• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.109-117
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• 2008

Application of biomarkers for assessing marine environmental health risk is a relatively new field. According to the National Research Council and the World Health Organization, biomarkers can be divided into three classes: biomarkers of exposure, biomarkers of effect, and biomarkers of susceptibility. In order to assess exposure to or effect of the environmental pollutants on marine ecosystem, the following set of biomarkers can be examined: detoxification, oxidative stress, biotransformation products, stress responses, apoptosis, physiological metabolisms, neuromuscular responses, reproductions, steroid hormones, antioxidants, genetic modifications. Since early 1990s, several biomarker research groups have developed health indices of marine organisms to be used for assessing the state of the marine environment. Biomarker indices can be used to interpret data obtained from monitoring biological effects. In this review, we will summarize Health assessment Index, Biomarker Index, Bioeffect Assessment Index and Generalized Linear Model. Measurements of biomarker responses and development of biomarker index in marine organisms from contaminated sites offer great a lot of information, which can be used in environmental monitoring programs, designed for various aspects of ecosystem risk assessment.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.432-440
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• 2017

Compound specific isotope analysis of amino acids (CSIA-AAs) is being highlighted as an alternative approach for overcoming some restrictions in application of stable isotope analysis of bulk tissue (SIA) for trophic position (TP) estimation. However, this approach has rarely been applied in Korea. The present study determines TP of two Polychaeta (Nephtyidae and Glyceridae) and two fish species(Platycephalus indicus and Lophius litulon) collected from the Geum River estuary using nitrogen isotope ratio of amino acid and compared with the TP values estimated by SIA. The Polychaeta species, sampled in two sites, showed similar TP between SIA(2.7 and 3.1) and CSIA-AAs (2.6 and 3.1). However, for both fish species, TP values displayed a large difference between SIA (3.1 and 2.3) and CSIA-AAs (3.8 and 3.7). In this study TP values estimated by CSIA-AAs showed more similar to the previously reported gut content analysis of both fishes compared with the results of SIA. Current study suggests the applicability of nitrogen isotope ratio of amino acid to understand coastal ecosystem structure and trophic ecology.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2018

We sampled vomit of black-faced spoonbills(Platalea minor) during the brood-rearing season (from June 2011 to June 2014) at the Namdong reservoir in Incheon and analyzed the food components in the vomit using microscopy and next-generation sequencing (NGS). Microscopic observations primarily helped in identifying osteichthyes (bony fishes), crustaceans, and polychaetes. In particular, species belonging to the families Mugilidae and Gobiidae among the fish, and Macrophthalmus japonicas among the crustaceans, were observed at high frequency. Results of NGS analysis revealed the predominant presence of bony fish (42.58% of total reads) and crustaceans (40.75% of total reads), whereas others, such as polychaetes (12.66%), insects (0.24%), and unidentified species (3.78%), occurred in lower proportions. At the species level, results of NGS analysis revealed that Macrophthalmus abbreviates and Macrobrachium sp. among the crustaceans, and Acanthogobius hasta, Tridentiger obscurus, and Pterogobius zacalles among the bony fish, made up a high proportion of the total reads. These food species are frequently found at tidal flats in the Songdo and Sihwa lakes, emphasizing the importance of these areas as potential feeding sites of the black-faced spoonbill. Feed composition of the black-faced spoonbill, as evaluated by analyzing its vomit, differed when the evaluations were done by microscopic observation or by NGS analysis. Evaluation by microscopic observation is difficult and not error free, owing to the degradation of the samples to be analyzed; however, NGS analysis is more accurate, because it makes use of genetic information. Therefore, accurately analyzing food components from morphologically indistinguishable samples is possible by using genetic analysis.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2016

Environmental changes exert harmful effects on organisms inhabiting coastal regions. These changes are also associated with reduced production in aquaculture farms. In this study, we investigated internal and external responses of two Bivalvia species (Crassostrea gigas and Mytilus galloprovincialis) in Gamak Bay under stressful environmental conditions in aquaculture farms. We investigated external responses such as weight, size, and environment exposure time, and analyzed the expression of the HSP70 gene. C. gigas HSP70 gene expression level was significantly high in the C3 aquaculture farm site, but the weight and size of C. gigas were high in the C2 aquaculture farm site. The response of C. gigas HSP70 mRNA was associated with the environmental exposure time in each aquaculture farm. Expression of M. galloprovincialis HSP70 gene was found to be significantly higher in the M2 aquaculture farm site than in the M1 site, whereas the weight of M. galloprovincialis was observed to be higher in the M1 site. The size and environmental exposure time of M. galloprovincialis were similar between M1 and M2 sites. In addition, HSP70 sequences of C. gigas and M. galloprovincialis showed high similarity with that of another marine species. According to our results, there were differences in internal responses following environmental stress in aquaculture farms, with respect to HSP70 gene expression. The results suggest that the HSP70 gene is a useful molecular indicator for monitoring stress responses in Bivalvia species in the field.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.109-117
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• 2011

The Korean Peninsula is located in the middle latitude of the northern hemisphere and has a clear 4-seasons and shows the typical temperate climate. Because of seasonal winds, it is cold and dry by a northwestern wind in the winter and it is hot and humid by a southeast wind in the summer. Also, temperature difference between the winter and the summer is large and it shows a rainy season from June to July but recently this regular trend may be greatly changed by an unusual weather phenomena. Since the Peninsula is east high west low type, the climate is complicated too. Because these geographical and climate characteristics can affect the properties of corrosion of metals and alloys, a systematic research on atmospheric corrosion in the Peninsula is required to understand and control the corrosion behavior of the industrial facilities. This paper analyzed the atmospheric corrosion factors for several environments in the Korean Peninsula and categorized the corrosivity of atmospheric corrosion of metals and alloys on the base of the related ISO standards. Annual pH values of rain showed the range of 4.5~5.5 in Korean Peninsula from 1999 to 2009 and coastal area showed relatively the low pH's rain. Annual $SO_2$ concentrations is reduced with time and its concentrations of every major cities were below the air quality standard, but $NO_2$concentration revealed a steady state and its concentration of Seoul has been over air quality standard. In 2007, $SO_2$classes of each sites were in $P_0{\sim}P_1$, and chloride classes were in $S_0{\sim}S_1$, and TOW classes were in ${\tau}_3{\sim}{\tau}_4$.That is, $SO_2$ and chloride classes were low but TOW class was high in Korean Peninsula. On the base of these environmental classes, corrosivity of carbon steel, zinc, copper, aluminium can be calculated that carbon steel was in C2-C3 classes and it was classified as low-medium, and zinc, copper, and aluminium showed C3 class and it was classified as medium.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.884-894
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• 2015

To examine the relationship between microphytobenthos biomass and the condition index of Ruditapes philippinarum (manila clam), field observations were conducted seasonally at the tidal flats of Jeongsanpo and Hwangdo, Taean, Korea from February to November, 2012. A total of 122 species of microphytobenthos were identified over the study period with 85 species (30-45 species in season) at Jeongsanpo and 92 species (32-57 species) at Hwangdo. Chlorophyll a concentrations and cell number of microphytobenthos were $79.75mg/m^2$ and $3,255cells/cm^2$ at Jeongsanpo, and $151.50mg/m^2$ and $15,943cells/cm^2$ at Hwangdo, respectively. The dominant species were slightly different: Cylindrotheca closterium, Fallacia forcipata, Fogedia sp., Gyrosigma sp., and Navicula sp. at Jeongsanpo and C. closterium, Detonula pumila, Diploneis sp., Navicula sp. and Merismopedia sp. at Hwangdo tidal flat. Paralia sulcata was the representative species based on cell number at the two study sites. The number of microphytobenthos identified from the digestive organs of manila clams seasonally varied from 18 to 31 species at Jeongsanpo and dominant genus were Amphora, Navicula, Nitzschia and Paralia sulcata. At Hwangdo, the species number of microphytobenthos found in the digestive organs of manila clams were in the range of between 19 and 25 species in season and the dominant genus were Actinocyclus, Amphora, Coscinodiscus, Diploneis, Gyrosigma, Navicula, and Diploneis. The condition index of manila clams were greater at Hwangdo (0.57) than at Jeongsanpo (0.42). Present results could support that the condition index of manila clams is positively correlated with the species richness and chlorophyll a contents of microphytobenthos.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.425-437
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• 2013

This study performed the bivariate drought frequency analysis for duration and severity of drought, using copula functions which allow considering the correlation structure of joint features of drought. We suggested the confidence intervals of duration-severity-frequency (DSF) curves for the given drought duration using stochastic scheme of monthly rainfall generation for 57 sites in Korea. This study also investigated drought risk via illustrating the largest drought events on record over 50 and 100 consecutive years. It appears that drought risks are much higher in some parts of the Nakdong River basin, southern and east coastal areas. However, such analyses are not always reliable, especially when the frequency analysis is performed based on the data observed over relatively short period of time. To quantify the uncertainty of drought frequency curves, the droughts were filtered by different durations. The 5%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95% confidence intervals of the drought severity for a given duration were estimated based on the simulated rainfall time series. Finally, it is shown that the growing uncertainties is revealed in the estimation of the joint probability using the two marginal distributions since the correlation coefficient of two variables is relatively low.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.5-15
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• 2012

Field monitoring data for embankments in thirteen road construction sites at coastal area of the Korean Peninsula were analyzed to investigate the characteristics of lateral flow in soft grounds, to which vertical drain methods were applied. First of all, the effect of the embankment scale on the lateral flow was investigated. Thicker soft soils and lager relative embankment scale produced more horizontal displacements in soft grounds. Especially, if thick soft grounds were placed, the relative embankment scale, which was given by the ratio of thickness of soft ground to the bottom width of embankments, became larger and in turn large horizontal displacement was produced. And also higher filling velocity of embankments induced more horizontal displacements in soft grounds. The other major factors affecting the lateral flow in soft ground were the thickness and undrained shear strength of soft grounds, the soil modulus and the stability number. Maximum horizontal displacement was induced by less undrained shear strength and soil modulus of soft grounds. Also more stability numbers produced more maximum horizontal displacements. When the shear deformation does not develop, the stability number was less than 3.0 and the safety factor of bearing was more than 1.7. However, if the stability number was more than 5.14 and the safety factor of bearing was less than 1.0, the unstable shear failure developed in soft ground. 50mm can be recommended as a criterion of the allowable maximum horizontal displacement to prevent the shear deformation in soft ground, while 100mm can be recommended as a criterion of the allowable maximum horizontal displacement to prevent the shear failure in soft ground.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.197-211
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• 2004

Visibility impairment was known as an indicator of the increased air pollution. In many previous studies, it is known that both directly emitted fine particles mainly from vehicles and secondary aerosols from photochemical reactions could contribute to this visibility impairment in addition to the meteorological condition. Furthermore, the visibility showed different change patterns according to the geographical condition. In order to research into the influence of these factors on visibility, this study analyzed the visibility at 15:00, observed from 1990 to 2001 in Seoul, Ganghwa, Susan, Gwangju, Jeju. As a result, the visibility was increased in Seoul except the rainfall period, but in Susan, Gwangju, Jeju, it decreased with the relative humidity (RH). Especially, in Seoul, the number of low visibility days was larger than other sites and variations of the visibility were sensitive to the concentration of air pollutants, such as TSP, $NO_2$, $O_3$. The visibility impairment was mainly observed in meteorological condition of RH<50% and relatively stationary front. Therefore it is inferred that photochemical smog could lead to the low visibility in Seoul. On the other hands, in Ganghwa and Susan, when RH was 60~70%, the low visibility observed under the influence of the transports of air pollutants from nearby cities as well as humid air mass from coastal region. And in Jeju, sea fog and humid air mass caused the visibility impairment when the RH was larger than 80%. Finally, during the observational period, some cases of low visibility phenomena were simultaneously observed in the vast region including Seoul, Susan, Ganghwa. It not only includes the visibility aggravation by Asian Dust, but also could be caused by the movement and diffusion of flying dust or secondary aerosols. Moreover, the result shows that these phenomena could be mainly influenced by meteorological factors covering the wide regions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.58-66
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• 2002

We present a planting plan of the buffer-forest belts created at the boundary area of the waste landfill site which is located in the coastal area of Kyubg-Gi province. In order to form a proper section of ground soil excavated from the sea and a forest which shows a distinction of the vegetation stratification, the planting plan with trees, sub-trees, shrubs, and seedlings (produced at a sprout cultivation place) is devised with an adjustment of planting density. 1. The preparation of mounding is required for planting at a waste landfill site. We first estimate an economical and efficient banking height together with the quantity of soil, and prepare a planting ground with excavated ground soil for the consideration of soil recycling. On the planting ground a banking with a height of 1.5-2m is produced by self-supported soil, playing a role in a salt blocking and an irritation layer of planting. Finally, an additional banking with a height of 2m is produced by qualified vegetation soil, forming a vegetation section with a total height of 6m. 2. Since the planning site is located in the border, the planting area is composed of two regions : one is an inclined face (slope 1 : 3) toward the inside of the landfill site and the other is an inclined face (slope 1 : 4) toward the inland. The buffer planting in the former (latter) region consists of wind break forest (mixed-landscape forest) within a width of less than 35m. 3. Based on the data obtained from the literatures and the investigation of local plants, we choose the 21 plant species (such as Pinus thunbergii, Pinus densiflora, Sorbus alnifolia, Albizzia julibrissin and etc.) and the additinal 7 species which are grown at a sprout cultivation palce of the SUDOKWON landfill site (Rosa rugosa, Quercus acutissima, Prunus armeniaca var. ansu., and etc.). Sub-trees with a height of above 2.5m and seedlings are planted with an interval of $1.5{\times}1.5m$ ($0.45roots/m^2$) and $0.5{\times}0.5m$ ($4roots/m^2$), respectively. Here, both trees exhibit communities planting with more than three rows. Shrubs are planted with $9-16roots/m^2$, depending on their size. Since this case study provides a reference of the planting beds as well as a planting plan at the SUDOKWON landfill site, it is not sufficient for the present plan to be utilized for the formation of buffer-forest belts which are used for the analysis of environmental factor and the reduction of environmental pollutants in the sea waste landfill site. Thus, further studies with the ecological basis are demanded for the environment planting restoration in the sea waste landfill site.