• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.325-336
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• 2017

The ecosystem in the Gwangju Stream has taken a wide range of disturbance such as the discharging water of sewage treatment plant, the lake water and the river water from different water system over the past decade. This study was figured out some significant influence factors by analyzing the relationship between biotic and abiotic factors in the urban stream. Abiotic components included 15 water quality variables which were measured in five sampling sites along the stream from October 2014 to July 2015, whereas the benthic macroinvertebrates found in those sites were used to estimate various biotic indices representing the ecological status of the community. The results of correlation analyses indicated that abiotic factors by human activities affected on the inhabitation of benthic macroinvertebrates more than biotic factors. The results of cluster analyses and ANOVA tests also showed that biotic and abiotic characteristics were clearly different in season. The main influence factors of cluster analysis by sites were $NH_3-N$, EPT(I) and DO. It was considered that more various statistical analyses would be necessary to find some different relationships and influence factors between biotic and abiotic variables in the urban stream.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.233-241
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• 2008

Functional feeding groups (FFGs) of benthic macroinvertebrates are guilds of invertebrate taxa that obtain food in similar ways, regardless of their taxonomic affinities. They can represent a heterogeneous assemblage of benthic fauna and may indicate disturbances of their habitats. The proportion of different groups can change in response to disturbances that affect the food base of the system, thereby offering a means of assessing disruption of ecosystem functioning. In this study, we used benthic macroinvertebrate communities collected at 650 sites of 23 different water types in the province of Overijssel, The Netherlands. Physical and chemical environmental factors were measured at each sampling site. Each taxon was assigned to its corresponding FFG based on its food resources. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) using a backpropagation algorithm, a supervised artificial neural network, was applied to evaluate the influence of environmental variables to the FFGs of benthic macroinvertebrates through a sensitivity analysis. In the evaluation of input variables, the sensitivity analysis with partial derivatives demonstrates the relative importance of influential environmental variables on the FFG, showing that different variables influence the FFG in various ways. Collector-filterers and shredders were mainly influenced by $Ca^{2+}$ and width of the streams, and scrapers were influenced mostly with $Ca^{2+}$ and depth, and predators were by depth and pH. $Ca^{2+}$ and depth displayed relatively high influence on all four FFGs, while some variables such as pH, %gravel, %silt, and %bank affected specific groups. This approach can help to characterize community structure and to ecologically assess target ecosystems.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.129-144
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• 2012

This study was conducted to understand the community characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates according to Growth Environment at 6 Palustrine Wetlands in a rural area. As growth environment factors, size, water depth, water inlet and water outlet, land-use and water environment was analyzed. Two years' quantitative collection of benthic macroinvertebrate was carried out, and it executed community analysis and ESB index calculation and also carried out twinspan, MDS and correlation analysis. As a result, the collected benthic macroinvertebrate was 1254 individuals with 3 Phylums, 6 Classes, 14 Orders, 35 Families, 52 Genera and 61 Species. Odonata and Coenagreionidae had the highest species and individuals. Dominance Index was 0.252~0.698, Diversity Index was 1.661~2.902, Evenness Index was 0.414~0.724, and Species Richness Index was 1.990~6.224. As a result of community analysis, when correlation analysis was executed, Dominance Index had the opposite tendency with Diversity Index and Evenness Index, which had the same tendency with the previous studies. When ESB Index was calculated, Grade 2 (polluted) had the highest species with 48 species (78.7%). It is determined from the Environmental quality evaluation and saprobity evaluation result according to ESB index that there is a need to revise environmental evaluation system more specifically. As a result of MDS analysis, the subject spots A and D had the highest similarity, and the subject spot E and D had a relatively high similarity. The life environment that is the closest related with species diversity is estimated by the land-use. As for number of Individual, it seems to have the closest relation with inlet, which is to be determined as a characteristics of Palustrine Wetland. Through such investigation, this study is expected to be utilized for various types of habitats including ecological pond and to be utilized for the increase of species diversity in rural areas.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.251-269
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• 2018

In 1997, the environmental score (Q) corresponding the tolerance value of Korean benthic macroinvertebrate species and the related biotic score, the ecological score of benthic macroinvertebrates (ESB) were proposed; ESB was similar to Beck's biotic index or Chandler's biotic score. This study was carried out to revise the Q values of individual species and the assessment scheme of ESB based on the taxonomic performance and ecological information accumulated since then. The original ESB was renamed as TESB (total ESB), and AESB (average ESB) was newly proposed. AESB is calculated by dividing the TESB (for a given station) by the number of species present in the sample. In this study, TESB showed a positively skewed distribution, while AESB showed a negatively skewed distribution. The correlation between TESB and the concentration of $BOD_5$ was a little stronger than that of the original ESB. TESB showed a very strong correlation (correlation coefficient r = 0.98) with Margalef's species richness, of which correlation coefficient was higher than that of AESB (r = 0.85). AESB showed a strong correlation (r = -0.79) with the concentration of $BOD_5$, while TESB showed a weaker correlation (r = -0.67). Applying TESB and AESB together in an assessment of the environment may be comprehensive because the physical and chemical states of the environment can be evaluated together. AESB is less dependent on the sample size, while TESB tends to increase as the sample size increases. In the evaluation of the environment using TESB, it is necessary to standardize the methods on monitoring.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.152-164
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• 2019

In this study, a Benthic Macroinvertebrates Family Index (BMFI) was developed using 100 indicator groups (99 families including Chironomidae with 2 phena). Families were assigned a score between 1 and 10 depending on their sensitivity to organic pollution. The BMFI was composed of the sensitivity and relative abundance of the indicator taxa. Sensitivity values of each group were generally similar to Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) scores or Walley, Hawkes, Paisley, Trigg (WHPT) scores of UK, Japanese BMWP scores, and the FBI tolerance values of North America. However, sensitivity values of some taxa were significantly different from those of foreign countries, which seemed to have resulted from discrepancy in species composition, difference of taxonomic classification system, or methodological difference for estimation of sensitivity. As an annual average level, BMFI showed significant correlation with concentration of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) (correlation coefficient r = -0.80, n = 569 sites), total suspended solids (r = -0.68), and total phosphorus (r = -0.79). In addition, BMFI revealed strong correlation with Shannon-Weaver's species diversity (r = 0.85), Margalef's species richness (r = 0.85) and McNaughton's dominance (r = -0.84). Correlation between BMFI and water quality parameters or community indices such as species diversity did not show significant difference compared to that of species-level indices such as BMI (Benthic Macroinvertebrates Index). This means that BMFI is a more useful indicator in terms of easy identification of organisms. BMFI was used to assess the environmental status of 3,017 sites of Stream Ecosystem Survey conducted by the Korean Ministry of Environment between 2016 and 2018. As a result, about half of all sites appeared to be in good condition, and a quarter in poor condition.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1083-1092
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• 2010

The spatial variability in the food chain structure of an estuary environment (Nanakita estuary, Japan) was investigated using fatty acid. Potential organic matter sources (terrestiral plants, macroalgae, benthic microalgae, dinflagellates and bacteria), sedimentary organic matters and benthic invertebrates (Nuttallia olivacea and Nereidae) were sampled in four locations with different tidal flat type. The main objective of the present study was to determine the origin of sediment and the food sources of N. olivacea and Nereidae along with small-scale spatial variability. The origin of sedimentary organic matters were mainly the fatty acid of bacteria and benthic microalgae. Especially, The organic matter of terrestrial plant origin was found the highest in station C. The diets of N. olivacea and Nereidae were found to be dominated by diatoms and terrestrial plants. Whereas, macroalgae and dinoflagellates showed little influence to benthic invertebrates. Moreover, according to principal component analysis, it is showed that benthic invertebrates in the same region are using the same food without relation with species. On the other hand, the N. olivacea and Nereidae of station D clearly contrasts with station B in terms of main food sources. From these results, it is suggested that food competition of benthic invertebrates revealed high a connection between small-scale spatial variability and food source in estuary.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.69-76
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• 2012

This study was conducted to examine how a low-head dam removal (partial removal) could affect benthic macroinvertebrate communities in a stream. Benthic macroinvertebrates and substrates were seasonally sampled before and after dam removal (March 2006-April 2007). Benthic macroinvertebrates and substrates were quantitatively sampled from immediately upstream (upper: pool) and downstream (lower: riffle) sites, the location of the dam itself (middle), and immediately above the impoundment (control: riffle). After the removal, species richness and density of benthic macroinvertebrates as well as the EPT group (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) increased to higher levels than those before the removal, while functional feeding groups and habitat orientation groups changed more heterogeneously at the upper site. At the lower site, species richness and density decreased somewhat immediately after dam removal, which was associated with an increase of silt and sand, but recovered after monsoon floods which helped to enhance substrate diversity at the upper site. Decreased dominance index and increased diversity index in both the upper and lower sites are evidence of positive effects from the dam removal. In conclusion, we suggest that even a partial removal of a dam, resulting in increased substrate diversity in the upper site, could sufficiently help rehabilitate lost ecological integrity of streams without major habitat changes.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2016

This study was conducted to develop a Benthic macroinvertebrates streambed index (BMSI) based on the response of the community to the substrate type of streambed. Analyzing the seasonal (Spring and Fall) data (11,367 sampling units) surveyed and collected during 2008~2014 at 960 sites in South Korea, we estimated the lithophility of 191 taxa. BMSI was composed of the lithophilic value, indicator weight value and individual abundance frequency. It showed an extremely significant correlation (r = -0.8, p<0.001) with the mean grain size (in phi-value) of the streambed.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.142-150
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• 2015

The relationship between the number of benthic macroinvertebrate species and the accumulated survey area were investigated in a clean stream and an impaired stream of Korea. Five models to characterize species-area functions were compared, and the Weibull model fitted species-area data well. The other models (Arrhenius, Romell-Gleason, Kylin, Lognormal model) had small or notable bias. The maximum number of species and half-saturation area derived from the Weibull model may be used as the indicators of the carrying capacity and the habitat complexity respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Environment and Ecology Conference
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• autumn
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• pp.75-77
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• 2004