• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.265-279
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• 2022

The primary production (PP) by phytoplankton in marine ecosystems is essential for carbon cycling and fueling food webs. Hence, estimating the PP in the territorial sea of each country is a necessary step to achieving carbon neutrality. To estimate the PP in the territorial sea of the Republic of Korea from 2005 to 2021, we analyzed various physiochemical parameters, such as sea surface temperature (SST), Secchi depth, and concentrations of chlorophyll-a and nutrients in the seas of five regions, including the East Sea, West Sea, western South Sea, eastern South Sea, and the waters off Jeju Island. During the 17-year study period, the SST tended to increase, while the nutrient concentrations declined, except in the Jeju area. Overall, the PP did not show a specific temporal trend, but daily PP in the western South Sea was the highest among the five regions. Moreover, the maximum PP in the Korean territorial waters (76,450 km²) was estimated at 11,227 Gg C y^-1, which accounts for 0.03% of the global PP. The results may give insights into a better understanding of the PP, further resource utilization, and environmental sustainability in the studied region.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.721-734
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• 2022

This study analyzed the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of major environmental factors such as primary productivity (PP), chlorophyll a, nutrients, sinking particle matters, and organic contamination and biochemical composition of surface sediment on a monthly basis for approximately 2 years around shellfish mariculture in Jaran Bay, Korea. In addition, PP in Jaran Bay was compared with that in other coastal areas and related policy plans were proposed. The average PP of the study area was high in summer and autumn with 6.43~115.43 mgC m^-2 hr^-1 range. This was lower than that in Gamak Bay and Masan Bay, whereas higher than that in Garorim Bay and the West Sea. The PP in coastal waters, where many aquaculture farms were distributed, significantly fluctuated. The different size compositions of phytoplanktons constituting chlorophyll a slightly varied by month, and little restriction existed on the productivity of phytoplanktons owing to the depletion of nutrients. Typically, the Redfield ratio was less than 16, indicating that nitrogen was the limiting factor for the growth of phytoplanktons. The biochemical composition of particulate organic matters in the water column showed the highest carbohydrates, but lipids and protein contents were high in surface sediments. The concentration of TOC and AVS of the surface sediments was high at inside of bay, and sometimes, exceeded the environmental criteria of fishing grounds. The organic C:N ratio of sediments ranged from 8.1 to 10.4 on average. PP had the highest correlation with chlorophyll a, nitrogen and protein of particle organic materials. Recently, chlorophyll a, DIN, and DIP of water column trends tended to decrease, however, the contamination of sediments increased. Considering the annual PP of 125.9 gC m^-2 yr^-1 and mariculture area (oyster) of 4.97 km², the annual carbon production from phytoplanktons was estimated to be about 625 tons, and the annual total wet weight of shellfish (oyster) was estimated to be about 6,250 tons.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.395-407
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• 2002

A 3D hydrodynamic-ecological coupled model was applied to estimate a food supply to oysters in Geoje-Hansan Bay where is one of the oyster culturing sites in Korea, In this study, the primary productivity (PP) was adopted as an index of food supply, and the spatial patterns of average chlorophyll a concentration during a culturing seasons from September to May of the following year were simulated by the model, The numerical result showed that PP was high in the inner part of the bay and the adjacent areas of Hwado island, but low in the outer. This result indicates that PP is essentially influenced by anthropogenic nutrient loadings in the system. The model was calibrated using the field data in May which is non culturing season of oysters and a simulated phytoplankton biomass agreed fairly well with the observed data ($R^{2}=0.70$, $RE=10.3\%$). The computed food supply varied from 0.19 to $1.27\;gC/m^{2}/day$ with a mean value of $0.62 gC/m^{2}/day$ from September to May. The highest value was showed in May ($1.27 gC/m^{2}/day$) and the lowest was in February ($0.19 gC/m^{2}/day$).