• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2B
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• pp.147-154
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• 2011

Physical habitat assessment models based on Instream Flow Incremental Methodology have been developed as a decision making tool to estimate appropriate discharge for environmental flow and water use management. These models, however, require extensive knowledge on various academic disciplines, complicated input data, and empirical data. We propose a Simplified Habitat (SIMHAB) simulation model for the estimation of physical structure of fish habitat and environmental flow at the planning stage. SIMHAB is applied to a river system for which physical and ecological data are available, and its applicability is investigated. Simulated results appeared to be similar to field survey data and those of such models as PHABSIM and River2D. However, SIMHAB requires much less input data. As such, the proposed model, SIMHAB can easily be applicable to river restoration projects including designing of physical habitat, estimation of environmental flow, and water resource management.

• 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.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.179-190
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• 2019

In this study, a fish survey was conducted to investigate the habitat status of black shinner (Pseudopungtungia nigra) designated as endangered species level from the lower part of Yongdam Dam to the upper part of Daecheong Dam. Biodiversity analysis was performed on the basis of the number of fish emerged, and biological health and physical habitat environment were quantitatively analyzed using collected P. nigra. According to the survey, the habitat range of P. nigra was found from Banguri-myeon, Buri-myeon, Geumsan-gun, downstream of Yongdam Dam. The biodiversity analysis results of all species appeared to be low in overall dominance index and relatively high in species diversity and uniformity index. In addition, P. nigra collected in this study was confirmed to have normal growth and nutritional status by the full-length-weighted relativities and condition factor. The physical habitat environment of P. nigra was 0.3 - 0.6 m in depth, 0.3 - 0.7 m/s in flow rate, and bed materials showed high frequency of occurrence in the range of cobbles (64.0 - 256.0 mm) to boulders (>256.0 mm). These results are expected to be used as data for habitat restoration and management in the future as basic data on the spatial range and preferred physical habitat environment of P. nigra in Geumgang.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to provide essential data necessary to assess ecological flow requirements by understanding habitat conditions for fish species through monitoring an ecological environment in the Korea stream (Dal Stream) and building related database. On-site surveys were conducted for identifying ecological and habitat conditions at the four monitoring sites. Fish sampling was carried out at the selected four sites (St.) during the period ranging from September, 2008 to September, 2009. At the four sampling sites, we measured water surface elevation, depth and velocity at the cross-sections. Optimal Ecological Flowrates (OEFs) were estimated using the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) established for four fish species Zacco koreanus (St.1), Pungtungia herzi (St.2), Coreoleuciscus splendidus (St.3), and Zacco platypus (St.4) selected as icon species using the Physical HABitat SIMulation system (PHABSIM). Eighteen species (56.3%) including Odontobutis interrupta, Coreoperca herzi and C. splendidus were found endemic out of the 32 species in eight families sampled during this study period. The endangered species was collected Acheilognathus signifier, Pseudopungtungia tenuicorpa and Gobiobotia macrocephala, and this relative abundance was 9.4%. The most frequently found one was Z. platypus (31.3%) followed by C. splendidus (17.6%) and Z. koreanus (15.7%). The estimated IBI values ranged from 27.3 to 34.3 with average being 30.3 out of 50, rendering the site ecologically poor to fair health conditions. For C. splendidus (St.3), the dominant fish species in the stream, the favored habitat conditions were estimated to be 0.3-0.5 m for water depth, 0.4-0.7 m/s for flow velocity and sand-cobbles for substrate size, respectively. An OEFs of 8.5 m³/s was recommended for the representative fish species at the St.3.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.10-25
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• 2018

This study was conducted to estimate the habitat suitability of 17 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa in the Hwayang stream. Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) of benthic macroinvertebrates from the Hwayang stream was developed based on three physical habitat factors which include current velocity, water depth, and the substrate. The Weibull model was used as a probability density function to analyze the distribution of individual abundance by physical factors. The number of species and the total individual abundance increased along with the increase in current velocity. By means of Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), the relative importance of each factor was determined in the following order: current velocity, water depth, and the mean diameter. The results depicted that, the most influential factor in the growth of benthic macroinvertebrates in the Hwavang system was current velocity. After comparing the analyzed results from the Hwayang stream with the resukts from the Gapyeong stream, the integrated HSI was drawn. The results indicated that current velocity and substrate had similar distributions of HSI in the two streams. This was due to the addition of unmeasured data from previous surveys, or the fact that benthic macroinvertebrates adapted to deeper waters in the Hwayang Stream. Most taxa showed a clear preference for a fast current velocity, deep water depth and coarse substrate except Baetiella, Epeorus, (mayflies), and Hydropsyche (caddisfly).

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2013

The object of this study was to evaluate lotic ecosystem health using multiple eco-metric approaches such as water chemistry diagnosis, physical habitat health evaluations, and biological integrity modeling at 100 streams of four major watersheds. For the study, eight chemical water quality parameters such as nutrients (N, P) and organic material were measured and 11-metric models of Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) and multiple eco-metric health assessment model (MEHA) were applied to the four major watershed. Nutrient analysis of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in all watersheds indicated a eutrophic state depending on the locations of sampling streams. Physical habitat health, based on the QHEI model, averaged 114 (range: 56 - 194), judging as a "good condition" by the criteria of Plafkin et al. (1989). In addition, primary (H1 - H4), secondary (H5 - H7), and tertiary habitat metric variables (H8 - H11) were analyzed in relation to the physical habitat degradations. The plots of tolerant species ($P_{TS}$) and sensitive species ($P_{SS}$) to water quality showed that the proportions of $P_{TS}$ had positive linear functions with nutrients, and that the $P_{SS}$ had inverse linear relations with the chemical variables. The model of eco-metric health assessment showed that mean MEHA was 20.4, indicating a fair condition. Overall, our data suggest that water chemistry, based on nutrients and organic matter, directly modified the trophic structures in relation to food chain in the aquatic ecosystems, and then these directly influenced the compositions of tolerance/sensitive species, resulting in degradations of overall ecological health.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.207-215
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• 2011

In order to establish fundamental data for stream restoration and environmental flow, we investigated physical habitat conditions of Korean chub (Zacco koreanus) in the typical streams of Han River. Field monitoring including fish sampling was conducted from September 2008 to April 2010. A total number of fish caught in the 8 sites was 3,421 representing 8 families 31 species, and 17 species (54.8%) including Korean shinner (Coreoleuciscus splendidus) and Z. koreanus were Korean endemic species during the study period. The most frequently found species in number was pale chub (Z. platypus, 25.7%) followed by Z. koreanus (22.8%) and Microphysogobio longidorsalis (16.8%). Numbers of Z. Koreanus ranged from 8 to 10 cm of total length were the highest in size distribution of their population in all sites. They were widely found in ranges of flow velocity (0.2~0.9 m/sec, 89.6%), water depth (0.3~0.9 m, 91.6%), and different types of substrates except for silt, and they tended to prefer run (58.1%) and riffle (33.7%) with cobble bed (47.0%) microhabitat. Most of upper streams in Korea consist of riffles and runs that are repeatedly followed by another one. However, stream channelization and leveling have caused reduction of habitat diversity. Therefore, it is necessary to make an effort on stream rehabilitation with evaluation of physical habitat condition by indicator species in order to maintain biodiversity and perform ecological restoration.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.52 no.spc2
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• pp.823-833
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• 2019

This study presents the impact of natural flow patterns on downstream fish habitat and economic outcomes in the Dal Stream, Korea. The study reach is 3.35 km long, located downstream form the Goesan Dam. To assess such impact, this study performed physical habitat simulations. The River2D model was used for the computation of the flow and the HSI model for the habitat simulation. Two physical habitat variables, flow depth and velocity, were used. The Zacco platypus, Zacco temminckii, Coreoleuciscus splendidus, and Opsariichthys bidens were selected as the target species in the study area. Using the building block approach (BBA), the scenarios for the hydropeaking mitigation were presented. Scenario 1 and scenario 2 were proposed by using the magnitude - duration concept and averaged the hydrologic data over the each month, respectively. Simulation results indicated that the scenarios effects significantly increased by about 18.6% for the weighted usable area (WUA). In addition, hydroelectric power benefits with both scenarios were investigated. It was revealed that the change of storing and releasing water decreased by about 27% for hydroelectric power benefits. In order to increase economic benefits, the scenario was modified with the discharges corresponding to the hydropeaking condition except the flood season. As a result, the hydroelectric power benefits were almost the same, however the aquatic habitat for the target species increased by about 5%. The change of dam re-operations through natural flow patterns provides an opportunity to minimize environmental and economic benefits in order to balance water management.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.311-325
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• 2017

Habitat suitability index (HSI) of 17 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa, which were lotic insects of generic category except Potamanthidae in mayfly, was developed for three physical habitat factors (current velocity, water depth and substrate) based on an ecological monitoring in a Korean stream (Gapyeong). Weibull model was used as a probability density function to analyze the distribution of individual abundance related with physical factors, which showed it was so available. Number of species and total individual abundance increased along with the increase of current velocity and the mean diameter of substrate, and decreased along with the increase of water depth. Most taxa showed a clear preference for a fast current velocity, shallow water depth and coarse substrate except Ephemera, Potamanthidae (mayfly), and Plectrocnemia (caddisfly) which were rheophobic, potamophilic and lithophobious. Based on the canonical correspondence analysis, the relative importance of each factor was determined as follows: current velocity > substrate > water depth.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2020

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of the restoration of the restoration technique on fish habitat using a physical habitat simulation in the Wonju-cheon Stream, Korea. The target species were Pungtungia herzi, Zacco platypus, and Zacco Koreanus, a dominant and sub-dominant species in the Wonju-cheon Stream. The River2D model was used for the computation of the flow and the habitat suitability index model was used to estimate the quality and quantity of habitat using habitat suitability curve. To assess the impact of pool-riffle sequence on change of fish habitat, this present study conducted using the each representative distance, namely, 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, and 300 m. Simulation results indicated that the pool-reffle sequence significantly increased the habitats for the target species than the result without considering pool-riffle sequence. On average, 53% of the Weighted Usable Area (WUA) increased due to pool-riffle sequence in the study area.