• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.99-111
• /
• 2014

Community structure of fish and inhabiting status of natural monument and endangered species, Cobitis choii were investigated in the Baekgok Stream, a tributary of the Geum River drainage system of Korea from May to November 2012. Ten-15 fish species inhabited upper stream (St. 1~St. 3) with a Aa or Aa-Bb river type composed of mostly pebble and cobble bottoms. 15~21 species did middle stream (St. 4~St. 5) with Aa or Aa-Bb type composed of mostly cobble, boulder and pebble bottoms. Nine species did Reservoir Baekgok (St. 6) with composed of mostly mud bottoms, and Seven species did Reservoir Baekgok outflow (St. 7) with Aa-Bb type composed of mostly boulder and cobble bottoms. And 20~23 species did lower stream (St. 8~St. 9) with a Bb-Bc type composed of mostly cobble and sand bottoms. A total of 35 species belonging to ten families were found in the stream during the survey. The dominant species were in the order of Zacco platypus (34.7%), Pungtungia herzi (9.4%) and Microphysogobio yaluensis (9.0%). Other abundant species included Tridentiger bifasciatus (8.2%), Pseudogobio esocinus (5.9%), Carassius auratus (4.6%), Squalidus chankaensis tsuchigae (3.7%), Rhinogobius brunneus (3.0%). Among residing species, ten (28.6%) species were endemic to Korea, one (Cobits choii) was endangered, and two (Micropterus salmoides and C. cuvieri) were non-indigenous. Natural monument and endangered species, C. choii were only inhabited St. 5, and they are inhabited 30~100 cm in water depth, sand bottom and slowly velocity. Using the mark-recapture method, populations were estimated at $7,838{\pm}6,290$ individuals. Age group in May estimated from total length indicated that the 38~45 mm group is 0 year old, the 46~60 mm group is 1 years old, the 61~80 mm group is 2 years old, and the 81~93 mm group is more than 3 years old. Condition factor (${\times}10^5) was 0.36~0.39 and 0.35~0.38 for female and male, respectively, and they are 13.5% were infected with parasites (digenea). We are discussed the health status, threats and conservation strategies of C. choii in the Baekgok Stream.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.651-658
• /
• 2004

Runx2 is a transcription factor in homologous with Drosophila runt gene and it is essential for bone formation during embryogenesis and a critical gene for osteoblast differentiation and osteoblast function. Runx2-haploinsufficency causes cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD). CCD is an autosomal-dominant inherited disorder characterized by hypoplastic clevicle and delayed ossification in fontanelles and wormian bones. Dental defects are possibly shown to CCD patients : multiple supernumerary teeth, irregular and compressed permanent tooth crowns, hypoplastic and hypomineralized defects in enamel and dentin, an excess of epithelial root remnants, the absence of cellular cementum, and abnormally shaped roots. In addition, delayed eruption of the secondary dentition is a constant finding. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of Runx2 in the tooth development and eruption through analyzing the expression pattern of Runx2 by in situ hybridization during crown (late bell stage) and root formation of tooth, using postnatal day 1, 4, 7, 14 and 21 mice mandibular molar teeth. mRNA of Runx2-full length is expressed in dental follicle and surrounding tissue at postnatal day1 and 4. At postnatal day 7, it is expressed in ameloblasts of occlusal surface of enamel and bone area surrounding the tooth. In comparison with previous stage, at postnatal day 14, it is expressed in ameloblasts of proximal surface of enamel. At postnatal day 21 it's expression is observed only in bone area. mRNA of Runx2-typeII is not expressed. At postnatal day 1 and 7. At postnatal day 14 and 21, it's expression is observed in the bone area. In this study, we suggest that Runx2 have a relation of ameloblasts differentiation and an important role to tooth eruption made by dental follicle during intraosseous eruption stage. Also we can confirm that Runx2 has a role to bone formation.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.153-167
• /
• 2015

In order to understand the relationship between the distribution of epilithic diatoms and the habitual environments, land-use, water qualities, and epilithic diatoms were studied at 141 sampling sites in the midwestern stream of Korean peninsula (Geum river, Mangyeong river, Dongjin river, and Sapgyo river). The total 183 diatom taxa was appeared in the study, while the dominant species were found to be Nitzschia palea (10.9%) and Achnanthes convergens (8.4%). Based on the abundance of epilithic diatoms, a cluster analysis results indicate that the sampling sites divided the sampling sites into 4 groups (G) at the 25% level. In term of geographic and aquatic environments, G-I and -II accounted for the upper and mid streams of the Geum river, and had large forest areas and good in water quality. G-III accounted for farmland and urban, and high concentration nutrient levels (TN and TP) and electric conductivity. G-IV accounted for mostly farmland, and high levels in turbidity, BOD, nutrient and electric conductivity. CCA results showed that the saproxenous taxa Meridion circulare was the indicator species of G-I, which strongly influenced by altitude and forests. In G-II, the indifferent taxa Navicula cryptocephala was influenced by Chl-a, AFDM, and DO. In G-III and -IV, the indifferent taxa Fragilaria elliptica and saprophilous taxa Aulacoseira ambigua were influenced by electric conductivity, turbidity, and nutrient counts. Meanwhile, random forest results showed that the predicting factor of indicator species appearance in G-I, -II, and -III was found to be electric conductivity whereas in G-IV it was found to be turbidity. Collectively, the distribution of diatoms in the midwestern of Korean peninsula was found to depend more on the land-use and its subsequent water qualities than the inherent characteristics of the aquatic environment.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.210-218
• /
• 2018

Background: Soil respiration (Rs) is a major factor of the absorption and accumulation of carbon through photosynthesis in the ecosystem carbon cycle. This directly affects the amount of net ecosystem productivity, which affects the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem. Understanding the characteristics of Rs is indispensable to scientifically understand the carbon cycle of ecosystems. It is very important to study Rs characteristics through analysis of environmental factors closely related to Rs. Rs is affected by various environmental factors, such as temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, litter supply, organic matter content, dominant plant species, and soil disturbance. This study was conducted to analyze the effects of micro-topographical differences on Rs in forest vegetation by measuring the Rs on the ridge and southern slope sites of the broadly established Quercus mongolica forest in the central Korean area. Method: Rs, Ts, and soil moisture data were collected at the southern slope and ridge of the Q. mongolica forest in the Mt. Jeombong area in order to investigate the effects of topographical differences on Rs. Rs was collected by the closed chamber method, and data collection was performed from May 2011 to October 2013, except Winter seasons from November to April or May. For collecting the raw data of Rs in the field, acrylic collars were placed at the ridge and southern slope of the forest. The accumulated surface litter and the soil organic matter content (SOMC) were measured to a 5 cm depth. Based on these data, the Rs characteristics of the slope and ridge were analyzed. Results: Rs showed a distinct seasonal variation pattern in both the ridge and southern slope sites. In addition, Rs showed a distinct seasonal variation with high and low Ts changes. The average Rs measurements for the two sites, except for the Winter periods that were not measured, were $550.1\;mg\;CO_2m^{-2}h^{-1}$ at the ridge site and $289.4\;mg\;CO_2m^{-2}h^{-1}$ at the southern slope, a difference of 52.6%. There was no significant difference in the Rs difference between slopes except for the first half of 2013, and both sites showed a tendency to increase exponentially as Ts increased. In addition, although the correlation is low, the difference in Rs between sites tended to increase as Ts increased. SMC showed a large fluctuation at the southern slope site relative to the ridge site, as while it was very low in 2013, it was high in 2011 and 2012. The accumulated litter of the soil surface and the SOMC at the depth range of 0~5 cm were $874g\;m^{-2}$ and 23.3% at the ridge site, and $396g\;m^{-2}$ and 19.9% at the southern slope site. Conclusions: In this study, Rs was measured for the ridge and southern slope sites, which have two different results where the surface litter layer is disturbed by strong winds. The southern slope site shows that the litter layer formed in autumn due to strong winds almost disappeared, and while in the ridge site, it became thick due to the transfer of litter from the southern slope site. The mean Rs was about two times higher in the ridge site compared to that in the southern slope site. The Rs difference seems to be due to the difference in the amount of litter accumulated on the soil surface. As a result, the litter layer supplied to the soil surface is disturbed due to the micro-topographical difference, as the slope and the change of the community structure due to the plant season cause heterogeneity of the litter layer development, which in turn affects SMC and Rs. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce and understand these micro-topographical features and mechanisms when quantifying and analyzing the Rs of an ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.287-298
• /
• 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 Environmental Biology
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.108-118
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study was to provide baseline ecological data for the conservation of the Manchurian trout habitat through the investigation of the growth status of Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis, and Pearson's correlation analysis (PCA) between the B. lenok tsinlingensis population and the use of the land around Gyebangcheon stream. Sampling was conducted twice in July, September, and October 2018. During the July and September surveys, 882 individuals belonging to 13 species from six families were collected. The dominant species was Rhynchocypris kumgangensis and the subdominant species was Zacco koreanus. The total number of B. lenok tsinlingensis collected was 99. The results of the length-weight relationship in the B. lenok tsinlingensis population were analyzed with a regression coefficient b value of 3.1272 and a condition factor (k) value of 0.0006. Therefore, the growth condition of B. lenok tsinlingensis was regarded as fairly good. The QHEI(Qualitative habitat evaluation index) value in the B. lenok tsinlingensis habitat was 119.5(±0.5)-153.5(±0.5), indicating optimal-suboptimal conditions. As a result of the HIS (Habitat suitability index) analysis, it was confirmed that the optimal habitat for B. lenok tsinlingensis was 0.45-0.55m and >1 m in water depth, 0.55-0.65 m s^-1 in water velocity, and boulder in the substrate. The ratio of the land use in this study site was analyzed as 66.26-96.31% for forest and grassland areas, 0.00-23.79% for agricultural areas, 0.00-4.19% for urbanized areas, and 3.69-8.87% for others. Correlation analysis of the number of B. lenok tsinlingensis and various factors revealed statistically significant correlations between QHEI and forest and grassland areas, agricultural areas, and urbanized areas.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.263-276
• /
• 2021

Marine benthic organisms have been used as the indicators for the environment assessment and recently considered as a very important component in the biodiversity and ecosystem restoration. In Korean waters, the quantitative data on marine benthos was used as one of major components for the marine pollution assessment for 50 years since 1970s. The species identification which is an important factor for the quantitative biological data was mainly performed by the marine benthic ecologists. This leads to the deterioration of the data quality on marine benthos from the misidentication of major taxonomic groups due to the lack of taxonomic expertise in Korea. This taxonomic problem has not been solved until now and remains in most data from national research projects on the marine ecosystems in Korean waters. Here we introduce the quality assurance and control (QA/QC) system for the marine biological data in UK, that is, NMBAQC (Northeast Atlantic Marine Biological Analytic and Quality Control) Scheme which has been performed by private companies to solve similar species identification problems in UK. This scheme asks for all marine laboratories which want to participate to any national monitoring programs in UK to keep their identification potency at high level by the internal quality assurance systems and provides a series of taxonomic workshops and literature to increase their capability. They also performs the external quality control for the marine laboratories by performing the Ring Test using standard specimens on various faunal groups. In the case of Korea, there are few taxonomic expertise in two existing national institutions and so they can't solve the taxonomic problems in marine benthic fauna data. We would like to provide a few necessary suggestions to solve the taxonomic problems in Korean marine biological data in short-terms and long-terms: (1) the identification of all dominant species in marine biological data should be confirmed by taxonomic expertise, (2) all the national research programs should include taxonomic experts, and (3) establishing a private company, like the Korea marine organism identification association (KMOIA), which can perform the QA/QC system on the marine organisms and support all Korean marine laboratories by providing taxonomic literature and species identification workshops to enhance their potency. The last suggestion needs more efforts and time for the establishment of that taxonomic company by gathering the detailed contents and related opinions from diverse stakeholders in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.1-19
• /
• 2023

In Korea, excessive vegetation in rivers made up of sand and gravel is emerging as a nationwide problem, which is attributed to increased spring precipitation and decreased annual precipitation. Therefore, this study was conducted for the purpose of identifying the effect of changes in precipitation patterns on river vegetation in Namcheon, Gyeongju, and analyzing the area of vegetation and ecological characteristics. As a result of the study, the amount of monthly precipitation in the summer of Namcheon decreased after 2007, and the area of vegetation increased continuously compared to the area of the sandbank. The proportion of naturalized plants increased steadily when precipitation continued to a level that did not cause flooding, but the area occupied by naturalized plants was small. Also, when the water level is maintained, the species diversity is low due to the dominance of a single species, and the dominant species was mainly native plants. Dominance of native plants inhibited the growth of naturalized plants, but the vegetation area increased even more. Therefore, it is necessary to manage the spread of vegetation itself rather than the division of native plants and naturalized plants in order to eliminate the active growth and prosperity of river vegetation. High water levels and continuous flooding caused by torrential rains in summer disturbed the plant communities, and vegetation formed afterwards was mainly native plants. Such flooding in river ecosystems is a positive factor for the emergence of native plants and over-formed vegetation communities, so it should be considered when establishing a vegetation management plan.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.21-29
• /
• 2023

In this study, the stress characteristics of temporary fixed steel rods were analyzed in the "temporary fixing system using internal prestressing tension", which is mainly applied to the construction of superstructures by FCM. It was difficult to confirm the changes in initial tensile force in this system because the steel rod was internally connected to the pier and the PSC BOX. Therefore, measurement was performed before and after the completion of each segment using an FBG sensor to measure the change in the micro length of the steel rod. The results of the analysis showed that 75% to 90% of the maximum vertical contraction of the steel rod that occurred until the completion of the cantilever segment occurred in the fixing ~ 1segment, and the maximum loss of initial prestressing force was 39%. Such excessive loss of tension force to 1 segment means that tension is needed to improve the precision of construction during the fixation, and re-tension is needed to secure stability for conduction of cantilever segments after the completion of 1segment. In the 2 ~ last segment, the stress of the steel rod decreased gradually, and in the summer, the decrease in stress tended to partially recover due to the increase in the length of the steel rod corresponding to the increase in the vertical volume of PSC BOX. The dominant factor in the stress change in 2~ last segment in this phenomenon is judged to be the change in the length of the steel rod according to the temperature. Unlike the change in length, the relaxation was 1.2-2.7%, which was mostly offset by the opposite stress corresponding to the temperature stress. Therefore, a plan was proposed to improve the internal stress, such as adjusting the fixation time.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.102-117
• /
• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate the extent to which benthic environment of Ulsan Bay was disturbed by organic materials and trace metals from the megacity and industrial complex. Field survey for benthic environment and macroinvertebrate community was seasonally conducted from February to November 2006 at nine stations covering the inside and outside of the bay. TOC was on average 1.7% while four (As, Cu, Pb, Zn) out of seven trace metals measured exceeded the Effects Range Low (ERL) in most of the stations. Total number of species sampled was 199 and mean density was 4,578 ind./$m^2$, both of which were greatly dominated by the polychaetes. Dominant species were Aphelochaeta monilaris (22.6%), Ruditapes philippinarum (17.1%), Magelona japonica (12.2%), Lumbrineris longifolia (9.9%) and their distribution was ruled by the difference in the benthic environmental condition of each station. From the multivariate analyses, four stational groups were identified: northern part of the bay, middle and lower part of the bay, the intersection of Taewha River and Gosa stream and outside of the bay. As a result, the community heterogeneity of inner bay was much more greater than that of outer bay. SIMPER analysis showed that four groups were represented by R. philippinarum-Capitella capitata, A. monilaris-Balanoglossus carnosus, Sinocorophium sinensis-Cyathura higoensis and M. japonica-Ampharete arctica, respectively. Spatio-temporal changes of macroinvertebrate communities in Ulsan Bay were closely related to those of depth, mean grain size and organic content, and Zn was also a meaningful factor in that context.