• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.768-783
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• 2006

Biological stream environment assessment has been an essential trend of aquatic ecosystems among advanced countries, because the chemical water quality assessment has limitations that only represent temporal water environmental status. Benthic macroinvertebrates are the most popular bioindicator group useful to biological water quality assessment for a long time. In addition, a number of indices using benthic macroinvertebrates have recently been developed not only for water quality assessment but also for ecological health assessment. In this paper Korean Saprobic Index (KSI) based on Zelinka-Marvan's saprobic valency concept is developed by applying DIN 38410 in Germany. The KSI value was widely applicable to most Korean streams with the exception of sand-based large streams, for example main stream of Nakdong River. But as a result of non-linear regression analysis the correlation between KSI and $BOD_5$ concentration was high and KSI reflected water quality alteration for mid and long-term period. In spite of applicability of KSI, it should be supplemented and developed to make it strong by accumulating field data as well as to manage integrated water environment in general through continuous biomonitoring.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.514-536
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• 2018

GPI (Group Pollution Index) using 29 indicator groups of Korean benthic macroinvertebrates was proposed in 1992, a higher category taxa-level index developed for rapid field assessment of organic water pollution. This study was performed to revise the assessment scheme of GPI based on taxonomic performance and ecological information accumulated since 1992. The original GPI was renamed SBMI (Simple Benthic Macroinvertebrates Index), and SBMI was based on saprobic valency of 26 indicator groups composed of higher category taxa (mainly family ~ phylum) excluding some genus or species-level taxa. SBMI revealed highly significant correlation with concentration of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand ($BOD_5$) (correlation coefficient r = 0.78, n = 569 sites), total suspended solids (r = 0.69), and total phosphorus (r = 0.77). Also, SBMI revealed strong correlation with Shannon-Weaver's species diversity (r = -0.85), Margalef's species richness (r = -0.85), and McNaughton's dominance (r = 0.83). Determination coefficient of SBMI to concentration of water quality items and values of community indices such as species diversity was 3 ~ 8 % and approximately 11 ~ 14 % higher than that of GPI, respectively. Correlation between SBMI and water quality factors or community indices such as species diversity did not reveal much difference compared to that of species-level indices, such as BMI (Benthic Macroinvertebrates Index) and ESB (Ecological Score of Benthic Macroinvertebrates). SMBI is a simple-qualitative index with higher category taxa easily identified, and is applicable for rapid field assessment of water environment impairment.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.183-201
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• 2018

The tolerance of Korean benthic macroinvertebrates to organic pollution has been analyzed since the early 1990s. However, considering the fact that there have been related studies carried out in some European countries since the early 20th century, the history of the research in Korea is very short and there is still much knowledge to supplement. We revised the saprobic valency, the saprobic value and the indicator weight value of 190 benthic macroinvertebrates taxa through the data of water quality and individual abundance collected from 7,086 sampling units in Korea from 2008 to 2014. The individual abundance of Uracanthella (Ephemeroptera) as a representative, one of the most common and abundant taxa in Korea, showed a typical lognormal distribution to 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) concentration, and a normal distribution to the class interval of BOD5 concentration according to saprobic series. The value combining the mean individual abundance and the relative frequency of occurrence was a more efficient indicator value than that of each property alone. Benthic Macroinertebrates Index (BMI) was newly proposed as a modification of the saprobic index of Zelinka and Marvan (1961). BMI showed extremely significant correlation (determination coefficient $r^2$ > 0.6, n = 569 sites) with the concentration of BOD5, and the coefficient was a little higher than those of the previous indices. Until now, there has been very little research on the assessment of biological integrity of benthic macroinvertebrates community in Korea. While continuing researches into improve the reliability of BMI, it is necessary to develop multimetric indices for evaluating the integrity, including the composition of species and functional guilds, and the richness and diversity of the community.