• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.515-529
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• 2020

Constructed wetlands undergo biological and physical changes such as an increase in the proportion of arid plants due to the natural succession process after formation. It can adversely affect not only the purification function but also the habitat of species. As such, this study aims to identify environmental factors affecting biodiversity and propose management plans based on the monitoring results of physical environmental changes and the emergence of species in seven constructed wetlands selected based on the water depth and surrounding conditions among the lands purchased by the Nakdong River basin. We examined the environmental conditions and emergence of the Odonata, which is a wetland-dependent species, to predict the trend of changes in biodiversity and abundance. The results showed that the open water area decreased as the emergent plants spread to the deep water in 2015 compared to 2012 when they were initially restored to a depth of 0.2 to 1 m. While a total of 54 dragonfly species were observed, the habitat diversity, such as vegetation, water surface, and grassland, remained similar to the initial formation of the wetlands despite the expansion of the emergent plants. On the other hand, the number of Agrionidae species, which prefer areas with fewer aquatic plants, decreased between 2012 and 2015 due to the diminished water surface. The p-values of the differences in the number of species and population between wetlands by year were 2.568e-09 and 1.162e-08, respectively, indicating the statistically significant differences. The decrease in open water surface was found to have the greatest effect on the biodiversity and habitat density of dragonflies. The time-series survey of constructed wetlands confirmed that the spread of Phragmites communis, P. japonica, Typha orientalis, etc., caused a decrease in species diversity. It suggests that environmental management to maintain the open water surface area is necessary.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.525-538
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to analyze the habitat status and species diversity of benthic diatoms and estimate the applicability of TDI (Trophic Diatom Index) to obtain the basic data for the identification and management of created wetlands in the Nakdong River. We observed a total of 38 families and 173 species of benthic diatom during the survey period, and spring and autumn showed a similar number of species of 156 and 154, respectively. The result of the SOM (Self-Organizing Map) analysis showed that the distribution of benthic diatom was sensitive to environmental factors such as nutrient concentration and rainfall in each wetland. The cluster 1 was characterized by the survey sites of autumn mostly and consisted of points of high TDI, although the nutrients such as total phosphorus and total nitrogen were low, and the species number and abundance of diatoms were low. Conversely, cluster 4 was characterized by the survey sites of spring mostly and consisted of points of low TDI, even though total nitrogen was high. Considering that most of the created wetlands had the reduced inflow and outflow, the increased flow rate in the summer lowers nutrient values in autumn, and the species number and abundance of benthic diatom decreases due to the increase of turbidity, which reduces the light penetrations to the substrates. On the contrary, the TDI value is low in spring because the low water level causes insufficient substrate surface to the benthic diatoms, and it is too early for the establishment and development of saprophilous species. Although various studies have used TDI as an indicator for evaluating the habitat environment and water quality, it is not a good evaluation indicator in this study since the nutrient concentration in the wetlands mostly high as they have a low flow rate and are close to the stagnant area. Nevertheless, additional periodic surveys that comprehensively reflect the fact that the summer rainfall and inflow/outflow regulating function might affect the species diversity and distribution of benthic diatoms are necessary.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.87-102
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• 2022

To clarify the spatial distribution pattern of macrozoobenthos in Korean coastal waters in the summer season and investigate the relationship between community structure and benthic environmental factors, field surveys on community structure and benthic environmental factors were conducted at 117 stations in August 2017. A total of 613 macrobenthic species were identified, with the mean density of 1,228 ind./m² and the mean biomass (wet weight) of 110.9 g WW/m². Rich biodiversity was found at stations near Wando and along the coast of the East Sea, and there is a trend that stations with greater biodiversity also showed higher mean density as well. The dominant species in all the coastal areas in Korea was Heteromastus filiformis, which were found at most of the stations during the survey. The relatively deep areas in the East Sea were dominated by Magelona johnsoni and Maldane cristata, which were the third and ninth dominant species in the study areas, respectively. Pseudopolydora kempi and Rhynchospio sp. were observed only at the station located in the Nakdong River estuary. From the cluster analysis the stations could be clustered into three station groups with more similar faunal composition. Group A was located in the eastern coast, characterized with deep water depth and low levels of sand contents, while Group B was located in the southern coast, characterized by shallow depth of water and high content of mud and organic matter. Lastly, Group C was in the western coast, demonstrating low levels of mud content and organic matters. The biodiversity of macrobenthic species in the study area showed high positive correlation coefficients with benthic environmental factors such as sorting, clay, silt, and contents of organic matter in sediments, but negatively correlated with the sand contents. Major dominant species, Theora lata and Eriopisella sechellensis, both showed negative correlation coefficients with the sand contents, but a relatively high positive correlation with the levels of organic contents.It can be concluded that the spatial distribution patterns of macrobenthic organisms in Korean coastal waters are affected by depth, sediment type, and contents of organic matters.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.664-671
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate the environmental impact of the construction of the Yeongju Dam, located near the upper stream of the Nakdong River, on benthic macroinvertebrates. The investigation was conducted four times from 2015 to 2016 and the composition of the benthic macroinvertebrate fauna from the four surveyed sites was compared. After the dam construction, the number of benthic macroinvertebrate species decreased and the species composition ratio of the E.P.T taxa(Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) decreased, which favored the previous environment and the large riverbed structure. However, the species composition ratio of the O.C.H taxa (Odonata, Coleoptera, and Hemiptera), which favored the reservoir environment, increased. For the pattern of changes in the functional habitat groups, the proportion of 'Clinger(CL)' taxa decreased and the 'Burrower(BU), Climber(CB), Sprawler(SP), Swimmer(SW)' taxa increased in all surveys after the dam construction. A cluster stability comparison showed that the 'Stability Group II' species of St.2 and St.3 showed a drastic decrease. The average Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index(BMI) of all the survey sites in 2016 was lower than that in 2015. This research confirmed the temporal and spatial changes in the habitat type and community structure of the benthic macroinvertebrates resulting from the dam construction.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.4 s.100
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• pp.273-284
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• 2002

During January 1998-October 1999, the impact of free-floating plants (FFP) on limnology of the wetland ecosystem was evaluated through the investigation of physicochemical characteristics of the Woopo Wetland along with in situ manipulation experiments of aquatic plants. Flooding events occurred in the wetland during the summer period (Jun.-Aug.) and water levels rose to 2-3 m due to precipitation from the catchment and inflow from the main channel of the Nakdong River. Physicochemical parameters and plankton dynamics in the wetland during the summer were greatly influenced by floods and growth of free-floating plants. Dissolved oxygen (Jun.-Sept., 4.5${\pm}$2.5 mg/1; Oct.-May, 8,1 ${\pm}$4.0 mg/1) and pH (Jun.-Sept., 6.9${\pm}$0.4; Oct.-May,7.4${\pm}$0.8) levels were significantly lower during the summer than any other seasons. Three types of enclosure experiments (100 L, treatments with floating plants, screened and opened) were conducted under the presence and absence of sediment for 15 days in the 1999 summer. The treatments with sediment had higher levels of nutrient concentrations than those of the others. Among the treatments with sediment, nutrient concentrations in the treatments with free-floating plants were higher than the others. Zooplankton communities in each treatment showed a similar variation, although the scale of zooplankton densities differed. Rotifer community dominated the zooplankton at the initial phase of the experiment, but decreased drastically along with an increase of cladoceran and copepod communities. In conclusion, low levels of dissolved oxygen and pH in the Woopo Wetland during the summer seemed to be caused by a proliferation of free-floating plants and active decomposition process at the bottom of the sediment.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.262-266
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• 2016

We investigated the characteristic demographics for visitors to Mujechi bog on Mt. Jungjok, with the purpose of developing a management strategy for the conservation and wise use of the montane wetland. Using daily visitor data from 2007, 2011, and 2015 we extracted and analyzed; visitation date, age, residential areas, purpose of visitation and the time allotted for the visit. The largest age cohort was the decade of the fifties(36.8%/total number of visitors) and followed by the decade of the forties(30.4%). The majority of visitors were from Ulsan(67%), Busan(16.6%), and Yangsan(10.8%). The visitors' primary objectives were to hike Mt. Jungjok(39-64.4%) or view Mujechi bog(18.7-51.8%) during the weekend. People visited more during the weekend than weekdays(F=6.19, p<0.002). In addition, there was a clear seasonality obvious in the monthly visits. The proportion of visitors were present in spring and fall, the month with the highest visitation rate was May at $15.6{\pm}2.8%$($mean{\pm}S.D.$). This increase in May was partly due to the desire to see the Korean azalea in bloom in the spring. Montane bog, like Mujechi, could be highly affected by disturbance(e.g. stamping, sediment inflow) caused by visitors. Therefore, it is suggested, based on the level of visitation that to reduce possible human disturbance effects, that either a seasonal restriction or a yearly alternation of trails be established. Visitors to the wetland should be restricted access to certain areas of the wetland, or be required to go in the accompaniment of a ranger or warden.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.826-832
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• 2007

Unpleasant tastes and odors in drinking water cause same problems for water utilities across Korea. Even though tastes and odors do not create health problems, they are main concerns for consumers who determine the safety of their drinking water. In this study, two different odor producing compounds(geosmin 2-MIB) in the Nakdong river water and rapid sand filtered rater were treated by advanced oxidation of $O_3/H_2O_2$ process. The experimental results showed that the removal efficiency of geosmin with the use of 5 mg/L of $O_3$ and $H_2O_2$ was higher than efficiency with the use of $O_3$ alone for both the raw water and the sand filtered water. And in general, the removal efficiency of geosmin was higher than 2-MIB in the sand filtered water. Under the range of $O_3$ concentration $0.5\sim2.0$ mg/L, the removal rate constants(k) of geosmin for the raw and sand filtered waters, and the one of 2-MIB in the sand filtered water were increased rapidly as doses of $O_3$, and $H_2O_2$, increased. The removal rate constants(k) do not increase any more when $H_2O_2/O_3$ ratio increases above the optimum ratio. The optimum ratio of $H_2O_2/O_3$, dose was $1.0\sim2.0$ for both geosmin and 2-MIB. The removal rate constant(k) becomes lower when OH radical consuming materials are present in raw water. The half-life of geosmin decreased rapidly as the $O_3$ and $H_2O_2$ doses increase in the sand filtered water. The half life decreased about 8.5 times with the use of 2 mg/L of $O_3$ and 10 mg/L of $H_2O_2$ than with the use of 2 mg/L of $O_3$ alone for the sand filtered water.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.183-201
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• 2018

The tolerance of Korean benthic macroinvertebrates to organic pollution has been analyzed since the early 1990s. However, considering the fact that there have been related studies carried out in some European countries since the early 20th century, the history of the research in Korea is very short and there is still much knowledge to supplement. We revised the saprobic valency, the saprobic value and the indicator weight value of 190 benthic macroinvertebrates taxa through the data of water quality and individual abundance collected from 7,086 sampling units in Korea from 2008 to 2014. The individual abundance of Uracanthella (Ephemeroptera) as a representative, one of the most common and abundant taxa in Korea, showed a typical lognormal distribution to 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) concentration, and a normal distribution to the class interval of BOD5 concentration according to saprobic series. The value combining the mean individual abundance and the relative frequency of occurrence was a more efficient indicator value than that of each property alone. Benthic Macroinertebrates Index (BMI) was newly proposed as a modification of the saprobic index of Zelinka and Marvan (1961). BMI showed extremely significant correlation (determination coefficient $r^2$ > 0.6, n = 569 sites) with the concentration of BOD5, and the coefficient was a little higher than those of the previous indices. Until now, there has been very little research on the assessment of biological integrity of benthic macroinvertebrates community in Korea. While continuing researches into improve the reliability of BMI, it is necessary to develop multimetric indices for evaluating the integrity, including the composition of species and functional guilds, and the richness and diversity of the community.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.567-579
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• 2015

The accurate simulation of micro-scale weather phenomena such as fog using the mesoscale meteorological models is a very complex task. Especially, the uncertainty arisen from initial input data of the numerical models has a decisive effect on the accuracy of numerical models. The data assimilation is required to reduce the uncertainty of initial input data. In this study, the limitation of the mesoscale meteorological model was verified by WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model for a summer fog event around the Nakdong river in Korea. The sensitivity analyses of simulation accuracy from the numerical model were conducted using two different initial and boundary conditions: KLAPS (Korea Local Analysis and Prediction System) and LDAPS (Local Data Assimilation and Prediction System) data. In addition, the improvement of numerical model performance by FDDA (Four-Dimensional Data Assimilation) using the observational data from AWS (Automatic Weather System) was investigated. The result of sensitivity analysis showed that the accuracy of simulated air temperature, dew point temperature, and relative humidity with LDAPS data was higher than those of KLAPS, but the accuracy of the wind speed of LDAPS was lower than that of KLAPS. Significant difference was found in case of relative humidity where RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) for LDAPS and KLAPS was 15.7 and 35.6%, respectively. The RMSE for air temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity was improved by approximately $0.3^{\circ}C$, $0.2m\;s^{-1}$, and 2.2%, respectively after incorporating the FDDA.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.4 s.118
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• pp.498-507
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• 2006

The main objective of present study was to evaluate how seasonal rainfall influenced natural habitat conditions of 10 metric habitat variables along with ionic conditions and suspended solids in the Woopo Wetland during August 2002-July 2003. Largest spatial variabilities in total suspended solids (TSS) occurred during the summer monsoon and the inorganic suspended solids (ISS), expressed as a inorganic proportion of total solids, showed linearly increasing trend from the upstream to downstream. This phenomenon was mainly attributed to counter flow of turbid water from the main Nakdong-River. During the flooding, ISS : TSS ratio showed large increases (92%) in the downstream than the upstream (43%). For this reason, transparency declined (mean=0.13 m, range=0.08-0.21 m) largely in the downstream reach and thus, chlorophyll-a concentration showed low values (range: $4.2-8.6\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$), indicating a direct influence on primary productivity or algal growth by inorganic turbidity. In the 2nd survey, ISS averaged 4.0 mg $L^{-1}$ (3.3-4.8 mg $L^{-1}$), thus the ISS decreased by 14 fold, compared to the ISS in the 1st survey during the flooding, while organic suspended solids (OSS) values were greater than those of ISS, indicating a dominance of organic solids. This condition was similar to solid contents in the 3rd survey, but showed a large difference compared to the 4th survey during the growing season. Habitat health assessments, based on 10 metric habitat variables, showed that QHEI values were greatest in the growing season (May) than any other seasons and largest spatial variations occurred in the 2nd survey. Overall, dataset suggest that seasonal episodic flooding during the monsoon may largely contribute nutrient cycling and sediment contents in the Woopo Wetland and Topyung Stream.