• ALGAE
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.193-199
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• 2007

This study was carried out to investigate the charateristics of environmental factors and the species compositions of phytoplanktons and periphytons in order to analyze the marine ecosystem (DOK1-3) with freshwater (Mul) in the coast of Dokdo. Mean values of conductivity (TSD) (44.3 mS cm–1), total dissolved solids (30.9 mg L–1), salinity (31.8 psu), total suspended solids (39.2 mg L–1), and ash-free dry matter (AFDM) (8.8 mg L–1) were higher in DOK1- 3 than those in Mul (3.2 mS cm–1, 2.3 mg L–1, 1.9 psu, 2.8 mg L–1 and 2.8 mg L–1, espectively), while mean amounts of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) (7.5 μg P L–1) and soluble reactive silicon (SRS) (0.1 μg Si L–1) were significantly lower in DOK1-3 than those in Mul (117.3 μg P L–1 and 4,105 μg Si L–1, respectively). The phytoplanktons was a total of 59 species in Dokdo, which were composed of 1 species (1.7%) for Chrysophyceae, 43 species (72.9%) for Bacillariophyceae and 15 species (25.4%) for Dinophyceae. The biomass (Chl-a, phaeopigment and AFDM) of epilithic algae (ELA), epizooic algae (EZA) and epiphytic algae (EPA) were varied with the kinds of substrates (EPA > ELA > EZA) in the whole stations. Water environments was comparatively clean in the coast of Dokdo as comparing with those of the land. However, the monitoring of marine ecosystem in the Dokdo should be continued for species conservation according to the global warming by the climatic change.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.15-35
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• 2012

Mercury (Hg) is a global environmental pollutant that has been the cause of many public concerns. One particular concern about Hg in aquatic systems is its trophic transfer and biomagnification in food chains. For example, the Hg concentration increases with the increase of food chain level. Fish at the top of food chain can accumulate high concentrations of Hg (especially the toxic form, methylmercury, MeHg), which is then transferred to humans through seafood consumption. Various biological and physiochemical conditions can significantly affect the bioaccumulation of Hg-including both its inorganic (Hg(II)) and organic (MeHg) forms-in fish. There have been numerous measurements of Hg concentrations in marine and freshwater fish worldwide. Many of these studies have attempted to identify the processes leading to variations of Hg concentrations in fish species from different habitats. The development of a biokinetic model over the past decade has helped improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the bioaccumulation processes of Hg in aquatic animals. In this review, I will discuss how the biokinetic modeling approach can be used to reveal the interesting biodynamics of Hg in fish, such as the trophic transfer and exposure route of Hg(II) and MeHg, as well as growth enrichment (the increases in Hg concentration with fish size) and biomass dilution (the decreases in Hg concentration with increasing phytoplankton biomass). I will also discuss the relevance of studying the subcellular fates of Hg to predict the Hg bioaccessibility and detoxification in fish. Future challenges will be to understand the inter- and intra-species differences in Hg accumulation and the management/mitigation of Hg pollution in both marine and freshwater fish based on our knowledge of Hg biodynamics.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.135-145
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• 2019

We investigated the mass occurrence of the salp Salpa fusiformis during spring in the southern waters of Korea and the northern East China Sea. Abundance of S. fusiformis and dominant taxonomic groups including copepods, ostracods, euphausiids, and appendicularian was examined along with environmental factors (e.g., temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentration). The abundance of S. fusiformis at 27 stations ranged from 0 to $183\;inds\;m^{-3}$. Both aggregate and solitary forms of S. fusiformis occurred with a mean abundance of $62\;inds\;m^{-3}$ and $4\;inds\;m^{-3}$, and mean body length of 6.5 mm and 15.4 mm, respectively. Redundancy analysis showed that the abundance of S. fusiformis was negatively correlated with chlorophyll-a concentration, indicating the intensive grazing impact of S. fusiformis on phytoplankton. While the abundance of S. fusiformis increased, the species diversity of zooplankton community decreased. The abundances of total copepods and the dominant copepod species (e.g., adults and/or copepodites of Paracalansus parvus s.l., Calanus sinicus, Oithona similis, and Corycaeus affinis) also decreased with the increase of S. fusiformis abundance. However, the abundance of ostracods, euphausiids, and appendicularians was not affected by the mass occurrence of the salps. These results suggest that the mass occurrence of S. fusiformis in spring could negatively affect ecosystem conditions by changing trophodynamics in the zooplankton community.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.31-43
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• 2021

To understand the temporal variation of prokaryotic communities in a temperate coastal area, prokaryotic abundance, activity, and community composition were investigated every week for over a year at a coastal monitoring station of Yeong-do, Busan. The prokaryotic abundances fluctuated about 10 times, ranging from 2.0 to 20.1 × 10⁵ cells mL^-1 and tended to be high in spring when phytoplankton bloom occurred. The prokaryotic thymidine incorporation rates (TTI) varied in a low range between 0.2 and 11.5 pmol L^-1 h^-1 in winter. However, in summer, TTI were increased up to a range of 8.3 to 17.4 pmol L^-1 h^-1, showing an increasing pattern in summer. During the study period, Alphaproteobacteria was the most dominant class for most of the year, followed by Flavobacteria. While the seasonal variation of prokaryotic composition was not apparent at the class level, many prokaryotic species showed a distinct temporal or seasonal variation for the year. In the coastal site, prokaryotic biomass and activity did not show significant correlations with temperature and chlorophyll-a, which are well known to regulate prokaryotic growth in marine environments, suggesting that the study area may be affected by diverse sources of organic matter for their growth.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 1983

The concentrations of dissolved vitamin $B_{12}$, thiamine and biotin in the water of Gyokpo coast, were determined by microbiological assay methods. Also the relations between the distribution of B group vitamin and other environmental factors were studied. Vitamin $B_{12}$ was assayed with Euglena gracilis strain Z, thiamine with Cryptococous albidus and biotin with Achromo bacter sp. yH-51. It was found that the concentration of B group vitamin in the water of Gyokpo coast were normal level : vitamin $B_{12}$; 1.36-3.95 ng/l, thiamine ; u-0.4 ng/l and biotin; 1.40-14.60 ng/l. The concentration of B group vitamin was high in summer than in winter. In the water of Gyokpo coast during summer, B group vitamin occurred slightly lower level than normal, the concentration suficiently neccessary for phytoplankton development. The concentration of biotin was positively correlated with abundance of phytoplankton, but not aerobic heterotrophic bacteria. It was suggested that the concentration of biotin in water might be much more influenced with the growth of phytoplankton and any environmental factors than bacteria and the other vitamin, especially.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.287-298
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• 2004

As a part of Korea Deep Ocean Study program, we investigated the distribution of planktonic protists in the upper 200 m of the northeast Pacific from $5^{\circ}N$ to $17^{\circ}N$, along $131^{\circ}30'W$. Area of divergence was formed at $9^{\circ}N$ which is boundaries of the north equatorial counter current (NECC) and the north equatorial current (NEC) during this cruise. Chlorophyll-a concentration was higher in NECC than in NEC area. Pico chl-a(<$2\;{\mu}m$) to total chl-a accounted for average 89% in the study area. The contribution of pico chl-a to total chl-a was relatively high in NEC area than in NECC area. Biomass of planktonic protists, ranging from 635.3 to $1077.3\;mgC\;m^{-2}$(average $810\;mgC\;m^{-2}$), was most enhanced in NECC area and showed distinct latitudinal variation. Biomass of HNF ranged from 88.7 to $208.3\;mgC\;m^{-2}$ and comprised 15% of planktonic protists. Biomass of ciliates ranged from 123.6 to $393.0\;mgC\;m^{-2}$ and comprised 25% of planktonic protists. Biomass of HDF ranged from 407.2 to $607.8\;mgC\;m^{-2}$ and comprised 60% of planktonic protists. HDF was the most dominant component in both NECC and NEC areas. Nano-protist biomass accounted for more than 50% of total protists in the both areas. The contribution of nanoprotist to total protists biomass was relatively higher in NEC area than in NECC. The biomass of planktonic protists was significantly correlated with phytoplankton biomass in this study area. The size structure of phytoplankton biomass coincided with that of planktonic protists. This suggested that the structure of the planktonic protists community and the microbial food web were dependent on the size structure of the phytoplankton biomass. However, biomass and size structure of planktonic protist communities might be significantly influenced by physical characteristics of the water column and food concentration in this study area.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2003

Water temperature during the culturing period was 10.4-25.5$^{\circ}C$ and there was a little difference between rearing sites. Salinity (25.00-31.17 psu) and DO (over 6.13 mg/l) showed reasonable condition for the growth of bay scallop. Concentrations of chlorophyll-a were ranged 1.69-7.40 $^{\mu}$g/l, and they fluctuated monthly in the every sampling site. During the growing period from June to October, dominant phytoplankton species were Ceratium sp. in Nammeon and Hoejin, Chaetoceros sp. in Dolsan. Density of phytoplankton was high in July, August and October, but it was low in September and November. When young bay scallops were cultured for 185 days in Nammyeon, Hoejin and Dolsan, shell heights were grown for 0.19 mm/day, 0.18 mm/day and 0.16 mm/day, respectively, and total weights were increased 0.16 g/day, 0.16 g/day and 0.13 g/day, respectively. Daily growth rates of shell height were 0.606%, 0.581% and 0.549%, and daily growth rates of total weight were 1.972%, 1.857% and 1.746%, respectively. Maximum predicted values of shell height calculated by von Bertalanffy growth model were 52.62 mm, 51.74 mm and 48.91 mm, respectively. Survival rate was the highest in Nammyeon (87.0%), but the rates in Hoejin and Dolsan sharply decreased after November.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.46-56
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• 2017

The Youngsan River estuary was physically changed by the construction of a sea embankment at near the mouth of estuary. Weirs were also constructed recently in the freshwater zone and it was reported that algal blooms occur more frequently. The freshwater introduced into saltwater zone from sluice gates of the embankment affects water quality but it has not been addressed that how the freshwater inputs influence the health of marine ecosystem. In this study, we used the data of water properties and phytoplankton communities collected at three stations for 4 days including before the freshwater discharge, during the discharge and after 1 and 2 days of discharge events. WQI(water quality index), TRIX (trophic status index) and P-IBI(phytoplankton index of biotic integrity) were used to evaluate the ecosystem health and long-term data were also utilized to determine the criteria for P-IBI. The results showed that grades of the ecosystem health assessed by the indices were low at the station near the gates and increased as downstream. However, the temporal pattern of grades was different depending on methods. Grades of WQI and TRIX decreased during the discharge and restored after the discharge whereas the grades of P-IBI decreased slightly even after the discharge. This suggests that P-IBI is more applicable to estuarine systems where experience extreme change of water properties than WQI and TRIX since P-IBI includes phytoplankton that can respond quickly to the change.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.483-489
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• 2016

The type approval test for USCG Phase II must be satisfied such that living natural biota occupy more than 75 % of whole biota in a test tank. Thus, we harvested a community of natural organisms using a net at Masan Bay (eutrophic) and Jangmok Bay (mesotrophic) during winter season to meet this guideline. Furthermore, cell viability was measured to determine the mortality rate. Based on the organism concentration volume (1 ton) at Masan and Jangmok Bay, abundance of ${\geq}10$ and $<50{\mu}m$ sized organisms was observed to be $4.7{\times}10^4cells\;mL^{-1}$and $0.8{\times}10^4cells\;mL^{-1}$, and their survival rates were 90.4 % and 88.0 %, respectively. In particular, chain-forming small diatoms such as Skeletonema costatum-like species were abundant at Jangmok Bay, while small flagellate ($<10{\mu}m$) and non chain-forming large dinoflagellates, such as Akashiwo sanguinea and Heterocapsa triquetra, were abundant at Masan Bay. Due to the size-difference of the dominant species, concentration efficiency was higher at Jangmok Bay than at Masan Bay. The mortality rate in samples treated by Ballast Water Treatment System (BWMS) (Day 0) was a little lower for samples from Jangmok Bay than from Masan Bay, with values of 90.4% and 93%, respectively. After 5 days, the mortality rates in control and treatment group were found to be 6.7% and >99%, respectively. Consequently, the phytoplankton concentration method alone did not easily satisfy the type approval standards of USCG Phase II ($>1.0{\times}10^3cells\;mL^{-1}$ in 500-ton tank) during winter season, and alternative options such as mass culture and/or harvesting system using natural phytoplankton communities may be helpful in meeting USCG Phase II biological criteria.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.292-302
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to analyze the trophic structures and the energy flows in the lower reaches of the Nakdong River using the Ecopath model (Walter et al., 1997). The sampling and analyses were carried out at 6 sampling sites of the lower reaches of the Nakdong River on May and November in 2007. Total of 9 groups detritus, macrophytes, phytoplankton, zooplankton, zoobenthos, Cyprinus carpio, Hemibarbus labeo, Micropterus salmoides and other fishes were considered to assess the trophic relationship, energy flows and interactions among them in the study. As a result, it was concluded that the lower reaches of the Nakdong River was consisted of producers (Detritus, Macrophytes, Phytoplankton), primary consumers (Zooplankton, Zoobenthos, Cyprinus carpio, Hemibarbus labeo, Other fishes) and secondary consumer (Micropterus salmoides). The total system throughput was estimated at 2.7 kg m$^{-2}$ year$^{-1}$ including a consumption of 52%, exports of 9.1%, respiratory flows of 18.0% and flows into detritus of 20.9%. MTI (mixed trophic impacts) analysis demonstrated that Pseudobagrus fulvidraco had positive impact on Cyprinus carpio, Carassius cuvieri and Carassius auratus. On the other hand, other fishes had negative impact on Cyprinus carpio, Carassius cuvieri and Carassius auratus. Also, all the functional groups except detritus had a negative impact on themselves.