Daechung Reservoir has been suffering from severe cyanobacterial blooming periodically due to the water pollutants from the watershed, especially nutrients from nonpoint sources. As a countermeasure, an artificial wetland was constructed to mitigate the pollutant load from the watershed by utilizing the vegetation. We investigated the water quality of the influent and outflow of the wetland during years 2014~2020 to evaluate the performance of pollutant removal through the wetland. Major pollutants (e.g. BOD, COD, SS, T-N, and T-P) were largely reduced during the retention in the wetland while nutrients removal was more efficient than that of organic matters. Pollutant removal efficiency for different inflow concentrations was also investigated to estimate the wetland’s capability as a way of managing nonpoint sources. The efficiency of water treatment was significantly higher when inflow concentrations were above 75th percentile for all pollutant, implying the wetland can be applied to the pre-treatment of high pollution load including initial rainfall runoff. Furthermore, the yearly variation of removal efficiency for seven years was analyzed to better understand long-term trends in water treatment of the wetland. The annual treatment efficiency of T-P was very high in the early stages of vegetation growth with high concentration of inflow water. However, it was confirmed that the concentration of inflow water decreased, vegetation stabilized, and the treatment efficiency gradually decreased as the soil was saturated. The findings of the study suggest that artificial wetlands can be an effective method for controlling harmful algal blooms by alleviating pollutant load from the tributaries of Daechung Reservoir.
The Hangang River* is necessary to manage the water environment of severe pollution due to the high density of residential areas, parks, and agriculture and the large population concentrated there. Benthic macroinvertebrates, such as chironomids larvae, are bioindicator species that reflect environmental changes and are crucial for water quality monitoring. In this study, we investigated morphological characteristics and molecular analysis of the chironomids larvae inhabiting the Hangang River area for water environment surveys. For this research, 20 rivers, lakes, and urban area in the Hangang River basin were selected. Chironomids larvae were collected from July to September 2022, and their appearance and characteristics were identified through morphological identification. In addition, phylogenetic analysis was performed based on the mtCOI gene sequences of the collected chironomids larvae, and identification at the genus level was confirmed. As a result, 32 species and 18 genera of 3 subfamilies of Chironomidae larvae were identified, and Stictochironomus sp. dominated most sites (6 sites). The morphological characteristics of the identified chironomids larvae, such as the mentum, ventromental plate, and antenna, were organized into table and pictorial keys, and a Bayesian inference molecular phylogeny was presented. These results provide basic morphological information for genus-level identification and can be used as fundamental information for water quality management. *The public nomenclature following by NGII 2015
Cyanobacteria Pseudanabaena strains are known to produce 2-MIB (odorous material) in freshwater systems, thereby causing problems in water use. However, their physiological responses to environmental factors in relation with 2-MIB production is not well explored. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of temperature on the growth and 2-MIB production of Pseudanabaena redekei. The experimental cyanobacteria strains were separated from the Uiam Reservoir (North Han River) and cultured in the BG-11 medium. Temperature was set to 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30℃ for the experiment, in the reflection of the seasonal water temperature variation in situ. For each temperature treatment, cyanobacterial biomass (Chl-a) and 2-MIB concentration (intra-cellular and extra-cellular fractions) were measured every 2 days for 18 days. Both maximal growth and total 2-MIB production of P. redekei appeared at 30℃. While intra-cellular 2-MIB contents were similar (26~29 ng L-1) regardless of treated temperatures, extra-cellular 2-MIB concentration was higher only in high temperature conditions (25~30℃), indicating that the extents of 2-MIB biosynthesis and release by P. redekei vary with temperature. The 2-MIB productivity of P. redekei was much higher in low-temperature conditions (10~15℃) than high temperature conditions (25~30℃). This study demonstrated that temperature was a critical factor contributing to 2-MIB biosynthesis and its release in cell growth (r=0.605, p<0.01). These results are important to understand the dynamics of 2-MIB in the field and thereby provide basic information for managing odorous material in drinking water resources.
The medium-large cladoceran species Simocephalus spp. predominantly occur in habitats with developed aquatic vegetation. Accordingly, due to Simocephalus’ high contribution to zooplankton community biomass in the lake’s littoral zone and wetland habitats, estimating their biomass is important to understand the matter cycling based on biological interactions within the aquatic food web. In this study, we reviewed the length-weight regression equations used previously to estimate Simocephalus biomass, directly measured S. serrulatus’ body specification (length, width and area) and their biomass (dry weight) using instruments such as a microscopic digital camera and a microscale, and performed regression analysis between each other. When S. serrulatus biomass was estimated using the equation (Kawabata and Urabe, 1998) presented in 『Biomonitoring Survey and Assessment Manual』, Korea, errors between estimates and measures were relatively large compared to the S. serrulatus species-specific biomass estimate equation developed by Lemke and Benke (2003). In addition, both equations showed not only increasing trends in error (estimate-measure) with increasing S. serrulatus’ body length, but also in error variance among similar-sized individuals. The results of regression analysis with dry weight by body specifications indicated that the most appropriate equation for estimating the biomass of S. serrulatus was derived from the width-dry weight exponential regression equation (R2=0.9555). The review and development study of such species-specific biomass estimation equations for zooplankton can be used as a tool to understand their role and function in aquatic ecosystem food webs.
Small ponds, which exhibit unstable succession pattern of plankton community, are less well studied than large lakes. Recently, the importance of small ponds for local biodiversity conservation has highlighted the necessity of understanding the dynamics of biological community. In the present study, we collected zooplankton from three small reservoirs with monthly basis and analyzed their seasonal dynamics. To understand the complicated zooplankton community dynamics of small reservoirs, we categorized zooplankton species into four groups (LALF Group, Low Abundance Low Frequency; LAHF Group, Low Abundance High Frequency; HALF Group, High Abundance Low Frequency; HAHF Group, High Abundance High Frequency) based on their occurrence pattern (abundance and frequency). We compared the seasonal pattern of each group, and estimated community diversity based on temporal beta diversity contribution of each group. The result revealed that there is a relationship between groups with the same abundance but different occurrence frequencies, and copepod nauplii are common important component for both abundance and frequency. On the other hand, species included with LALF Group throughout the study period are key in terms of monthly succession and diversity. LALF Group includes Anuraeopsis fissa, Hexarthra mira and Lecane luna. However, groups containing species that only occur at certain times of the year and dominate the waterbody, HALF Group, hindered to temporal diversity. The results of this study suggest that the species-specific occurrence pattern is one key trait of species determining its contribution to total annual biodiversity of given community.