• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.466-476
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• 2016

Dredging is inevitably necessary for the management of water infrastructure such as waterways and polluted bottom sediment. Dredged material management options may be offshore dumping, wetland creation, beach nourishment and various other engineering uses depending on the given circumstances at the time of dredging. Among those options, wetland creation and beach nourishment are the preferred ones in Korea considering significant loss of wetland and beach erosion due to various development projects along the coastal region. In order to use dredged material beneficially, however, dredged material needs to be assessed its suitability with respect to its engineering purpose and environmental criteria. In this paper, we demonstrate that environmental risk of dredged material to be introduced into the marine environment can be easily assessed using biomarkers with relative low cost. Biomarkers can also compliment pollutant contents analysis that may not be specific to their impact on biological response. Biomarker information may be used to assist decision making process in selecting suitable treatment or beneficial use options for dredged materials.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.488-498
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• 2016

In order to assess the role of aeration in stormwater wetlands, oxygen supply and consumption in a wetland treating runoff from livestock farms were estimated and analyzed. Furthermore, oxygen mass balance was conducted during day time and night time. Internal production by algal photosynthesis dominated the oxygen production particularly in the shallow marsh due to the large amount of algae. Consequently, algal respiration was also the major oxygen depletion element with nitrification and biodegradation estimated as 5.35% and 6.43% of the total oxygen consumption. This excessive portion of oxygen consumption by algae was associated to the highly turbid water caused by the resuspension of sediment particles in the aeration pond, which also affected the subsequent wetland. Moreover, an abundance of oxygen was estimated during the day indicating that oxygen produced by algal activity is sufficient to meet the oxygen demand in the wetland. Thus, supplemental aeration was deemed not necessary at daytime. In contrast, oxygen was greatly depleted at night when algal photosynthesis stopped which induced denitrification. Therefore, it was suggested that supplemental aeration may be operated continuously instead of intermittently to avoid oxygen deficit in the wetland at night or it may be stopped entirely to further enhance denitrification.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.453-460
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• 2006

Upo wetland is the largest inland wetland in Korea as Ramsar Convention Area. The purposes of the study were to investigate the levels of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the sediment and Cipangopaludina chinensis malleata from three sites of the wetland and to assess the potential of the gastropod as a bioindicator for heavy metal levels. The gastropods were dissected into shell and soft tissue without the digestive and excretive organs. The levels of Cd, Cu and Pb were below the guideline of Soil Environment Conservation Act and the heavy metals except Cr were slightly different among the sites. Cd was higher in Upo site ($0.32{\mu}g/g$) than Sajipo site ($0.28{\mu}g/g$). Cu and Zn showed the highest value in Sajipo as $43.5{\mu}g/g\;and\;39.8{\mu}g/g$, respectively while the concentrations of Pb and Zn were the highest in Upstream as $58.8{\mu}g/g\;and\;138{\mu}g/g$, respectively. In the soft tissues and shells of the gastropod, the overall common trend in the concentrations of the heavy metals was revealed with the following order: Zn > Cu > Cr > Ni > Pb > Cd and Ni > Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Cd, respectively. Although the soft tissues exhibited higher concentrations of the heavy metals except Ni than the shell in the gastropod, the levels of Cd and Pb in the gastropod were generally below the restrictive values set up by Korea Food & Drug Administration. From Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT) results, the concentrations of Pb and Zn in the sediments among the sites were reflected on the soft tissue (Pb) and the shell (Pb and Zn) of the gastropod in the same order. The lower value of coefficient of variation (CV) in Pb concentration of the shell than in that of the soft tissue supports the usefulness of the shell as a bioindicator for Pb pollution. Although the CV value in the shell was a little higher than in the soft tissue, DMRT results and the stability of incorporated Zn into the shell support the use of the shell of the gastropod as a potential bioindicator for long-term contamination of Zn.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.409-422
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• 2022

Riverine wetlands are an important element of the river ecosystem and account for approximately 38% of the inland wetlands surveyed so far. The Shincheon Wetland located in Mangyeong River is also a channel wetland as the flow rate is slowed by the constructed weirs, leading to sediment accumulation. To identify the conservation value and ecological characteristics of Shincheon Wetland, its vegetation and plant diversity were identified using a phytosociological method, and a total of 45 vegetation-related datasets were collected. Overall, 24 plant communities, comprising a total of 153 taxa (49 families, 117 genera, 146 species, 2 subspecies, 5 varieties) were identified. The plant with the highest appearance rate in the communities was Humulus japonicus Siebold & Zucc. In addition, annual herb species, including Rumex crispus L., Bromusjaponicus Thunb., Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers., and Artemisia indica Willd. were frequently observed to be growing in the secondary grassland. Naturalized plants were surveyed in the 38 taxa; the urbanization index was 10.3% and the naturalized index was 24.8%. Plant communities were largely classified into submerged vegetation, floating and floating-leaved vegetation, annual and biennial vegetation, perennial herb vegetation, and woody vegetation. The distribution of plant communities reflecting various habitats, including the lentic and lotic zone maintaining a constant water depth, littoral zone experiencing intermittent water level fluctuations, and dry floodplain environment was also confirmed. Overall, plant community development plays an important role in the habitat for wild animals; therefore, it is expected to positively impact biodiversity enhancement.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.249-257
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• 2010

The purpose of this paper is to weigh the possibility of endangered Jang-hang wetland at the estuary of Han River to be included on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance and come up with ways to manage the wetland depending on its biotope patterns. The target area is located between Gimpo bridge and Isanpo I.C. with about $2.7km^2$ area. Through the analysis of RIS(Information Sheet for Ramsar Wetlands), it was known that the wetland is located on the sedimentary topography and formed as a result of sediment at the estuary of the river owing to the concentration of rainfall during summer. The vegetation environment in the area is divided into brackish water and fresh water areas depending on salinity. Rhizosphere soil(RS) of the area was analyzed to be Silt loam while bottom RS to be Sand loam. The plant ecology was composed of 52 families 135 species and 11 varieties and 146 types. Among indigenous species found are Salix koreensis, Phragmites communis and Miscanthus sacchariflorus. The analyzed results of the actual vegetation showed that willow community accounts for 37% of the area and rice field is 13.5%. As for animal ecology, total of 62 species and 25,977 individual wild birds were observed. After comparing and analyzing the RIS we compiled with the Ramsar Site designation standards, it turns out that the Jang-hang wetland meets criteria 1(biographic region), criteria 2,3 and 4(species and ecological communities) and criteria 5 and 6(water birds). Thus, Jang-hang wetland is eligible for the Ramsar site. As a result of establishing and evaluating the biotope types for setting management areas, Jang-hang wetland has a total of 13 different types, and the grade I represents 75.4% of the area while the grade III 0.8% of the land status. We categorized four management zones for the wetland depending on the biotope patterns - preservation, restoration, use and buffer zones and suggested management methods for each zone.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 2011

Natural streams meander, forming pools at the outer part of bend and riffles at the crossing. Pools are deep at a lower flow velocity, and riffles are shallow at a higher flow velocity. Attentions are being paid to pool-riffle sequences in meandering streams because pool-riffle sequences tend to increase biodiversity of the stream ecosystem. This study investigates the characteristics of distribution of bed sediment particles in the upstream reach of the Gap Stream, which is a tributary of the Geum River in Korea. The upstream part of the Gap Stream, the study reach, is a gravel-bed stream, showing a pool and three riffles due to meandering. The reach also includes pools at the upstream and downstream parts of the weir. The characteristics of bed sediment particles sampled at the wetland and in the side channel are studied, revealing that the median particle diameter in the riffle is about four times larger than that in the pool. In addition, flow simulations are carried out for ordinary discharge and design flood, and such parameters important to sediment transport as velocity, shear stress, dimensionless shear stress (or Shields number), and dimensionless shear velocity are provided to see the mobility of sediment particles in the pool-riffle sequence.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.227-236
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• 2021

To obtain unrecorded freshwater bacterial species in Korea, water and sediment samples were collected from streams, lakes, and wetland of the Han River watershed in 2020. Approximately 800 bacterial strains were isolated on R2A agar after aerobic or anaerobic incubation, and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequences. A total of 28 strains, with ≥98.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with validly published bacterial species but not reported in Korea, were determined to be unrecorded bacterial species in Korea. The unrecorded bacterial strains were phylogenetically diverse and belonged to four phyla, eight classes, 13 orders, 19 families, and 25 genera. The unreported species were assigned to Acetobacter, Alsobacter, Mesorhizobium, Prosthecomicrobium, and Microvirga of the class Alphaproteobacteria; Vogesella, Formosimonas, Aquincola, Massilia, Acidovorax, and Brachymonas of the class Betaproteobacteria; Pseudoxanthomonas, Thermomonas, Lysobacter, Enterobacter, Kosakonia, and Acinetobacter of the class Gammaproteobacteria; Sulfuricurvum of the class Epsilonproteobacteria; Mycolicibacterium, Agromyces, Phycicoccus, and Microbacterium of the class Actinobacteria; Paenibacillus of the class Bacilli; Clostridium of the class Clostridia; and Flavobacterium of the class Flavobacteriia. The details of the unreported species, including Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, biochemical characteristics, and phylogenetic position are also provided in the description of the strains.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.42 no.3 s.120
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• pp.344-354
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• 2007

Estuarine wetlands for 33 watersheds in the Han River estuary were delineated on topographic maps from the 1910s, 1970s, and 2000s. Then, these data were used to address the issue of spatial distribution and temporal variation. Watershed characteristics such as drainage density, location, watershed size, slope, and elevation were identified for each watershed to determine the relationship between watershed characteristics and spatial distribution of estuarine wetlands. The analysis of estuarine wetlands indicated that wetlands in the estuary had declined gradually between the 1910s and the 1970s, although most wetlands were lost since the 1970s mainly caused by the large development projects related to urban expansion in metropolitan Seoul. The sediment composition and formation processes of the wetlands differed with watershed location; mud flats dominate in the lower part of the estuary, and relatively more sandy and emergent-plant wetlands occur near the main channel and tributaries of the Han River. Relatively more estuary wetlands occur in large watersheds, which have high slopes and low elevations. Estuarine wetlands have been lost dramatically in the densely populated watershed regions (i.e., Han River Seoul, Han River Goyang, West Han River), while relatively more wetlands have remained in undeveloped regions, including the Lower Imjin River and Lower Han River. In particular, anthropogenic disturbance has played an important role in the loss of wetland through the conversion of wetland into agricultural and developed land.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.165-168
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• 2008

Measurements of phosphatase activity in peatlands are made difficult by the low levels of activity and the characteristically high concentrations of dissolved organic matter within the sediments. These materials may cause high background absorbances in colorimetric assays, and quenching interference in fluorimetric assays. This review describes the development of a new approach which allows such problems to be overcome by using HPLC to separate the interferences from the products of enzymic hydrolysis. This approach is applicable to various environmental samples such as peat, wetland sediment, and sludge which may contain a large amount of interfering organic matters.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.82-96
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to investigate the wise use and the management of intertidal environment. For tills purpose, we selected the Kanghwa island mudflat which is one of the most important intertidal region in Korea peninsula. The main research method is surface sediment and several map analysis. The results are as follows. (1) The study area is worldwide coastal wetland in view of ecology and geomorphology. But most of the salt marsh has been reclaimed since Japanese colonial period, the study area is mainly composed of mudflat. (2) The mean tidal regime of study area is 7.3m. From this tidal regime, the study area is subdivided into four distinct areas: the high intertidal area the middle intertidal area the low intertidal area and the shallow sea area terrestrial area near mudflat. (3) The mean particle size of surface sediment is sand 41.5%, silt 47.3%, clay 11.2%. This particle size pattern indicates the ecological characteristics of surface sediment of the study area. The proportion of clay is increasing to the open sea. (5) The pursuit of the wise use and the management must be implemented by the consideration of not only ecologic and sedimentary characteristics but also of the eco-tour site plan. And the entire use and management subject is different in each area.