• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.105-117
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• 2019

In order to investigate the characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the Gihwa stream, a tributary of the Dong River, we surveyed the community and environmental factors in April and November 2013 at 6 sites. The benthic macroinvertebrate taxa represented total 63 species belonging to 29 families, 12 orders, 5 classes and 4 phyla. Total 48 (10~28 in each site) species were collected in April and 44 (13~24 in each site) in November. The number of individuals increased slightly from $560{\sim}2,290m^{-2}$ in April to $806{\sim}3,674m^{-2}$ in November. Chironomidae spp. was dominant species in April and Stenopsyche bergeri was dominant species in November. In the Functional Feeding Groups, Gathering-collector(53.9%) was dominant in April, while Filtering-collector (44.3%) increased in November. Intolerant order category (i.e. EPT species richness) in St.1, St.5 and St.6 increased in November compared to April due to the increase of Trichoptera. St.2, St.3 and St.4, which were located near the fish farm, were low EPT as a whole, but Benthic macroinvertebrate index (BMI) was good state in November than April due to decrease of Chironomidae spp.. The environmental factors in the survey site showed similar tendency except for St.1 between both seasons, and electrical conductivity, salinity, and water width showed seasonal differences. Cluster analysis and Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) based on benthic macroinvertebrate community data were divided into two groups according to season. Electrical conductivity, salinity and substrate composition were the most influential factors determining the distribution patterns of macroinvertebrate communities.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.259-267
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• 2018

This study was conducted to confirm phenological response of main deciduous woody species in Korea according to elevated temperature. Based on seeds collected from the same place, 39 woody species were cultivated in field (control) and in greenhouse (treatment) that was maintained above base temperature ($4.8^{\circ}C$). And then, we observed phenotype change of leaves focused on phenological response and explained relation with their current distribution area. As a result, initiation period of leaves unfolding was 1st~3rd, May in control. It was 13, December~7, January in treatment. Period of leaves yellowing was 11~26, October in control. It was 30, October~13, November in treatment. Consequently, initiation period of leaves unfolding was faster by 119~140 days and period of leaves yellowing was slower by 3~32 days since elevated temperature. Period of leaves growth increased in treatment by 148 days than control. Quercus mongolica and Quercus serrata that cultivated in treatment was changed as evergreen trees which have grown up continuely during one year. Also, initiation period of leaves unfolding of Sorbus alnifolia in treatment was faster than in control. However, difference of the period between control and treatment was smallest. Because period of yellowing leaves was moved ahead. Phenological response of leaves according to elevated temperature had no relation of type of their current distribution area. This is the result of acclimation due to elevated temperature during the winter and suggests that the phenotype of leaves of 39 deciduous woody species is more sensitive to the current growth condition than to the past growth condition.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.287-298
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• 2018

The zooplankton community and environmental factor were investigated on a weekly basis from March to November 2015 in Lake Paldang, Korea. The seasonal succession of zooplankton community structure was influenced by hydraulic and hydrological factors such as inflow, outflow and rainfall. However, the hydraulic retention time in 2015 (16.3 day) was affected by the periods of water shortage that had continued since 2014 and increased substantially compared to 2013 (7.3 day). Therefore, the inflow and outflow discharge were decreased, and the water quality (COD, BOD, TOC, TP, Chl-a) of Lake Paldang (St.1) was the same characteristics as the river type Bukhan river (St.3), compared with the lake type Namhan river (St.2) and Gyeongan stream (St.4). Zooplankton community dominated by rotifers (Keratella cochlearis, Synchaeta oblonga) in spring (March to May). However, Copepod (Nauplius) and Cladoceran (Bosmina longirostris) dominated in St.4. In summer (June to August), there was a few strong rainfall event and the highest number of individuals dominated by Keratella cochlearis (Rotifera) and Difflugia corona (Protozoa) were shown during the study period. In autumn (October to November), the water temperature was decreased with decrease in the total number of individuals showing Nauplius (Copepoda) as the dominant species. As a result of the statistical analysis about zooplankton variation in environmental factors, the continuous periods of water shortage increased the hydraulic retention time and showed different characteristic for each site. St.1, St.3 and St.2, St.4 are shown in the same group (p<0.05), showing the each characteristics of river type and lake type. Therefore, the water quality of catchment area and distribution of zooplankton community would be attributed to hydraulic and hydrological factors.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.311-321
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate effect of stream channel naturalness on ecological health by using environmental factors and Fish Assessment Index (FAI) in the Han River of South Korea. These samples and data have been released from the research project titled Stream/River Ecosystem Survey and Health Assessment, which was conducted in 444 sites in the Han river watershed from 2008 to 2016. All samples were classified into five groups according to a degree of morphological changes of stream. Water chemistry analyses indicated a decline in water quality by decreasing stream channel naturalness, it is assumed that channelized stream was vulnerable to aquatic pollution compared to the natural meandering stream. In the result of frequency of dominant species, sensitive species and insectivore such as Zacco koreanus, Rhynchocypris kumgangensis and Pungtungia herzi were frequently dominated in the natural meandering stream while tolerant species and omnivores such as Carassius auratus and Cyprinus carpio were more dominated in the channelized streams. The FAI in the channelized stream shows decline to average of $46{\pm}25$ compared with that of the natural meandering stream ($80{\pm}20$). The decrease in FAI was highly influenced by changes in matrixes of fish assemblage structure such as number of sensitive species (M3), portion of omnivores (M5) and insectivores (M6). Moreover, annual average FAIs from 2008 to 2016 were significantly correlated with water chemistry, especially TN, TP and BOD ($r^2=0.59$, p<0.0001). Taken together, all the results suggest that the stream channelization could negatively impact on the water quality and fish assemblage structure, leading to degradation in aquatic ecosystem health.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.50-64
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• 2019

Recently, quantitative analyses of food web structure based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes are widely applied to environmental assessments as well as ecological researches of various ecosystems, particularly rivers and streams. In the present study, we analyzed carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of POM (both planktonic and attached forms), zooplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish collected from 6 sites located at Nakdong River. Samples were collected from upstream areas of 5 weirs (Sangju, Gangjeong-Goryeong, Dalseong, Hapcheon-Changnyeong, and Changnyeong-Haman Weirs) and one downstream area of Hapcheon-Changnyeong Weir in dry season (June) and after rainy season (September). We suggested ranges of their carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios and calculated their trophic levels in the food web to compare their temporal and spatial variations. Trophic levels of organisms were relatively higher in Sangju Weir located at upper part of Nakdong River, and decreased thereafter. However, the trophic levels were recovered at the Changnyeong-Haman Weir, the lowest weir in the river. The trophic level calculated by nitrogen stable isotope ratios showed more reliable ranges when they were calculated based on zooplankton than POM used as baseline. The suggested quantitative ecological information of the majority of biological communities in Nakdong River would be helpful to understand the response of river food web to environmental disturbances and can be applied to various further researches regarding the quantitative approaches for the understanding food web structure and function of river ecosystems as well as restoration.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.331-344
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• 2018

Lotic organisms in streams are affected by natural and anthropogenic disturbances such as increase of heavy rainfall event caused by climate change and flow regime change caused by weir constructions. Based on domestic and foreign literature, 157 Korean benthic macroinvertebrate taxa were selected species as potential lotic candidates. Three shoreline sites (total 54 samples) were surveyed consecutively before ('08~'09), during ('10~'12) and after ('13~'16) the construction of the weirs (Gangcheon, Yeoju and Ipo weir) in the Namhan-River for tracing changes of lotic communities. As a result, water flow of the Ipo-wier and water quality variables such as T-N, T-P, BOD5, etc. of the weir section revealed no significant changes. Physical habitat conditions such as the flow velocity and streambed substrate evidently changed. Particulary, flow velocity measured at sampling points along with each microhabitat drastically decreased and particle size of streambed substrate steadily decreased after weir constructions. Lotic organisms also decreased after construction, especially Hydropsychidae (insecta: Trichoptera) acutely decreased from $3,526ind.\;m^{-2}$ to $2ind.\;m^{-2}$ As a result of CCA, lotic species such as Hydropsyche valvata, Hydropsyche kozhantschikovi, Cheumatopsyche brevilineata, Cheumatopsyche KUa, Macrostemum radiatum, etc. correlated with the flow velocity, streambed substrate. Therefore, the decrease of the flow velocity and substrate size after weir construction seemed to be closely related to the decrease of the individual abundances of the lotic organisms independently of water quality. In order to evaluate the influence of the ecosystem on the flow regime change more accurately, it is necessary to study the indicator species based on the resistance or preference of the flow.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.126-135
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• 2019

We carried out a literature review of fish food sources research in the coast - estuary areas of Korean peninsula for the last fifty years(1969~2018). A total of 101 research papers were reviewed, of which 81 were published in domestic journals, 7 were puliched in domestic reports and 14 were published in international journals. When divided into the decade periods, 21 papers (19.4%) between 1990 and 1999 and 26 papers (24.1%) between 2000 and 2009, and 42 papers (48.1%) were published in 2010 and 2018, respectively. When divided into the survey area by a bearing (East sea, South-East sea, South Sea, and West Sea), 65 papers(69.1%) were carried out in the South Sea. Followed by 13 papers (13.8%) in the East Sea and 8 papers (8.5%) in the West Sea and the South-East Sea, respectively. The surveyed area was dominant in Gwangyang Bay (18 papers; 24.3%), followed by Gadeok-do (8 papers; 10.8%). Of the diversity indices, 14 indices were used to calculate the ecological status. The dominant indices were IRI(Index of relative importance), Pi(Prey-specific abundance) followed by E (electivity index) and Bi (dietary breadth index). A total of 11 statistical methods were used to find feeding strategy. The correlation analysis and Bray-Curtis similarity matrix were applied most frequently. In terms of ecological research topics, the papers focused on seasonal or spatial differences before 2000. Since 2000, specifically, the international journal papers have been published based on competition, sympatric, niche overlap and other ecological topics.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.118-125
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• 2019

Swimming performance of fish is an important factor in the survival of fish. Also, swimming performance of fish is used in the form of habitat, or as a condition to consider when creating a fish ladder. However in Korea, researches in swimming performance of Korean freshwater fish were scarce and inadequate in some part, thus fish ladders were installed without considering their swimming performance. Therefore, in this study, we measured swimming performance of 4 Korean freshwater fish species to consider importance of swimming performance test. The fish used in this study were Carassius auratus, Zacco koreanus, Gnathopogon strigatus, Acheilognathus lanceolata intermedia species which was collected during October to November, 2018 at Geum River, and measurement for swimming speed of each fish was done by using $Loligo^{(R)}$ System, swim tunnel respirometer in January to February of 2019. The average value of the burst critical swimming speed ($U_{crit}$) for each species was $0.8{\pm}0.04m\;s^{-1}$ for C. auratus, $0.77{\pm}0.04m\;s^{-1}$ for Z. koreanus, $0.95{\pm}0.04m\;s^{-1}$ for G. strigatus, $0.73{\pm}0.03m\;s^{-1}$ for A. lanceolata intermedia and the average value of prolonged critical swimming speed was $0.54m\;s^{-1}$ for C. auratus, $0.67m\;s^{-1}$ for Z. koreanus, $0.7m\;s^{-1}$ for G. strigatus, $0.54m\;s^{-1}$ for A. lanceolata intermedia. Since the fish used in this experiment were collected from a small part of the water system in Korea and there were only 4 species, they were not enough to represent the species that inhabit the entire Korean water system. It will be necessary to continue evaluating the swimming performance of other freshwater species in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.268-286
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• 2018

The eutrophication and algal blooms by harmful cyanobacteria (CyanoHAs) and freshwater redtide (FRT) that severely experiencing in typical regulated weir system of the Nakdong River are one of the most rapidly expanding water quality problems in Korea and worldwide. To compare with the factors of rainfall, hydrology, and dominant algae, this study explored spatiotemporal variability of the major water environmental factors by weekly intervals in eight weir pools of the Nakdong River from January 2013 to July 2017. There was a distinct difference in rainfall distribution between upstream and downstream regions. Outflow discharge using small-scale hydropower generation, overflow and fish-ways accounted for 37.4%, 60.1% and 2.5%, respectively. Excluding the flood season, the outflow was mainly due to the hydropower release through year-round. These have been associated with the drawdown of water level, water exchange rate, and the significant impact on change of dominant algae. The mean concentration (maximum value) of chlorophyll-a was $17.6mg\;m^{-3}$ ($98.2mg\;m^{-3}$) in the SAJ~GAJ and $29.6mg\;m^{-3}$ ($193.6mg\;m^{-3}$) in the DAS~HAA weir pools reaches, respectively. It has increased significantly in the downstream part where the influence of treated wastewater effluents (TWEs) is high. Indeed, very high values (>50 or $>100mg\;m^{-3}$) of chlorophyll-a concentration were observed at low flow rates and water levels. Algal assemblages that caused the blooms of CyanoHAs and FRT were the cyanobacteria Microcystis and the diatom Stephanodiscus populations, respectively. In conclusion, appropriate hydrological management practices in terms of each weir pool may need to be developed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.245-265
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• 2019

Biotope, which represents the characteristic habitats of living organisms, need to be identified as essential for the efficient creation and sustainable management of urban ecosystems. This study was carried out to provide the basic information for ecological urban planning by analyzing types and attributes of the biotop established throughout the whole area of the Pohang city, a representative industrial city in Korea. The biotop established in Pohang city is composed of 12 types including forests (coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests), agricultural fields (rice paddy and upland field), green facilities, river, reservoir, bare ground, residential area, public facilities, commercial area, industrial area, roads, and schools. As a result of analyzing the properties according to biotop types, industrial, commercial and residential areas, which represent urban areas, was dominated by introduced vegetation. Moreover the introduced vegetation is usually composed of exotic plants or modified forms for landscape architecture and horticulture rather than native plants, which reflects ecological property of both region and site. As the distance from the urban center increases, the agricultural field showed a form of typical farmland, whereas the closer it is, the more form of greenhouse farming. Natural green spaces were divided into riparian vegetation established along the stream and forest vegetation. Forest vegetation is consisted of secondary forests (seven communities) and plantations (three communities). The urban landscape of Pohang city is dominated by the industrial area. Among them, the steel industry, which occurs large amounts of heat pollution and carbon dioxide, occupies a large proportion. On the other hand, green space is very insufficient in quantity and inferior in quality. This study proposed several restoration plans and further, a green network, which ties the existing green spaces and the green space to be restored as a strategy to improve the environmental quality in this area.