• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.89-104
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• 2004

In the aftermath of nation-wide controversy over "conservation vs. development" of the costal wetland in the Saemangeum, Korea could legislate the laws of wetland conservation and costal management in 1998. Since then, the public interest in the costal mudflats and its conservation has increased greatly, but the controversy on the economic value of mutflat wetland and the futher (un)necessity of reclamation) is not yet settled. In the cases of Korea dealt, economic valuation of wetland was performed mainly in the milieu of reclamation(development) vs conservation conflict, or from interest of recreational use. Korean studies used to estimate economic value of development case and conservation case respectively and then tried to compare these two value, as is sometimes done also in other countries. But the scrutiny of the results of these studies leads us to conclude that the revealed wide discrepancy among estimated values, above all other methodological problems, denies any practical applicability to the actual policy use. Benefit transfer as a convenient alternative method of valuation can not be usable either in our cases, because there is too few reliable estimated economic values of mudflat wetlands.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.81-96
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• 2008

This study was performed to know about the characteristics of geochemicals of sampling sites in Suncheon bay. Salinity and parameters of water pollution as COD, DIN and DIP showed typical character of an estuary with its values higher at the end of estuary and gradually lowering at the up stream. The value of Excess DIN showed positive so the phosphorus appeared in a role as limiting nutrient. As quoted results of correlation analysis of SPSS and PCA, salinity was revealed as a main factor of control for water qualities at sampling sites in Suncheon bay. The Mz of wet lands and intertidal zone in Sun-cheon bay showed a variation of 6.74 to $8.52{\phi}$ and the sorting also to appeared poorly sorted to very poorly sorted. The fractional composition of phosphorus in phosphorus of sediments were high and appeared orderly as redisual-P> NAI-P> apatite-P> absorbed-P. The labile-Phosphorus showed high concentration then the other station. It means that phosphorus of these stations can easily move from the deposit to the water column than another station.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.211-216
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• 2010

On 7 December 2007, about 12,547 kL of crude oil spilled from the Hong Kong registered tanker Hebei Spirit along the west coast of the Republic of Korea, including Taean-gun, Chungcheongnamdo Province. This study evaluated the safety of seafood collected from the coastal area polluted by the crude oil. The range of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (${\sum}PAHs$) at 22 stations was 3.9-37.1 ng/g. The concentration of ${\sum}PAHs$ was higher in oysters, Crassoatrea gias, than that in short-necked clams, Ruditapes philippinarum. Benzo(a)pyrene, a highly toxic PAH, ranged from 0.07-1.47 ng/g, which did not exceed the European Union regulatory limit for benzo(a)pyrene. The toxicity equivalent of benzo(a)pyrene in oysters and short-necked clams was 0.49-1.70 and 0.09-1.01 ng/g, respectively. The estimated life time cancer risk was very low, i.e., $1.31{\times}10^{-8}$ for the oysters and $6.9{\times}10^{-9}$ for the short-necked clams. The body burden of PAHs in bivalves originated mostly from petroleum contamination, but the levels was not sufficiently high to harm human health.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.259-267
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• 2023

This study analyzed the relationship between distribution of Bolboschoenus planiculmis which is main food source of swans (national monument species) with environmental factors, discharge, rainfall, and salinity in Eulsuk-do from 2020 to 2023. The distribution area of B. planiculmis in Eulsuk tidal flat was 103,672m² in 2020, 95,240 m² in 2021, 88,163 m² in 2022, and 110,879 m² in 2023, and represents a sharp decrease compared to the 400,925 m² area recorded in 2004. From 2020 to 2023, the growth densities of B. planiculmis were 243.6±12.5 m^-2, 135.45±7.38 m^-2, 51.10±2.54 m^-2, and 238.20±16.36 m^-2, respectively, and the biomass was 199.89±28.01 gDW m^-2, 18.57±5.12 gDW m^-2, 6.55±1.12 gDW m^-2, and 153.53±25.43 gDW m^-2 in 2020, 2023, 2021, and 2022, respectively. Based on discharge during May~July, which affects plant growth, the left gate discharge of the estuary barrage from 2020 to 2023 was 62,322 m³ sec^-1, 33,329 m³ sec^-1, 6,810 m³ sec^-1, and 93,641 m³ sec^-1, respectively; rainfall was 1,136 mm, 799 mm, 297 mm, and 993 mm, respectively; and average salinity was 14.7±9.4 psu, 21.1±4.7 psu, 26.1±2.7 psu, and 14.5±11.1 psu, respectively. In 2022, cumulative rainfall (978 mm, about 70% of the 30-year average) and discharge (43,226 m³ sec^-1) decreased sharply, resulting in the highest mean salinity (25.46 psu), and the distribution area, density, and biomass of the B. planiculmis decreased sharply. In 2023, there was a rise in discharge with an increase in rainfall, leading to a decrease in salinity. Consequently, this environmental change facilitated the recovery of B. planiculmis growth.