• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.238-246
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• 2012

Once oil is spilled into marine environment, it experiences various weathering processes among which evaporation is the most dominant process in the initial stage of weathering. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of evaporation on the physicochemical properties of spilled oil using standardized laboratory experiments. Laboratory evaporation process was successfully reproduced using controlled rotary evaporation method. In case of Iranian Heavy crude (IHC), evaporation rate after 48 hours was $29.3{\pm}0.4%$ (n=40, p<0.001). Evaporation was simulated using ADIOS2 weathering model and the result was in agreement with laboratory experiment. Chemical composition changes of petroleum hydrocarbons including alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and biomarkers by evaporation rate were also analyzed. As oil evaporated, low molecular weight alkanes and PAHs decreased, while biomakers showed conservative characteristics. Among biomarkers, $17{\alpha}(H)$, $21{\beta}(H)$-hopane was used for calculation of weathering rates, which matched with evaporative mass losses. Weathering rate calculation using hopane showed that stranded oils of weathering stage I (28.9%) and mesocosm oil weathering experiment till 5 days (26.5%) were mainly affected by evaporation process.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.3 s.113
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• pp.372-381
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• 2005

This study was conducted to test the efficiency of water quality improvement using the dissolved air flotation (DAF) technique in a shallow eutrophic reservoir. The application of DAF was followed by the addition of a chemical coagulant (poly aluminum chloride; PAC). The experiment was conducted in the mesocosm scale (wide ${\times}$ length ${\times}$ depth: 6 m ${\times}$ 6 m ${\times}$ 3 m). Suspended solids (SS) and volatile SS (VSS) concentration decreased by 54 ${\sim}$ 71% and 57 ${\sim}$ 79% of the initial concentrations, respectively. Total phosphorus and Chl- a concentration also decreased by 74 ${\sim}$ 92% and 54 ${\sim}$ 98%, respectively. BOD decreased by>86% while COD decrease ranged 29 ${\sim}$ 63%. Dissolved inorganic P (DIP) and dissolved total P (DTP) concentration decreased by 34 ${\sim}$ 88% and 62 ${\sim}$ 88%, respectively. After DAF application further onto the sediment, DIP-release rates from the sediment decreased by 17% (0.82 ${\to}$ 0.68 mg $m^{-2}$$day^{-1}$ in the oxic condition and 23% (2.27 ${\to}$ 1.76 mg $m^{-2}$$day^{-1}$) in the anoxic condition, compared to the release rate from the untreated sediment. DTP-release rate from both the oxic and anoxic sediments also decreased by 33% (5.62 ${\to}$ 3.78 mg $m^{-2}$$day^{-1}$) and 20% (6.23 ${\to}$ 4.99 mg $m^{-2}$$day^{-1}$), respectively. These results suggest that the DAF application both to the water column and onto the sediment be effective to improve water quality by removing particulate matters in the water column as well as reducing P-release from the sediment.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.279-288
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• 2016

Stable Isotope Analysis(SIA) of carbon and nitrogen is useful tool for the understanding functional roles of target organisms in biological interactions in the food web. Recently, mixing model based on SIA is frequently used to determine which of the potential food sources predominantly assimilated by consumers, however, application of model is often limited and difficult for non-expert users of software. In the present study, we suggest easy manual of R software and package SIAR with example data regarding selective feeding of crustaceans dominated freshwater zooplankton community. We collected SIA data from the experimental mesocosms set up at the littoral area of eutrophic Chodae Reservoir, and analyzed the dominant crustacean species main food sources among small sized particulate organic matters (POM, <$50{\mu}m$), large sized POM (>$50{\mu}m$), and attached POM using mixing model. From the results obtained by SIAR model, Daphnia galeata and Ostracoda mainly consumed small sized POM while Simocephalus vetulus consumed both small and large sized POM simultaneously. Copepods collected from the reservoir showed no preferences on various food items, but in the mesocosm tanks, main food sources for the copepods was attached POM rather than planktonic preys including rotifers. The results have suggested that their roles as grazers in food web of eutrophicated reservoirs are different, and S. vetulus is more efficient grazer on wide range of food items such as large colony of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria during water bloom period.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2020

To assess the wetland systems' capability to reduce fine dust, we used an artificial wetland module of small-sized greenhouse (70cm W × 70cm L × 60cm H) which creates a closed system. Experiment was performed twice using four species in each experiment. Non-plantation, one species, or two species condition was created in each mesocosm. We measured air quality, primarily PM2.5 and PM10 at the initial open mesocosms and 1hr later since mesocosms were closed. The dry weight of vegetation was measured at the 2nd experiment. The decreased amount of PM2.5 and PM10 was 13.7±1.3 and 13.2±1.3 ㎍·m^-3hr^-1 in wetland condition and 15.0±1.4 and 13.8±1.5 ㎍·m^-3hr^-1 in dryland condition, respectively. In 2^nd experiment, the decreased amount of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in wetland condition was 13.7±1.3 and 9.2±1.5 ㎍·m^-3hr^-1, 15.0±1.4 and 8.8±1.4 ㎍·m^-3hr^-1 in dryland condition, respectively. Wetland showed higher removal effect due to its high productivity leading to more effective absorption of particulate matter. Furthermore, the aquatic characteristics of wetland system and high humidity helped purifying the air quality. This can be seen as another value of wetlands, which can be presented as one of the solutions to the problem of fine dust.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.347-357
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• 2011

We examined two reservoirs (Inkyung res. and Joongang res.) and two streams (Kyungan str. and Jecheon str.), all of which were eutrophic, during the 2010 warm season, to evaluate the water quality improvement activity (WQIA) of plant-mineral composite (PMC), which was previously developed to control suspended solids, including cyanobacterial bloom (Kim et al., 2010). We simultaneously measured both solid (S-MCLR) and dissolved microcystin-LR (D-MCLR), before and after PMC treatment, in the Joongang reservoir. Taking water body size and volume into account, we conducted the whole-scale experiment in the Inkyung reservoir, and mesocosm-scale experiments in the other three systems. The WQIAs of PMC were found to be comparatively high in SS (70~81%), TP (75~91%), BOD (65~91%), Chl-a (88~98%), phytoplankton (84~92%) and zooplankton (68~88%), except for the Kyungan stream, which was below 45% in all parameters. After PMC treatment, the concentrations of both SMCLR (47%) and D-MCLR (96%) decreased within two days, suggesting a mitigation possibility of hazardous chemicals such as agrochemicals and endocrine disrupters in the aquatic ecosystem. Our results collectively indicate that PMC is a useful agent to control suspended solids, including nuisance cyanobacterial bloom and their exudates, in an undisturbed water system with a long residence time.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2009

Wetland plants are an important component for wetland design and construction because they determine functions of wetlands through interactions with the abiotic environment such as wetland soil and hydrology as well as with other wetland organisms. In this study, germination experiments with soils from a natural wetland that contain seeds of wetland plants were conducted in wetland mesocosms to investigate the applicability of natural wetland soils for introducing and establishing wetland plants into constructed wetlands. Seven species were germinated in the experiment, with two new species that were not found in the field survey of wetland plants in the West Nakdong River area, Korea. The number of plant individuals germinated in submerged conditions (15 individuals) was much greater than that in waterlogged conditions (2 individuals). In experiments in which soils from a natural wetland and a wetland construction site were mixed at different ratios, the largest number of plant individuals was observed in the condition with 100% natural wetland soil. The highest growth was observed at 50% natural wetland soil for Hydrilla verticillata and 100% for Ceratophyllum demersum. These results suggest that 1:1 mixture of soils from natural wetland wetlands and wetland construction sites would provide an appropriate condition for secure establishment of submerged plants in constructed wetlands.