• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.21 no.spc
• /
• pp.16-27
• /
• 2019

Alteration in the flow regime of rivers are caused by natural climate change and the changes in anthropogenic hydrological environment due to dam construction. These changes in flow regime cause serious changes not only in the fresh water ecosystems of the rivers but also in the physical structures and fish habitats of the streams. In this study, the alteration in the hydrological characteristics of the Gam river basin due to Buhang dam construction and the changes in ecological health condition, water quality, and river cross-section were analyzed. As a result of analysis by indicators of hydrologic alteration (IHA) to quantitatively change the flow regime of Gam river, HA (Hydrologic Alteration) is more than ±1 and various changes have occurred in the river ecosystem after Buhang dam construction. In addition, ecological health condition and water quality showed different response for each element, and in the case of riverbeds and channel cross-sections, the degradation of channel bed was obviously monitored after dam construction. The results of this study are expected to be used as an efficient method for evaluating changes in stream ecosystems caused by stream regime changes.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.39 no.3 s.117
• /
• pp.390-401
• /
• 2006

This study was conducted to understand the phytoplankton-zooplankton trophic linkage in Lake Paldang ecosystems (Paldang Dam and Kyungan Stream) from April to December 2005. Zooplankton were filtered as two size groups (microzooplankton (MICZ): 60{\sim}20\;{\mu}m$, macrozooplankton (MACZ): >$200\;{\mu}m$), and their clearance rates and C-fluxes on phytoplankton were measured. Grazing experiments were performed in the laboratory with the different zooplankton densities (0, 2, 4, 8x of ambient density, n=2). Diatoms, such as Aulacoseira and Cyclotella were dominant phytoplankton taxa at both sites. Among phytoplankton communities, total carbon biomass of phyflagellates was much higher than others at both sites. Rotifers numerically dominated zooplankton community, while cladocerans dominated carbon biomass. Both phytoplankton and zooplankton density and biomass were high in spring, but decreased markedly after summer monsoon season. plankton biomass at Kyungan Stream was significantly higher than that of Paldang Dam. Zooplankton clearance rate and amount of C-flux were relatively high in the spring and then decreased after summer at both sites. Seasonal change of C-flux was similar to that of zooplankton biomass (P<0.001, n=7). MACZ clearance rate and C-flux were higher than those of MICZ. Water residence time and physical disturbance in summer appeared to affect zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton at the study sites. Our results indicate phytoplankton were an important energy source for zooplankton in Lake Paldang ecosystem. Furthermore, C-flux of plankton food web is affected by not only biological components but also physical parameters.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.302-317
• /
• 2010

In this study, not only to present the management plan but also to verify the effectiveness for a area of improving the landscape and the area of creating the base of bio-inhabitation in Tancheon stream concrete embankment where were practised the vegetation-mat measures for greening via monitoring i.e. restoration progress. The results of monitoring, there were a total of 41 taxa, 18 families, 38 species, 3 varieties in 2006, moreover in the 2007, there were a total of 59 taxa, 19 families, 56 species, 3 varieties and in the period 2008, 64 taxa, 29 families, 59 species, 8 varieties. Therefore, these site has increased the plant spaces year by year. The distribution of vegetation characteristics shows that Miscanthus sacchariflorus and Pennisetum alopecuroides expands their influence in the area of applying the construction method. Those area appears a diversity of native species by the stream deposition at the flood. Thus, its condition is very soundly ecological health and eco-friend. At present, native species have been dominant, however, disturbed species and invasive species can be expected to increase dramatically in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to a long-range monitoring and management for maintaining an environmentally sound aquatic ecosystem. On this area refer to mix the river vegetation of primary succession and disturbed vegetation. For that reason, the method of constructing the vegetation-mat measures for greening in embankment does not need to remove the concrete and can install a coir-mat on the top. It leads to improve the landscape, moreover, it was analysed the such dramatic changes in the vegetation species richness by providing continuous the plant growth basis have a impact on in bio-diversity.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.1-14
• /
• 2020

In fluvial and riparian ecosystems, biogeomorphological research has considered the complex, multi-way relationships between biological and hydro-geomorphological components over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. In this review, we discussed the scope and processes of fluvial biogeomorphology by explaining (1) the multi-lateral interactions between organisms and hydrogeomorphic conditions, (2) the relationships between biodiversity and habitat heterogeneity, and (3) the effects of disturbance on ecosystem patterns. Over time, an organism-landform complex along streams transitions in the sequences of geomorphic, pioneer, biogeomorphic, and ecological stages. Over space, water flow and sediment distributions interact with vegetation to modify channel topography. It is the habitat heterogeneity in streams that enhances riparian biodiversity. However, in the areas downstream of a dam, habitat types and conditions are substantially damaged and biodiversity should be reduced. In South Korea, riparian vegetation flourishes in general and, in particular, invasive species actively colonize in accordance with the changes in the fluvial conditions driven by local disturbances and global climate change. Therefore, the importance of understanding reciprocal relationships between living organisms and hydrogeomorphic conditions will ever increase in this era of rapid climate change and anthropogenic pressure. The fluvial biogeomorphic framework reviewed in this article will contribute to the ecological management and restoration of streams in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.508-519
• /
• 2017

There have been many studies on monitoring of biodiversity changes and preservation of Gwangneung Forest Biosphere Reserve (GFBR) in South Korea in recognition of the rare ecosystem that has been preserved for a long period. However, there are few studies on diversity and community characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates as an indicator of stream health of GFBR. The purpose of this study was to assess the water quality of Bongseonsa Stream that penetrated through Gwangneung Forest and the nearby torrents by analyzing the benthic macroinvertebrates community during April to September 2016. The investigation collected a total of 114 species of benthic macroinvertebrates belonging to 56 families, 17 orders, 8 classes, and 5 phyla from the Bongseonsa Stream and Kwangneung Stream. Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera were the largest groups in species diversity with 30 species (32.3%) and 16 species (17.2%), respectively, and Tubificidae sp., Baetis fuscatus, Antocha KUa, and Cheumatopsyche brevilineata, which usually habit in contaminated streams, appeared frequently. Among the feeding function groups, the gatherers and hunters appeared relatively frequently, and the shredders and scrapers appeared frequently in the torrents. Among the habitat oriented groups, the clingers and burrower appeared more frequently and represented the microhabitats in the shallow areas. The result of the analysis of benthic macroinvertebrates community showed that the dominant index was $0.48{\pm}0.10$ in average while it was lowest with 0.33 in GS 8 of the Gwangneung Forest torrent and highest in BS 1 of Bongseonsa Stream. The diversity and richness indices were inversely proportional to the dominant index and were 2.53 and 4.22, respectively, in GS 8 where the dominant index was low. The result of the analysis of community stability showed that area I, which had high resistance and restoration, was high in Bongseonsa Stream while the area III, which had low resistance and restoration, was high in Gwangneung Forest, indicating that the water system in Gwangneung Forest had a wider distribution of specifies sensitive to agitation. The biological water quality assessment showed ESB of $50.88{\pm}17.69$, KSI of $1.11{\pm}0.57$, and BMI of $78.55{\pm}11.05$. GS 8 of Gwangneung Forest torrent was judged to be the highest priority protective water area with the best water environment and I class water quality with ESB of 63, KSI of 0.55, and BMI of 89.9. On the contrary, BS 1 of Bongseonsa Stream was judged to be the high priority improvement area that had the lowest water quality rating of III with ESB of 25, KSI of 2.13, and BMI of 62.7. Although the diversity of water beetle was higher in the water system of nearby Bongseonsa Stream than the water system inside the Gwangneung Forest, the annual community structure appeared to have distinct differences.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.249-258
• /
• 2020

This study aims to provide reference material for effective forest management techniques at the catchment scale, based on the field investigation of large woody debris (LWD) in 11 streams within a third-order forest catchment in Gangwon Province, Korea. To achieve this aim, we analyzed the morphological features of LWD pieces, and the storage and distribution status of LWD by stream order throughout the entire investigation. As a result, a total of 1,207 individual pieces of LWD were categorized into three types as follows: (ⅰ) 1,142 pieces (95%) as only trunk and 65 pieces (5%) as a trunk with root wad, (ⅱ) 1,015 pieces (84%) as non-thinned and 192 pieces (16%) as the thinned, and (ⅲ) 1,050 pieces (87%) as conifer and 157 pieces (13%) as broadleaf. Additionally, in-stream LWD loads (㎥/ha) decreased with increasing stream order, yielding 105.4, 71.3, and 35.6 for first-, second-, and third-order streams, respectively. On the other hand, the ratio of LWD jams to the total LWD volume increased with increasing stream order, yielding 11%, 43%, and 49% for first-, second-, and third-order streams, respectively. Finally, a comparison of the in-stream LWD load with previous studies in several countries around the world indicated that in-stream LWD load was positively correlated with forest stand age even though the climate, topography, forest soil type, forest composition, stand growth rate, disturbance regime, and forest management practices were different. These results could contribute to understanding the significance of LWD as a by-product of forest ecosystems and an indicator of riparian forest disturbance. Based on this, we conclude that advanced forest management techniques, including treatment of thinning slash and stand density control of riparian forest by site location (hillslope and riparian zone, or stream order), should be established in the future, taking the forest ecosystem and the aquatic environment from headwater streams to low land rivers into consideration.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.431-440
• /
• 2008

Turbid water or suspended sediment is associated with negative effects on aquatic organisms; fish, aquatic invertebrate, and periphyton. Effects of turbid water on fish differ depending on their developmental stage and a level of turbidity. Low turbid water may cause feeding and predation rates, reaction distance, and avoidance in fish, and it could make fish to die under high turbidity and long period. Therefore, it is very important to find out how turbid water or suspended sediment can affect fish in domestic watersheds. The objectives of this study were 1) to introduce international case studies and their standards to deal with suspended sediment, 2) to determine acute toxicity in 4 major freshwater fishes, and 3) to determine in relation to adverse effect of macroinvertebrates and fish. Impacts of turbid water on fish can be categorized into direct and indirect effects, and some factors such as duration and frequency of exposure, toxicity, temperature, life stage of fish, size of particle, time of occurrence, availability of and access to refugia, etc, play important role to decide magnitude of effect. A review of turbidity standard in USA, Canada, and Europe indicated that each standard varied with natural condition, and Alaska allowed liberal increase of turbidity over natural conditions in streams. Even though acute toxicity with four different species did not show any fatal effect, it should be considered to conduct a chronic test (long-term) for more detailed assessment. Compared to the control, dominance index of macroinvertebrates was greater in the turbid site, whereas biotic index, species diversity index, species richness index, and ecological score were smaller in the turbid site. According to histopathological analysis with gills of macroinvertebrate and fishes, morphological and physiological modification of gills due to suspended sediments can cause disturbance of respiration, excretion and secretion. In conclusion, in order to maintain good and healthy aquatic ecosystem, it is the best to minimize or prevent impact by occurrence of turbid water in stream and reservoir. We must make every effort to maintain and manage healthy aquatic ecosystem with additional investigation using various assessment tools and periodic biomonitoring of fish.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.70-82
• /
• 2000

This is a study to generate a theoretical base for the development of wildlife corridor as a solution to the problems of wildlife population size reduction and declining bio-diversity resulting from the fragmented habitats caused by road constructions. This study seeks to examine and define techniques in very aspect of wildlife corridor including planning, site selection, design and development, and maintenance through an actual application. The results of this study are as follows. 1) The wildlife corridor should be developed in an approach supplementing a landscape ecological approach and a restoration ecological approach bilaterally. To this end, systematic methodology and process are required. 2) It was restored an ecosystem as close as possible go to the forest ecosystem before road development. In addition, in order to allow it to function as an ecological corridor, topography restoration, stream development, and ecological plantation were implemented. 3) The result of monitoring activities that continued for one year since the development confirmed the migration and inhabitation of a number of animals including small mammals. It is judged that it functions as a corridor in fragmented habitats as initially expected. 4) Through continuous monitoring in the future, the effects of corridor development on ecological restoration need to be reviewed in a long-term perspective. There is also a need to develop and refine a comprehensive maintenance plan for wildlife corridors and their surroundings. Based on such study results, actual data on the development of wildlife corridor should be accumulated. In follow-up studies, after continuous monitoring for a long period of time, the effects of wildlife corridor development should be evaluated comprehensively and wildlife corridor applicable to Korea should be standardized by correcting disclosed problems.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.185-196
• /
• 2012

The fish community within the lake and 5 tributaries of Lake Chungju in spring and autumn, 2009 was surveyed. In this study, the total 128,506 individuals were collected belonging to 11 families 29 genera 34 species. The most dominant species was Squalidus japonicus coreanus that account for 91.6% of population and 49% of biomass of fish community. In the point of population, dominant species were small-sized species, which became the prey of big-sized predatory species. In the point of biomass, dominant species were predatory species which were large-sized. The most dominant species in lacustrine area was S. japonicus coreanus which accounted for 92.2% of total population and 49.1% of total biomass. The most dominant species of tributary streams was Tridentiger brevispinis which accounted for 66.4% of total population and 55.1% of total biomass. The site of C3 in lacustrine area and Dongdal-cheon in tributary streams collected the most number of species. Through ecological health evaluation of five tributary streams using 8 metric index of biological integrity (IBI) model, two streams (Dongdal-cheon, Kwang-cheon were evaluated as, "B", "good" condition, and Jangsung-cheon obtained grade C indicating "Fair" condition, Jecheon-cheon obtained grade D indicating "Poor" condition based on IBI model. Lepomis macrochirus which was designated as a domestic ecosystem-disturbing alien species with wide food niche have shown tendency to increase the number of individuals since 1991 indicating the adverse effect on not only fish community but also aquatic ecosystem food web of Lake Chungju.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.638-648
• /
• 2013

To understand the geochemical characteristics of intertidal sediment in a semi-enclosed bay, we measured various geochemical parameters, including grain size, ignition loss (IL), chemical oxygen demand (COD), acid volatile sulfide (AVS), and trace metals (Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg, and As), in intertidal sediment from three bays (Deukryang Bay, Yeoja Bay, and Gamak Bay) in the southern region of Jeollanam Province. The intertidal sediment in Deukryang Bay consisted of various sedimentary types, such as sand, gravelly muddy sand, mud, and silt, whereas the intertidal sediments in Yeoja and Gamak Bays were composed mainly of mud. The concentrations of IL, COD, AVS and trace metals in the intertidal sediments of the three study regions were relatively high near areas affected by input of stream waters and/or shellfish farming waste. The concentrations of organic matter and trace metals in Gamak Bay were much higher than those in Deukryang and Yeoja Bays, which appears to be due to the influence of anthropogenic pollutants, originating from the city and the industrial complex near Gamak Bay. The evaluation results of organic matter and metal pollution using the sediment quality guidelines showed that the intertidal sediments in the three study regions were not polluted in terms of organic matter and trace metals. In future, sustainable management for sources of organic matter and trace metal is necessary to conserve a healthy benthic ecosystem in intertidal sediments.