• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.24 no.7
• /
• pp.635-649
• /
• 2003

Heavy metal concentrations and benthic foraminiferal distributions were investigated in three short sediment cores in order to understand the pollution history in Masan Bay. Sedimentation rates were 0.33 cm/yr, 0.20 cm/yr and 0.33 cm/yr in the inner bay, the out fall of Dugdong sewage disposal plant, and bay mouth, respectively. The rapid increases of copper, zinc and lead concentrations at the core depth of 10 cm the upper part indicated that Masan Bay has been polluted with industrial wastes since the 1940s. Benthic foraminifera in core sediments show that the variations in their distribution were followed by industrial pollution in the bay. The number of individuals and species diversity decreased, whereas agglutinated tests increased upward in the cores with increased heavy metal pollution. These shifts effectd the abundance of few tolerant forms and consequently decreased the species diversity. The opportunistic species Eggerella advena and Trochammina pacifica increased in polluted sediments. These species can be used as an indicator for assessments of environmental quality in Masan Bay.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.374-384
• /
• 1999

Benthic marine algal flora and community structure of Yongho-dong area in Pusan, Korea were investigated seasonally in intertidal and subtidal zones by a quadrat method along 5 transect lines from July 1996 to April 1997. In this area, a total of 99 species including 3 blue-green, 13 green, 26 brown and 57 red algae was found. Among them, 33 taxa, together with dominant Ulva pertusa and Corallina pilulifera, occurred throughout the year. Enteromorpha spp. and Ulva spp. vertically distributed in upper and middle zone, while Simphyocladia latiuscula, Chondria crassicaulis, Corallina pilulifera and Sargassum sup. in lower zones. Biomass per unit area exhibited a wide range of variation, from 1,241 g/$m^2$(spring) to 1,648 g/$m^2$(summer) in fresh weight. Maximum and minimum species diversity were recorded in spring and autumn, respectively. Results of the UPGAM cluster analysis suggest that the examined 5 sites can be divided into two groups, sites exposed to open sea (transects 1, 2, 3) and comparatively sheltered sites (transects 4, 5) faced with the Pusan Harbor. The former group is represented by large brown algae, Sargassum and Hizikia, while Ulva pertusa and Lomentaria species are mainly found in the latter group. A calcareous alga, Corallina pilulifera occurred dominantly in both groups throughout the year. In conclusion, number of species in this area was remarkably reduced as compared to the previous data. This result may suggest probably more change of algal vegetation in future, considering the physical and chemical pollutions loaded in the coastal marine environment of this area.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.37 no.4 s.109
• /
• pp.368-372
• /
• 2004

The development of a benthic filamentous green algal community formed by Spiro gyra sp. in early summer has been observed in the littoral zones in the north basin of Lake Biwa since the 1980s. The development of a Spirogyra sp. community may have an effect on the increase in the biomass of the benthic algal community in early summer and on the alterations in seasonal fluctuation patterns of the biomass. In this mini-review, the causes underlying the development of the Spirogyra sp. community are discussed on the basis of studies in the seasonal fluctuations of benthic algal communities in littoral stony zones carried out in 1963-1964, 1995-1996 and 2000-2001, especially those focusing on the nutrient concentration $(NO_3^--N)$. $NO_3^--N$ concentrations in June were higher than $100{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ in 1995 and 2000 in contrast to a concentration in June 1964 of only $20{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$. These results show that $NO_3^--N$concentrations throughout in 1963-1964 period were considerably lower than those in 1995-1996 and 2000-2001, suggesting that the $NO_3^--N$concentration may have served as a limiting factor on Spirogyra sp. growth in 1963. $NO_3^--N$ concentrations in the pelagic zone in the north basin of Lake Biwa have clearly increased from the 1950s under the impact of economic growth and the increasing population in the watershed. The development of the Spirogyra sp. community seems to be the result of a heady increase in the nutrient supply from human activities.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.36 no.1 s.102
• /
• pp.29-37
• /
• 2003

Benthic macro-invertebrates were seasonally collected in the Onchen Stream in Pusan, from July 2001 to March 2002. Generally 4 phylum 5 class 10 order 19 family 23 species were observed in the study sites. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and various species appeared in headwater stream while Oligochaeta and Chironomidae were dominated in downstream sites. Community abundance patterns, especially the dominant taxa, Oligochaeta and Chironomidae, appeared to be different depending upon the sampling months. Oligochaeta was usually observed in July, December and March while Chironomidae was appeared in September. The biological indices, TBI(Trent Biotic Index), BS (Biotic Score), BMWP (Biological Monitoring Working Party)were calculated with the appeared communities of the sampling sites through the survey months. TBI showed 1 to 8, BMWP was 1 to 93 and CBI appeared 9 to 387 in the different sites. The biological indices decreased from headstream to downstream sites, We implemented the unsupervised Kohonen network for patterning of community abundance of the sampling sites. The patterning map by the Kohonen network was well represented community abundance of the sampling sites. Also, we conducted RTRN (Real Time Recurrent Neural Network) for predicting of the biological indices in the different sites. The results appeared that the predicting values by RTRN were well matched field data (correlation coefficient of TBI, BMWP and CBI were 0.957, 0.979 and 0.967, respectively).

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.35 no.4 s.100
• /
• pp.295-305
• /
• 2002

Benthic macro- invertebrates were collected in a 200 m reach located in the $3^{rd}$ order Yangjae Stream, a tributary of the Han River, Seoul, from April 1996 to March 1998. Although species richness was relatively low due to organic pollution, community abundance patterns appeared to be different depending upon location of the sampling sites. At the sample sites in the straight zone with high water velocity and large substrates, species richness was high and species relatively less-tolerant to organic pollution was additionally present. At the sample sites in the pool zone with lower velocity and high sedimentation, species richness was low and a few tolerant species to organic pollution were abundantly collected. The principle component analysis indicated that some sample sites in the straight zone appeared to be related to water velocity and shear velocity, and associated with diverse taxa less tolerant to organic pollution. Additionally the sample site transplanted with large substrates was associated wit]h hydraulic characters such as substrate diversity and roughness, and was related to species indicating partial recovery of water. The sample sites located at the pool zone tended to be associated with organic matter that had sedimented on to the substrates and the taxa tolerant to organic pollution, including Oligochaeta and Chironomus.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.196-206
• /
• 2023

Benthic attached diatoms (BADs), a major primary producer in lotic stream and river ecosystems are micro-sized organisms and require a highly magnified microscopic technique in the observation work. Thus, it is often not easy to ensure accuracy and precision in both qualitative and quantitative analyses. This study proposed a new technique applicable to improve quality control of aquatic ecosystem monitoring and assessment using BADs. In order to meet the purpose of quality control, we developed a permanent mounting slide technique which can be used for both qualitative and quantitative analyses simultaneously. We designed specimens with the combination of grid on both cover and slide glasses and compared their efficiency. As a result of observation and counting of BADs, the slide glass designed with the color-lined grid showed the highest efficiency compared to other test conditions. We expect that the method developed in this study could be effectively used to analyze BADs and contributed to improve the quality control in aquatic ecosystem health monitoring and assessment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.385-393
• /
• 2007

Benthic macroinvertebrate communities were studied after a small dam removal from the mid-section of the Gyeongan stream in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Quantitative sampling was conducted at immediately upstream (upper) and downstream (lower) sites from the dam as well as at the site where the dam was located (dam site: middle) using a Surber sampler (50$\times$50 cm, mesh 0.25 mm), four times (November 2004, May 2005, January 2006, and May 2006) after the dam removal. As a result, 46 species of benthic macroinvertebtates, belonged in 35 genera, 27 families, 11 orders, 5 classes, and 4 phyla, were sampled from the stream sites, but the number of species that occurred at each sampling trial was different (ranged 3$\sim$17 spp.) according to the seasons and sites. Approximately one year after the dam removal, the species number has in-creased and taxa composition has changed as the microhabitat became more heterogeneously due to a riffle formation in the upstream site. Chironomid larvae and tubificid worms, which are common in Korean urban streams, were the dominant species, while Hydropsyche kozhantschikovi was the 2nd dominant species at some sampling trials. In general, McNaughton's dominance indices decreased and Shannon species diversity indices increased approximately one year after the dam removal. Compositions of collector-filterers, clingers, and swimmers increased as hydropsychid caddisflies, heptageniid mayflies, and baetid mayflies increased, respectively, in the upstream site. The group pollution index and the ecological score using benthic macroinvertebrates both indicated that water environment has been improved in the upstream site after the dam removal.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.60-70
• /
• 2018

The distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates was investigated at 1,157 sites of 7 main water systems in Korea, including 442 sites of Han River system (Namhan River, Bukhan River, Han River main stream, Anseongcheon, etc.), 305 sites of Nakdong River system (Nakdong River, Hyeongsan River, Taehwa River, etc.), 199 sites of Geum River system (Geum River, Sapgyocheon, Mangyeong River, Dongjin River, etc.) 102 sites of Seomjin River system (Seomjin River), 102 sites of Yeongsan River system (Yeongsan River, Tamjin River, etc.), and 7 sites of Jeju stream system. A total of 151 families were found in the whole survey sites, including 141 families in Han River, 122 in Nakdong River, 115 in Geum River, 106 in Seomjin River, 113 in Yeongsan River, and 50 in Jeju. Chironomidae (20.8%) was the most dominant species in Korea, followed by Hydropsychidae (17.1%), Baetidae (12.6%), Tubificidae (10.3%), Heptageniidae (8.6%), Ephemerellidae (6.3%), Asellidae (2.7%), Leptophlebiidae (2.4%), Planariidae (1.7%), and Tipulidae (1.6%). Substrates compositions consisted of large sand (22.6%), large gravel (18.4%), silt (10.5%), and boulder (8.2%). The mean stream width was 133.5 m and the mean watercourse width was 61.7 m. The mean water depth and velocity were 30.2 cm and $33.1cm\;s^{-1}$, respectively. Results of cluster analysis based on distributional characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates were divided into six groups according to the frequency of benthic macroinvertebrate taxa which appeared in the study area. Finally, altitude, current velocity and substrate composition were the most influencial factors determining the distribution patterns of macroinvertebrate communities.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.1-16
• /
• 2024

Most wetlands worldwide have suffered from extensive human exploitation. Unfortunately they have been less explored compared to river and lake ecosystems despite their ecological importance and economic values. This is the same case in Korea. This study was aimed to estimate the assemblage attributes and distribution characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates for fifty wetlands distributed throughout subtropical Jeju Island in 2021. A total of 133 taxa were identified during survey periods belonging to 53 families, 19 orders, 5 classes and 3 phyla. Taxa richness ranged from 4 to 31 taxa per wetland with an average of 17.5 taxa. Taxa richness and abundance of predatory insect groups such as Odonata, Hemiptera and Coleoptera respectively accounted for 67.7% and 68.2% of the total. Among them Coleoptera were the most diverse and abundant. Taxa richness and abundance did not significantly differ from each wetland type classified in accordance with the National Wetland Classification System. There were three endangered species (Clithon retropictum, Lethocerus deyrolli and Cybister (Cybister) chinensis) and several restrictively distributed species only in Jeju Island. Cluster analysis based on the similarity in the benthic macroinvertebrate composition largely classified 50 wetlands into two major clusters: small wetlands located in lowland areas and medium-sized wetlands in middle mountainous regions. All cluster groups displayed significant differences in wetland area, long axis, percentage of fine particles and macrophyte composition ratio. Indicator Species Analysis selected 19 important indicators with the highest indicator value of Ceriagrion melanurum at 63%, followed by Noterus japonicus (59%) and Polypylis hemisphaerula (58%). Our results are expected to provide fundamental information on the biodiversity and habitat environments for benthic macroinvertebrates in wetland ecosystems, consequently helping to establish conservation and restoration plans for small wetlands relatively vulnerable to human disturbance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.490-499
• /
• 2016

In this study, the marine ecological impacts of dephosphorized slag and steel slag on the initial life cycle of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis and benthic copepod Tigriopus japonicus (in marine trophic structure as a first consumer) exposure to slag extracts have been considered using a marine ecotoxicological assessment. In the results of a screen test on slag extracts, the pH of an undiluted solution was measured to have high alkalinity (pH 8.89-12.16), but a toxic reaction to this undiluted solution before and after aging was divided according to test species. For non-aged slag, the toxic effect ($LC_{50}$) of neonate on B. plicatilis was seen to be severe with dephosphorized slag (20.8 %) than steel slag (63.8 %) with under pH-uncontrolled conditions. The toxic values of dephosphorized and steel slag were estimated to be 35.3 % and 36.0%, respectively, for nauplius with T. japonicus. However, the toxicity of slag extracts before and after aging were different for T. japonicus than for B. plicatilis based on the characteristics of the test materials, with pH-controlled conditions. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that slag can be relatively stable after aging and may not be likely to influence marine environments, even given repetitive extracting under pH-uncontrolled conditions. This study confirms that a marine ecotoxicological assessment method applied to mechanically activated samples can give an idea of the resistance a marine environment has against the introduction of hazardous materials due to precipitation and weathering.