• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.125-148
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• 2017

This study analyzed the community structure of macrobenthic organisms in the subtidal area suffering under the influence of thermal discharge from the Uljin nuclear power plant during 2012-2013 and reviewed the temporal change in the faunal composition of the macrobenthic community using data from previous studies since the start of the plant operation in 1989. A total of 319 species were collected in 2012-2013, with a mean density of $3,330ind./m^2$ and a mean biomass of $131.96g/m^2$. These results were similar to those obtained in 2006-2007. The dominant species were not different from each other before and after the power plant operations began, but the faunal density near the power plant drainage port was significantly higher compared to those densities obtained from other stations. Spiophanes bombyx and Polydora sp., which is known as a pollution indicator species, was dominant only in the drainage port area. The study area consisted of two subregions with different macrobenthic communities depending on the water depth, which was similar to the results of the 2006-2007 survey. The macrobenthic community structures before and after the operation of the power plant in the coastal area were not changed, but there were seasonal differences in the long-term macrobenthic community structure which were strongly related to the thermal discharge from the power plant.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.497-507
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• 2008

With the reduction of tidal currents by the closing of the Saemangeun 4th dyke, sedimentary environments on the Gunsan tidal flat, the nearest inner flat from the 4th dyke, has been severely changed, which might affect macrobenthic assemblages on the habitats. In order to investigate changes in macrobenthic community structure on Gunsan tidal flat, field surveys were seasonally conducted at seven stations from April 2002 to November, 2005. Sedimentary facies on the study area were shifted into muddominant facies. The fine sediment has been greatly deposited on the tidal flat with accumulation of organic materials after closing the water passage of 4th dyke section. These drastic variations in environments gave rise to change in macrobenthic community structure. Since the closure of the 4th dyke, the number of species of macrobenthos has gradually decreased. And the filter feeders and sand-favored species such as Urothoe convexa, Macrophthalmus dilatatus, Umbonium thomasi, and Mactra veneriformis have been replaced by the deposit feeders such as Macrophthalmus japonicus and Ilyoplax pingi. MDS ordination based on Bray-Curtis similarity from forth-root transformed species abundance data showed that the macrobenthic communities have passed through three succession stages from 2002 to 2005. During the third stage of 2005 opportunistic species such as Prionospio japonica, Heteromastus filiformis and Sinocorophium sinensis increased in population on the tidal flat.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.423-432
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• 2004

In coastal area of Inchon, dredging and the disposal of dredged material for sea-wall construction and reclamation have increased in recent years. These activities may impact the benthic environment and result in changes in benthic communities, but little information is available on the extent and direction of these changes. We investigated whether there have been changes in the dominant macrobenthic species and benthic community over the last decade, and explored the relationship between environmental variables and spatial patterns of macrobenthic community structure. We sampled macrobenthos and recorded environmental variables in the coastal habitats of Inchon in March and June 2004. In total, 212 macrobenthic species were recorded during this study, predominately crustaceans $(34{\%})$, mollusks $(32{\%})$ and polychaetes $(21{\%})$. The mean density of macrobenthos was $1,393\;ind./m^{2}$.The most abundant species was Amphioplus japonicus $(20.5{\%})$, followed by Heteromastus filiformis $(14.4{\%})$, Theora fragilis $(8.2{\%})$ and Ampharete sp. $(4.0{\%})$. Over the past decade the dominant macrobenthic species in this area shifted. Multivariate analysis (multidimensional scaling) revealed significant differences in community structure among three regions: the middle part of the sampling area (B), site 8 (C) and other sites (A). Mean density varied significantly among the three regions, but no differences in the number of species and diversity (H') were observed. The distribution of the macrobenthic community was affected by environmental variables such as percentage sand content and sediment kurtosis. Species that were important in different areas included A. japonicus in region A, Raeta puchella in region B and T. fragilis in region C. The important species in regions B and C were filter-feeding bivalves, and the abundance of these species may be related to the increase in percentage sand content. We suggest that the sediment composition (percentage sand content) may be an important factor in determining the dominant species and structure of the macrobenthic communities in coastal Inchon. Long-term monitoring programs are necessary to understand ongoing changes in the benthic communities of this area.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2013

The western coast of Anmyeondo is open toward the Yellow sea and the northern and southern coasts are sandy and have simple coastlines. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution and community structure of the macrobenthos that inhabit the sandy shore of Anmyeondo. For the study, we chose 8 sites encompassing 44 stations. In total, we have recorded 62 species, and collected 747 inds./$m^2$ on average. Zonation pattern did not appear because the mean grain size and organic contents of the study sites were similar among the macrobenthos. Polychaetes were most frequently recorded, but amphipods appeared in higher mean density. Macrobenthic community is classified into 3 groups largely based on the density difference among the dominant species and the groups were not influenced by environmental factors. The aggregated distribution of macrobenthos did not show a clear regional spatial difference but exhibited classification pattern emphasizing the density difference of the dominant species. The sandy shores of Anmyeondo are relatively more influenced by waves compared to other regions and the sediment moves more due to strong winds, etc. at low tide. We presume that the movement of sediment resulted in a relatively even sedimentary environment and consequently weakened environmental variables that change with the tide level. We concluded that the macrobenthic community does not show the zonation pattern in the sandy shores of Anmyeondo due to such influences.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.39 no.spc1
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• pp.151-164
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• 2006

We monitored the current macrozoobenthic community structure after the Sea Prince oil spill around Keumo-do and Sori-do, Korea. Macrobenthic animals were collected seasonally around Sori-Keumo do using a van Veen grab ($0.1m^2$) from October 1999 to April 2000. In total, 196 species were identified at 46 sites around Keumho-do. The mean density was 1,460 individuals/$m^2$, and polychaetes comprised 80% of the total density of the macrozoobenthic. Dominant species were the polychaete Tharyx sp. (51%), the echinoderm Amphioplus megapomus (5%) and the polychaete Lumbrineris longifolia (3%). We identified 176 macrobenthic species at 36 sites around Sori-do. The mean density was 1,068 individuals/$m^2$, and polychaetes was the most abundant faunal group, comprising 41%, followed by mollusks (24%) and echinoderms (20%). Dominant species in Sori-do were the mollusk Potamocorbula amurensis (23%), the chinoderm Amphioplus megapomus (14%), and the polychaete Tharyx sp. (10%). The overall community structures in the study area showed few seasonal changes, although there was a gradual change in the species composition within each benthic community. Tharyx sp. was the most abundant species in the study area. Because this species has not been found in the other coastal areas except during recent investigations, it is considered to have increased during the course of community succession after the oil spill. The macrozoobenthic around Keumo-do showed little change in species richness, whereas around Sori-do, it showed a few increases in species richness after the summer of 1998. The overall density showed the same trend as species richness. Based on improved community indices, we suggest that the macrozoobenthic communities around Sori-Keumo Islands are gradually recovering from the oil-spill damagecaused by the oil spill.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.167-182
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• 2021

This study was carried out to investigate temporal and spatial distribution of macrobenthic community and elucidate effects of environmental factors on change of community structure in an intertidal flat, Hakseong-ri, Boryeong, Korea. Field surveys were seasonally conducted to collect samples of sediment and macrobenthos using can core in triplicate at nine stations in 2016 and 2017. Our results showed that sediment had high mud content (above 60%) in most samples and mean content of loss on ignition was 2.3% in 2016. A total of 79 species was collected in the study site during the study period. Mean density and biomass were 611 ind./m² and 64.1 gWWt/m², respectively. Heteromastus filiformis was the dominant species (48.6%, 297 ind./m²) followed by Macrophthalmus japonicus (10.1%, 62 ind./m²) and Upogebia major (6.9%, 42 ind./m²). Three assembly groups resulted from cluster analysis were more distinguished by interaction between organisms and frequency of dominant species than by physical and chemical environment characteristics. In addition, macrobenthic community in the Hakseong intertidal flat showed seasonal changes based on non metric multidimensional scaling using species abundance.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2002

This preliminary study on the changes of macrobenthic assemblages in experimental sediment fences was conducted as a part of tidal marsh restoration project. Intertidal sediment fences were designed to increase the efficiency of trapping sediments on unvegetated tidal flats in order to raise sediment elevation and to allow colonization of intertidal vegetation. Although increment of soil surface level was not observed over the first three months of the study, it was possible to obtain some effects of the sediment fence. Three months later, the particle sizes of the surface sediment at experimental plots became much finer compared to unfenced areas on the natural mudflats located in the same tide level as that of the plots. The difference was much greater on the plot with drainage canals than on the plot without ones. Species diversity of the experimental plots became much higher than that of natural sites. Perinereis aibuhitensis and Glauconome chinensis which were absent from initial community appeared with high density in the plot with drainage canals. Those species were significantly different in abundance between the experimental plot and the natural mudflat. Changes in species composition were not detected in another experimental plot without drainage canals.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.346-356
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• 2000

This study was carried out to investigate the distribution pattern of macrobenthos in the subtidal sandy bottoms of the east coast of Korea, and seasonal samplings were performed from April 1993 to February 1994. The species number of macrobenthos was in the range from 70 in winter to 109 in spring season. Polychaete worms were the most dominant faunal group in species richness and abundance, but mollusks showed the highest biomass. The mean density of macrobenthos fluctuated from 631 individuals/m$^2$ in autumn to 1,995 individuals/m$^2$ in summer. The major macrofauna in abundance were polychaetes, Spiophanes bombyx which occurred all seasons with top rank and Prionospio sp. and a mollusk, Alvenius ojianus, and crustaceans, Wecomedon sp. and Urothoidae spp. were also numerically dominant macrobenthic fauna. The macrobenthos in the study area were classified into two assemblages by water depth. However, they showed a different community structure near small rivers in autumn and winter seasons.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.254-267
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• 2011

In order to assess structure changes of marine benthic communities in the Youngsan River Estuarine Bay for this 10-year period, we sampled macrobenthos in 2006 using the van Veen grab at the same 40 stations where a previous benthic community survey was conducted in 1995. The number of species and mean density of macrobenthos in 2006 decreased significantly than those of 1995. There were no significant differences in both the number and the density of polychaetous species between the two sampling periods, while both number and den-sity of molluscan species decreased significantly. Although the first two density-dominant species, semelid bivalve Theora fragilis and polychaete Tharyx sp. occurred as most dominant species, but the density of T. fragilis decreased significantly in many stations between 1995 and 2006. However, polychaete Tharyx sp. showed increment in density and percentage composition within community. The area dominated by T. fragilis was replaced by Tharyx sp.. Also, polychaete Poecilochaetus johnsoni and bivalve Raetellops pulchella which were pre-dominant in 1995 decreased significantly by 2006. Bivalve Yoldia johanni decreased its density and reduced its distribution area by 2006. Species diversity and rarefaction curves also revealed that overall species richness decreased. These results confirmed that the dominant species and species diversity of macrobenthic communities in the area should be changed due to anthropogenic stresses during 10 years.