• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.243-274
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• 2013

To investigate the research state and characteristics of dinoflagellate cyst along the Korean coastal waters, this work analyzed 45 studies conducted in the Korean coasts and basin, the south of Jeju, East China Sea including some part of the Yellow Sea. It was found that the research on dinoflagellate cyst began in the later half of the 1980s in Korea, and that the research areas focused on eutrophied regions where a red tide occurred or on the seas where coastal development occurred. In other words, no research on the East Sea was found. In terms of research contents, there were various studies on analysis of cyst assemblage, tracking of the changes in marine environment like process of eutrophication, roles as a seed population in occurrence of a red tide, creation of cyst by use of sediment trip and tracking of its changes, morphological changes by the change of pH concentration in the hypoxia zone of eutrophied region, germination of a specific species, and other international-level studies. Species composition and cell density also varied in the Korean coastal waters. However, much research on dinoflagellate cyst in Korea is not systematic, and is fragmentary and individual and hencesuffers from great limitations. The research results so far have focused only on specific regions, and sporadic research had been conducted by specific research groups. Dinoflagellate cyst of surface sediments represents the accumulation index of pelagic environment in the sea and is a useful index to understand the marine environment efficiently. In conclusion, Korea requires organized human resources and collaborative research on dinoflagellate cyst which in turn should be considered as a component of marine ecosystem and as an essential aspect of marine biology.