• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.285-293
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• 2016

This study conducted the evaluations of stable channel and physical disturbance improvement for optimal construction of river structures by focusing on Wonju River. A stable slope was analyzed sectionally for stable channel design, and in order to satisfy the stable slope, river structure improvement scenarios were deduced. Accordingly, through physical disturbance improvement evaluation for each scenario, the study extracted the optimal scenario for stable channel design and physical disturbance improvements. The changes in physical habitat were analyzed when river structure improvements were made for stable channel design and physical disturbance improvement. Zacco koreanus, an indicator fish of the soundness of the aquatic ecosystem, was selected as a restoration target species by investigating the community characteristics of fish fauna and river environments in the Wonju River. The habitat suitability was investigated by the PHABSIM model with the habitat suitability index of Zacco koreanus. The results of the prediction evaluation showed a slight decrease in habitat suitability and weighted usable area. However, it was not influenced by the improvements in the river structure. The study suggested river structure arrangement methods that can improve physical soundness and safety of Wonju River, and confirmed that there were no effects to the changes in the physical habitat.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.124-134
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• 2018

We analyzed research topics, temporal distribution of field sites, and researcher network of 1,508 limnology publications in the Korean Journal of Limnology (1968~2012) and the Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment (2013~2017). We found that water quality and sediment, phytoplankton, invertebrates, and fish were major subjects during the study periods. Survey of flora and fauna and physiological experiment of freshwater species were the largest subjects during 1970~80s, while other subjects including production, behavior, modeling, and ecological assessment have been rapidly increased since the 1990s. Most of the biological taxa equally studied lotic and lentic system, however, invertebrates and fish related studies more focused on the lotic system. Spatially, the field site of Korean limnology studies was found to be concentrated in main river channels runs through urban areas and artificial lakes than preserved natural areas. Freshwater system, located at the elevation range of 301~400 m (upstream of main channels), had the lowest number of field sites. Collaboration among researchers and different institution types have been steadily increased and expanded as the number of publications increased.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 2021

According to the character states of nostrils in the Barbatula species comprising 1,366 specimens collected from the major river system in Korea, distribution pattern of the two Korean Barbatula species was reviewed. The taxonomic character related to nostrils in Barbatula was very stable and two character states (widely separated and closely set) were observed in the present materials. B. toni (Dybowski, 1869) with widely separated nostrils distributes in the streams flowing into the East Sea north of Sokcho, Gangwon-do Province; Eogokcheon Stream, a tributary of Namhangang River; and Anseongcheon Stream, Gyeonggi-do Province, whereas B. nuda (Bleeker, 1864) with closely set occurs in most rivers flowing into the Yellow Sea including Nakdonggang River as well as in the Yangyangnamdaecheon Stream, Gangwon-do Province south to Bangyulcheon Stream, Gyeongbukdo Province, flowing into the East Sea as previously reported with some exception. Especially, both Barbatula species were co-occurred in the Yeongokcheon Stream, Gangwon-do Province and Eogokcheon Stream. The present results will provide a useful guide to study the regional fish fauna or fish community analysis as well as to clarify the taxonomical status of the Korean Barbatula species.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.874-887
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• 2016

We surveyed bimonthly from April to October 2015 to understand the fish fauna and community structure in Wangpicheon. The collected species during the survey period were 40 species belonging to 15 families. Dominant species by number were Zacco koreanus (31.3%) and Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (14.7%). In biomass, the dominant species were Z. koreanus (29.2%) and Coreoperca herzi (8.6%). Also, nine endemic species (22.5%) including Squalidus multimaculatus and two endangered species (Lethenteron reissneri, Cottus koreanus) were identified. It was identified one introduced species (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from foreign countries for aquaculture. Compared with previous data, nine species were newly identified including L. reissneri, S. gracilis majimae, Pseudobagrus fulvidraco, O. mykiss, Chelon haematocheilus, Siniperca scherzeri, Acanthogobius lactipes, Luciogobius guttatus and Channa argus. Seven species (Rhodeus ocellatus, S. gracilis majimae, Hemibarbus longirostris, Pseudogobio esocinus, Microphysogobio yaluensis, Hemiculter eigenmanni and Cobitis hankugensis) introduced from other native waters in Korea were estimated. According to the analysis of the habitat characteristics of major migratory species (Tribolodon hakonensis, O. keta and Plecoglossus altivelis), O. keta was observed at station 11 and T. hakonensis at station 7, 10 and 11. These fishes have been mainly identified in the downstream. However P. altivelis was widely distributed from station 3 to 11. In the comparison of average standard length of P. altivelis at each station during the same period, populations collected from station 3 and 5 which are mid-upper area of the stream were $125.8{\pm}34.2mm$. Their growth was good compared with those collected from station 8 and 11 (mid-lower area): $80.2{\pm}16.6mm$. This difference in length comes from the artificial structures including weir, thus it is necessary to create a fishway that enables P. altivelis to pass around barriers for free movement and resource management.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.94-111
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• 2023

In order to establish an effective management strategy for invasive species early detection and regular monitoring are required to assess their introduction or dispersal. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is actively applied to evaluate the fauna including the presence of invasive species as it has high detection sensitivity and can detect multiple species simultaneously. In Korea, the applicability evaluation of metabarcoding is being conducted mainly on fish, and research on other taxa is insufficient. Therefore, this study identified the feasibility of detecting invasive species in Korea using eDNA metabarcoding. In addition, to confirm the possibility of detection by taxa, the detection of target species was evaluated using four universal primers (MiFish, MiMammal, Mibird, Amp16S) designed for fish, mammals, birds, and amphibians. As a result, target species (Trachemys scripta, 3 sites; Cervus nippon, 3 sites; Micropterus salmoides, 7 sites; Rana catesbeiana, 4 sites) were detected in 17 of the total 55 sites. Even in the selection of dense sampling sites within the study area, there was a difference in the detection result by reflecting the ecological characteristics of the target species. A comparison of community structures (species richness, abundance and diversity) based on the presence of invasive species focused on M.salmoides and T.scripta, showed higher diversity at the point where invasive species were detected. Also, 1 to 4 more species were detected and abundance was also up to 1.7 times higher. The results of invasive species detection through metabarcoding and the comparison of community structures indicate that the accumulation of large amounts of monitoring data through eDNA can be efficiently utilized for multidimensional ecosystem evaluation. In addition, it suggested that eDNA can be used as major data for evaluation and prediction, such as tracking biological changes caused by artificial and natural factors and environmental impact assessment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.779-793
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• 2023

Intensive and long-term aquaculture activities in Korea have generated considerable amounts of organic matter, deteriorating the sedimentary environment and ecosystem. The Korean government enacted the Fishery Management Act to preserve and manage the environment of fish farms. Based on this, a fisheries environment assessment has been conducted on fish cage farms since 2014, necessitating the development of a scientific and objective evaluation method suitable for the domestic environment. Therefore, a benthic health index (BHI) was developed using the relationship between benthic polychaete communities and organic matter, a major source of pollution in fish farms. In this study, the development process and calculation method of the BHI have been introduced. The BHI was calculated by classifying 225 species of polychaetes appearing in domestic coastal and aquaculture areas into four groups by linking the concentration gradient of the total organic carbon in the sediment and the distributional characteristics of each species and assigning differential weights to each group. Using BHI, the benthic fauna communities were assigned to one of the four ecological classes (Grade 1: Normal, Grade 2: Slightly polluted, Grade 3: Moderately polluted, and Grade 4: Heavily polluted). The application of the developed index in the field enabled effective evaluation of the Korean environment, being relatively more accurate and less affected by the season compared with the existing evaluation methods like the diversity index or AZTI's Marine Biotic Index developed overseas. In addition, using BHI will be useful in the environmental management of fish farms, as the environment can be graded in quantified figures.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.163-172
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• 2007

In this study, fish fauna and stream characteristics were surveyed during October-November 2003 in 31 small streams, which are small sub-tributaries of Geum River. The small streams were classified into 4 types of steep mountainous (SM), mountainous-flatland (MF), flat land (FL), and agricultural watercourse (AW) streams, and their types were categorized by features of stream width, water depth, bottom substrate, riparian vegetation, and landuse patterns. The fishes collected during this survey were identified 4 families and 8 species. Dominant family was Cyprinidae, and the most dominant species was Rhynchocypris oxycephalus with 73% (419 individuals) of the total. Only one species of R. oxycephalus was observed in the all five steep mountainous streams, which was surrounded by 100% forest area and had no point-and non-point pollution sources. The observed frequency of R. oxycephalus (as a relative proportion of species) showed a significant positive correlation (r=0.754, p<0.001, n=31) with the substrate composition of bedrock and boulder, indicating that the species prefer the bedrock and boulder rather than the sand or small pebble. Evidently, all five steep mountainous streams were judged as excellent condition (1st rank) according to the criteria of biological water quality, the Ministry of Environment, Korea. This result was accord with a general tendency of the species in most upper stream of the Koreas streams. One family and one species were found at the steep mountainous types and 4 families 6 species were at the mountainous-flatland. Four families 8 species were found at the flat land, which showed most diverse habitat, and 2 families 2 species were collected agricultural watercourse. These study results of 1st-order streams suggest that R. oxycephalus was considered as one of 1st rank ecological indicator species, and that the dominant area should be protected from various pollutions and disturbances.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.530-542
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• 2020

This study surveyed the central mountain area of Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from March to October 2018 to reveal the appearance patterns of freshwater fish. We collected 7,744 individuals of 43 species in 12 families with skimming nets and cast nets in 12 stations during the survey. The dominant species was Zacco koreanus (30.3%), and the subdominant species was Z. platypus (18.5%), followed by Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (10.0%), R. steindachneri (6.7%), Microphysogobio yaluensis (5.9%), Acheilognathus signifer (4.5%), Pungtungia herzi (4.2%), and Orthrias nudus (2.6%). Among the collected species, four were legally protected. They included Hemibarbus mylodon, which was a natural monument, and Lethenteron reissneri, A. signifer, and Pseudopungtungia tenuicorpa, which were class II endangered wildlife designated by the Ministry of Environment. Twenty Korean endemic species (46.5%) and one exotic species, Micropterus salmoides, were also collected. Additionally, three climate-change sensitive species, R. kumgangensis, Ladislavia taczanowskii, and Cottus koreanus, and three landlocked species, L. reissneri, C. koreanus, and Rhinogobius brunneus appeared. The dominant species in each station were Z. koreanus (15 stations), Z. platypus (four stations), R. oxycephalus (four stations), and C. koreanus (one station). The species dominance index decreased from upstream to downstream (mainstream of Gimhwanamdae Stream), while the species diversity index and the species richness index increased. The community structure of the rivers was divided into the uppermost stream, upper stream, Han River, and Imjin River. Compared to antecedent surveys, this study collected the highest number of species. Two new species (Sarcocheilichthys variegatus wakiyae and Micropterus salmoides) were caught, while six species (Siniperca scherzeri, Leiocassis ussuriensis, Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis, Rhodeus ocellatus, Abbottina springeri, Aphyocypris chinensis) did not appear. Gimhwanamdaecheon Stream has high biological value with the inhabitation of many species, including species under legal protection and high diversity and richness index scores. This paper also discussed a protection plan for this area.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.537-548
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the species composition and the aquatic environment of Jojong Stream and Sudong Stream, which were the original habitats of Zacco koreanus population and restored population re-introduced in Bongseonsa Stream. It also compared and analyzed the states of the growth and reproductive ability of Z. koreanus habiting in each of the three streams. The investigation was conducted in June 2016 which was known as the spawning season of Z. koreanus. The results of the physical aquatic environments showed the slight differences in altitude, width and depth of water among three streams, but the bottom structure was found to be quite different in the composition of the boulder, cobble, and pebble among the streams. The result of the physicochemical aquatic environment analysis showed that there were no significant differences in water temperature, pH, DO, BOD, and EC among the three stream. In the fish fauna investigation, 530 individuals of 11 species of 3 families were collected in Bongseonsa Stream, 293 individuals of 12 species of 4 families were collected in Jojong Stream, and 361 individuals of 11 species of 4 families were collected in Sudong Stream. All three streams were dominated by Z. koreanus and Z. platypus. Six Korean endemic species appeared in each of the three streams, showing the high occurrence rate of indigenous species of 50.0% or more. The aggregation index analysis revealed that the mean dominance index ranged from 0.63 (${\pm}0.05$, BS) to 0.72(${\pm}0.01$, JJ), mean diversity index from 1.55 (${\pm}0.06$, JJ) to 1.78 (${\pm}0.11$, BS), mean evenness index from 0.71 (${\pm}0.03$, JJ) to 0.76 (${\pm}0.02$, BS), and mean richness index from 1.61 (${\pm}0.33$, JJ) to 1.73 (${\pm}0.24$, SD). The result indicated that the observed differences between the stream community indices were statistically nonsignificant. The similarity analysis showed that 75.4% similarity was divided into two groups of A and B and that the fish fauna on each analyzed point was similar. The quantitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI) analysis showed that the average value of QHEI was 151.0 (${\pm}46.0$), which means that it was a suboptimal habitat environment. The result of length-weight analysis of Z. koreanus populations showed that the regression coefficient b of the restoration population and the original habitat population were at 3.0 or higher while the condition factor had a positive slope. Moreover, it was found that the slopes of the regression coefficient b and condition factor of the original habitat population were larger than the restored population. The analysis of the length frequency distribution of the Z. koreanus population revealed that all three streams maintained the stable life cycle although it was found that the growth rate of the original habitat population was faster than the restored population in the one-year-old class. The result of the gonadosomatic index (GSI) analysis showed that the GSI median value of the Z. koreanus population in the restored habitat Bongseonsa Stream was higher than the population in the original habitat Jojong Stream and Sudong Stream for both of males and females.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.833-843
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• 2020

Ecohydraulics is a newly born discipline in the early 1990s by the interdisciplinary approach combined with aquatic ecology in one discipline and geomorphology, hydrology, and fluid hydrodynamics in another. Major areas of ecohydraulics can be delineated as habitat hydraulics (including environmental flow), vegetation hydraulics, eco-corridor hydraulics, eutrophication hydraulics, and ecological restoration hydraulics. Reviews of relevant international journals and literature reveal that ecohydraulics has remained in the limited areas of fish response, hydraulic modeling, and physical habitat response. It has not reached a truly interdisciplinary stage. Literature reviews in Korea reveal that only 3% of the total number of the papers listed in the Journal of KWRA during the last 24 years is related to ecohydraulics. It is about 20% of the total listed in the Journal of Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure. Most of those related to ecohydraulics in Korea concern vegetation hydraulics, habitat hydraulics, and ecological restoration hydraulics. In contrast, dynamic flow modeling areas, including turbulence, fauna motion simulation, and eutrophication hydraulics, are not found. Areas of further research in ecohydraulics in Korea may be specified as follows: 1) environmental flows adapted to the traits of the rivers in Korea, 2) development of the dynamic floodplain vegetation models (DFVM) to assess the changes from the white river to green river, 3) development of the eutrophication hydraulic model to predict the freshwater algal blooms, and 4) development of the models to evaluate the physical, chemical, and biological impacts of the stream restoration, decommissioning and removal of old weirs or small dams.