• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.664-671
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate the environmental impact of the construction of the Yeongju Dam, located near the upper stream of the Nakdong River, on benthic macroinvertebrates. The investigation was conducted four times from 2015 to 2016 and the composition of the benthic macroinvertebrate fauna from the four surveyed sites was compared. After the dam construction, the number of benthic macroinvertebrate species decreased and the species composition ratio of the E.P.T taxa(Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) decreased, which favored the previous environment and the large riverbed structure. However, the species composition ratio of the O.C.H taxa (Odonata, Coleoptera, and Hemiptera), which favored the reservoir environment, increased. For the pattern of changes in the functional habitat groups, the proportion of 'Clinger(CL)' taxa decreased and the 'Burrower(BU), Climber(CB), Sprawler(SP), Swimmer(SW)' taxa increased in all surveys after the dam construction. A cluster stability comparison showed that the 'Stability Group II' species of St.2 and St.3 showed a drastic decrease. The average Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index(BMI) of all the survey sites in 2016 was lower than that in 2015. This research confirmed the temporal and spatial changes in the habitat type and community structure of the benthic macroinvertebrates resulting from the dam construction.