• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.3 s.117
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• pp.320-330
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• 2006

An integrated health of a lotic ecosystem, Cho River, was evaluated by various approaches such as conventional water quality analysis, physical assessments of Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI), and the bioassay of Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) durin August${\sim}$September 2005. The IBI model used in the study was based on original multivariate metric model and then modified the metric attributes of the model for the regional application. Physical habitat health, based on the QHEI, was estimated using eleven metrics. During the study, values of IBI model averaged 36, which was judged as 'fair' to 'good' conditions. Spatial variations in the model values were evident: the headwater site (S1) was estimated as 48, indicating an 'excellent' condition, and the other sites were estimated 32${\sim}$38, 'good' condition. Values of the QHEI in the all sites averaged 148, which is judged as a good condition. The QHEI values varied from 120 (fair condition) to 199 (excellent condition) depending on the location of the stream. Site 5 (S5) was estimated as 'fair${\sim}$good' condition, while Site 7 (S7) was estimated as 'excellent' condition. The biological health, based on the IBI, reflected the habitat health. However, chemical conditions in terms of pH, turbidity, electric conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO) did not make a difference in the biological health because of minor chemical differences among the locations.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.261-269
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• 2001

The purpose of present study was to introduce a multimetric approach, so called the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) as a tool for evaluations of water environments. We used 11 metric systems for the IBI to evaluate stream conditions, based on the fish community, and modified 5 original metric attributes suggested by Karr (1981). Overall IBI values in Kap Stream averaged 36 (n = 5) and ranged 17${\sim}$49, indicating a 'fair condition' according to the modified criteria of Karr (1981) and U.S. EPA (1993). However, there were distinct differences in the IBI values among 5 study sites. The IBI values at sites 1, 2, and 3 were 49, 45, and 41, which indicated 'good${\sim}$excellent', 'good', and 'fair' condition, respectively, while values at sites 4 and 5 were 17 and 29, which indicated 'very poor' and 'poor', respectively. The minimum IBI at site 4 was probably due to continuous inputs of wastewater from wastewater disposal plants. The condition at site 4 resulted in predominance of tolerant species (50%), omnivore species (50%), and high abnormalies (43%). In the mean time, the IBI value at site 5, located near 5km downstream from the site 4, increased compared to that of site 4, and this seemed to be a result of recovery of water quality as the polluted water goes downward. We believe that present bioassessment methodology of IBI applied in this study may be used as a key tool to set up specific goals for stream restoration plans and dentify recovery levels of lotic ecosystems after restoration activities(i.e., prevention of point-source pollutant input, restoration of physical habitats, construction of riparian vegetation) as well as a biological measure diagnosing current stream conditions.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.413-433
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• 1994

Jinhae Bay once was a productive area of fisheries. It is, however, now notorious for its red tides; and oxygen deficient water-masses extensively develop at present in summer. Therefore the shellfish production of the bay has been decreasing and mass mortality often occurs. Under these circumstances, the three-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic and the material cycle models, which were developed by the Institute for Resources and Environment of Japan, were applied to analyze the processes affecting the oxygen depletion and also to evaluate the environment capacity for the reception of pollutant loads without dissolved oxygen depletion. In field surveys, oxygen deficient water-masses were formed with concentrations of below 2.0mg/l at the bottom layer in Masan Bay and the western part of Jinhae Bay during the summer. Current directions, computed by the $M_2$ constituent, were mainly toward the western part of Jinhae Bay during flood flows and in opposite directions during ebb flows. Tidal currents velocities during the ebb tide were stronger than that of the flood tide. The comparision between the simulated and observed tidal ellipses showed fairly good agreement. The residual currents, which were obtained by averaging the simulated tidal currents over 1 tidal cycle, showed the presence of counterclockwise eddies in the central part of Jinhae Bay. Density driven currents were generated southward at surface and northward at the bottom in Masan Bay and Jindong Bay, where the fresh water of rivers entered. The material cycle model was calibrated with the data surveyed in the field of the study area from June to July, 1992. The calibrated results are in fairly good agreement with measured values within relative error of $28\%$. The simulated dissolved oxygen distributions of bottom layer were relatively high with the concentration of $6.0{\sim}8.0mg/l$ at the boundaries, but an oxygen deficient water-masses were formed within the concentration of 2.0mg/l at the inner part of Masan Bay and the western part of Jinhae Bay. The results of sensitivity analyses showed that sediment oxygen demand(SOD) was one of the most important influence on the formation of oxygen depletion. Therefore, to control the oxygen deficient water-masses and to conserve the coastal environment, it is an effective method to reduce the SOD by improving the polluted sediment. As the results of simulations, in Masan Bay, oxygen deficient water-masses recovered to 5.0mg/l when the $50\%$ reduction in input COD loads from Masan basin and $70\%$ reduction in SOD was conducted. In the western part of Jinhae Bay, oxygen deficient water-masses recovered to 5.0mg/l when the $95\%$ reduction in SOD and $90\%$ reduction in culturing ground fecal loads was conducted.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.794-803
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• 1997

Long line suspended culture of oysters has been started commercially in Hansan-Koje Bay since 1969. However, its Annual production has been decreased and culturing periods extended in recent years. So, we investigated environmental parameters and food organisms to identity the causes of poor fatness of oysters in Hansan-Koje Bay from February to November, 1994. As the result, the Water quality of Hansan-Koje Bay was found to be good for culture. For example, the mean concentration of COD was $1.35mg/\ell$, phosphate phosphorus was $0.30{\mu}g-at/\ell$ and dissolved inorganic nitrogen was $4.68{\mu}g-at/\ell$. However, the Hwado island and the inner part of the Hansan-Koje Bay were found to be eutrophicated due to various contaminants transported by land-based activities. But in the central pan of the Hansan-Koje Bay where the oyster farms Have been developed densely, the level of nutrient concentration was very low. During the study period, the dominant species of phytoplankton was Chaetoceros spp. with the percentage of $72.6\%\~87.8\%$ and the mean values of Chlorophyll-a concentration and phytoplankton standing crops were $2.05mg/m^3\;and\;188ind./m\ell$, respectively. The distribution of these parameters also showed similar trends those of nutrients. Especially, chlorophyll-a contents was very low with the concentration of below $0.5mg/m^3$ at central part of the Bay, Juklimpo. The fatness of oysters and the eutrophic index in this area were $18.1\%$ and 0.54, respectively. These values were lower than those of other culturing farms in the southern coastal areas in Korea. Therefore, we estimated that the insufficient food supply due to the low level of nutritional status was the major factors affecting the poor fatness of the Pacific oysters in Hansan-Koje Bay.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.105-117
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• 2018

This study conducted health assessment and multivariate vegetation analysis using the riparian vegetation index in 30 sites of the Geumgang mainstream and Mihocheon to obtain practical data on the river management of the Geumgang. The result showed that the number of plant communities was 54. The flora was 75 families, 185 genera, 243 species, 2 subspecies, 21 varieties, 2 varieties, and 268 taxa. The riparian vegetation index was 38.3 (3.3; G-D1 ~ 66.7; G-U2, G-U4, and G-M3), and the health of the rivers in this area was evaluated as normal (grade C). The health of rivers was the highest in the upper stream of Geumgang mainstream and lowest in the downstream of Geumgang mainstream. The relationship between riparian vegetation index and chlorophyll-a content was low. The riparian vegetation was divided into five groups of Digitaria ciliaris colony group, Salix gracilistyla colony group, Erigeron annuus colony group, the group dominated by Humulus japonicus, Salix koreensis, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, and Phragmites japonica colonies, and the group dominated by Conyza canadensis and Echinochloa crusgalli var. echinata colonies. They had the similar health conditions. The CCA analysis showed that the environmental factors affecting the distribution of vegetation were physical factors such as vegetation area, artificial structure area, waterway area, branch width, channel width, and bank height and the biological factors such as the number of species. As such, it is necessary to maintain the health condition through continuous monitoring where the health condition is high and to apply active measures such as ecological restoration where the health condition is low.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.603-617
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• 2018

This study surveyed the diversity and community characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates and freshwater fish, which are the main animal classifications in a hydro ecosystem, from May to September 2017 in the western plains of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The results showed a total of 125 species of benthic macroinvertebrates belonging to 66 families, 19 orders, and four phyla in the streams and wetlands. Among benthic macroinvertebrates, Coleoptera (27 spp.: 21.60%) was the largest group in terms of species richness followed by Odonata (26 spp.: 20.80%), non-Insecta (22 spp.: 17.60%), and Hemiptera (11 spp.: 8.80%) occupying in the lentic area. Of the feeding function groups (FFGs), predators (51 spp.: 56.67%) showed a relatively larger presence, indicating the dominance of hygrophilous invertebrates that usually inhabit the freshwater wetlands or ponds. Of the habitat oriented groups (HOGs), climbers (33 spp.: 24.44%) and burrowers (17 spp.: 12.59%) were the dominant groups. This observation is typical in a slow flowing habitat and can lead to the disturbance of the ecosystem due to cannibalism among predators. Cannibalism can be caused by stress induced by various population and environmental factors. For the ecosystem services benchmark (ESB) value, site 13 appeared to be the highest with 82 marks while other sites showed relatively lower rates and indices (III water quality class with ${\alpha}$-mesosaprobic). The analysis result of stability factors showed that almost all sites were evaluated to be the I characteristic group with high resilience and resistance or the III characteristic group that was sensitive to environmental disturbance and formed uneven and unstable communities. Of the freshwater fishes, 46 species (3,405 individuals) belonging to 39 families and 18 orders were identified in all the investigated sites. Among them, Cyprinidae (30 spp.: 65.2%) was the largest group, and Zacco koreanus was identified as the dominant species (728 individuals, 21.4%). The survey of freshwater fish communities found both stable communities (sites 7 and 13) with low dominant index (0.39) and high diversity index (2.29) and unstable communities (sites 2, 3, 8, and 10) in opposite tendency. This survey found five Korean endemic species, 17 species belonging to the export controlled species, two endangered species level II (Lethocerus deyrollei and Cybister chinensis), and rare species (Dytiscus marginalis czerskii) among benthic macroinvertebrates. The survey also found an invasive species, Ampullarius insularus, which was distributed throughout the whole area and thus can continuously disturb the ecosystem in the western plain area in the DMZ. Of freshwater fish, one natural monument (Hemibarbus mylodon) and three endangered species level II (Acheilognathus signifer, Gobiobotia macrocephalus, and G. brevibarba) were observed. The survey also found four introduced species (Pomacea canaliculate, Carassius cuvieri, Lepomis macrochirus, Micropterus salmoides) in the western DMZ area, indicating the need for the protection and conservation measures.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.213-228
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate spatio-temporal changes in macrobenthic community structure and benthic environmental conditions in Geoje-Hansa Bay, which is the greatest oyster producing site in Korea. Field survey for benthic environment and macrobenthos was seasonally carried out at 15 stations covering oyster farming sites and non-farming sites from February to November, 2008. The grain size of surface sediments was dominated by very fine silt with the mean phi of about $9\;{\Phi}$ and TOC was 1.9% on average. Mean dissolved oxygen content was 8.1 mg/L and lowest in August corresponding to the 2nd degree in seawater quality criteria. Total species number was 351 and mean density was $3,675\;ind./m^2$, both of which were dominated by polychaete worms. Spatio-temporal variation in above two biological variables was great with higher values seasonally in spring and spatially in channels rather than inner bay. Dominant species were Lumbrineris longifolia (21.3%), Aphelochaeta monilaris (17.8%) and Ericthonius pugnax(6.1%), all of which are typical species of organically enriched area. From the multivariate analyses, the whole macrobenthic community was distinguished into two groups of channel and inner bay group. Spatio-temporal changes of macrobenthic community in Geoje-Hansan Bay were related to those of TOC and acid volatile sulfide (AVS). Our results showed that Geoje-Hansan Bay should be intermediately affected by organic pollution, and that such organic enrichment was more remarkable at farming stations in the inner bay.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.174-189
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to reconstruct spatial information using the results of the investigation and evaluation of the health of the living organisms, habitat, and water quality at the investigation points for the aquatic ecosystem health of the Nakdong River basin, to support the rational decision making of the aquatic ecosystem preservation and restoration policies of the Nakdong River basin using spatial analysis techniques, and to present efficient management methods. To analyze the aquatic ecosystem health of the Nakdong River basin, punctiform data were constructed based on the position information of each point with the aquatic ecosystem health investigation and evaluation results of 250 investigation sections. To apply the spatial analysis technique, the data need to be reconstructed into areal data. For this purpose, spatial influence and trends were analyzed using the Kriging interpolation(ArcGIS 10.1, Geostatistical Analysis), and were reconstructed into areal data. To analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of the Nakdong River basin health based on these analytical results, hotspot(Getis-Ord Gi, $G^*_i$), LISA(Local Indicator of Spatial Association), and standard deviational ellipse analyses were used. The hotspot analysis results showed that the hotspot basins of the biotic indices(TDI, BMI, FAI) were the Andong Dam upstream, Wangpicheon, and the Imha Dam basin, and that the health grades of their biotic indices were good. The coldspot basins were Nakdong River Namhae, the Nakdong River mouth, and the Suyeong River basin. The LISA analysis results showed that the exceptional areas were Gahwacheon, the Hapcheon Dam, and the Yeong River upstream basin. These areas had high bio-health indices, but their surrounding basins were low and required management for aquatic ecosystem health. The hotspot basins of the physicochemical factor(BOD) were the Nakdong River downstream basin, Suyeong River, Hoeya River, and the Nakdong River Namhae basin, whereas the coldspot basins were the upstream basins of the Nakdong River tributaries, including Andong Dam, Imha Dam, and Yeong River. The hotspots of the habitat and riverside environment factor(HRI) were different from the hotspots and coldspots of each factor in the LISA analysis results. In general, the habitat and riverside environment of the Nakdong River mainstream and tributaries, including the Nakdong river upstream, Andong Dam, Imha Dam, and the Hapcheon Dam basin, had good health. The coldspot basins of the habitat and riverside environment also showed low health indices of the biotic indices and physicochemical factors, thus requiring management of the habitat and riverside environment. As a result of the time-series analysis with a standard deviation ellipsoid, the areas with good aquatic ecosystem health of the organisms, habitat, and riverside environment showed a tendency to move northward, and the BOD results showed different directions and concentrations by the year of investigation. These aquatic ecosystem health analysis results can provide not only the health management information for each investigation spot but also information for managing the aquatic ecosystem in the catchment unit for the working research staff as well as for the water environment researchers in the future, based on spatial information.