• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.107-119
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• 2016

Background: Previous studies on the biological integrity on habitat and landuse patterns demonstrated ecological stream health in the view of regional or macrohabitat scale, thus ignored the mesoscale habitat patterns of pool, riffle, and runs in the stream health analysis. The objective of this study was to analyze influences on the mesohabitat structures of pool, riffle, and run reaches on the fish guilds and biological integrity in Geum-River Watershed. Results: The mesohabitat structures of pool, riffle, and run reaches influenced the ecological stream health along with some close relations on the fish trophic and tolerance guilds. The mesoscale components altered chemical water quality such as nutrients (TN, TP) and BOD and these, then, determined the primary productions, based on the sestonic chlorophyll-a. The riffle-reach had good chemical conditions, but the pool-reach had nutrient enrichments. The riffle-reach had a predominance of insectivores, while the pool-reach has a predominance of omnivores. Also, the riffle-reach had high proportions of sensitive fish and insectivore fish, and the pool-reach had high proportions of tolerant species in the community composition. The intermediate fish species in tolerance and omnivorous fish species in the food linkage dominated the community in the watershed, and the sensitive and insectivorous fishes decreased rapidly with a degradation of the water quality. All the habitat patterns were largely determined by the land-use patterns in the watershed. Conclusions: Trophic guilds and tolerance guilds of fish were determined by land-use pattern and these determined the stream health, based on the Index of Biological Integrity. This study remarks the necessity to include additional variables to consider information provided by mesohabitats and land-use distributions within the selected stream stretch. Overall, our data suggest that land-use pattern and mesohabitat distribution are important factors to be considered for the trophic and tolerance fish compositions and chemical gradients as well as ecological stream health in the watershed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.3 s.117
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• pp.390-401
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• 2006

This study was conducted to understand the phytoplankton-zooplankton trophic linkage in Lake Paldang ecosystems (Paldang Dam and Kyungan Stream) from April to December 2005. Zooplankton were filtered as two size groups (microzooplankton (MICZ): 60{\sim}20\;{\mu}m$, macrozooplankton (MACZ): >$200\;{\mu}m$), and their clearance rates and C-fluxes on phytoplankton were measured. Grazing experiments were performed in the laboratory with the different zooplankton densities (0, 2, 4, 8x of ambient density, n=2). Diatoms, such as Aulacoseira and Cyclotella were dominant phytoplankton taxa at both sites. Among phytoplankton communities, total carbon biomass of phyflagellates was much higher than others at both sites. Rotifers numerically dominated zooplankton community, while cladocerans dominated carbon biomass. Both phytoplankton and zooplankton density and biomass were high in spring, but decreased markedly after summer monsoon season. plankton biomass at Kyungan Stream was significantly higher than that of Paldang Dam. Zooplankton clearance rate and amount of C-flux were relatively high in the spring and then decreased after summer at both sites. Seasonal change of C-flux was similar to that of zooplankton biomass (P<0.001, n=7). MACZ clearance rate and C-flux were higher than those of MICZ. Water residence time and physical disturbance in summer appeared to affect zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton at the study sites. Our results indicate phytoplankton were an important energy source for zooplankton in Lake Paldang ecosystem. Furthermore, C-flux of plankton food web is affected by not only biological components but also physical parameters.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.231-244
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• 2019

Zooplankton is essential biological assemblage in understanding the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems, since it plays as a linkage between primary producers and higher trophic level organisms such as fish. Although zooplankton has planktonic characteristics, the sampling and treatment methods for its community analyses are more complicated and variable compared with phytoplankton due to its high diversity in body size and species-specific depth selection behaviors. In the present paper, we reviewed representative classical methods for field sampling and treatments of freshwater zooplankton in relation with quantification of its community structure, and suggested appropriate methods depending on various research objectives.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.380-389
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• 2007

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were analyzed in suspended particulate organic matter, macroalgae and macrobenthic invertebrates in order to determine the importance of primary organic matter sources in supporting food webs of rocky subtidal and intertidal macroalgal beds in the Korean coasts. Investigations were conducted at the inter tidal sites within Gwangyang bay, a semi-enclosed and eutrophicated bay, and the subtidal sites of the east coast, a relatively oligotrophic and open environment, in May and June 2005. Water-column suspension feeders showed more negative $\delta^{13}C$ values than those of the other feeding guilds, indicating trophic linkage with phytoplankton and thereby association with pelagic food chains. In contrast, animals of the other feeding guilds, including interface suspension feeders, herbivores, deposit feeders, omnivores and predators, displayed relatively less negative $\delta^{13}C$ values than those of the water-column suspension feeders and similar with that of macroalgae, indicating exclusive use of macroalgae-derived organic matter and association with benthic food chains. Most the macrobenthic species were considered to form strong trophic links with benthic food chains. In addition, the distribution of higher $\delta^{15}N$ values in macrobenthic consumers and macroalgae at the intertidal sites of Gwangyang Bay than those at the subtidal sites of the east coast suggests that anthropogenic nutrients may enhance the macroalgal production at the intertidal sites and in turn be incorporated into the particular littoral food web in Gwangyag Bay. These results confirm the dominant role of macroalgae in supporting rocky subtidal and intertidal food webs in the Korean coasts.