• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.189-200
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• 2008

As a transition zone between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, riparian areas of rivers and streams play significant roles in production and decomposition for river and stream systems. Understanding of the physical and ecological characteristics of riparian areas are, therefore, important for the management of river and stream systems. It is especially important to understand the characteristics of riparian areas for the Nakdong River in Korea which has a large watershed area and diverse land uses. This study aimed at collecting field data, according to stream types, which are essential for the management of riparian areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Nakdong River, Korea. Most riparian areas surveyed in this study had roads within 100 meters from river edges. Distances from water edge to banks were less than 1m for most riparian areas neighboring agricultural lands, indicating that those areas might be very vulnerable to pollutant inputs from non-point sources. Water quality data indicated that soil erosion in the riparian areas could be a major source of phosphorus input to the Nakdong River and land use patters might have a significant influence on nitrogen concentration in the river. Heavy metal concentrations in soils of the riparian areas of the river were below soil quality standards, except arsenic and chromium. Vegetation surveys showed that therophytes were the most frequently occurred riparian plants in the Nakdong River. Number of aquatic plant species increased downstream, with the most diverse aquatic plants observed in wetlands and irrigation canals of the West Nakdong River. Occurrence rate of naturalized plants and urbanization index were high in the survey sites adjacent to urban and agricultural areas.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.368-378
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• 2005

Inorganic matters originated from stone quarries and manufacturing plants could alter the ecological characteristics of adjacent aquatic systems, especially the structure and function of benthic macroinvertebrate community. In such situation, the locality of stone quarry and the quantity of inorganic matters would be important factors that determined the disturbing strength to the benthic macroinvertebrate community. Locality patterns of stone quarries were classified into 3 types in relation to the stream ecosystem; stream-proximity, upstream-inclusion and tributary-inclusion type. In the result of species:abundance analysis, stone quarry B (upstream-inclusion type) showed geometric distribution, while others showed broken-stick distribution pattern. The benthic macroinvertebrate communities closer to stone quarries showed smaller species numbers and standing crops among all types of stone quarries. However the values of species evenness index were not seriously different between controls and directly affected sites. These results indicated that the effect of inorganic disturbance would differ from those of organic pollution that induced the highly dominant state occupied by tolerant species. Number of occurred species, standing crops, community indices and biotic indices indicated that the community of upstream-inclusion type was the most seriously damaged from the inorganic disturbance, and the community would be very simple and unstable. Tributary-inclusion stone quarry heavily damaged to tributary system in biologically, but influence to the main stream seemed to be depended on the scale of main stream. Among 3 types of stone quarry localities, stream-proximity type induced the least damages to benthic macroinvertebrate community, though the degrees of damage were different along with distances between stream and stone quarry.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.665-670
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• 2010

Pollutants from urban pavement consists various kinds of substances which are originated from dry deposition, a grind out tire, corrosive action of rain to pavement and facilities and raw materials of the road etc.. These are major pollutants of urban NPS (Non-point source) during rainfall period. However there is not enough information to control such pollutants for appropriate management of natural water quality. In this study of transportation areas, three monitoring stations were set up at trunk road, urban highway and national road in Gyeongnam province. Runoff flow rate was measured at every 15minutes by automatic flow meters installed at the end of storm sewer pipe within the road catchment area for water quality analysis. Data was collected every 15 minutes for initial two hours of rainfall. Additional samples were collected 1-4 hours interval till the end of rainfall. The monitoring parameters were $COD_{Mn}$, SS, T-N & T-P and heavy metals. The average EMCs of TSS and $COD_{Mn}$ were 62.0 mg/L and 24.2 mg/L on the city trunk road, which were higher than those of urban highway and national road, indicating higher pollutant loads due to activities in the city downtown area beside the vehicle. On the other hand, the average EMC of T-N and T-P were in the range of 2.67-3.23 mg/L and 0.19-3.21 mg/L for all the sampling sites. Heavy metals from the roads were mainly Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn, showing variable EMCs by the type of road. From the TSS wash-off analysis in terms of FF(first flush) index, first flush phenomenon was clearly observed in the trunk road(FF : 0.89-1.43). However, such mass delivery behavior was not apparently shown in urban highway(FF : 0.90-1.11) and national road(FF : 0.81-1.41).

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2009

This study aims to provide preliminary data needed for establishing policies on the environment and disasters of Goryeong county. The main results are as follows. First, the present master plan of the region does not reflect local socio-economic and environmental conditions and the local people's opinion. Second, The air conditions of Gyeongbuk province and Goryeong county are within the permitted limit of air pollution of Korea. Third, the analysis of water pollution index in Nakdong river system shows improvement of water quality in both Andong and Goryeong. Fourth, the conditions of waste collection and disposal are improved in both Gyeongbuk province and Goryeong county. Fifth, in case of environmental pollutant emitting facilities of Gyeongbuk province, the proportion of 1st to 4th grade(relatively much more environmental pollutant emitting quantity than 5th grade) tends to be increasing. Sixth, environmental pollutant emitting facilities of Goryeong county are remarkably increasing in Dasan, Gaegin, Ssangrim, involving industrial complex. Finally, in case of disasters, it is relatively stable in Yecheon, Gumi, Uiseong, Yeongju and Cheongdo, while relatively unstable in Seongju, Gunwi, Yeongcheon, Chilgok, Mungyeong, Bonghwa and Goryeong.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.7-18
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• 1999

Fauna and biological water quality using benthic macroinvertebrates were analysed and estimated macroinvertebrates. Samples were collected 5 times from the 7 sites in the river between April and December 1997, and the results are summarized as follows. The taxa of benthic macroinvertebrates was totally composed 81 species, 45 genus, 37 families, 15 orders, 8 classes in 3 phyla. Among them, aquatic insects were mostly abundant as 65 species, and also, there were a species of oligochaetes, 2 species of hirundinida, 6 species of gastropods, 5 species of polecypoda, and 2 species of crustaceans. Average individual numbers in the whole sampling sites was 815 per square meter, and insects were abundant (Approx. 80%). Among the insects, the major taxa were respectively ephemeroptera (Approx. 70%) and trichoptera (Approx. 18%). According to the average individual numbers in each site, Chung-do stream (site 1) showed the highest appearance rate as 262 individual/ $m^3$ (32.2%), and the lowest value was at the end of Miryang River (site 7) as 38 individual / $m^3$(4.7%). The dominant species among the whole samples was Ecdyomurus levis Navas, and dominance indices was 0.3. In each site, Ecdyomurus levis Navas was dominant species from site 1 to site 5, and dominant species at site 6 and 7 was respectively Hirudinidae sp. 1. Species diversity index in total average of samples was 2.66. Average of species diversity index according to each study site was the highest value at site 4 (H'=3.47), and site 2, 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 in that order. According to the water quality as biotic indices, GPI value was 1.49 in total average of Miryang river, and the pollution indices evaluated secondary water quality criteria as $\beta$-mesosaprobics. In each site, the best water quality was at site 3, and it revealed the first water quality criteria as Oligosaprobic. It was then site 1, 2, 4 and 5 in the order of water quality, and was evaluated secondary water quality criteria as $\beta$-mesosaprobics, respectively. Site 6 was also revealed the third water quality criteria as $\beta$-mesosaprobics. The worst water quality was at site 7, which revealed the third water quality criteria as a-mesosaprobics.

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

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.173-180
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• 2018

The utilization of TOC(Total organic carbon), a new environmental standard, was evaluated for 30 lakes in the Nakdong River Basin, which is used for drinking and agricultural usage. The active use of water resources begins with securing satisfactory water quality. Since this allows people and nature to maintain stability of quality, water quality standards are being tightened to ensure good water quality. In order to improve the pollution level of organic matter in lakes in the living environment, it is important to use the appropriate organic substance index. The relationship between the newly introduced TOC and the existing COD(Chemical oxygen demand) in the targeted lake was positively correlated with the possibility of replacing the TOC with COD. However, the environmental grade standard using TOC is better than the environmental grade standard using COD, so it has the same effect as that of the grade of water quality using TOC as an organic substance factor. This indicates the limitation of TOC to directly replace existing COD when trying to determine or improve the quality level using organic indicators of lakes. Therefore, in order to secure the qualitative safety of the lake, it is required to strengthen environmental standards of TOC in terms of water quality grade. In addition, the correlation between TOC and COD shows a great difference depending on the utilization characteristics of the lake. This requires clear scientific identification, and it requires continuous monitoring of COD that has been used to accumulate indicators of lake organic matter.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.74-83
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• 2005

The Riparian Buffer Zone has many potential values including the preservation of water quality as well as being ecologically friendly. This study aims to quantitatively analyze the landscape structure index of the Riparian Buffer Zone in the Kyoung-an stream and to produce base information necessary for proper management. The study used aerial images that were applied to geometric corrections for a time series from 1966 to 2000 for land data and also used FRAGSTATS, which is a type of ARCVIEW extension module, as an analysis tool. An analysis of land use change and the Landscape Index revealed that the area of farm land has decreased and that the area of residential property has increased. In addition, there was a slight change for land used for purposes other than farming or for residence. The results of analyzing the Landscape Structure Index, revealed that the NP has increased from 437 in 1966 to 695 in 2000. This data reveals that the change of land use is influenced by various artificial factors. The NPS, which represents the declining degree of patch, decreased from 9.441 to 5.934, revealing that the change of land use has been progressing considerably. In regard to forest areas, land use reduced somewhat but did not indicate a significant change. Therefore, an analysis of the total index reveals that the edge of patch has become more complicated and that the variation index of patch has increased significantly. However, this study reveals that barriers to block pollution have weakened as a result and that there is a need to concentrate on the implementation and the management of the Riparian Buffer Zone. Consequently, this study reveals that substantial research is necessary in order to carry out the proper management of the Riparian Buffer Zone, especially in light of the distribution type of each patch and the change in conditions regarding them.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.882-888
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• 1998

This study was designed as a part of efforts to investigate the biochemical pollutant markers for diagnosis of marine pollutions by changes in lipid components of the flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) in the South Sea of Korea, Hemoglobin levels in serum of cultured flounders in the South Sea were lower ($4\~17\%$) than those of wild flounder in Pohang as a control group. Triglyceride (TG), Total and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol contents in serum of cultured flounders in the South Sea were $12\~25\%,\;9\~19\%$ and $17\~25\%$ respectively which are higher than those of wild flounder in Pohang. Atherogenic index (AI) and T-Chol/PL ratios in serum of cultured flounders in the South Sea were significantly higher($26\~43\%$ and $17\~26\%$ respectively) than those of wild flounder in Pohang. These results suggest that near-coastal water as well as neritic water of the South Sea might be affected by pollutant input as well as the Yellow Sea of Korea.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.110-122
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• 2012

This study examined the benthic diatom community distribution, land cover/use and water quality in relation to stream shape complexity (SSC) in the Seom River watershed. SSC showed a significant relation to the riparian land cover/use pattern and also water quality variables of the studied streams. Streams with high stream shape complexity (HSC) appeared to have a high proportion of forest and farmland, while streams having a low stream shape complexity (LSC) appeared to have high proportion of city. Streams with lower SSC showed higher nutrients concentration in the stream waters. Benthic diatom species composition and dominant species appeared to be similar regardless of SSC differences among the studied streams, while the variation of diatom density was manifested with SSC. The relative abundance of dominant benthic diatoms varied with SSC. Saprophilic diatoms were dominant in the streams of LSC, while saproxenic diatoms were dominant in the streams of HSC. During the evaluation of biological water quality using the benthic diatom indices, Trophic Diatom Index (TDI) and Diatom Assemblage Index to organic water pollution (DAIpo), the streams of LSC generally showed poorer water quality than those of MSC (Middle stream shape complexity) and HSC. In particular, BOD, TP, and $PO_4$-P showed significant relationships with DAIpo. In conclusion, shape complexity of streams in the Seom River watershed showed a close relation with benthic diatom distribution. This relation seemed to primarily be resulted from the effect of proximate factors, such as water quality, which might be affected by the land use types determining the degree of SSC.