• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.87-98
• /
• 2022

In this study, the community structure of marine benthic invertebrates was examined to evaluate the differences between the west, south, and east coasts of Korea and to identify the indicator species representing each region. Acrylic attachment plate sets were installed in Jeongok, Mokpo, Tongyeong, Yangpo, and Gangreung, and the invertebrate fauna thus captured were identified. Monitoring was performed in each area from March 2017 to May 2018. Water depth, temperature, and salinity at each location were measured to determine the potential influence of abiotic factors on the community structure. As a result, the mean depth of plates installed and the water temperature were significantly different in each area. A total of 32 invertebrate species were identified in all localities, and the most significant difference in the species compositions was found between Mokpo and Gangreung. The community structure differed significantly with a change in the plate depth, and a larger number of indicator species appeared on shallower plates. Finally, we determined the community structure of benthic invertebrates in different geographical regions of the Korean ocean by characterizing the dominant invertebrate taxa and the indicator species at each site.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.75-82
• /
• 2017

Macrobenthos composes the dominant biomass at the mudflat and play an important role in the maintenance of the benthic environments. Organic matter in sedimentary environment affects habitat, feeding behaviors, and survival of benthos. In this study, the relationship between organic matter content in sediment and the distribution of macrobenthos was discussed at two margins (Mokpo and Aphae area) in the mouth of Muan bay. Sediment TOC was higher at Mokpo than at Aphae through the four seasons, and the pollution indicator organism Musculista senhousia was dominant in this area. The macrobenthos distribution was clearly divided into two areas correlated with sediment organic matter content in the mouth of Muan bay.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.181-195
• /
• 2005

To study the effects of aquaculture activity of marine cage fish farms on marine environment, field researches including hydrography, sediment, benthos and trap experiment at the marine cage fish farms(Site A) around estuaries of Tongyeong city were carried out during June $26\~27$, 2003. A simulation using numerical model-DEPOMOD was conducted to predict the solid deposition from fish cage and to assess the probable solid deposition, and the efficiency of environmental management of marine cage fish farms was studied. The marine cage fish farms cultured mainly common sea bass (Lateolabrax japonicus), red seabream (Pagrus major), striped breakperch (Oplegnathus fasciatus) and black rockfish(Sebastes schlegeli), and total amount of cultured fish of the Site A were 23.1MT. The amount of husbandry fish by unit area(and volume) of the fish cage was $43.0kg\;m^{-2}(6.1kg\;m^{-3})$. The daily mean amounts of food fed by unit biomass and cage area were $30.8g\;kg^{-1}day^{-1},\;1.32kg\;m^{-2}day^{-1},$ respectively, at the Site A. The concentration of ORP of the sediment below the center at the Site A was -334.6 mV and the concentrations of AVS, COD, Carbon and Nitrogen were $0.43mg\;g^{-1}dry,\;17.75mg\;g^{-1}dry,\;10.19mg\;g^{-1}dry\;and\;3.49mg\;g^{-1}dry$, respectively. Capitella capitata was dominant benthic species which occupied $57.8\%$ of total species, and the Infaunal Trophical Index(ITI) was marked below 20 within 20 m distance from the edge of the Site A. The result of trap experiment, the solid deposition from the Site A was $34,485g\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ at 0 m from the center of the cage and $18,915g\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ at 42 m. From a model simulation, it was estimated that using a model simulation, the proportion of unfed food was $40\%$ at the Site A and the annual total amount of solid deposition was 63,401 accounting for $24.4\%$ of the annual total food fed at the Site A. The area solid deposition settled was estimated to be $8,450m^2$, which was about 16 times of the total area of fish cage at the Site A. And concerning ITI and abundance of benthos, the model predicted that sustainable solid flux at the Site A was below $10,000gm^{-2}yr^{-1}$. The percentage of food wasted was main element of solid deposition at the marine cage fish farms, and for minimizing solid deposition it is necessary to increase the efficiency of the food uptake. Based on the result of the model simulation, if the percentage of food wasted decreases to $10\%$ from the current $40\%$, then the solid deposition could decrease to a half. In addition, it was predicted that if farmers use EP pellets as food fed instead of MP and fish trash, solid deposition could decrease by $57\%$. Also this study proposes that the cage facility ratio of the licensed area be decreased to less than $5\%$ to minimize the sediment pollution.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.369-383
• /
• 2006

The Saemangeum project is one of the biggest reclamation efforts in Korea and may cause coastal ecosystem change due to altered environments and habitat loss. Since February 2002, benthic environment and community structure in the Saemangeum studied area were studied to assess the influence of the project on macrofaunal community. The result of seasonal study from February, 2002 to August 2005 is reported here. Overall, changes of species numbers and dominant species of benthic animals in the periods before (1988) and after $(2002{\sim}2005)$ the Saemangeum dike construction were not evident both inside and outside the dike. However, local environmental and community change were noted The partial completion of Saemangeum dike $(4^{th}\;dike)$ in June 2003 altered water circulation and sediment deposition patterns both inside and outside the dike. Fine sediment was accumulated inside and outside the $4^{th}$ dike while coarse sediment dominated near the main channel (Sinsi gate). Benthic community resl)ended to the altered sediment type in these areas. Species number and diversity in both site was low compared to other sites. The dominant species in these areas were composed of the benthos that had not commonly occurred in the Saemangeum subtidal area.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.118-128
• /
• 2005

Surface sediment samples from 31 stations in Jinhae Bay were analyzed to evaluate the pollution by sewage from the spatial distribution of the fecal sterol, coprostanol. The sums of eight sterols (coprostanol, epicholestanol, epicoprostanol, cholesterol, cholestanol, brassicasterol, stigmasterol and $\beta$-sitosterol) were in the range of $2,703-27,154{\cal}ng/{\cal}g$ dry weight. The concentrations of the coprostanol in the sediments, which is a good tracer of sewage-derived organic contamination, were in the range of $76-3,964{\cal}ng/{\cal}g$ dry weight. The levels of coprostanol were much higher (almost one order of magnitude) at stations close to the big cities such as Masan and Jinhae. However, those levels were comparable to or lower than those previously reported in other foreign locations. Some ratios of coprostanol to other sterols and multivariate analysis could provide us with the information on the origin of the sterols being from sewage, plankton, and/or benthos. Those showed sewage dominance at the stations near the cities Masan and Jinhae, plankton dominance at the center of Jinhae Bay and mainly marine fauna origin at the mouth of Jinhae Bay. These results suggest that the contents of sterols and some ratios of these components are quite powerful tracer for the detection of the origin of the organic contaminants in the coastal environments.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.27 no.8
• /
• pp.689-699
• /
• 2018

The changes on community structures of benthic macroinvertebrates, relevance to the environment and interrelationship between benthos were studied over two years in stream with large environmental disturbance, which caused by localized heavy rain during Typhoon Chaba in October 2016. As a result, the number of species and individuals were increased after localized heavy rain, especially numbers of individuals of Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera were greatly increased. On the contrary, those of Semisulcospira libertina and Semisulcospira forticosta of Mesogastropoda were greatly decreased. Dominant species was Baetis fuscatus of Ephemeroptera, numbers of species and individuals of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera(EPT group) were dramatically increased from 26 species, 110 individuals to 32 species, 365 individuals respectively. This suggests that the change of river bed and flow velocity due to heavy rain provided a suitable environment for the EPT group that preferred the rift of a stream. In the functional feeding group, only gathering collectors and filtering collectors were identified in autumn of 2017 because some functional groups preferentially adapted to the changed environment. The interspecific competition and environmental condition were the worst in autumn after heavy rain due to the increase individuals of some species. The ecological score of benthic macroinvertebrate community(ESB) was higher after the heavy rain than before. Results of the Group Pollution Index(GPI), Korean Saprobic Index(KSI) and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index(BMI) were similar to those before and after heavy rainfall. Therefore, ESB was the most discriminating method for estimating the biological water quality in this study. Some species that are sensitive to water quality changes still appear or increase individuals in the area under investigation after the heavy rain. On the other hand, the individuals of some pollutant species decreased. This is thought to be because the habitat fluctuation caused by heavy rainfall has improved the water environment.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.123-135
• /
• 2010

Around Tongyeong coasts which located in southern coast of Korea composed to the complex coastal line and scattered by small islands. It also has been distributed to a complicated bathymetric structure by several types of channels. This study carried to analyze the spatial characteristics of macrobenthic community and benthic environmental variance on sub-tidal area based on multivariate statistics tools. Sediment composition varied from muddy sand to mud, and along the channels, it composed to a heterogeneous bottoms mixed by shell fragment, cobbles and mud. Organic contents on the surface sediment varied 1.1-3.9%. Total of 272 species, $33,349\;ind./m^2$ of macrobenthos identified in all of sample area. Polychaetes also prevailed among the specimen. L. longifolia, P. pinnata dominated based on density. Considering on the biomass, echinoderm S. lacunosa, A. tricoides listed. Closer to the coastal area, the density and diversity were higher. Community structure based on cluster analysis was discriminated into three groups. Each group was also characterized by geographical state such as depth, sediment composition. In addition, when applied to the bathymetric data, the channel, which composed to the mixed sediment, made a role of limited factor which characterized to benthic community. Because the specimen around the channel have been affected on the diverse sediment mixture. Most of benthic studies in the southern coast of Korea focused to the condition of benthic organic pollution spatially, because along the coast, it also developed a aquaculture ground and industrial complex. But, as results, most of the area, it turn out the less polluted areas nevertheless similar environment situation. It supposed that benthic community affect to the bottom sediment composition by physical characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.189-195
• /
• 1989

The ecological studies of the benthic polychaetes were carried out in the follow Sea for the period of August 1982 through February 1986. Special emphasis were placed on quantitative species composition and the importance of polychaetes in the benthic community. Polychaete group ranked numerically high, composing $35.1\~46.4\%$ of the total benthos. In the biomass, echinoderms or mollusks showed as a dominant group, but the range of its seasonal variation was very large. Due to the use of sampling gear, the relative importance of polychaetes was somewhat different. The case of a dredge showed a little lower composition rate of polychaetes than a grab one. This result was caused by high density of benthic animals because the dredge would tow only much more surface sediments than the grab sampler. The present studies included a total of 141 species and the representative polychaetes in this area were Spiophanes bormbyx, Ampharete arctica, Geniada maulata, Nephtys caeca, Nothria iridescens.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.311-321
• /
• 2004

Relationships between sedimentary environments and abundance of benthic animals were examined on the deep-sea floor, the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, in the northeast equatorial Pacific Ocean. Specimens were collected using a box corer at 8 stations by sieving through 0.3 mm mesh screen. Sediments showed finer grain size ranged from 5.63 to $7.97{\varphi}$, 83.1% of mean porosity, 1.81 kPa of mean shear strength and organic carbon content in sediment ranged from 0.97 to $1.87\;mg/cm^3$. Manganese nodules covered on the bottom layer from 4 to 57% of coverages. A total of 26 faunal groups in 6 phyla was sampled and comprised 1,467 individuals. Mean biomass were calibrated to 0.5 gWWt/$0.06\;m^2$. Small-sized animals including foraminiferans and nematods were dominated among the faunal group which comprised 49.1% (892 ind.) and 11.5% (320 ind.), respectively. In SPI-analysis, vertical bio-disturbance marks were not observed except to Beggiatoa-type bacterial mats. As the results of relationship between environments and benthos, abundance of benthic animals, especially nematode, showed only a negative correlation to the coverage of nodules, and any other sedimentary factors analyzed in this study were rarely affected to the spatial distribution of benthic animals.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.367-376
• /
• 2004

Macrobenthos were collected at 7 stations located from $5^{\circ}N$ to $10^{\circ}N$ with 1o interval along the longitude of $131^{\circ}W$ using a box corer with sampling area of $0.25\;m^2$ in July, 1999. In order to see the vertical distribution of macrobenthos in sediments, each subcore sample was divided into 5 layers with 1 cm interval up to 6 cm depth. Each subcore sample was sieved through 0.3 mm mesh screen and fixed with 10% Rose Bengal added formalin. A total of 22 faunal groups in 11 phyla were sampled and the average density was $959\;{\pm}\;584\;ind./m^2$. Foraminiferans comprised 34.8% of total specimens were the most abundant fauna, and followed by nematodes (27.5%), polychaete worms (15.7%), and benthic harpactoid copepods (10.4%). A latitudinal trend was shown in the distribution of macrobenthos; the maximum density of $1,832\;ind./m^2$ appeared at station N06 and the most poverished community occurred at station N09 with the density of $248\;ind./m^2$. The density of typical macrofaunal taxa except foraminiferans and nematods was $116\;ind./m^2$. In the vertical distribution of macrobenthos, more than 70% of macrobenthos occurred in the upper 2 cm layer, and upper 4 cm layer contained about 90% of macrofauna. Polychaete worms consisted of 22 families, and cirratulid and paraonid worms were dominant polychaete species. The prominant feeding guilds of polychaete worms were SDT (surface, descretely motile, tenaculate feeding) and SMX (surface, motile, non-jawed); they comprised more than 50% of polychaete abundance. These feeding guilds of polychaete worms suggests that the deep sea benthos should be well adapted the newly settled deposits from water column, but this should be clarified by the further studies.