• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1007-1021
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• 2018

Community dynamics of benthic macroinvertebrates and biological evaluation of water quality were investigated at Gigyecheon of Pohang and Gyeongju, Korea. The survey was carried out at 8 sites from May to October, 2017. As a result, total of 104 species under 54 families, 15 orders, 8 classes in 4 phyla with 5,052 individuals were revealed. The number of species was the most abundantly identified in aquatic insects, 76 species under 34 families, 6 orders. Among them, the order Odonata was the most abundant taxon as 21 species(20.2%). The most abundant individuals were collected in the phylum Mollusca as 1,453 individuals(28.8%). Various species appeared dominantly at each site by season, and the most dominant species was Caridina denticulata denticulata belonging to the class Malacostraca with 0.08 of dominance index. According to the results of community structure analyses, the diversity and richness indices were the highest at site II, the evenness index was the highest at site I, and the dominance index was the highest at site IV. The number of species and individuals of gathering collectors were the highest among functional feeding groups. Those of sprawlers were the highest among habitat orientation groups. The ESB showed a tendency to change according to season and site, and it was the highest in May at most surveyed sites. The KSI was also somewhat fluctuated according to season and site. From these indices, average biological water quality was evaluated as class II.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.156-163
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• 2008

This study was to introduce a methodology of ecological health assessment for efficient management and to provide some diagnostic results of the survey. We evaluated ecological health assessment at five sampling locations of Sikjang Mountainous Stream using the index of biological integrity (IBI) and Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) during May - October 2006. The health condition, based on the IBI model, averaged 32 and varied from 27 to 37 depending on the sampling sites. Thus, the stream health was judged as "good" to "fair" conditions. IBI values showed slight differences between upstream and downstream sites. Whereas, QHEI values varied from 75 (fair condition) to 196 (excellent condition) and QHEI at St. 4~5, indicating the downstream reach had significantly lower than the headwater site (St.1). Regression analyses also showed that QHEI values had a linear decrease from the headwater to downstream. This result indicated that habitat quality was rapidly degradated by human influence. Overall, data of IBI and QHEI suggested that the stream health was maintained well in the present but the habitat and biological quality were partially degradated in the downstream. So, the human interference should be minimized to protect the downstream environment.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.759-770
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• 1998

biotic indices scoring with the benthic macroinvertebrates were assessed as pollution monitoring tools in the north branch of the Han River system, Korea. We investigated the temporal variability of water quality at unpolluted, moderately polluted and heavily polluted sites using several biotic indices and assessed appropriate biological monitoring indices for lotic systems in Korea. The following biotic and chemical indices were employed in order to compare their applicability to the lotic systems : Trent Biotic Index (TBI), Chandler's Biotic Index-Average Score per Taxon (CBI-ASPT), Modified Biological Monitoring Working Party Score System-Average Score per Taxon (BMWP-ASPT), Hilsenhoff's biotic Index (BI) and Family-level Biotic Index (FBI) models for biotic analyses and National Sanitation foundation's Water Quality Index (NSFWQI) and comprehensive Chemical Pollution Index (Pb/n) for chemical analyses of water quality. Index and score values were compared with each other and with 24 water chemistry parameters. All biotic indices were significantly auto-correlated (p<0.001) and BI and FBI/ROK among them were highly correlated (r=0.84). BI and BMWP-ASPT models were also highly correlated with NSFWQI, while TBI values showed high correlation with the Pb/n. The BI and BMWP-ASPT were highly correlated with the most water chemistry parameters. We conclude that the BI model, which includes indicator species and abundance of taxa, is best suited for the bioassessment of lotic systems in Korea. For rapid field-based assessments, FBI/ROK and BMWP-ASPT models are also appropriate.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.269-287
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• 2023

The genus-level biotic index of benthic macroinvertebrates (Benthic Macroinvertebrates Genus Index, BMGI) was developed and applicated based on the data collected from 13,347 sampling units of 814 sites from 2010 to 2021 in Korea. Tolerant values of 274 indicator taxa were established by analyzing the relationship between the relative frequency and abundance of indicator taxa and the water quality index considering biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), total suspended solids (TSS), and total phosphorus (T-P). BMGI showed a slightly higher correlation with water quality than the species-level biotic index (Benthic Macroinvertebrates Index, BMI) that was developed and applied in Korea. Although the BMGI does not contain species-level information, the reason why BMGI shows higher applicability than BMI seems to be due to the increase in the number of indicator taxa and the decrease in the misidentification of immature aquatic insects. The coefficient of determination in multiple regression with BOD₅, TSS, and TP for BMGI was 0.62 in the long-term averaged data of 814 sites, and the standardized coefficient of BOD₅ was -0.46, TSS was -0.17 and T-P was -0.21, respectively. As a result of the evaluation by BMGI, of the 814 sites, 38% were in good, 25% in fair, and 37% in poor condition.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.389-403
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• 2011

Studies on effects of human action on the destruction of ecosystems and changes in biodiversity are being processed actively from the view point of landscape ecology. This study investigated present distribution status of the naturalization plant by disturbance of natural ecosystem which could be seen on 35 rural villages in Korea. The study made a landuse map on the study area then quantified the landscape ecologic characteristic using landscape index based on this landuse map. Correlation between landscape index on the study area and distribution characteristic of naturalization plant was analyzed. The landscape index was calculated by FRAGSTATS, a spatial analysis program, and naturalization index and urbanization index were used in the distribution characteristic of naturalization plant. As a result, naturalization index and patch density, naturalization index and edge density, naturalization index and area-weighted mean shape index were shown as having positive correlation, and naturalization and core area percentage of landscape, naturalization index and mean core area were displayed as having negative correlation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.288-301
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• 2023

This study aims to identify benthic macroinvertebrate fauna inhabiting at the mountain valley stream (Mt. Cheonggye) in Korea and the relationship between physical environmental factors and biological indices. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected at five locations on August 24 and October 14, 2020, and were identified as 4 phyla, 7 classes, 16 orders, 42 families, and 72 species. Dominance ranged from 0.38 to 0.59, diversity 2.81 to 3.75, richness 3.25 to 4.63, evenness 0.65 to 0.84, and %EPT (Ephemeroptera-PlecopteraTrichoptera) richness value 42% to 73%, respectively. All sites were evaluated as a very good status by mostly biological indices based on tolerance of indicator organisms in Korea. As a result of principal component analysis, biological indices are classified into species-level indices and higher cartegory-level indices according to the taxonomic level of the indicator organism considered in each index. As a result of canonical correspondence analysis, it was confirmed that current velocity was a major factor that increased species richness and classified biological indices according to taxonomic category level. Water depth was a major factor related to the community indices, and the deeper the water depth, the lower the diversity and the evenness.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.167-175
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• 2012

Coastal sand dune systems are particularly fragile and threaten the environment. However, these systems provide fundamental ecosystem services to the nearby urban areas, acting, for example, as protective buffers against erosion. In this paper, we attempt to classify the biotope types of coastal sand dune ecosystems and select an index for the assessment of the conservation value. The types of biotopes are categorized based on the vegetation map; floras are examined in order to research the effects of hinterlands on coastal sand dunes. In addition, a naturalization rate and an urbanization index for each biotope type in hinterlands are analyzed. In the ecosystem of coastal sand dunes, the urbanization index and naturalization rate shows a higher value in sand dunes with areas of road, residential, and idle land in farm villages, rice fields, and fields. On the contrary, a lower value in the urbanization index and naturalization rate is present when typical biotope types, such as sand dune vegetation and natural Pinus thunbergii forests, are widely distributed. Based on these results, urbanization index and naturalization rate should be used as critical indices for the assessment of the ecosystem of costal sand dunes.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.303-316
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• 2009

Benthic macroinvertebrate communities collected from eight different streams in South Korea were analyzed to compare community and biological indices across different levels of water pollution. The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) was utilized to provide overview on association of the proposed indices. The sample sites were accordingly clustered according to the gradient of pollution on the SOM. While the general trends of the indices were commonly observable according to different levels of pollution, the detailed differences among the indices were also illustrated on the SOM. The conventional diversity and evenness indices tended to be high even though the water quality state was poor representing relatively weak gradient at polluted sites, while the index presenting the saprobic degree such as family biotic index showed the stronger gradient at the polluted area and was robust to present the gradient. Our results also confirmed the general characterization of two indices: The Shannon index is more strengthened by the number of species occurring at the sample sites, while the Simpson index is more influenced by the degree of evenness among the species. The patterning based on the SOM was efficient in comparatively characterizing the proposed indices to present ecological states and water quality.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.210-219
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• 2007

The benthic marine algal flora and community structure were examined at five sites of the Taean Peninsula, Korea, during July-August 2005. Ninety-six algal species were Identified, including 14 green, 21 brown, and 60 red algae, and 1 marine plant. The common species that occurred at the five sites were Sargassum thunbergii, Gelidium divaricatum, Caulacanthus okamurae, Gracilavia vermiculophylla, and Neorhodomela aculeata. Sthunbergii was the dominant species in terms of coverage and biomass at ail of the study sites. The average biomass varied from $23.72g/m^2$ in dry weight at Chaeseokpo to $66.43g/m^2$ at Padori. The species could be divided into six functional groups in terms of morphological characteristics: 41 coarsely branched forms, 25 filamentous forms, 16 sheet forms, 7 thick leathery forms, including the marine plant Phyllospadix iwatensis, 4 crustose forms, and 3 Jointed calcareous forms. The seaweed communities at the five study sites were unstable and the environmental conditions were bad or very bad. Among the five study sites, the ecological evaluation index (EEI) and diversity index (H') were maximal at Padori at 2.29 and 1.98, respectively. By contrast, the dominance index (DI) was minimal at Padori (0.55) and maximal at Baramarae (0.96). Therefore, we conclude that the rocky shore at Padori has the best environment among the five study sites, although the species richness and biomass of seaweeds have declined continuously over the last 10 years.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.183-190
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• 2018

Backgrounds: The main purpose of this research was to assess changes in vegetation structure, wetland index, and diversity index for a 15-year-old created wetland in Jincheon, South Korea. The created wetland consists of four sub-wetlands: a kidney-shaped wetland, a ditch, an ecological pond, and a square wetland. Vegetation and water depth data were collected at each site in 1999 and 2013, and Shannon diversity and wetland indices were calculated. Results: The total number of plant species increased from 18 in 1999 to 50 in 2013, and the ecological pond in 1999 and the ditch in 2013 presented the highest diversity indices (2.5 and 3.2, respectively). Plant species were less diverse in 1999 than in 2013, presumably because these initial wetlands were managed periodically for water purification and installation of test beds. The proportion of wetland plants, including obligate wetland and facultative wetland species, decreased from 83 to 56%, whereas upland plants, including obligate upland and facultative upland species, increased from 17 to 44%. After ceasing water supply, water depth in all four sub-wetlands declined in 2013. Thus, upland plants established more readily at these sites, resulting in higher diversity and lower wetland indices than in 1999. Conclusions: The major floristic differences between 1999 and 2013 were an increase in the number of upland plants and a decrease in wetland species. Although wetland indices were lower in 2013, the created wetland performed important ecosystem functions by providing habitats for wetland and upland plants, and the overall species diversity was high.