• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.261-268
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• 2023

The benthic macroinvertebrates index (BMI) was developed based on the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), which is the amount of biodegradable organic matter in stream water. However, benthic macroinvertebrates mainly live in the streambed substrate and are affected by the interaction of water quality and substrate. This study was conducted to examine the interactive relationship between water quality items (BOD₅, total phosphorus (TP), total suspended solids (TSS)) and substrate with BMI by performing statistical analyses (four-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation analysis, partial correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis). The data used in the analyses were collected from 19,915 sampling units at 1,937 sites in South Korea from 2010 to 2020. The interaction effect between BOD₅ and substrate types was confirmed through a four-way analysis of variance. Partial correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis estimated the degree of influence on the change in BMI value in the order of mean grain size of the substrate as (𝜱_m) > BOD₅ > TP > TSS. BMI can be regarded as an index that evaluates the comprehensive effects of water quality and streambed status, although it is an index that was developed based on the amount of biodegradable organic matter in a water column.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.124-124
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• 2018

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.689-699
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• 2018

The changes on community structures of benthic macroinvertebrates, relevance to the environment and interrelationship between benthos were studied over two years in stream with large environmental disturbance, which caused by localized heavy rain during Typhoon Chaba in October 2016. As a result, the number of species and individuals were increased after localized heavy rain, especially numbers of individuals of Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera were greatly increased. On the contrary, those of Semisulcospira libertina and Semisulcospira forticosta of Mesogastropoda were greatly decreased. Dominant species was Baetis fuscatus of Ephemeroptera, numbers of species and individuals of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera(EPT group) were dramatically increased from 26 species, 110 individuals to 32 species, 365 individuals respectively. This suggests that the change of river bed and flow velocity due to heavy rain provided a suitable environment for the EPT group that preferred the rift of a stream. In the functional feeding group, only gathering collectors and filtering collectors were identified in autumn of 2017 because some functional groups preferentially adapted to the changed environment. The interspecific competition and environmental condition were the worst in autumn after heavy rain due to the increase individuals of some species. The ecological score of benthic macroinvertebrate community(ESB) was higher after the heavy rain than before. Results of the Group Pollution Index(GPI), Korean Saprobic Index(KSI) and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index(BMI) were similar to those before and after heavy rainfall. Therefore, ESB was the most discriminating method for estimating the biological water quality in this study. Some species that are sensitive to water quality changes still appear or increase individuals in the area under investigation after the heavy rain. On the other hand, the individuals of some pollutant species decreased. This is thought to be because the habitat fluctuation caused by heavy rainfall has improved the water environment.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.368-378
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• 2005

Inorganic matters originated from stone quarries and manufacturing plants could alter the ecological characteristics of adjacent aquatic systems, especially the structure and function of benthic macroinvertebrate community. In such situation, the locality of stone quarry and the quantity of inorganic matters would be important factors that determined the disturbing strength to the benthic macroinvertebrate community. Locality patterns of stone quarries were classified into 3 types in relation to the stream ecosystem; stream-proximity, upstream-inclusion and tributary-inclusion type. In the result of species:abundance analysis, stone quarry B (upstream-inclusion type) showed geometric distribution, while others showed broken-stick distribution pattern. The benthic macroinvertebrate communities closer to stone quarries showed smaller species numbers and standing crops among all types of stone quarries. However the values of species evenness index were not seriously different between controls and directly affected sites. These results indicated that the effect of inorganic disturbance would differ from those of organic pollution that induced the highly dominant state occupied by tolerant species. Number of occurred species, standing crops, community indices and biotic indices indicated that the community of upstream-inclusion type was the most seriously damaged from the inorganic disturbance, and the community would be very simple and unstable. Tributary-inclusion stone quarry heavily damaged to tributary system in biologically, but influence to the main stream seemed to be depended on the scale of main stream. Among 3 types of stone quarry localities, stream-proximity type induced the least damages to benthic macroinvertebrate community, though the degrees of damage were different along with distances between stream and stone quarry.

• ALGAE
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.361-373
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• 2020

The community dynamics of benthic diatoms in the hypersaline environment are investigated to advance our understanding how salinity impacts marine life. Diatoms were sampled in the two salterns encompassing salt Ponds, ditches, and seawater reservoirs (n = 11), along the salinity gradient (max = 324 psu), and nearby tidal flats (n = 2). The floral assemblages and distributions across sites and stations showed great variations, with a total of 169 identified taxa. First, not surprisingly, higher diversity of benthic diatoms was found at natural tidal flats than salterns. The saltern diatoms generally showed salinity dependent distributions with distinct spatial changes in species composition and dominant taxa. Biota-environment and principal component analysis confirmed that salinity, mud content, and total nitrogen were key factors influencing the overall benthic community structure. Some dominant species, e.g., Nitzschia scalpelliformis and Achnanthes sp. 1, showed salinity tolerance / preference. The number of diatom species at salinity of >100 psu reduced over half and no diatoms were found at maximum salinity of 324 psu. The highest salinity for the observed live diatoms was 205 psu, however, a simple regression indicated a theoretical salinity threshold of ~300 psu on the survival. Finally, the indicator species were identified along the salinity gradient in salterns as well as natural tidal flats. Overall, high species numbers, varying taxa, and euryhaline distributions of saltern diatoms collectively reflected a dynamic saltern ecosystem. The present study would provide backgrounds for biodiversity monitoring of ecologically important microalgal producers in some unique hypersaline environment, and elsewhere.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.112-121
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• 2020

Organic pollution due to coastal development increases the distribution of organic pollution indicators (OPI) and disturbs benthic ecosystems by increasing the number of organic pollution indicators dominant in the target area. However, there is a little researches on the organic pollution levels of benthic ecosystems in subtidal target coast of all over Korea. Therefore, this study analyzed the distribution of macrobenthos in subtidal around the coast development sites of EIA, confirmed the distribution of OPI, and produced the benthic health index-map (organic pollution level) of all coasts of Korea. The benthic health index of the sites was calculated using the density of each OPI, and the image program was used for the benthic health index-map. Organic pollution levels varied by projects for EIA and OPI. Lumbrineris sp. was found to be dominant throughout the coast and correlated with the benthic health index in Korea. Through this study, we will be able to confirm the future organic pollution level in the subtidal ecosystems of the project for EIA through the results of research to macrobenthos in subtidal for EIA. In addition, the distribution of Lumbrineris sp. OPI can be used as an indicator to indirectly evaluate the organic pollution level of the development site.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.190-203
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• 2021

Water quality, benthic macroinvertebrate communities, and other factors were investigated to explore the effects of the effluent discharge from a sewage treatment plant into Jwagwang stream in Busan in 2019. During the study period, the flow rate of this stream was in the range of 10,400 m³/day to 52,200 m³/day except for the discharge of about 24,000 m³/day of the effluent. After discharge, the flow velocity increased by about 65% and the water depth increased by about 40%. At sites downstream of the discharge point, BOD, COD, TOC, T-N, T-P, and other water quality values were worse than those of the upstream sites. The periphytic algal chlorophyll-a concentrations in the natural substrata were higher than those of the upstream sites, especially in May and August. However, at sites downstream of the discharge point, the individual numbers of Annelida were decreased and individual numbers of the insecta of arthropoda were increased. Also, species numbers and the diversity and dominance indexes were improved in the sites downstream of the discharge point. The functional feeding groups (FFGs) of collector-filterers were increased and the habitat orientation groups (HOGs) of sprawlers, burrowers, and clingers were especially increased at the sites with additional reclaimed wastewater effluent flow. Regardless of the effluent discharge, BMI, an indicator of ecological stream health using benthic macroinvertebrate species, did not show large gaps between the study points. Although the water quality of the sites downstream of the discharge point was much worse than those upstream, their ecosystem soundness was better than those of the upstream sites from an ecological perspective.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.581-590
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• 2018

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the species composition of fish and benthic macroinvertebrates in the Namgang Dam reservoir and assess the reservoir's ecological quality. Methods: Fish and benthic macroinvertebrates were seasonally sampled around the Namgang Dam reservoir from October 2013 to September 2014. Results: A total of 970 fish specimens were collected for this survey, including 4 orders, 14 families, and 25 species. Fourteen endemic species were observed, including Coreoleuciscus splendidus. The most observed among the endemic species caught was Zacco koreanus (14.4%). A total of 9,093 benthic macroinvertebrates, including 51 families and 92 species, were also found. The predominant species in the study area was Chironomidae sp. 1. Diplonychus esakii, whose habitat is distribution-specific as designated by the Korean National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), were also observed. A total of 386 specimens were collected of the invasive alien species Lepomis macrochirus, and the percentage of Lepomis macrochirus and Micropterus salmoides made up 42.0% of all specimens collected in the area. Conclusion: The mean ecological score of the benthic macroinvertebrate community (ESB) ranged between 24 and 40, which indicates that the environmental condition of the target sites is somewhat poor. Based on the results of this research, building habitats for benthic macroinvertebrates should be considered, and extermination plans for invasive alien fish species should be prepared.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.164-172
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• 2018

This study aims to determine the community patterns of benthic macroinvertebrates and analyze the relationship between the communities and the water quality in the Pungyeongjeong Stream. We collected the samples four times by season. The number of species was 28 and the dominant species were Cheumatopsyche brevilineata, Hydropsyche kozhantschikovi, Baetis fuscatus, Chironomidae spp., and so on. The range of the dominant index was 0.54 to 0.93 and the mean was 0.77. The range of the diversity index was 0.94 to 2.54, and of the mean index it was 1.75. The ratio of filtering-collectors and clingers got lower, but the ratio of gathering-collectors and sprawlers got higher as collection progressed from the upper stream to the lower stream. The results of the Pearson correlation analysis showed COD, SS, TOC and total coliforms were highly related with biotic indices of benthic macroinvertebrates. The results of cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination showed that the survey sites and periods were divided into three groups. The survey sites were divided into upper stream and middle-lower stream. The survey periods were divided into winter season and other seasons. Distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates showed some characteristics according to various influence factors; however long-term and regular investigations were thought to need analysis and prediction with various statistical methods.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.768-783
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• 2006

Biological stream environment assessment has been an essential trend of aquatic ecosystems among advanced countries, because the chemical water quality assessment has limitations that only represent temporal water environmental status. Benthic macroinvertebrates are the most popular bioindicator group useful to biological water quality assessment for a long time. In addition, a number of indices using benthic macroinvertebrates have recently been developed not only for water quality assessment but also for ecological health assessment. In this paper Korean Saprobic Index (KSI) based on Zelinka-Marvan's saprobic valency concept is developed by applying DIN 38410 in Germany. The KSI value was widely applicable to most Korean streams with the exception of sand-based large streams, for example main stream of Nakdong River. But as a result of non-linear regression analysis the correlation between KSI and $BOD_5$ concentration was high and KSI reflected water quality alteration for mid and long-term period. In spite of applicability of KSI, it should be supplemented and developed to make it strong by accumulating field data as well as to manage integrated water environment in general through continuous biomonitoring.