of suspended sediment concentration results if only TSS is measured. Consequently, TSS and NSSS should be measured separately to evaluate the effect of suspend sediment loadings of turbid streams on aquatic habitat during the monsoon season.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.45-52
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• 2015

Cool-season turfgrass is a rapidly increasing of usage for the revegetation of waterside slopes in dams, lakes and rivers. The purpose of this research is to identify the flooding tolerance of cool-season turfgrass with respect to the flooding periods of 0(control), 2, 4 and 6 days, respectively. The surface coverage ratio, turfgrass injury and soil moisture content were measured to assess the flooding tolerance of cool-season turfgrass. The increase in the flooding periods with 4 and 6 days resulted in the lower surface coverage ratio for cool-season turfgrass while no significant difference was found in the 2 days flooding when compared to 0 day (the control plot) flooding plot. In case of the turfgrass injury and the soil moisture content, however, the higher values were found with the increase of flooding periods in 2, 4 to 6 days. We observed that the higher the turfgrass injury and soil moisture content increased, the lower the surface covrage ratio decreased. In these regards, we also observed that the tolerance of cool season turfgrass were high in the 2 days flooding condition, medium in the 4 days flooding condition and low in the 6 days flooding condition. The flooding tolerance of cool-season turfgrass was gradually weakened in over 2 days flooding periods due to $O_2$ deficiency in the anaerobic soil condition. Therefore, we could suggest cool-season turfgrass within 2 days flooding periods for the revegetation of waterside slopes in dams, lakes and rivers.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.382-390
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• 2006

Various microorganisms were isolated from the surface waters and sediments of eutrophic lakes and reservoirs in Korea to enable an investigation of bacteria having algal lytic activities against Anabaena flos-aquae when water blooming occurs and to study enzyme profiles of algal lytic bacteria. Two bacterial strains, AFK-07 and AFK-13, were cultured, characterized and identified as Acinetobacter johnsonii and Sinorhizobium sp., respectively. The A. johnsonii AFK-07 exhibited a high level of degradatory activities against A. flos-aquae, and produced alginase, caseinase, lipase, fucodian hydrolase, and laminarinase. Moreover, many kinds of glycosidase, such as ${\beta}-galactosidase,\;{\beta}-glucosidase,\;{\beta}-glucosaminidase,\;and\; {\beta}-xylosidase$, which hydrolyzed ${\beta}-O-glycosidic$ bonds, were found in cell-free extracts of A. johnsonii AFK-07. Other glycosidases such as ${\alpha}-galactosidase,\;{\alpha}-N-Ac-galactosidase,\;{\alpha}-mannosidase,\; and\;{\alpha}-L-fucosidase$, which cleave ${\alpha}-O-glycosidic$ bonds, were not identified in AFK-07. In the Sinorhizobium sp. AFK-13, the enzymes alginase, amylase, proteinase (caseinase and gelatinase), carboxymethyl-cellulase (CMCase), laminarinase, and lipase were notable. No glycosidase was produced in the AFK-13 strain. Therefore, the enzyme system of A. johnsonii AFK-07 had a more complex mechanism in place to degrade the cyanobacteria cell walls than did the enzyme system of Sinorhizobium sp. AFK-13. The polysaccharides or the peptidoglycans of A. flos-aquae may be hydrolyzed and metabolized to a range of easily utilized monosaccharides or other low molecular weight organic substances by strain AFK-07 of. A. johnsonii, while the products of polysaccharide degradation or peptidoglycans were more likely to be utilized by Sinorhizobium sp. AFK-13. These bacterial interactions may offer an alternative effective approach to controlling the water choking effects of summer blooms affecting our lakes and reservoirs.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.279-287
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• 2007

The purpose of the study was to introduce the fish fauna and distribution in the Shinpo district, North Korea. Sampling was carried out in October 1997, July 1998, May and October 2002, in sites located in the upstream, middle and down of the southern river of Bukcheong and three brackish lakes of Hommanpo, Daein and Hyunkum, respectively. A total of 29 species belonging to 11 families were found. Family Cyprinidae showed the prosperity in species number, comprising 28% among total species found. No natural monument fishes or rare fishes were captured. Ten commercial species, five anadromous ones and five brackish ones were identified. Feeding guilds was identified as 11 carnivores, 2 herbivores and 7 omnivores. Twenty species belonging to 7 families inhabited in the river, 18 species of 6 families in Lake Homanpo, 21 of 7 in Lake Hyunkum and 23 of 8 in Lake Daein, respectively. Ecological indices of richness, diversity and evenness were highest in Lake Daein and the dominace index was highest in Lake Hyunkum.