• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.356-368
• /
• 2010

In this study, we applied approach of integrative star-plot area (SPA), chemical water quality and habitat conditions (QHEI) to diagnoze ecological conditions at the eight sampling sites of Sapkyo Stream. These outcomes were compared with biological health based on the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) using fish assemblage. And then, we evaluated the integrative ecological health condition using the star-plot method. This approach based on the sum of all the star-plot areas over these water and habitat characteristics. It was developed to reflect an integrative assessment of the ecological health in the stream. The biological health, based on the model values of IBI indicating "fair-poor" condition according to the criteria. Physical habitat health, based on the QHEI, averaged 123 indicating a "good-fair" condition. Also, chemical health, based on simply BOD values indicating "poor grade" according to the criteria of the Ministry of Environment Korea (MEK). The SPA indicating that 50% of the all was impaired condition and the most sampling sites were downstream sites influenced by the point and non-point sources. Overall our results suggest that the ecological health impact was a combined effect of eutrophication and habitat degradations in the stream. The approach of SPA can be used as a tool to evaluate the integrative health of stream environment and to identify possible causes of observed effects.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.307-318
• /
• 2015

The objectives of this study were to identify multi-level stressors from blood biomarkers to community-level bioindicators and diagnose the stream ecosystem health in polluted streams. Blood chemistry such as total protein ($T_{Pro}$), blood urea nitrogen ($B_{UN}$), total cholesterol ($T_{Cho}$) and $A_{lb}$umin ($A_{lb}$) were analyzed from sentinel fish tissues; the functions of kidney, gill and liver were significantly decreased in the impacted zone ($I_z$), compared to the control zone ($C_z$). Histopathological analysis showed that fish liver tissues were normal in the $C_z$. Fish liver tissues in the $I_z$, however, showed large cell necrosis and degeneration and also had moderate lobular inflammation and inflammatory cell infiltration of lymphocytic histocytes. Species biotic index (SBI) at species level and stream health assessment (SHA) at community level indicated that chemical impacts were evident in the $I_z$ (ecological health; poor - very poor), and this was matched with the blood tissue analysis and histopathological analysis. The impairments of the streams were supported by water chemistry analysis (nitrogen, phosphorus). Tolerance guild analysis and trophic guild analysis of fish were showed significant differences (P < 0.01) between $C_z$ and $I_z$. Overall, multiple parameter analysis from biomarker level (blood tissues) to bioindicator level (community health) showed significantly greater impacts in the $I_z$ than $C_z$. This approach may be effective as a monitoring tool in identifying the multilateral and forthcoming problems related to chemical pollution and habitat degradation of stream ecosystems.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.157-163
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study is to understand imperviousness impact for the characteristics of stormwater runoff and water temperature. The land-use map was used to estimate the watershed imperviousness(percent of impermeable area) and the RMS(Remote Monitoring System) was used to evaluate the stormwater runoff of watershed. This study was investigated for two streams(Jiam and Gongji) in Chunchon City. The detailed results of these studies are as follows; The imperviousness(%) of two watersheds(Jiam and Gongji) estimated by spatial analysis which is main function of GIS were 0.24% and 24.16%. So, Gongji watershed as urban area was about 100 times than jiam watershed as forest area. In case of rainfall of low intensity, stormwater runoff flowrate in higher imperviousness area(Gongji) was more than it in forest area(jiam). Also, The time to peak flowrate(Tp) was short in Gongji stream and the water temperature difference between Gongji and Jiam stream was about $4.4^{\circ}C$ in summer.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.495-502
• /
• 2007

Species biotic index (SBI), based on a fish assemblage, was applied to a stream assessment using long-term ecological fish data set (1996 to 2001) in Boryong dam area, which is located in the mainstream of Ungchun Stream of Chungnam province, Korea. According to the methods of Hilsenhoff (1988), the scores of tolerance guild assigned 10 classes to each species by its habitat and feeding guild, but modified current 7 criteria to 5 scoring standards due to unclear borderline among species. Relative abundance in the species number of upper stream guilds was only 7% of the total, whereas the abundance in the species number of middle to downstream upper stream guilds was 64%. Mean SBI, based on dataset in Site 1 during 1995-2001 averaged 5.10, which was judged as a "good" condition by the rank criteria of SBI. Before the dam construction, mean SBI in the Site 1 was 4.61, indicating a "good" condition, but after the dam construction, mean SBI was 5.60, indicating a "fair" condition. Trajectory analysis in the Site 1 showed significantly (One-way ANOVA, $F_{6,21}=3.26$, p=0.02) different among years, reflecting the changes of fish composition and population density by the dam construction, whereas Site 2 showed no significant changes ($F_{6,21}=1.00$, P =0.45) difference among years. Mean SBI prior to the dam construction in the Site 3 was 4.52 but after the construction, the value was 6.30, indicating a distinct difference between the pre- and post-dam construction. Trajectory analysis at the Site 3 supported this fact: Values of SBI showed significantly ($F_{6,21}$=14.37, p<0.01) different. Mean SBI was 4.67 in the Site 4, indicating a "good" condition in the health and the health rank was same as the sampling sites 1, 2, and 4. Trajectory in the Site 4 showed no significant ($F_{6,21}=2.35$, p=0.07) difference among the years. Overall, our trajectory analysis indicated that three of four sampling sites (sites 1, 3, 4) showed significant decreases (n=7, p<0.05) and that the proportions of sensitive species declined evidently in the sites 1 and 2 and the tolerant species increased in the dam sites. Our outcomes may be used as a key data for diagnosis of the long-term ecological impact in the future in the watershed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.19-29
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study is to suggest improvements of Eco-Natural map preparation guideline by presenting assessment methods that can be applied to the result of river ecosystem health survey and assessment, using the Geographic Information System. The area for studying is the main stream of the Hwang River where is easy to collect data and available to compare before and after of river assessment. It was reevaluated by reflecting the result of river ecosystem health assessment of the Ministry of Environment. As the result, Eco-Natural map of the study area reflecting the river assessment, the changes in the area ratio by grade have been increased from 1.14% to 14.03% in the first-grade and from 24.64% to 43.91% in the second-grade. It is considered to present more realistic grade due to the assessment of the rivers that have not been reflected in the meantime. Consequently, the result of this study will be useful for establishing the development projects on the rivers, providing the foundation for more realistic and active protection.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.311-321
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate effect of stream channel naturalness on ecological health by using environmental factors and Fish Assessment Index (FAI) in the Han River of South Korea. These samples and data have been released from the research project titled Stream/River Ecosystem Survey and Health Assessment, which was conducted in 444 sites in the Han river watershed from 2008 to 2016. All samples were classified into five groups according to a degree of morphological changes of stream. Water chemistry analyses indicated a decline in water quality by decreasing stream channel naturalness, it is assumed that channelized stream was vulnerable to aquatic pollution compared to the natural meandering stream. In the result of frequency of dominant species, sensitive species and insectivore such as Zacco koreanus, Rhynchocypris kumgangensis and Pungtungia herzi were frequently dominated in the natural meandering stream while tolerant species and omnivores such as Carassius auratus and Cyprinus carpio were more dominated in the channelized streams. The FAI in the channelized stream shows decline to average of $46{\pm}25$ compared with that of the natural meandering stream ($80{\pm}20$). The decrease in FAI was highly influenced by changes in matrixes of fish assemblage structure such as number of sensitive species (M3), portion of omnivores (M5) and insectivores (M6). Moreover, annual average FAIs from 2008 to 2016 were significantly correlated with water chemistry, especially TN, TP and BOD ($r^2=0.59$, p<0.0001). Taken together, all the results suggest that the stream channelization could negatively impact on the water quality and fish assemblage structure, leading to degradation in aquatic ecosystem health.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.499-511
• /
• 2008

The major focus of this study is to evaluate a newly developed stream naturalness index system 'Habitat-riparian Indexing System (HIS).' There have been many studies that have assessed stream naturalness in order to provide information required for restoration. The results of these studies were enough for the purpose of the studies; however, the methodologies were limited especially with respect to rapid measurement and the representation of ecological habitats. Therefore, we derived crucial variables from a popularly utilized method and merged them with other criteria obtained from overseas approaches, resulting in the development of the HIS method. The stability of HIS was evaluated by comparing the results with the Stream Naturalness Index (SNI) of Cho (1997). We monitored 100 stream sites in the Nakdong River system using the two different methods for two sampling periods (spring and autumn), and the results were compared using statistical analyses. The determination coefficients between the index values from two methods were c.a. 0.6 for both seasons, and statistics revealed that HIS had a relatively higher stability, providing index values for stream environments. The results of this work suggest a possibility of the utility of HIS for other stream habitats.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.14-24
• /
• 1993

The present study was accomplished from October, 1992 to June, 1993 in order to examine the seasonal community structure of aquatic insects and the biological estimation of water quality by the aquatic insects of the Jungneung and Gokneung streams in the Mt. Bukhan. The obtained results are as follows: 1. The total taxa of aquatic insects appeared as 77 species, 45 genera, 28 families in 7 orders. 2. Seasonal occurrence species numbers showed the highest in the autumn of the Jungneung stream (19 species) and in the spring of the Gokneung stream (41 species). Seasonal occurrence individual numbers showed the highest in the summer of the Jungneung and Gokneung streams (5,901, 3,180 individuals) and the lowest in the autumn of Jungneung stream (612 individuals) and in the winter of the Gokneung stream (1,764 individuals). 3. Annual dominance indices showed 0.52 (stJ1)~1.00 (st.J3) range in the Jungneung stream, and 0.47 (st. G1)~0.76 (G2) range in the Gokneung stream. 4. Seasonal species diversity indices showed 0.00 (st J3, whole seasons)~3.12 (st.J1, Spring) range in the Jungneung stream and 0.69 (st. G2, summer) ~3.10 (st. G4, spring) in the Gokneung stream. 5. Biological saprobic system based on species diversity indices of aquatic insects appeared as oligosaprobic area: site J3, $\alpha$-mesosaprobic area: site J2, G2, G3 and $\beta$-mesosaprobic area: site J1, G1, G4.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.37 no.4 s.109
• /
• pp.462-468
• /
• 2004

Most of the surveys of periphyton carried out for environmental and ecosystem health assessment of streams have considered the impact made on their fixative substrates (stones, rocks, sand, silt, clay and other abiotic matters), but there has been virtually no research that considered moving substrates. This study attempted to make an analysis and assessment of the habitat environments of the microalgae attached to the skin surfaces of fish living in small streams, with a focus on their species composition and community structure. The dominant fish in the this survey were Zacco temmincki and Zacco platypus, which are usually found in the streams, and rivers, and they accounted for 62% and 19%, respectively, in relative abundance. Substrates of fish, a representative organism with the trait of moving a long distance, show a marked contrast with those of organisms fixed at a certain place. Characteristics of both the upstream and the downstream reach well reflected in the microalgae attached to the skin surface of fishes, of which diatoms took the major composition. The result of this observation is considered to be useful to provide basic data in assessment of stream health. Also it may be suggested as a biological tool for the assessment of aquatic environment in the future.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.24-34
• /
• 2010

This study was carried out to analyze some influences on ecological health conditions, threaten by various stressors such as physical, chemical and biological parameters. We collected samples in 2008 from three zones of upstream, midstream and downstream, Gap Stream. We applied multi-metric fish assessment index (MFAI), based on biotic integrity model to the three zones along with habitat evaluations based on Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI). We also examined fish fauna and compositions, and analyzed relations with MFAI values, QHEI values, and various guild types. Chemical parameters such as oragnic matter (BOD, COD), nutrients (TP, $NH_3$-N), coli-form number (as MPN), and suspended solids (SS) were analyzed to identify the relationship among multiple stressor effects. Using the sentinel species of Zacco platypus, the population structures and condition factors were analyzed along with DNA damages related with genotoxicant effects by comet assay. This study using all these parameters showed that stream condition was degraded along the longitudinal gradient from upstream to downstream, and the downstream, especially, was impacted by nutrient enrichment and toxicant exposure from the point source, wastewater treatment plant. Overall results indicated that our approaches applying various parameters may be used as a cause-effect technique in the stream health assessments and also used as a pre-warning tool for diagnosis of ecological degradation.