• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.96-101
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• 2021

In this study, we wanted to obtain the information of the ecological impact of alien species on native fish communities. The Ichthyofauna and fish community in Joongchosan Reservoir and Bukchosan Reservoir in Gunsan-si Korea were investigated over the period from March to October 2020. During the survey period, a total of 1,895 individuals representing eight species, five families, and four orders were caught in the Joongchosan Reservoir. In the Bukchosan Reservoir, a total of 171 individuals were caught, representing seven species, five families, and three orders. The dominant species and subdominant species of Joongchosan Reservoir were Pseudorasvora parva (661 individuals, RA: 34.7%), and Rhodeus ocellatus (660 individuals, RA: 34.7%). Conversely, Micropterus salmoides (77 individuals, RA: 45.0%), and Carassius auratus (60 individuals, RA: 35.1%), were the two most common species in the Bukchosan Reservoir. The community indices showed a dominance of 0.697, diversity of 1.483, evenness of 0.713, and species richness of 0.928 in the Joongchosan Reservoir. In comparison, the community indices in the Bukchosan Reservoir showed a dominance of 0.801, diversity of 1.304, evenness of 0.670, and species richness of 1.167. This study confirms that the number of native fishes and the associated community diversity have decreased due to the influence of Micropterus salmoides. This highlights the need for removal of alien species from reservoirs, while simultaneously preventing future introductions.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.130-141
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• 2021

By reviewing previous literature, we analyzed the food sources of 20 out of 29 endangered fish species from freshwater ecosystems in South Korea. A total of 19 studies reported that food sources of 20 endangered fish species included 20 phyla, 31 classes, 58 orders, 116 families, and 154 genera. Arthropod, insecta, diptera, and chironomidae were the most fed animal food sources according to different resolution of taxa index on phylum, class, order and family. Similarity, bacillariophyta, bacillariophyceae, naviculales, and cymbellaceae were the most fed abundant plant sources. A larger number of fish species were reliant on animal food sources than plant food sources. 18 of the endangered fish preyed on arthropods, whereas only 6 species consumed bacillariophyta. To characterize the feeding groups of the 20 fish species, a hierarchical clustering analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis were conducted. The fish species were divided into two groups: 1) insectivores and 2) planktivores. A network analysis, which associated the link between endangered fishes and food sources, also revealed the same two groups. The highest hub score of food sources was for macroinvertebrates, including diptera (0.47), ephemeroptera (0.42), and trichoptera (0.38), based on the network analysis. Niche breadth was used to calculate the diversity of the food sources. Phoxinus phoxinus (0.57) showed thehighest food source diversity among the fish species, whereas Iksookimia pacifica (0.01) showed the lowest. This study will be utilized for the conservation and restoration of the endangered fish species.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2020

This study was carried out to investigated changes in sediments in the eight weir sections of Nakdong River. Sediments were collected and analyzed for Grain Size, Ignition loss, Total Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus, and Meta. The upstream of the weir was found that fine-grained sediments have repeated increases and decreases. It was found that coarse-grained sediments were being maintained in the downstream part of the weir. The sediments Ignition Loss, Total Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus are strongly correlated with Grain Size, and these increased at the point where sediments are fine. In the case of metal, the concentration increased across the board, and the correlation with Grain Size, Ignition loss, Total Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen, and Total Phosphorus was weak. Although there were some sections where fine-grained sediments, organic materials, nutrients, metals increased in the Nakdong River, the overall pollution level is considered weak.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.374-379
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• 2020

The white-spotted flower chafer (Protaetia brevitarsis) larva is one of the insects widely-used for edible and medicinal purposes in Eastern Asia. As a result of increasing demand for P. brevitarsis, massrearing systems in domestic farms have become necessary. However, the mass-rearing of larvae under confined rearing conditions could provide conditions unsuitable for preventing entomopathogenic diseases. Metarhizium anisopliae is the strongest fatal entomopathogenic fungus against P. brevitarsis. For inhibition of M. anisopliae, we used a Rhus verniciflua Stokes extract that has antifungal components. We investigated the inhibitory effect of the R. verniciflua extract at 1%, 5%, and 10% concentrations. The results showed that a 1% R. verniciflua extract added to sawdust produced a significantly low P. brevitarsis mortality rate. Moreover, extract-treated groups were heavier and had a shorter larval period than those of the untreated group. Consequently, we suggest that using an R. verniciflua extract can reduce the P. brevitarsis fatality rate from entomopathogenic fungi (e.g. M. anisopliae), resulting in more effective mass-rearing systems for P. brevitarsis.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.12-23
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• 2021

As fish communities are sensitive to natural environmental changes as well as anthropogenic pressures, their composition and characteristics help us to assess the aquatic ecosystem health. The fish fauna and the length-weight relationship of Zacco platypus in the Seomjin River system were investigated from July 2018 to May 2019. The collected species during the survey period were 49 species belong to 14 families including 19 Korean endemic and two endangered species. According to Bray-Curtis similarities, 14 sites were divided into four groups based on the fish community composition; two groups(group A, B) and two uncategorized sites(group C, D). There were significant differences between groups A and B(analysis of similarities, R=0.722, p=0.002). A similarity percentage analysis revealed that Z. koreanus(8.55%), Micropterus salmoides(6.90%), and Lepomis macrochirus (4.90%) contributed to these differences of fish assemblages between group A and B. Group A showed higher relative abundances of exotic species such as M. salmoides and L. macrochirus, while Z. platypus and Z. koreanus which are the common species in Korea, were the most dominant species in group B. Based on the length-weight relationship of Z. platypus, b values were varied from 2.82 to 3.80, indicating that growth patterns of the species were spatially different. This study could be served as baseline data for understanding fish fauna, assessing habitat characteristics based on the fauna, and identifying health conditions of Z. platypus in the Seomjin River system.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.344-354
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• 2020

Identification of the target species of 2-MIB (2-methyllisoborneol) production is crucial in the management of off-flavor problem in the freshwater system. This study was conducted to identify 2-MIB-producing Pseudanabaena strains occurring in the North Han River system using molecular genetic method. Eleven phenotypes of Pseudanabaena were isolated from several mainstream sites of the North Han River, including Sambong-ri, Joam-myun, and Lake Uiam areas. Despite of morphological similarity of the strains, the phylogenetic analysis using 16S rDNA classified them into different species with low genetic similarity (40~55%). Isolated Pseudanabaena strains were converged to four species; Pseudanabaena cinerea, P. yagii, P. mucicola, and P. redekei. Among them, the 2-MIB synthesizing gene (mibC) was detected in P. cinerea, P. yagii, and P. redekei. However, actual 2-MIB production was detected only in P. cinerea and P. redekei based on gas chromatography analysis. This study is the first report of the molecular identification of Pseudanabaena strains and their 2-MIB production potential in Korea. The results of this study provides an evidence of species diversity of Pseudanabaena occurring in the North Han River.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.427-435
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• 2020

The most important thing to successfully restore an oak forest is finding suitable climatic conditions and topographic factors for the oak species to be introduced. In this study, in order to find suitable environmental conditions for the five dominant oak trees on the Korean Peninsula, we carried out analysing the information on the location of forest vegetation on the Korean Peninsula. The range of annual mean temperature of the five oak trees was narrow in the order of Q. mongolica (7.7~14.3℃), Q. variabilis (9.2~13.8℃), Q. acutissima (10.5~14.3℃), Q. serrata (11.4~13.7℃), Q. aliena (11.0~12.9℃). The range of annual precipitation of oaks was narrow in order of Q. mongolica (1072.7~1780.9 mm), Q. variablis (1066.6~1554.9 mm), Q. acustissima (1036.5~1504.8 mm), Q. serrata (1062.6~1504.7 mm). The range of altitude was in order of Q. mongolica (147~1388m), Q. serrata (93~950m), Q. variabilis(90~913m), Q. acustissima (60~516m), Q. aliena (55~465 m). The range of slope was in the order of Q. mongolica (8~56°), Q. variabilis(5~52°), Q. serrata (11~45°), Q. aliena (15~38°), Q. acustissima (16~37°). These results are considered to be very useful in the case of ecological restoration using deciduous oak trees on the Korean Peninsula.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.380-389
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• 2020

Research on diagnosing and predicting the response of ecosystems caused by environmental changes such as artificial disturbance and climate change is emerging as the most important issue of biodiversity and ecosystem researches. This study aims to clean, standardize, and provide the results of National Ecosystem Survey which should be considered fundamentally in diagnosing and predicting ecosystem changes in the form of dataset. To refine and clean the dataset we developed a simple verification program based on the fifth National Ecosystem Survey Guideline and applied that program to the data from the second (1997~2005), third (2006~2013) and fourth (2014~2018) National Ecosystem Survey. Data quality control processes were implemented including (1) standardization of terminology, (2) similar data table integration, (3) unnecessary attribute and error elimination, (4) unification of different input items, (5) data arrangement in codes, and (6) code mapping for input items. These approaches and methods are the first attempt propose an option for ecological data standardization in Korea. The standardized dataset of National Ecosystem Survey in Korea will be easily accessible, reusable for both researchers and public. In addition, we expect it will contribute to the establishment of diverse environmental policies concerning environmental assessments, habitat conservation, prediction of endangered species distribution and ecological risks due to climate change. The dataset through this study is open freely online via EcoBank (nie-ecobank.kr) which is the first ecological information portal system in Korea developed by National Institute of Ecology.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2021

In order to control algal bloom, which causes environmental problems such as eutrophication in freshwater ecological environments, many attempts have recently been made using biological approaches. Among them is filtration using bivalve. Algae control with filter-feeding bivalves is emerging as an eco-friendly method. In this study, bivalves collected at Baekje weir in Geum River in Korea from Jun to Sep 2020 were tested to find out the possibility of algae control using filter-feeding bivalves through laboratory experiments. The Unio douglasiae, Anodonta woodiana, and Anodonta arcaeformis collected from Baekje weir were put into a water tank (2 L) containing Clorella vulgaris, and as a result, the average filtration rate was 95.9% per animal after 24 hrs. Calculating this with the Chl-a concentration converted to a calibration curve, it was found that the average of 154.84 ㎍ L^-1 of Chl-a was reduced. Based on this calculation, the possibility that one bivalve can eliminate Chl-a in one month is 0.0005%. It is expected that the effect is 20.14% when there are 40,000 animals. These results indirectly showed how effective bivalve's ability to control Chl-a in their habitat is. Although this study was limited to calculating the algae control ability of aquatic ecosystem based on the filtration rate of bivalve and the corresponding Chl-a reduction rate, it is thought that it will be used as basic data for integrated research from various factors and viewpoints (phytoplankton, aquatic plants, benthic organisms, and sediments) through additional research.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2021

Macroinvertebrates in forest streams affect the overall health of other streams in the same water system. In this study, we compared differences in the benthic macroinvertebrate community at two headwater streams located at different latitudes in the southern and northern parts of South Korea. We calculated the community temperature index (CTI), which represents the thermal preferences of the benthic communities. Hierarchical cluster analyses (HCA) were conducted to compare the similarities among sampling sites. In addition, we analyzed the relationship between community composition and environmental and community characteristics using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). Our results showed that CTI was significantly different between the two regions, indicating that these benthic macroinvertebrate communities have different thermal preferences. These two regions were clearly distinguished from each other in the HCA; furthermore, seasonal differences in benthic community composition were observed within each region. The functional feeding groups present in the benthic macroinvertebrate communities were different even though their habitat was similar.