• ALGAE
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.309-324
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• 2017

Recently, the heterotrophic nanoflagellate Katablepharis japonica has been reported to feed on diverse red-tide species and contribute to the decline of red tides. However, if there are effective predators feeding on K. japonica, its effect on red tide dynamics may be reduced. To investigate potential effective protist predators of K. japonica, feeding by the engulfment-feeding heterotrophic dinoflagellates (HTDs) Oxyrrhis marina, Gyrodinium dominans, Gyrodinium moestrupii, Polykrikos kofoidii, and Noctiluca scintillans, the peduncle-feeding HTDs Luciella masanensis and Pfiesteria piscicida, the pallium-feeding HTD Oblea rotunda, and the naked ciliates Strombidium sp. (approximately $20{\mu}m$ in cell length), Pelagostrobilidium sp., and Miamiensis sp. on K. japonica was explored. We found that none of these heterotrophic protists fed on actively swimming cells of K. japonica. However, O. marina, G. dominans, L. masanensis, and P. piscicida were able to feed on heat-killed K. japonica. Thus, actively swimming behavior of K. japonica may affect feeding by these heterotrophic protists on K. japonica. To the contrary, K. japonica was able to feed on O. marina, P. kofoidii, O. rotunda, Miamiensis sp., Pelagostrobilidium sp., and Strombidium sp. However, the specific growth rates of O. marina did not differ significantly among nine different K. japonica concentrations. Thus, K. japonica may not affect growth of O. marina. Our findings suggest that the effect of predation by heterotrophic protists on K. japonica might be negligible, and thus, the effect of grazing by K. japonica on populations of red-tide species may not be reduced by mortality due to predation by protists.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.213-224
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• 2013

Between May 2006 and November 2009, we investigated the relationship between fluctuations in environmental factors and phytoplankton communities in Saemangeum Artificial Lake, South Korea. Nutrient concentrations in the lake increased because of the inflow of water from Mankyung and Dongjin Rivers during the summer rainy season; in particular, high concentrations were detected at an inner zone close to the estuaries. During the summer rainy season, salinity at the inner zone reduced more rapidly than that at the other zones, and it was similar to the changes in nutrient concentrations. Variations in phytoplankton communities were caused by fluctuations in environmental factors: the abundance of phytoplankton at the inner zone was higher than that at the other zones. Diatoms were the dominant species in the phytoplankton communities. A small centric diatom, Skeletonema costatum like species, was predominant, with a mean abundance of 19.5% in Saemangeum lake. Because of accelerated eutrophication in the lake, phytoplankton abundance increased continuously and the total number of species present in the community decreased. In particular, some dinoflagellates could intermittently cause red tides during low temperature and salinity conditions (at the inner zone). In 2006~2007, a red tide-forming dinoflagellate, Prorocentrum minimum, was the predominant species, while Heterocapsa triquetra, Karlodinium veneficum, and Heterocapsa rotundata were the newly recorded species in late 2008 to early 2009. Therefore, the dynamics of phytoplankton communities under the perennially eutrophic conditions in Saemangeum lake appear to be primarily affected by changes in water temperature and salinity. In particular, the growth of harmful algae may have been accelerated by the low salinity and temperature conditions during the spring season at the inner zone.

• ALGAE
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.237-251
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• 2019

The dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium is known to often form harmful algal blooms causing human illness and large-scale mortality of marine organisms. Therefore, the population dynamics of Alexandrium species are of primary concern to scientists and aquaculture farmers. The growth rate of the Alexandrium species is the most important parameter in prediction models and nutrient conditions are critical parameters affecting the growth of phototrophic species. In Korean coastal waters, Alexandrium affine and Alexandrium fraterculus, of similar sizes, often form red-tide patches together. Thus, to understand bloom dynamics of A. affine and A. fraterculus, growth rates and nitrate uptake of each species as a function of nitrate ($NO_3$) concentration at $100{\mu}mol\;photons\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$ under 14-h light : 10-h dark and continuous light conditions were determined using a nutrient repletion method. With increasing $NO_3$ concentration, growth rates and $NO_3$ uptake of A. affine or A. fraterculus increased, but became saturated. Under light : dark conditions, the maximum growth rates of A. affine and A. fraterculus were 0.45 and $0.42d^{-1}$, respectively. However, under continuous light conditions, the maximum growth rate of A. affine slightly increased to $0.46d^{-1}$, but that of A. fraterculus largely decreased. Furthermore, the maximum nitrate uptake of A. affine and A. fraterculus under light : dark conditions were 12.9 and $30.1pM\;cell^{-1}d^{-1}$, respectively. The maximum nitrate uptake of A. affine under continuous light conditions was $16.4pM\;cell^{-1}d^{-1}$. Thus, A. affine and A. fraterculus have similar maximum growth rates at the given $NO_3$ concentration ranges, but they have different maximum nitrate uptake rates. A. affine may have a higher conversion rate of $NO_3$ to body nitrogen than A. fraterculus. Moreover, a longer exposure time to the light may confer an advantage to A. affine over A. fraterculus.

• ALGAE
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.101-130
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• 2017

The ichthyotoxic Cochlodinium polykrikoides red tides have caused great economic losses in the aquaculture industry in the waters of Korea and other countries. Predicting outbreak of C. polykrikoides red tides 1-2 weeks in advance is a critical step in minimizing losses. In the South Sea of Korea, large C. polykrikoides red tide patches have often been recorded offshore and transported to nearshore waters. To explore the processes of offshore C. polykrikoides red tides, temporal variations in 3-dimensional (3-D) distributions of red tide organisms and environmental parameters were investigated by analyzing 4,432 water samples collected from 2-5 depths of 60 stations in the South Sea, Korea 16 times from May to Nov, 2014. In the study area, the vegetative cells of C. polykrikoides were found as early as May 7, but C. polykrikoides red tide patches were observed from Aug 21 until Oct 9. Cochlodinium red tides occurred in both inner and outer stations. Prior to the occurrence of large C. polykrikoides red tides, the phototrophic dinoflagellates Prorocentrum donghaiense (Jun 12 to Jul 11), Ceratium furca (Jul 11 to Aug 21), and Alexandrium fraterculus (Aug 21) formed red tides in sequence, and diatom red tides formed 2-3 times without a certain distinct pattern. The temperature for the optimal growth of these four red tide dinoflagellates is known to be similar. Thus, the sequence of the maximum growth rates of P. donghaiense > C. furca > A. fraterculus > C. polykrikoides may be partially responsible for this sequence of red tides in the inner stations following high nutrients input in the surface waters because of heavy rains. Furthermore, Cochlodinium red tides formed and persisted at the outer stations when $NO_3$ concentrations of the surface waters were < $2{\mu}M$ and thermocline depths were >20 m with the retreat of deep cold waters, and the abundance of the competing red-tide species was relatively low. The sequence of the maximum swimming speeds and thus potential reachable depths of C. polykrikoides > A. fraterculus > C. furca > P. donghaiense may be responsible for the large C. polykrikoides red tides after the small blooms of the other dinoflagellates. Thus, C. polykrikoides is likely to outgrow over the competitors at the outer stations by descending to depths >20 m and taking nutrients up from deep cold waters. Thus, to predict the process of Cochlodinium red tides in the study area, temporal variations in 3-D distributions of red tide organisms and environmental parameters showing major nutrient sources, formation and depth of thermoclines, intrusion and retreat of deep cold waters, and the abundance of competing red tide species should be well understood.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.140-147
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• 2002

We investigated the temporal variations in the heterotrophic dinoflagellates (hereafter HTD), tintinnid ciliates(TC), and naked ciliates(NC) from August to November 1999 in the coastal waters off the southern Saemankeum areas where a huge red tide dominated by Cochlodinium polykrikoides/Gymnodinium impudicum was first observed in 1998. We took water samples from 2-5 depths of 4 stations in each of the 5 cruises and then measured the species composition and abundances of HTD, TC, and NC The maximum species numbers and densities of HTD, TC, and NC(11, 12, and 10 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively) were observed when the density of diatoms was highest (August 10), while the lowest values (1.0, 0.5, and 2.4 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively) were found when the red tide dominated by C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum took placed (October 18). On August 10 and November 11 when diatoms dominated the abundance of phytoplankton, the correlation coefficients between TC, NC and diatoms were relatively high. However, On September 16 and October 18 when autotrophic+mixotrophic dinoflagellates(ATD+MTD) were abundant, the correlation coefficients between HTD and ATD+MTD were relatively high. The large HTD Noctiluca scintillans was the most dominant heterotrophic protists during the C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum red tide on October 18. N. scintillans has been known to feed on the prey cells when the swimming speeds of C. polykrikikoides/G. impudicum markedly reduced at the decline stage of the red tide. Therefore, N. scintillans could be effective grazers on C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum. The maximum densities of HTD, TC, and NC in the study area were fairly lower than those obtained in the waters off Kohung-Yeosu areas in the summer-fall, 1997. The results of the present study provide the basis of understanding predator-prey relationships between dominant phytoplankton and heterotrophic protists and the roles of the protist grazers in bloom dynamics in the waters off the western Korea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.445-456
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• 2001

In the 1990s, Cochlodinium polykikoides red tide has been annually occurred in the southern coast of Korea and caused the mass damage to the fisheries with a huge amount of economic loss. The present study was done to establish the biological foundation for the elucidation of the mechanism of C. polykikoiaes red tide. The growth response of C. polykikoides to physico-chemical factors such as temperature, salinity, pH, and light intensity were examined using axenic cultures to evaluate the relative importance of these factors on the dynamics of natural populations, It was found that the highest growth conditions were $25^{\circ}C,\;40\%_{\circ}$, pH 7.5, and 7,500 lux, respectively. The tolerable salinity range of growth was relatively wide at an optimum temperature and was reduced to a much narrower range at a sub-optimum temperature. These findings indicate that C. polykikoides is an eurythermal and euryhaline organism. The organism demanded higher light intensity and oceanic pH narrow in its growth. C. polykikoides utilize inorganic nutrients, such as nitrate and ammonium as N, and phosphate as P. The nutritional requirements of C. polykikoides were $40{\mu}M$ for nitrate, $50{\mu}M$ for ammonium, and $5{\mu}M$ for phosphate. The half saturation constant (Ks) for growth was $2.10{\mu}M$ for nitrate, $1.03{\mu}M$ for ammonium, and $0.57{\mu}M$ for phosphate. These values were comparatively smaller than those of other dinoflagellates reported previously. We confirmed that the organism is characterized as an eutrophic species. However, ammonium Ks value is smaller than that of other eutrophic species, This result indicates that C. polykikoides red tide may outbreak in the waters which eutrophication is in progress rather than eutrophicated waters. C. polykikoides preferred ammonium better than nitrate as a nitrogen source when in a growth stage, Therefore, our results indicate that ammonium is more important nutrient on the growth of the organism in comparison with other inorganic nutrients and C. polykikoides red tide is related with the increased ammonium concentration in the coastal waters.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.37-46
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• 2000

We investigated the temporal and spatial variations in heterotrophic dinoflagellates (hereafter HTD) and ciliates from June to September 1997 in the waters off Kohung, Korea where red tides dominated by harmful dinoflagellates had occurred from August to October since 1995. We took water samples five times from 5-7 depths at 3 stations in this study period. A total of 17 HTD species were present and of these species in the genus Protoperidinium were 11. The species number of tintinnids (hereafter TIN) present totalled 15 and several naked ciliate (hereafter NC) species were observed. The species numbers of HTD and TIN rapidly increased between August 1st and 21st and then reached to the maximum numbers of 13 and 10, respectively, on August 27 when red tides dominated by Gyrodinium impudicum were first observed in the study area. However the species numbers drastically decreased on September 22. The maximum densities of HTD, TIN, and NC were 45, 39, 57 cells $ml^{-1}$, respectively. ADAS, calculated by averaging the densities of a certain species in the all samples collected from all depths and stations at a sampling period, most increased between August 1st and 21st and then reached to the maximum density of f cells $ml^{-1}$ on August 27 for HTD, while did between August 21st and 27th and up to 7 cells $ml^{-1}$ for TIN. Unlike ADAS of HTD and TIN, that of NC did not change much with the maximum of 8 cells $ml^{-1}$ on August 27th. The pattern of the temperal variation in the species number and ADAS of HTD was similar to that of diatoms and the distributions of Protoperidinium spp. and diatoms had a strong positive correlation. This evidence suggests that HTD, in particular Protoperidinium spp. be a grazer on diatom. In general, the densities of HTD, TIN, and NC decreased with going to stations located in the outer bay. Therefore, the availability of suitable prey and distance from the coastal line might be responsible for the distribution of HTD, TIN, and NC. The results of the present study provide a basis for further experiments for the feeding by dominant HTD, TIN, and NC on dominant phytoplankton including red tide species and for understanding food webs in the planktonic community before, during, and after the red tide outbreak.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.92-101
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• 2015

We investigated cause of non-outbreak of Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms in the western coast of Jaran Bay during summer, 2013, based on the species competition among C. polykrikoides and Skeletonema sp. using a mathematical model. As a result of the model simulation where the nutrient conditions in Jaran Bay was applied during summer, the cell density of Skeletonema sp. was higher than that of C. polykrikoides. In the sensitivity analyses by doubling and halving the parameters, any parameter had little effect on the cell density of C. polykrikoides. The cell density of Skeletonema sp. was significantly affected by changes in the parameter values. These results indicated that the growth of C. polykrikoides could be unaffected by rapidly changing environments. However, the growth of Skeletonema sp. may have been promoted by the changing nutrient supply of coast environments. Therefore, C. polykrikoides might have been suppressed by diatom blooms, such as Skeletonema sp., in changing nutrient supply condition of Jaran Bay.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.245-252
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• 2016

This study investigated the environmental conditions and planktonic organisms in the ballast waters (BW) of 22 vessels originating from the international ports of Japan for the purpose of negotiating exemptions from the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWM Convention). The shortest duration of the BW was $3.33{\pm}1.87days$ in area "A", which included Kyushu and Suo Nada at Seto Inland. The total suspended solids, dissolved organic carbon, and particulate organic carbon ranged from 4.60 to 60.9 mg L-1, from 0.97 to 2.69 mg L-1, and from 0.24 to 4.51 mg L-1, respectively. A low average concentration of nutrients was measured in the BW from area "A", but that in the BW from area "C" (around central Honshu) was high, which may be related to the ballasting periods. High chlorophyll-a concentrations (>$1{\mu}g\;L-1$) were measured in four vessels, three of which carried the BW in area "A". High abundances of phytoplankton (> 50,000 cells L-1) were measured in four vessels, three of which carried the BW in area "A". The two vessels originating from Tokyuyama Bay in area "A" showed high densities of dinoflagellates, which are known to be harmful algae. Our results suggest that the negotiations for an exemption from the BWM Convention for Japan should proceed with caution.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.79-91
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• 2005

In order to understand growth characteristics of ten major species of microalgae responsible for frequent harmful algal blooms in Korean coastal waters, the growth rates of the isolates were examined in relation with the impacts of water temperature, salinity and irradiance. In addition, their bloom events since 1990 as well as monthly abundance of vegetative cells were analyzed. Heterocapsa triquetra, Eutreptiella gymnastica and Alexandrium tamarense were considered as relatively mid temperature adapted species in that growth rates were comparatively high at low water temperatures of $10{\sim}16^{\circ}C$ and drastically decreased at above $22^{\circ}C$. Prorocentrum micans and Pyramimonas sp. were categorized as relatively high temperature adapted species by showing comparatively better growths at high water temperatures above $25^{\circ}C$. Akashiwo sanguinea, Heterosigma akashiwo, Prorocentrum minimum and Scrippsiella trochoidea were eurythermal species with relative high growth rates in a broad ranges of water temperature, $16{\sim}25^{\circ}C$ were slightly halophobic, showing better growths at low salinities of $10{\sim}30$ psu than at above 35 psu. H. akashiwo, P. minimum and H. triquetra were euryhaline species with remarkable growths in a broad ranges of salinity, 15-40 psu. Frequent algal blooms by these three species at extremely low salinities below 25 psu after rainfall were attributed to their euryhaline and slightly halophobic physiological characteristics. Growth rates of H. akashiwo, P. minimum and Pyraminonas sp. increased with the increase of irradiance within the experimental ranges of $2{\sim}150\;{\mu}E{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$. However, A. sanguinea, A. tamarense and H. triquetra showed better growths at comparatively low irradiance of $50{\sim}100\;{\mu}E{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ and drastic decreases in growth rates above $150\;{\mu}E{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ of irradiance. Overall, relatively high temperature adapted species make blooms frequently in high water temperature season with strong natural irradiance, and relatively low temperature adapted species grow better at low water temperature with relatively weak natural irradiance.