• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.130-142
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• 2007

This study was to examine impacts of turbid water on fish community in the downstream of Yongdam Dam during the period from June to October 2006. For the research, we selected six sampling sites in the field: two sites were controls with no influences of turbid water from the dam and other remaining four sites were the stations for an assessment of potential turbid effects. We evaluated integrative health conditions throughout applications of various models such as necropsy-based fish health assessment model (FHA), Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) using fish assemblages, and Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI). Laboratory tests on fish exposure under 400 NTU were performed to find out impact of turbid water using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results showed that fine solid particles were clogging in the gill in the treatments, while particles were not found in the control. This results indicate that when inorganic turbidity increases abruptedly, fish may have a mechanical abrasion or respiratory blocking. The stream health condition, based on the IBI values, ranged between 38 and 48 (average: 42), indicating a "excellent" or "good" condition after the criteria of US EPA (1993). In the mean time, physical habitat condition, based on the QHEI, ranged 97 to 187 (average 154), indicating a "suboptimal condition". These biological outcomes were compared with chemical dataset: IBI values were more correlated (r=0.526, p<0.05, n=18) with QHEI rather than chemical water quality, based on turbidity (r=0.260, p>0.05, n=18). Analysis of the FHA showed that the individual health indicated "excellent condition", while QHEI showed no habitat disturbances (especially bottom substrate and embeddeness), food-web, and spawning place. Consequently, we concluded that the ecological health in downstream of Yongdam Dam was not impacted by the turbid water.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.612-621
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• 2014

Physicochemical factors and the phytoplankton communities in the downstream area of Namhan-River were investigated from June 2012 to November 2013. We also assessed water quality using biological water quality indices. Total nitrogen was 2.4 mg/L, total phosphorus was 0.04 mg/L, and biological oxygen demand was 1.1 mg/L. This resulted in a level 2 (Ib, good) water quality rating. A total of 259 phytoplankton taxa were classified, consisting of 26 families, two subfamilies, 64 genera, 222 species, 32 varieties, and five formas. Bacillariophyceae dominated during a1l seasons and at all sites. The dominant species were Aulacoseira granulata, Cyclotella meneghiniana, C. stelligera, Melosira varians, Cocconeis placentula var. lineata, Nitzschia palea, N. amphibia, Cymbella minuta, and Achnanthes convergens. The diatom assemblage index for organic pollution values was level A-D, and TDI was level B-D. P-IBI at most sites was at the M (moderate) level, but TSI was at the E (eutrophic) level. Most indices dropped from upstream to downstream.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.459-465
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• 1996

Bacillus thuringiensis serovar. darmstadiensis produced bipyramidal endo-toxin. The toxin protein was purified by Renografin-76 step gradient centrifugation and investigated by electron microscope. Analysis of total plasmid DNA patterns showed that four different size of plasmids existed in wild type B. thuringiensis serovar. darmstadiensis. Total plasmids DNA was isolated and transformed into pst I site of pBR322 cloning vector. Ten clones containing crystal toxin gene were forst screened colony hybridization by using PUYBT 9044 probe ontained B. thuringiensis kurskaki HD 1 toxin gene. Cloned-DNA was digested with EcoR1 and HindIII and transformed to pIBI30 sequencing vector. Finally, 2.6kb and 3.6kb size fragments contatined toxin-gene were cloned with restriction analysis.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.260-269
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• 2009

Hwabuk Dam has been under construction to reduce flood damage in Nakdong River watershed and to supply stable water for middle area of Gyeongbuk Province. Therefore, fish investigation in up and downstream of the dam was conducted from 2004 to 2008 in order to determine any negative effect on fish community due to dam construction and to use as fundamental data for conserving species diversity and maintaining stream health. According to data analysis on water quality, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, suspended solids, and total E-coli had seasonal variation, but they did not significantly differ in sites. However, biological and chemical oxygen demand, chlorophyll-a, nitrogen, and phosphorus representing organic matter and nutrient concentration were higher in upper site and decreased to lower site so that they differed by site. Concentration of arsenic among the heavy metals was less than 0.05 mg $L^{-1}$, which is regulated for protection of human health in water quality standard, except for 0.092 mg $L^{-1}$ in June 2005. During the study period, the total number of fish caught from the 6 sites was 10,263 representing 7 families 19 species. Among them, dominant and subdominant species were Korean chub (Zacco koreanus, 62.5%) and Chinese minnow (Rhynchocypris oxycephalus, 10.6%) which inhabit mostly in mid and upper streams, Korea. Among the 19 species, Korean endemic species were 9 species (47.4%) including Korean slender gudgeon (Squalidus gracilis majimae), Korean dark sleeper (Odontobutis platycephala), and Korean shiner (Coreoleuciscus splendidus). There was several individuals of the $1^{st}$-class endangered species, Naktong nose loach (Koreocobitis nahtongensis), caught in 2005${\sim}$2007, and no introduced species of fish was found in entire sampling period. According to result of community analysis, dominance index decreased toward lower site, but diversity and richness indices increased toward lower site. The equation of length-weight relationship on the dominant species was TW=0.000003$(TL)^{3.2603}$. The parameter b in the equation was greater than 3.0 indicating good nutritional condition in the populations. Compared to populations of Korean chub in other streams, the population in Hwabuk Dam watershed had higher mean of condition factor by size indicating better growth rate. With fish fauna and multi-metric health assessment model in each sampling attempt, index of biotic integrity (IBI) was evaluated and it resulted mostly in good (26${\sim}$35) and excellent (36${\sim}$40) condition in all sites, and the mean of IBI was the highest in site 5. The results indicate that it is very important to study not only environmental impact assessment with fish composition but also stream health assessment in order to conserve healthy aquatic ecosystem.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.73-82
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of soil physico-chemical properties and crop growth responses for application of biochar derived from substrate with post harvest of oyster mushroom. The biochar was produced at 450~600℃ using a top-light up draft gasifier (TLUD) production system. As a result of elemental analysis, the biochar used was C 76.2%, H 2.5%, N 3.2%, and H/C was 0.39, which met the international certification standards for biocarbons (IBI) below 0.7. The chemical properties were 10.1 for pH, 1.0% for P₂O₅, 1.8% for K₂O, and 2.5% for CaO. The application rates of biochar were 0, 100, 200, 300, and 500 kg/10a. For cultivation of chinese cabbage and welsh onion, soil organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (T-N), total carbon (T-C), Ex.cation K contents and cation exchange capacity (CEC) in the treatments were increased compared to the no treatment. In addition, the bulk density was lowered and the porosity was increased, improving the soil physical properties in the treated soil. The growth of chinese cabbage and green onion increased with the application of biochar, but the yields of chinese cabbage and green onion did not significantly different among the treatments. Soil carbon sequestration in the treatments enhanced with increasing the amount of biochar application. It is expected to apply the biochar derived from spent oyster mushroom substrate in the eco-friendly farm soil management, improving soil physico-chemical properties.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.195-211
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• 2015

The objectives of this research were to determine mean and maximum tolerance ranges of Carassius auratus ($C_a$) and Cyprinus carpio ($C_c$) populations on various physico-chemical parameters and ecological indicator metrics. Little is known about chemical tolerance ranges of the two species, even though these species are widely distributed species in aquatic ecosystems. Maximum tolerance ranges of $C_a$-population to total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were $20.3mgL^{-1}$ and $2.0mgL^{-1}$, respectively. Optimal ranges of TN and TP in the $C_a$-population were $1.7-5.0mgL^{-1}$ and $0.06-0.30mgL^{-1}$, respectively. Such nutrient regimes of the $C_a$-population were evaluated as hypereutrophy, indicating high tolerance limits. The $C_c$-population had similar ecological characteristics to $C_a$-population, but the mean tolerance ranges of TN, TP, BOD, and COD were significantly (p < 0.05) greater than the $C_a$-population. Ecological patterns of trophic composition and tolerance guilds in the $C_a$-population were similar to those of the $C_c$-population. The model value of Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) of the habitat where C. auratus and C. carpio co-occurred averaged $15.0{\pm}4.3$ and $12.9{\pm}3.6$, respectively. Based on the modified criteria of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Klemm et al. 1993), it indicated poor ecological health of both species. These results suggest that both species are highly tolerant to chemical and physical habitat conditions of waterbodies, and that the chemical tolerance range of $C_c$-population was higher than $C_a$-population.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.218-231
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• 2012

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the physico-chemical water quality, trophic and tolerance guilds in the control ($C_o$) and impacted streams of the abandoned mine, along with the ecological health, using a multimetric health model and physical habitat conditions of Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI), during the period of three years, 2005~2007. Also, eco-toxicity ($EE_t$) enclosure tests were conducted to examine the toxic effects on the outflows from the mine wastewater, using the sentinel species of Rhynchocypris oxycephalus, and we compared the biological responses of the control ($C_o$) and treatment (T) to the effluents through a Necropybased Health Assessment Index ($N_b$-HAI). Tissue impact analysis of the spleen, kidney, gill, liver, eyes, and fins were conducted in the controlled enclosure experiments (10 individuals). According to the comparisons of the control ($C_o$) vs. the treatment (T) in physicochemical water quality, outflows from the abandoned mine resulted in low pH of 3.2, strong acid wastewater, high ionic concentrations, based on an electrical conductivity, and high total dissolved solid (TDS). Physical habitat assessments, based on Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) did not show any statistical differences (p>0.05) in the sampling sites, whereas, the $M_m$-EH model values in a multimetric ecological health ($M_m$-EH) model of the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), using fish assemblages, were 16~20 (fair condition) in the control and all zero (0, poor condition) in the impacted sites of mine wastewater. In addition, in enclosure eco-toxicity ($EE_t$) tests, the model values of $N_b$-HAI ranged between 0 and 3 in the controls during the three years, indicating an excellent~good condition (Ex~G), and were >100 (range: 100~137) in the impacted sites, which indicates a poor condition (P). Under the circumstances, organ tissues, such as the liver, kidney, and gills were largely impaired, so that efficient water quality managements are required in the outflow area of the abandoned mine watershed.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.986-995
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to analyze the distribution of endangered fish species and elucidate their relations on chemical water quality, physical habitat conditions and ecological stream health. The dominant species in the watershed was Pseudopungtungia nigra (Pn), Gobiobotia macrocephala (Gm), Gobiobotia brevibarba (Gb), Liobagrus obesus (Lo), and Iksookimia choii (Ic) in the order. The species of Pn designated as "critical endangered species (I) (CER)", was most widely distributed species among the endangered species, so the designation of the species should be re-evaluated. The endangered species was most popular (4 species, 384 individuals) in the Cho-River region of eighteen lotic regions. According to the analysis of chemical tolerance limits in the habitats with endangered fish species, biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total phosphorus (TP) was analyzed as "very good" (Ia) and "good condition" in the chemical criteria of the Ministry of Environment, Korea. Also, chemical conditions, based on ammonia-N ($NH_{4+}$), total nitrogen (TN), phosphate-P ($PO_{4^-}P$) were much better in the habitat with endangered species (Hw) than the habitat without endangered species (Ho). In the meantime, the species of Ic showed wide ranges on the chemical tolerance, so physical habitat conditions, such as the size of substrate particles (sand) and hydrological regime, were considered as more important factors than the chemical water quality, if the water quality is not largely degraded. The endangered species were also more distributed in the high-order (4-6) streams than the low-order (1-3) streams. The evaluation of ecological stream health, based on multi-metric model of the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), showed the large difference between the Hw (21.6, fair condition)and Ho (30.5, good condition), indicating that the habitat maintained well chemically and physically had higher distributions of endangered species. Overall, the designation of CER on the Pn should be re-evaluated due to wide-distributions, and the protections from water pollution and the habitat conservations on the endangered species are necessary in the watershed.