• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.648-657
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• 2008

This research was conducted to investigate the breeding density and seasonal food items of the magpies in Jeju Island and the near-manned islets. The examination of nest distribution to determine breeding density was performed during breeding season from February 2006 to April 2008, and that of food items from May 2006 to February 2008. A total of 2,113 nests were found across Jeju Island, the average density was $1.33\;nest/km^2$, and the magpies were distributed up to 600 meters above the sea level. The nest density was the highest in the central areas of Jeju Island, with 688 nests at $3.61\;nest/km^2$, while that in the eastern areas was the lowest, with 214 nests at $0.66\;nest/km^2$. In terms of the number of nests depending on the height above the sea level, 1,172 nests, which was equivalent to the density of $1.85\;nest/km^2$, was observed below 100m and highest among the intervals of height, but 16 nests found at 500-600m were the lowest, corresponding to $0.20\;nest/km^2$. The number of nests found in the manned islets near Jeju Island was eight in Biyang-do with the density of $15.38\;nest/km^2$, nine in U-do with $1.49\;nest/km^2$, and one in Gapa-do with $1.15\;nest/km^2$, whereas none of nests were observed in Mara-do. The contents of stomach consisted of 17 types of prey sources including countless bones, eggshells, plants, and seed, most of which were the individuals of the order Coleoptera. In spring and summer, the foraging frequency for invertebrate animals such as insects was high, but less than 30% in winter. In contrast, the magpies preyed upon plants and seeds at the frequency of 10% and 30%, respectively, in spring, while the foraging frequencies for both of them were 100% in winter and higher than any of other seasons. Eggshells and bones of birds were also detected infrequently. If the density of the magpies, which may play role as the upper predator within the ecosystem, increases, it would be expected to affect directly the reduction of the number of the species and population of endemic animals such as small birds and reptiles, etc. Therefore, it is considered that long-term monitoring for the density of the magpies and precaution is prerequisite to minimize adverse effects on ecosystem.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.78-93
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• 2003

To investigate seasonal variation and structure of the microbial community in Kyeonggi Bay, abundance and carbon biomass of nano-and micrzooplankton were evaluated in relation to size fractionated chlorophyll-a concentration, through the monthly interval sampling from December 1997 to November 1998. Communities of nano-and microzooplankton were classified into 4 groups such as heterotrophic nanoflagellate(HNF), ciliates, heterotrophic dinoflagellates(HDF) and zooplankton nauplii. Abundance and carbon biomass of HNF ranged from 380 to 4,370 cells ml-1(average 1,340$\pm$130 cells ml-1) and from 0.63 to 12.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 4.35$\pm$0.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of ciliates ranged from 331 to 44,571 cells ml-1(average 3,526$\pm$544 cells ml-1) and from 1.3 to 119.7 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 13.7$\pm$3.0 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of HDF ranged from 88 to 48,461 cells 1-1(average 9,034$\pm$2,347 cells 1-1) and from 0.05 to 54.05 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 6.9$\pm$2.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of zooplankton nauplii ranged from 5 to 546 indiv. 1-1(average 83$\pm$15 indiv. 1-1) and from 0.17 to 43.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 6.3$\pm$1.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Eash component of microbial biomass was not different from tidal cycle except tintinnids group. Depth integrated nano-and microzooplankton biomass ranged from 124 to 1,635 mgC m-2(average 585$\pm$110 mgC m-2) and was highest in March and May. The relative contribution of each component to the nano-and microzooplankton showed difference according to seasons. Community structure of nano-and microzooplankton was dominated by planktonic ciliate group. During the study period, carbon biomass of nano-and microzooplankton was strongly positively correlated with size fractionated chlorophylla-a. It implied that prey-predator relationship between microzooplankton and phytoplankton was important in the pelagic ecosystem of Kyeonggi Bay.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.125-132
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• 2007

We estimated the distribution of predator-prey interaction strengths for 12 species of herbivores (including amphipods, isopods, gastropods, and sea urchins) and made a regression model that may be applicable to other species. Laboratory experiments were used to determine per capita grazing rate (PCGR; g seaweeds/individual/day). Relationship between the biomass of individual grazers and fourth-root transformed PCGR was fitted to power curve ($y=0.2310x^{0.3290}$, r=0.8864). This finding supported that the grazing efficiency was not even as individual grazers increase in size (biomass). Therefore, the biomass-normalized PCGR was estimated and revealed that smaller size herbivores were more effective grazers. Grazing impact considering density of each taxon was calculated. The sea hare Aplysia kurodai had greatest grazing impact on the seaweed bed and the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus nudus and S. intermedius were ranked in descending order of the impact. The amount of seaweed grazed by the amphipod Elasmopus sp. (>4,000 $ind./m^2$) and Jassa falcata (>2,000 $ind./m^2$) were 3.435 and $1.697mg/m^2/day$ respectively. The combined grazing amount of herbivores was $5,045mg/m^2/day$ in the seaweed bed. Although sea hare and sea urchin had strong impacts on seaweeds, the effects of dense, smaller species could not be seen as negligible. Surprisingly, the calculated grazing potential of sea urchins with a mean density of 3 $ind./m^2$ exceeded the mean production of seaweed cultured in domestic coastal waters in Korea (ca., 5 ton/ha). Small crustaceans were also expected to consume up to 16% of the seaweed production if their densities were rising under weak predation conditions. Considering that the population density of herbivores are strongly controlled by fish, human interference like overfishing may have strong negative effects on persistence of seaweeds communities.