• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2022

The effect of sediments in a waste dumping area on marine organisms was evaluated using sediment toxicity tests with a benthic amphipod (Monocorophium acherusicum) and bioluminescent bacterium (Vibrio fischeri) in accordance with the Korean Standard Method for Marine Wastes (KSMMW). Nine sites in the East Sea-Byeong, East Sea-Jeong, and Yellow Sea-Byeong areas were sampled from 2016 to 2019. The test results showed that the relative average survival rate (benthic amphipods) and relative luminescence inhibition rate (luminescent bacteria) were below 30%, which were judged to be "non-toxic." However, in the t-test, a total of 12 benthic amphipod samples (6, 1, 1, and 4 in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively) were significantly different (p<0.05) from the control samples. To identify the source of toxicity on benthic amphipods, a simple linear regression analysis was performed between the levels of eight heavy metals (Cr, As, Ni, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Hg) in sediments and the relative average survival rate. The results indicated that Cr had the highest contribution to the toxicity of benthic amphipods (p = 0.000, R2 = 0.355). In addition, Cr was detected at the highest concentration at the DB-85 station and exceeded the Marine Environment Standards every year. Although the sediments were determined as "not toxic" according to the ecotoxicity criteria of the KSMMW, the results of the statistical significance tests and toxicity identification evaluation indicated that the toxic effect was not acceptable. Therefore, revising the criteria for determining the toxic effect by deriving a reference value through quantitative risk assessment using species sensitivity distribution curves is necessary in the future.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.85-88
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• 2013

Bioassessment is the use of biosurvey data, most commonly for benthic macroinvertebrates and fish, to obtain information about the health of waters in a region. In rivers, bioassessment results are used to evaluate biological condition and trends, to establish relationships between stressors and impairments, and to guide and evaluate management actions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.605-617
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• 2021

The recovery of the sedimentary environment around a fallowing shellfish farm during its rest period after 20 years of long-running operation, was explored in Tongyeong Bay of Korea. Seasonal survey on macrobenthos community was conducted from July 2016 to September 2018 at five stations, which included the fallowing shellfish farm after 20-year operation (FF), a newly installed shellfish farm (NF), a shellfish farm for comparison around the closed shellfish farm (CF), and control stations with no farming activities (Con1, Con2). The total number of species and the density of macrobenthos were higher at the shellfish farm stations than the non-shellfish farm station, and their seasonal changes were significant. The dominant species at the shellfish farm stations was Capitella capitata while Paraprionospio patiens was dominant at the non-shellfish farm stations. The two dominant species were potential organic contamination indicators usually inhabiting the areas with dense organic matter. This suggests that the overall survey area was highly polluted with organic matters. Multivariate analysis showed that the macrobenthic community of CF changed to a level similar to that of Con1 immediately after the investigation, but not to a state above the Con1 level. Furthermore, the changes in NF were not significant when compared to those in CF.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2012

The midge samples were undertaken at three streams, representing different surrounding environments, to investigate the contaminant exposure of midge. The content of heavy metals in midge collected in Singil stream were generally higher as a result of input to the industrial effluents with respect to other streams. Adsorption experiments were done to evaluate the possibility of removing contaminants from water with midge. Diazinon and heavy metals were contaminant target compounds in this study. The removal rate of diazinon in water by midge was 60-75%. In the case of Cu, the removal rate was reached around 90% at the lower initial concentration of 1.87 and 0.81 ppm rather than 4.25 ppm. The reduction of concentration of Cr and Cd according to the lapse of time was similar to the Cu, but their removal rates were shown 50% and 60-74%, respectively. The removal rate of Zn by midge represented relatively high level within the experimental condition. No change in concentration of Cr and As with time were occurred at all experimental conditions. It accounts for the fact that the reduction of Cr and As could not be achieved through the adsorption process, using midge.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.285-294
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• 1995

In Bouin polder, one of the oyster culture zone on landbase in France, artificial substrate was suspended every week to study the variation of the biomass of benthic microalgae as the chlorophyll a. The meteorological and physico-chemical factors in sea water were studied by analysing the correlationship, correlation circle and principal component of these factors. Among the meteorological factors such as insolation, precipitation and wind, insolation was one of the most prominant factors associated with the increase of water temperature, salinity, pH and biomass but with the decrease of turbidity, dissolved oxygen and nitrate. Nitrate was the main contributor for the variation of biomass among the other nutrient components, while phosphate and silicate increased in summer when the biomass increased.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.83-90
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• 2016

A subtidal marine benthic algal vegetation at Ulleungdo Island, the eastern coast of Korea was investigated to clarify the community structure and vertical distribution by quadrat method at seven stations in May and August 2014. The total number of marine algal species was 148 species composed of the green algae of 12 species, the brown algae of 40 species and the red algae of 96 species. Mean biomass in dry weight was $94.8g\;dry\;weight\;m^{-2}$ in study sites, $98.1g\;dry\;weight\;m^{-2}$ in upper tidal level, and $86.6g\;dry\;weight\;m^{-2}$ in middle level. The R/P and (R+C)/P value reflecting flora characteristic were 1.9 and 2.3, respectively. Three groups produced by cluster analysis, one including sites Neunggeol, Daepung, Jukdo, second including sites Gongam, Ssangjeongcho and the other including sites Gwaneum, Hangnam, showed meaningful difference in similarity (about 40%), each other. The number of marine algal species and biomass in Ulleungdo Island area were markedly reduced comparing that in the previous studies. This result may suggest probably change of algal vegetation in future, considering the physical and chemical pollutions loaded in the coastal marine environment of this area.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.39 no.spc1
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• pp.203-213
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• 2006

The spatial patterns of meiobenthic communities in deep-sea sediment were examined. Sediment samples for analyzing of meiobenthic community structure were collected using a remote operated vehicle (ROV), multiple corer TV grab at 20 stations at five sites. In all, 15 meiofauna groups were recorded. Nematodes were the most abundant taxon. Benthic foraminiferans, harpacticoid copepods, polychaetes, and crustacean naupii were also dominant groups at all sites. The total meiofauna density at the study sites varied from 49 to 419 ind./$10cm^2$. The maximum density was recorded at a site located in Challenger Deep in the Mariana trench where simple benthic foraminifera with organic walls flourish. These distinctive taxa seem to be characteristic of the deepest ocean depths. Active hydrothermal sediments contain up to 150 harpacticoid copepods per $10cm^2$ of sediment. In a inactive ridge sediments, devoid of macrofaunal organisms:, the abundance of harpacticoid copepods never exceeded 15 ind./$10cm^2$. Multivariate analysis (multidimensional scaling) revealed significant differences in community structure among the three regions; near an active hydrothermal vent, in the deepest ocean depths and at typical deep-sea bed sites.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.39-46
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• 2009

Garolim Bay is typically a semi-enclosed bay without a significant supply of freshwater and sediments from surrounding drainage area. The bay have a variety of subenvironments including deep tidal channels, tidal flats, sand dunes, islands, and inlet. Because environmental quality of bay strongly depends on the exchange of water over benthic subenvironments, it is necessary to analyze quantitatively exchange of water between sea and bay. Hydro-hypsography is the relative distribution of water-surface areas at different depths. The hydro-hypsographic curve in Garolim bay shows that the tidal flats occupy about 77 % of the bay surface. Hydraulic turn-over time (HTT) is 1.32 tidal cycles which indicate well-flushed bay. Hydro-hypsometric techniques will be useful for assessments of health of bays.

• ALGAE
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.359-366
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• 2018

Mesocosm experiments conducted for ecological purposes have become increasingly popular because they can provide a holistic understanding of the biological complexities associated with natural systems. This paper describes a new outdoor mesocosm designed for $CO_2$ perturbation experiments of benthos. Manipulated the carbonate chemistry in a continuous flow-through system can be parallelized with diurnal changes, while irradiance, temperature, and nutrients can vary according to the local environment. A target hydrogen ion activity (pH) of seawater was sufficiently stabilized and maintained within 4 h after dilution, which was initiated by the ratio of $CO_2$-saturated seawater to ambient seawater. Specifically, pH and $CO_2$ partial pressure ($pCO_2$) levels gradually varied from 8.05-7.28 and $375-2,691{\mu}atm$, respectively, over a range of dilution ratios. This mesocosm can successfully manipulate the pH and $pCO_2$ of seawater, and it demonstrates suitability for ocean acidification experiments on benthic communities.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.221-228
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• 2021

Recently, environmental DNA (eDNA)-based metabarcoding approaches have been proposed to evaluate the status of freshwater ecosystems owing to various advantages, including fast and easy sampling and minimal habitat disruption from sampling. Therefore, as a case study, we applied eDNA metabarcoding techniques to evaluate the effects of an abandoned mine land located near a headwater stream of Nakdonggang River, South Korea, by examining benthic macroinvertebrate diversity and compared the results with those obtained using the traditional Surber-net sampling method. The number of genera was higher in Surber-net sampling (29) than in the eDNA analysis (20). The genus richness tended to decrease from headwater to downstream in eDNA analysis, whereas richness tended to decrease at sites with acid-sulfated sediment areas using Surber-net sampling. Through cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling, the sampling sites were differentiated into two parts: acid-sulfated and other sites using Surber-net sampling, whereas they were grouped into the two lowest downstream and other sites using eDNA sampling. To evaluate freshwater ecosystems using eDNA analysis in practical applications, it is necessary to constantly upgrade the methodologies and compare the data with field survey methods.