• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.219-228
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• 2015

To secure water resources, dams are normally constructed on the upper - middle part of streams, and it generates physical disturbances such as habitat alteration and stream fragmentation. Such construction can restrict movement of aquatic organisms, especially for freshwater fish which is one of top predator in aquatic ecosystem, and cause genetic fragmentation and community change. In this study, to investigate impact of habitat alteration after dam construction on freshwater fish, we monitored fish community changes, and compared fish fauna between dam reservoir and inflows. Additionally, movement characteristics and habitat boundaries of four species were identified by radio telemetry method. The study was conducted in the Gunwi Dam which was constructed in December 2010. Radio telemetry was applied to Pungtungia herzi, Zacco platypus (living lotic and lentic), Silurus asotus (lentic preferred species) and Zacco koreanus (lotic preferred species). The number of species was remarkably decreased (4 family, 10 species) comparing with before the dam construction (7 family, 15 species). Specifically, Coreoleuciscus splendidus, Niwaella multifasciata, Liobagrus mediadiposalis, Coreoperca herzi and Odontobutis platycephala that inhabit in the lotic environment were not collected in the study area. A total of 8 species were caught in both the dam reservoir and tributaries except 2 species (C. auratus and S. asotus). Sorenson's similarity between the reservoir and its tributaries was high (0.842). All of the radio tagged species stayed in the reservoir except S. asotus which moved to the tributary. These species mainly utilized the shallow littoral zone as a habitat. These results could be useful as a baseline data for efficient management of fishes in lakes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.101-114
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• 2012

The physico-chemical characteristics including water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen(DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), chlorophyll-a(Chl. a), suspended particulate matter(SPM) and dissolved inorganic nutrients were investigated in the Garolim Bay, Yellow Sea, Korea in 2010 carried out six times per year at 11 fixed stations by Korea Fisheries Research & Development Institute. The water temperature, salinity, COD, dissolved inorganic nutrients, Chl. a and SPM showed significant difference between surface and bottom water but the other parameters didn't. There were not significant difference between stations. The water temperature showed typical change patterns of the temperate seawater. The annual average of salinity showed more than 31 so that there could not have occurred low saline water. The average of DO from June to August showed over than 3mg/L which showed higher than the below standard value of the hypoxic (oxygen-deficient) water. The average of Chl. a varied $1.68{\mu}g/L$ at surface, $2.38{\mu}g/L$ at bottom layer in June and $1.68{\mu}g/L$ at surface, $1.57{\mu}g/L$ at bottom layer at August. The dissolved inorganic nutrients showed high concentration in February and low concentration in August due to the limitation of the freshwater input in summer and phytoplankton used to the dissolved inorganic nutrients. The ratio of DIN/DIP showed 30.52 at surface and 37.89 at bottom layer in June which was higher than other month. The SPM was 44.15mg/L at bottom layer in February which was the highest value in this study due to the northwest monsoon. Because of the actively water change in the open sea without inflow of freshwater from land in Garolom Bay, there were not occurred low saline water and hypoxic water. thus, this Bay showed good water quality and required to be conserved continuously as important costal area for fisheries.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2022

Fish assemblage of total 325 of Korean peninsula estuaries were surveyed to analyze the characteristics of community structure and diversity by sea areas for three years from 2016 to 2018. The scale (stream width) of Korean estuaries were various (14~3,356 m), and 68.9% of all estuaries showed salinity of less than 2 psu. Total 149 species classified into 52 families of fish were identified, and the dominant and sub-dominant species were Tribolodon hakonensis (relative abundance, RA, 12.5%) and Mugil cephalus (RA, 9.5%), respectively. The estuary of the Korean Peninsula had different physical and chemical habitat environments depending on the sea area, and accordingly, fish community structure also showed statistically significant differences (PERMANOVA, Pseudo-F=26.69, P=0.001). In addition, the NMDS (nonmetric multidimensional scaling) results showed the patterns that indicating fish community difference by sea areas, even though low community similarity within sea area (SIMPER, 21.79~26.39%). The estuaries of east sea areas were distinguished from the others in the aspects of which, the higher importance of migratory fishes and endangered species, and that of brackish species were characterized at south sea estuaries. However, the estuaries of west sea showed higher importance of species that have a relation with freshwater (primary freshwater species, exotic species), which is the result that associating with the lower salinity of west sea estuaries because of the high ratio of closed estuaries(78.2%). The SIMPER analysis, scoring the contribution rates of species to community similarity, also showed results corresponding to the tendency of different fish community structures according to each sea area. So far, In Korea, most studies on fish communities in estuaries have been conducted in a single estuary unit, which made it difficult to understand the characteristics of estuaries at the national level, which are prerequisite for policy establishment. In present study, we are providing fish community structure characteristics of Korean estuaries in a national scale, including diversity index, habitat salinity ranges of major species, distribution of migratory species. We are expecting that our results could be utilized as baseline information for establishing management policies or further study of Korean estuaries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.587-597
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• 2023

We evaluated the eutrophication of Saemangeum Lake, which causes abnormal growth of algae, using the Carlson index. Eutrophication characteristics of Saemangeum Lake were analyzed. For the study, water quality surveys were conducted at 7 stations in Saemangeum Lake every month in 2021. The concentration of Chl.a was slightly higher in the Mankyeong water system in winter, and slightly higher in the Dongjin water system in spring and summer, but overall, except for some periods, the concentration was similar to or lower than the lake water quality environmental standard of class 3. COD showed water quality similar to or above the lake quality environmental standard of grade 4 in both the Mankyeong and Dongjin water systems in the summer and Autumn. TOC concentrations were within lake water quality standard 3 at all sites. Total phosphorus concentrations exceeded the lake water quality standard of Class 4 and were higher in January and August after rainfall. In the correlation analysis between water quality factors, the correlation of organic matter, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen to salinity was relatively high. This reflected the water quality characteristics of freshwater, brackish water, and seawater areas due to seawater inflow through the drainage gate and freshwater inflow through upstream rivers. According to the characteristics of eutrophication fluctuations in Saemangeum Lake by trophic state index, the indices of Chl.a, SD, and TN showed water quality in the early stage of eutrophication, while the TP index showed a severe eutrophication state. The magnitude of the eutrophication index among water quality components was TSI(TP) > TSI(TN) > TSI(SD) > TSI(CHL) in all water systems. Quadrant analysis of the deviation of TSI(CHL) from TSI(TP) and TSI(SD) on a two-dimensional plane showed that there was no limiting effect of total phosphorus on algal growth in all water systems. In addition, the factors af ecting light attenuation appeared to be dominated by small particulate matter from outside sources.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2009

In order to investigate spatial and temporal distributional characteristics of major water qualities in the Saemangeum area during the Saemangeum dike construction, salinity, COD, dissolved nutrients(DIN, Silicate) and heavy metals were analyzed from the surface water collected in April, May, August and November 2002. The overall value of Salinity, COD, DIN, and silicate in surface waters were in the range of $13.08{\sim}31.96\;psu$, $0.12{\sim}3.43\;mg/L$, $0.001{\sim}2.638\;mg/L$, and $0.010{\sim}3.181\;mg/L$, respectively. The COD and DIN in each survey showed the highest concentration at the mouth of Mangyeong river estuary(St. 1) where freshwater flow into the Saemangeum area. The concentrations of nutrients were high in the inner part of the Saemangeum dike with low-salinity, and low nutrients in the outer part of the dike with high-salinity, which strongly indicated that concentrations were adjusted by physical mixing. The ranges of dissolved metals and acid-soluble Hg in surface seawater were $0.006{\sim}0.115{\mu}g/L$ for Co, $0.26{\sim}0.114{\mu}g/L$ for Ni, $0.14{\sim}0.93{\mu}g/L$ for Cu, $0.04{\sim}0.53{\mu}g/L$ for Zn, $0.010{\sim}0.043{\mu}g/L$ for Cd, $0.010{\sim}0.795{\mu}g/L$ for Pb, and $0.25{\sim}4.16{\mu}g/L$ for Hg. The highest concentrations of some metals except for Cd were found at the estuary(Sts. 1 or 3). In most cases, a decreasing order of metal concentrations towards open sea(low-salinity$\rightarrow$high-salinity) was observed and showed positive relationship with DIN and silicate caused by land base pollutants input. On the other hand, due to Cd desorption from suspended solids in saline water, dissolved Cd concentrations were high in high-salinity area and low in low-salinity. In November, Co, Zn, Cu and Pb were relatively high in the northern area of the outer-side of Saemangeum, which was only influenced by the Geum river discharge. The concentrations of most dissolved metals of this study were lower than those of the past data in this area, but higher than those in Lena river estuary under the pristine environment.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.398-409
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• 2018

Organic farming practices including loach based ecosystem-farming have been demonstrated to be effective in conjunction with rice farming to increase yield and quality. This new form of farming combines agriculture and fishery and is quickly developing into a new industry. The current study investigated the effect of rice-fish mixed farming system on the vegetation-diversity function. Vegetation within the four study sites was surveyed and analyzed based on plant taxonomy. The vegetation survey demonstrated that 127 taxa of 38 families, 100 genera, 107 species, and 20 varieties occurred within the study sites. A total of 15 plant species taxa occurred in the rice-fish mixed paddy fields with a fish habitat and did not occur in the conventional paddy field lacking fish habitat. This difference is thought to arise from differences in moisture requirements for vegetation. Life form analysis demonstrated differences in hemicryptophytes, therophytes, and hydrophytes according to fish habitat. The naturalized plants identified were also determined to be species widely distributed throughout Korea. Frequency analysis demonstrated that the rice-fish mixed paddy fields with a fish habitat had a high ratio of both obligate and facultative wetland plants relative to the conventional paddy field. Based on the study results, it is likely that vegetation-diversity will increase with environment diversity. However, no statistical significance was observed according to paddy types. Future research should aim to identify additional environmental factors, including the existence of fish habitat, habitat area, depth of fish habitat, hydrological parameters, water quality, and paddy soil environment, to enhance vegetation-diversity and biocultural diversity.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.4 s.105
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• pp.403-412
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• 2003

Temporal and spatial variations of size-structured phytoplankton (chlorophyll a) were investigated over an annual cycle (February-October, 2003) to elucidate phytoplankton dynamics in the Juam Reservoir, Chonnam. Physical properties were also measured to investigate the relationship between the properties and temporal and spatial variations of size structured phytoplankton using simple linear regression. Phytoplankton (chlorophyll a) were grouped into three size classes: micro-size(> 20 ${\mu}m$), nano-size (3-20 ${\mu}m$) and pico-size (< 3 ${\mu}m$) in this study. Physical properties included water temperature, light attenuation coefficients, PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) and turbidity. Maximum chlorophyll a was observed in April, 2003 in the lower region whereas a peak of chlorophyll a developed in October, 2003 in the upper region. Large cell-sized phytoplankton (micro-size class)were dominant in the events of the chlorophyll a peaks. Potential mechanisms in the physical properties affecting the size-structured phytoplankton dynamics in the Juam Reservoir were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.4 s.105
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• pp.434-446
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• 2003

The fate and transport of many trace metals, metalloids, and radionuclides in porous media is closely linked to the biogeochemical reactions that occur as a result of organic carbon being sequentially degraded by different microorganisms using a series of terminal electron acceptors. The spatial distribution of these biogeochemical reactions is affected by processes that are often unique and/or characteristic to a specific environment. Generic model formulations have been developed and applied to simulate the fate and transport of arsenic in two hydrologic settings, permanently flooded freshwater sediments, namely non-vegetated wetland sediments and vegetated wetland sediments. The key physical processes that have been considered are sedimentation, effects of roots on biogeochemistry, advective transport, and differences in mixing processes. Steady-state formulations were applied to the sedimentary environments. Results of numerical simulations show that these physical processes significantly affect the chemical profiles of different electron acceptors, their reduced species, and arsenate as well as arsenite that will result from the degradation of an organic carbon source in the sediments. Even though specific biological transformations are allowed to proceed only in zones where they are thermodynamically favorable, the results show that mixing as well as abiotic reactions can make the profiles of individual electron acceptors overlap and/or appear to reverse their expected order.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.970-976
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• 2016

Determining age structure of the population of an endangered species is critical because it could provide basic information about population dynamics. In this study, we assessed the possibility if the growth lines on dorsal scutes of the national monument as well as endangered Reeves' turtle (Mauremys reevesii) can reliably estimate actual ages of the 100 turtles of which actual ages were known and have been housed in Seoul Zoo. We counted the number of growth lines on the first four dorsal scutes and the first left and right lateral scutes of each turtle and compared those with their known actual ages. Ages estimated by the growth lines were overestimated at between 1 and 5 actual ages, but underestimated at between 6 and 9 actual ages, indicating that age estimation using growth lines is only partially applicable at actual ages of less than 6 years old. In addition, using length and width of turtle's dorsal plates, we produced growth curves with equations to estimate actual ages of females combined with juveniles, but its application to estimate actual ages was not reliably possible because all subject turtles which used were at relatively young ages. In conclusion, when estimating actual ages of Reeves' turtles using the number of growth lines on the dorsal scutes, it is recommend to use minimum values at less than 6 lines, but use maximum values at more than 7 lines. As the first study which estimated actual ages of a turtle species using growth lines on the dorsal scutes in Korea, our results could be useful to estimate ages of the endangered Reeve's turtles in the field although its application might be limited.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.369-375
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• 2016

This survey was conducted during March to April 2014 in the main stream and tributaries of Xe Pian and Xe Namnoy in order to investigate fish fauna in the Bolaven Plateau. Fish belonging to twenty eight species and eight families were collected from the main stream and tributaries of Xe Namnoy and Xe Pian during the survey period. Among them, Devario salmonatus, Poropuntius bolovenensis, Annamia sp., Sewellia elongata, Schistura bolavenensis, Schistura sp.1, Schistura sp.2, Schistura sp.3, Schistura sp.4, and Macronathus sp. were endemic species in the Bolaven Plateau, indicating a high prevalence rate of endemic species (35.7%) in the area. Meanwhile, Kottelat (2000, 2013) has been reported that four species of Poropuntius inhabit the Bolaven Plateau. However, the major morphic characteristics of Poropuntius species found in the Bolaven Plateau were mostly overlapped, except for the shape of their mouth. The young fish of Poropuntius (> 70 mm SL) have only generalized mouth while the of adult fish the shape of their mouth have two phenotype (narrow and broad). Therefore, it is assumed that Poropuntius species in the Bolaven Plateau has trophic polymorphism as the same species exhibits two different mouth shapes.