• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.343-353
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• 2016

Oligochaetes distribute widely in freshwater ecosystem, and some species are used as bioindicators for water quality assessment because they are tolerant to organic enrichment. They are acknowledged for potential for environmental health recovery of organic polluted environment. There are a lot of studies on ecology and toxicity assessment using oligochaetes in aquatic environment. In this study, we reviewed literature on ecotoxicology of aquatic oligochaetes. We searched literature from a database 'google scholar' by using keywords such as aquatic, oligochaete, and toxicity. The literature were summarized according to publication years, species, test methods, and chemicals. We obtained 133 articles published from 1953 to 2015 from the database. Among them, 58 papers(43.6% of total) have been published in 1990s. Three species(Lumnbriculus variegatus, Tubifex tubifex, and Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri) have been used most frequently in the study. Different species displayed different toxicological responses to different toxic chemicals. The results on the ecotoxicological study with aquatic oligochaetes revealed the possibility of the development for early warning system using aquatic oligochaetes to monitor aquatic ecosystem disturbance.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.52 no.spc2
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• pp.777-789
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to evaluate changes in water quality and aquatic ecosystem health by additional dam release of stream maintenance flow from multipurpose dams in Han river basin ($34,148km^2$) using SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool). The period of additional release was spring (April to June) and autumn (August to October) to evaluate the changes with the data of aquatic ecosystem health survey. The amount of additional release was set proportional to the present dam release, and the maximum release amount was controlled not to exceed the officially notified stream maintenance flow from dam. The 10 percent to 50 percent additional releases showed that the stream water quality (T-N, $NH_4$, T-P, and $PO_4-P$) concentrations except $NO_3-N$ decreased in spring while increased in autumn period. Using the stream water quality results and applying with Random Forest algorithm, the grade of aquatic ecosystem health index (FAI, TDI, and BMI) was improved for both periods especially in the downstream of basin. This study showed that the additional release of stream maintenance flow was more effective in spring than autumn period for the improvement of water quality and aquatic ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2004

A carbon budget model was constructed and analyzed for the Bangjukpo surf zone ecosystem in southern Korea by using the NETWRK. The model consists of 11 living and 1 non-living groups. Using boxes and arrows, a topological map was created to depict biomasses of each group and exchange rates between them. The system includes primary producers of phytoplankton and benthic algae, primary consumers of particle feeding zooplankton, carnivorous zooplankton, meiobenthos, malacostracans and bivalves, and top consumers of detrivorous, omnivorous, carnivorous and piscivorous fishes. The surf zone ecosystem was analyzed by means of network analysis, showing total system throughput of $574\;gCm^{-2}yr^{-1},$ development capacity of $1,876\;gCm^{-2}yr^{-1},$ ascendancy value of $768\;gCm^{-2}yr^{-1},$ Finn cycling index of $4.4\%$ and internal relative ascendancy of $27\%.$ These results were compared with similar data from other systems.

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 2003.08a
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• pp.28-28
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• 2003

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.669-675
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• 2003

To increase fishery resources in coastal waters, juvenile fish and bivalves are artificially released every year in Korea. This study provides a methodology to estimate an optimal release quantity based on the carrying capacity of the receiving basins. Carrying capacity was defined by E.p. Odum's theory of ecosystem development as the upper limit of biomass, where total system respiration equals total primary production. The Ecopath trophic ecological model was used to determine carrying capacity in the surfzone ecosystem of Bangjukpo on the southern coast of Korea. Using a top-down control method, various biomasses of fish groups were given to the simulation, with primary production constant and no catch. The results showed that biomass of selected fish groups increased by two orders of magnitude, yielding a five-fold increase in overall consumer biomass. The resultant values are 10 times higher than those estimated in open seas. This can be explained by higher primary production in the Bangjukpo surfzone ecosystem. This method can be used for strategic releases and ecosystem management, particularly when based on an ecological background.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.544-550
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• 2008

This study conducted a survey on the ecosystem of Wonju stream from May until November in 2004 and made an health assessment of Wonju stream using family biotic indices(FBI) and physical habitat assessment(PHA) of the aquatic insects. Through this survey, aquatic insects covering 8 orders, 37 families, 62 genuses, and 92 species were observed at 9 stations along Wonju stream. In terms of family biotic indices, it was confirmed that station 1,2 and 3 were maintaining the healthiest stream ecosystem with the value ranging from 4.55 to 4.82. In addition, station 2 was found to have the best habitat environment in the correlation between physical habitat assessment and family biotic indices with its value of 100 and 4.82, respectively. However, station 7 and 9 showed the lowest habitat environment with the value of 45, 6.17 and 45, 6.97, respectively. posing the need for improvement in PHA; further, station 7 and 9 showed inverted correlationship between PHA and FBI.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.468-480
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• 2022

Although the construction of the Nakdong River Estuary Barrage (NEB) improved the water supply in the region, it cut off the longitudinal connectivity of the estuary aquatic ecosystem. Thus, the social demands for opening the NEB have been continuously raised, and the efforts to restore the aquatic ecosystem of the Nakdong River estuary began in 2017. Many fish species have inhabited the Nakdong River estuary. Since their habitat and migration characteristics vary widely, the sluice gate operation considering them is essential for the restoration of the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, in this study, we monitored the fish species living and migrating in the Nakdong River estuary and analyzed the possibility of smooth movement of for each fish species by calculating the average flow velocity according to the type and the height of the gate opening. Moreover, we selected the target fish species for each month and suggested the sluice gate operation according to the depth of the main habitat to present the measures that are ideal for optimal restoration of the aquatic ecosystem in the Nakdong River estuary area.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.142-142
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• 2023

Humans inevitably and continuously produce wastewater in daily life worldwide. To decrease the degradation of river water bodies and aquatic ecosystem therein, humans have built systems at different scales to collect, drain, and treat household-produced wastewater. Particularly, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with centralized controls have played a key role in reducing loads of nutrients in domestic wastewater for the last few decades. Notwithstanding such contributions, impaired rivers regarding water quality and habitat integrity still exist at the whole river basin scale. It is highly attributable to the absence of dilution capacity of receiving streams and/or the accumulation of the pollutant loads along flow paths. To improve the perspective for individual WWTPs assessment, the first crucial step is to achieve systematic understanding on spatial distribution characteristics of all WWTPs together in a given river basin. By taking the initiative, our former study showed spatial hierarchical distributions of WWTPs in three large urbanized river basins in Germany. In this study, we uncover how municipal WWTPs in the contiguous United States are distributed along river networks in a give river basin. The extended spatial scope allows to deal with wide ranges in geomorphological attributes, hydro-climatic conditions, and socio-economic status. Furthermore, we identify the relation of the findings with multiple factors related to human activities, such as the spatial distribution of human settlements, the degree of economy development, and the fraction of communities served by WWTPs. Generalizable patterns found in this study are expected to contribute to establishing viable management plans for recent water-environmental challenges caused by WWTP-discharges to river water bodies.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.85-94
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• 1998

Herbicides play a very important role in modern agriculture. However, the herbicide applied to the agricultural field may accumulate in the field, converting the advantages to environment pollution. Many small animals in the ecosystem such as alderfly, earthworm, butterfly, loach, frog, firefly, some birds and aquatic organisms have been known to disappear gradually. In addition, several behavior of herbicides including adsorption by soil, movement by water, photodecomposition, volatilization to air, absorption by plant, metabolism by soil microorganisms and so on, are proceeded while the herbicide remained in the environment. In this review, fate and behavior of herbicides in the environment and their effect on ecosystem after their application are focused on four aspects : the first is the absorption and metabolism of herbicides by plant; the second is the residues of herbicides in soil and water environments: the third is the accumulation and release of herbicides in aquatic organisms and the fourth is the translocation of herbicides in model agricultural ecosystem. Many factors may affect the behavior and fate of herbicides after their application, climatic conditions and soil properties seem to be the most important. Therefore, the fate and behavior of herbicide in Taiwan, located on subtropical region, may differ from those in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.395-400
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• 2002

Lead is one of the most toxic metal and is detectable in practically all phases of environment and in all biological system. Transport, industrial and domestic waste products are the main sources of this pollutant. Ingested lead is rapidly absorbed and widely distributed throughout the body, causing extensive tissue damage. In this study, we chose the freshwater decapods Maceobrachium nipponnese as a sensitive indicator organism for environmental pollution. In order to investigate the possibility in use of $Na^+/K^+ATPase$ activity as a biomarker of lead pollution, we tested the acute toxicity of lead to Maceobrachium nipponnese. The $LC_{50}(96hr)$ value for lead in Maceobrachium nipponnese was found to be $446{\mu}g/L$ with the 95% confidence limits. The lead exposure group at $LC_{50}$ showed a significant $Na^+/K^+ATPase$ inhibition, depending on the exposure time. Comparision of several concentrations of lead revealed that the $Na^+/K^+ATPase$ activity in Maceobrachium nipponnese was significantly decreased in a concentration dependent manner. These results suggest that $Na^+/K^+ATPase$ activity in Maceobrachium nipponnese may possibly be used as a biomarker of lead pollution in aquatic ecosystem.