• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.601-608
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• 2021

This study surveyed the ecological characteristics of Squalidus multimacultus at Taehwa River tributary Cheokgwa Stream from January to December 2020. The species inhabited the riverbed that was mostly covered with sand. The water depth was 25-164 cm, and the average was rather deep at 68 cm. The stream velocity was slow at 0.21±0.26 (0.16-0.43) m/sec. The gender ratio of females to males was 1:0.99. The age according to the total length-frequency distribution indicated that the group with less than 50 mm (29.4 - 49 mm) in total length was one year old, the group with 50 - 69 mm was two years old, the group with 70 - 89 mm was three years old, and the group over 90 mm was four years old. The total length of sexually mature fishes was 40 mm for both males and females. The spawning season was from July to August, and the water temperatures was 23.8 - 25.4℃ during the period. The prosperous spawning season was August. The average number of eggs in the ovaries was 1,395 (648 - 2,201) per matured female, and the matured eggs were yellowish and spherical with a mean diameter of 0.67±0.24 (0.62 - 0.83) mm. The live foods were of S. multimacultus attached algae, zooplankton, aquatic insects, and Mollusca. The feeding habits of S. multimacultus were omnivorous, but more than 95% of the stomach content was plant-attached algae. The larger the size of this species, the greater the amount and frequency of eating aquatic insects, which were animal feeds. The population that ate aquatic insects did not eat vegetable food.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.270-277
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• 2023

Since its introduction in 1973, the bass, Micropterus salmoides, has spread to dams and rivers in Korea, adversely affecting native fish communities. In this study, after complete removal of bass from Bukchosan Reservoir, an farm reservoir that has lost its function, an attempt was made to indirectly confirm the adverse effects of bass on fish by comparing fish communities in reservoirs of a similar size where bass inhabit. The study was conducted three times a year from 2019 to 2022. As a result of the study, in Bukchosan Reservoir, where the species composition of fish was judged to be simplified due to the habitat of bass, only four species such as Carassius auratus and Rhinogobius brunneus that could be used as a food source for bass appeared before the removal of bass, but after the removal of bass. The appearance and increase of the population of the introduced small freshwater fish (Oryzias sinensis, Rhinogobius giurinus) were confirmed. When comparing Gangjeong Reservoir, Susim Reservoir, which are other reservoirs inhabited by bass investigated in this study, and Bukchosan Reservoir, this result is judged to show a trend of stabilization and recovery of fish species after removal of bass in small reservoirs with high predation pressure of bass.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2012

From April to November 2009, we performed field investigation to survey the characteristics of fish fauna and fish community structure inhabited in Yongdam reservoir in the upper Geumgang, which is changed into flat-water zone from flow-water zone by blocking the continuity by the gigantic submerged weir built in the upstream of Geumgang. 15 species belonging to 8 families were collected from natural habitat (St. 1) where its natural characteristics is well preserved, and 11 species were korean endemic fish species. 24 species belonging to 10 families were collected at the down region of Yongdam dam (St. 3), which might be affected by the change of water environment due to the dam, and 11 species were korean endemic fish species. On the other hand, 20 species belonging to 7 families were collected inside Yongdam reservoir (St. 2) which is changed into flat-water zone from flow-water zone by the dam reservoir, and 6 species were korean endemic fish species. In the dam reservoir, due to Yongdam dam built in the upper Geumgang, the original flow-water zone fish such as $Acheilognathus$ $koreensis$, $Pseudopungtungia$ $nigra$, $Coreoleuciscus$ $splendidus$, and $Gobiobotia$ $macrocephala$ were disappeared, and instead, the kinds of fish habitating in the flat-water zone tend to increase rapidly, such as $Carassius$ $auratus$, $Opsarichthys$ $uncirostris$ $amurensis$, $Hemiculter$ $eigenmanni$, $Zacco$ $platypus$, and $Lepomis$ $macrochirus$. Relative abundance of the insective fish was 66.7% at St. 1, 40.0% at St. 2, and 54.2% at St. 3. In order to preserve endemic fish species and aquatic ecosystem, it is desirable to minimize the artificial installation in the upper river, such as a large scale dam which can affect the habitat and if inevitable, it is required to prepare preservation measures when building facilities.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.190-198
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• 2010

This study was conducted to examine the effects of dams on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Korean streams and rivers. Four low-head dams and three large dams were studied throughout South Korea. Sampling was taken at immediately upper (impoundment), lower (riffle area), and control (riffle area) sites from the dams during 2004-2007. The upper sites, of which substrate heterogeneity and velocity were relatively low, showed a lower degree of species richness, density, and diversity indices, which is very different from the lower and control sites. Heavily polluted streams showed a lesser degree of community differences between the upper and lower sites. In the large dams, the upper and lower sites showed very low values of species diversity indices and very high values of dominance indices compared to the control sites. In the low-head dams, however, the difference of degree of the values was relatively smaller. Compositions of the functional feeding groups and the habitat orientation groups were relatively simpler at the upper sites than at the lower sites and the degree of difference was greater in the large dams. Species richness and community indices of benthic macroinvertebrates were more significantly affected by habitat characteristics than water quality at the upper sites; however, those were more significantly related with water quality at the lower sites. In conclusion, large and low-head dams could simplify stream habitats particularly at the upper sites (impoundment), and they negatively affected on the benthic macroinvertebrate communities inhabited the habitats. The impact was larger in the large dams than in the low-head dams.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.207-217
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the current status of seagrass species in the Nakdong River estuary from May to June 2023. To survey the seagrass habitat area, the Nakdong River estuary was divided into seven zones. Aerial photography using drones was conducted to find seagrass areas, GPS tracking was carried out on foot in the intertidal zone and by boat and SCUBA diving in the subtidal zone. To analyze the seagrass status, we measured the morphological characteristics, shoot density, and biomass of representative seagrass species in each zone. Four seagrass species were found in this area: Zostera japonica, Z. marina, Ruppia maritima, and Phyllospadix japonicus. The distribution areas of each species was 338.2 ha, 92.9 ha, 0.9 ha, and 1.4 ha, respectively, with a total area of 432.5 ha. Z. japonica was widely distributed in most of the tidal flats and mudflats of the Nakdong River estuary, while Z. marina was restricted to Nulcha-do, Jinu-do, and Dadae-dong. R. maritima occurred within the habitat of Z. japonica in Eulsukdo and Myeongji mudflats, and P. japonicus inhabited rocky areas in Dadae-dong. The shoot density of each species was 4,575.8±338.3 shoots m^-2, 244.8±12.0 shoots m^-2, 11,302.1±290.0 shoots m^-2, and 2862.5±153.5 shoots m^-2, respectively. The biomass of each species was 239.7±18.5 gDW m^-2, 362.3±20.5 gDW m^-2, 33.3±1.2 gDW m^-2, and 1,290.0±37.0 gDW m^-2, respectively. The results of this study revealed that Z. japonica was dominant in the Nakdong River estuary. In particular, Z. japonica habitats of Eulsukdo, Daema-deung, and Myeongji mudflats were identified as the largest in Korea. The Nakdong River estuary is an important site of ecological, environmental, and economic value, and will require continuous investigation and management of the native seagrasses.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.409-419
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• 2017

Although Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora) forests near temples are valuable as forests of the cultural landscape, they are likely to be deteriorated because of vegetation succession and climate changes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the vegetation structure, the pine vitality, and the site environmental characteristics of the pine forests near temples to identify the correlation between pine tree growth and location environment. We selected Chuneunsa, Wonhyosa, Jeungsimsa, and Taeansa Temples since these four areas still had the healthy pine forests. In all four studied area, the pine trees dominate the canopy layers while the deciduous broadleaf trees mostly inhabited appeared in the lower layers. The growth of pine trees in Jeungsimsa and Wonhyosa areas was not as good as Chuneunsa area where the pine trees tended to be older. We found higher total nitrogen content in soil in Jeungsimsa area than other areas, maybe because of increase in total nitrogen caused by the development of low vegetation in the area. This peculiarity may have led to the pine trees in the area to fall behind the deciduous broadleaf trees in competition for nitrogen nutrient and thus to show deteriorated growth. The altitude and the twig length showed a negative correlation as did the degree of slope and the mean importance percentage of the pine tree. In other words, the growth environment such as soil became poorer when the altitude and the degree of slope increased, and thus the growth amount and dominance of the pine trees were lower. The degree of slope showed a positive correlation with the twig length of the pine tree. Within boundaries of location environment where the pine tree forests were dominant, it seemed that growth of the pine trees was more favorable as the slope was steeper because the trees could avoid competition with deciduous broadleaf trees. On the other hand, the growth of pine trees deteriorated as the electrical conductivity of soil increased; increase in soil nutrients might have accelerated vegetation development of deciduous broadleaf trees and thus aggravated the growth environment of pine trees to negatively affect maintaining the health of the pine tree forests.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.389-397
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of species by comparing the external shape traits and skull size of Tscherskia triton in Jeju Island from May 2014 to November 2016. Body weight, head-body length, ear length, and hind-foot length were not statistically significant (p>0.05), but tail length was statistically significant in females compared to males (p=0.003). To examine the secondary sexual dimorphism characteristics of the collected T. triton, B_HR, T_HR, E_HR, and H_HR were calculated based on the head-body length, and only T_HR was statistically significant (p=0.003). Because of comparing male and female averages, among the 21 traits, the greatest length of skull (GLS; p=0.020) and occipitonasal length (ONL; p=0.014) were statistically significant and length of incisive foramen (LIF) was statistically significant, when the significance level was 90%. However, the other 18 traits did not show statistically significant differences between males and females (p>0.05). Other than GLS, ONL, interorbital breadth (IB), and breadth of occipital foramen (BOF), there was female-biased SSD. The results of this study are the analysis of external morphology and skull characteristics of T. triton in Jeju Island and will be used as basic data to understand the morphological characteristics of T. triton. In addition, the data can be used as a basic information to compare characteristics of T. triton, which is known as a single species, inhabited in China and Russia. The data will play an important role in biogeography and ecology research of T. triton, based on geographical conditions, climate effects, and habitat environment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.104 no.3
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• pp.360-367
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• 2015

The present study investigated the habitats of Korean fir trees (Abies koreana E. H. Wilson) on Mt. Baekwun (Baekwun-san), determined the current distribution, quantified the contribution of biological and non-biological environmental factors affecting the distribution, derived actual and potential habitats, presented a plan for the establishment of protected areas, applied RCP 8.5 climate change scenario to analyze the effects of climate change on the future distribution of Korean fir trees, and predicted future potential habitats. According to the results of the study, 3,325 Korean fir trees (DBH >= 2.5 cm) inhabited Mt. Baekwun, and their distribution area was approximately 150 ha. Populations of Korean fir trees were confirmed to exist at an altitude of 900 m above sea level and were distributed up to 1,200 m. Based on potential distribution, areas appropriate for habitation by Korean fir trees were analyzed to be 450 ha, three times the current distribution area, with a focus on Sang Peak (Sang-bong), Eokbul Peak (Eokbul-bong), Ddari Peak (Ddari-bong), and Dosol Peak (Dosol-bong). The forest stands near Sang Peak, the main peak, were evaluated as those with the most appropriate potential for the habitation of Korean fir trees, and populations of the trees tended to prefer the northern slope rather than the southern slope. When climate change scenario RCP 8.5 was applied and future potential distribution was analyzed, the habitats were expected to decrease in area to 20 ha by 2050, with a focus on Sang Peak, and areas appropriate for habitation were predicted not to exist by 2080. Judging from such results, as global warming accelerates, the habitats of Korean fir trees are clearly expected to move from lowlands to highlands.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.317-326
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• 2021

The present study was carried out with a view to understand the distribution and ecology of Clihton retropictus (Martens, 1879), a class II endangered wildlife designated and protected by the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea, and to suggest the effective conservation and management measures for this species and its habit. First, the distribution of Clihton retropictus was investigated nationwide, and environmental factors such as salinity and substratum were analyzed in consideration of the ecological characteristics of this species. In addition, the individual size, density, and movement of Clihton retropictus per each district surveyed were analyzed. Due to its nature of inhabiting in the brackish water zone, the analysis showed that the salinity of this species was 0.7 ~ 16.6‰ at low tide and 1.0 ~ 17.3% at high tide. It was learned from the analysis of substratum that its composition in each river under investigation was slightly different, but most of substratum had a higher composition ratio than gravel (pebble, 16 ~ 64 mm). On the other hand, the size of each individual was checked by measuring the length of its diameter, and there was almost no change in the individual when the inhabited range of Clihton retropictus was short. However, there was tendency that the longer the habitat range, the bigger the individual size. From surveying the population density by season, it was made clear that, during the summer (July to August) and fall (September to October), the density was relatively higher while the number of individuals decreased significantly during winter (November to December) when the water temperature was lowered. In an effort to effectively establish conservation and management measures, the moving distance was measured, and it became known that, during the surveys in summer and fall when the individuals were active, the individuals moved in more distances than during the winter survey. The results of this study are expected to be utilized as basic data for establishing effective management plans such as creation of habitats for Clihton retropictus, its migration projects and selection of migration destinations which get unavoidable due to development projects.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.603-614
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• 2022

This study investigated the characteristics of fish communities in the Bangtaecheon Stream in Korea from April to October 2020. The survey collected 4,640 fish of 26 species in 9 families from 11 survey stations. The dominant and subdominant species were Rhynchocypris kumgangensis(relative abundance at 31.5%) and Zacco koreanus(27.8%), respectively. The next most abundant species were Ladislavia taczanowskii(15.9%), Pungtungia herzi(4.0%), Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis(3.7%), Microphysogobio longidorsalis(2.4%), and Zacco platypus(2.3%). Among the collected fish species, 17 (65.4%) were Korean endemic species, 4 (15.4%), including Acheilognathus signifer, Pseudopungtungia tenuicorpa, Gobiobotia brevibarba, and B. l. tsinlingensis,were class II endangered wildlife as designated by the Ministry of Environment, and 1 species, Hemibarbus mylodon, was a natural monument. Moreover, two landlocked species (B. l. tsinlingensisand C. koreanus) were also collected. Additionally, four cold-water species (R. kumgangensis, L. taczanowskii, B. l. tsinlingensis,and Cottus koreanus) were collected, and all of them mainly inhabited the upper and middle streams. Fish community analysis showed a tendency for dominance and uniformity to decrease and abundance and diversity to increase from upstream to downstream and that the community structure was divided into upstream and downstream groups. The river health was rated as excellent (9 stations) and good (2 stations). Compared to the previous studies, three species (Carassius auratus, Leiocassis ussuriensis,and Siniperca scherzeri) appeared in the past but did not appear in this survey, and three species (Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis, Microphysogobio yaluensis,and Orthrias nudus) that did not appear in the past appeared in this survey. Bangtaecheon Steam is well-preserved, and climate-sensitive species, endangered wildlife, and natural monuments inhabit the stream. Therefore, continuous attention and systematic conservation measures are required.