Most wetlands worldwide have suffered from extensive human exploitation. Unfortunately they have been less explored compared to river and lake ecosystems despite their ecological importance and economic values. This is the same case in Korea. This study was aimed to estimate the assemblage attributes and distribution characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates for fifty wetlands distributed throughout subtropical Jeju Island in 2021. A total of 133 taxa were identified during survey periods belonging to 53 families, 19 orders, 5 classes and 3 phyla. Taxa richness ranged from 4 to 31 taxa per wetland with an average of 17.5 taxa. Taxa richness and abundance of predatory insect groups such as Odonata, Hemiptera and Coleoptera respectively accounted for 67.7% and 68.2% of the total. Among them Coleoptera were the most diverse and abundant. Taxa richness and abundance did not significantly differ from each wetland type classified in accordance with the National Wetland Classification System. There were three endangered species (Clithon retropictum, Lethocerus deyrolli and Cybister (Cybister) chinensis) and several restrictively distributed species only in Jeju Island. Cluster analysis based on the similarity in the benthic macroinvertebrate composition largely classified 50 wetlands into two major clusters: small wetlands located in lowland areas and medium-sized wetlands in middle mountainous regions. All cluster groups displayed significant differences in wetland area, long axis, percentage of fine particles and macrophyte composition ratio. Indicator Species Analysis selected 19 important indicators with the highest indicator value of Ceriagrion melanurum at 63%, followed by Noterus japonicus (59%) and Polypylis hemisphaerula (58%). Our results are expected to provide fundamental information on the biodiversity and habitat environments for benthic macroinvertebrates in wetland ecosystems, consequently helping to establish conservation and restoration plans for small wetlands relatively vulnerable to human disturbance.
This study investigated the fish fauna of Jeonjucheon and Samcheon Streams, flowing through the city of Jeonju, through surveys conducted at 10 sampling sites using kick net and cast net. The fish fauna collected included 10 families and 36 species, with a total of 2,064 individuals. Samcheon had 8 families and 30 species with 1,074 individuals, Jeonjucheon had 8 families and 26 species with 986 individuals. The dominant species was Zacco platypus with 1,202 individuals, and a total of 153 individuals of the subdominant were Pseudogobio esocinus. In Jeonjucheon Stream, a total of 567 individuals of the dominant species were collected as Z. platypus and 99 individuals of the subdominant species were collected as Pungtungia herzi, and there was no significant change in the stream environment except for the confluence site. Further expanded research covering the entire Jeonjucheon and Samcheon Streams region, accompanied by regular monitoring, is essential to record and understand fluctuations in fish fauna.
In this study, in order to analyze the water purification efficiency according to the influent water conditions of artificial wetlands, the purification efficiency was compared at two points where sewage treatment water flows in and one point where good effluent flows in. As a result of reviewing the results of the analysis of influent and effluent and the removal efficiency, the T-N and T-P removal efficiency was calculated at 54.7% and 77.4%, respectively, for the two points where sewage treatment water was treated, the treatment efficiency of SS 90.8%, BOD 51.1%, TOC 30.6%, T-N 38.8%, T-P 55.3% was shown. As a result, the efficiency of removing pollutants in the artificial wetland was found to be proportional to the concentration of influent water, and in order to create an efficient artificial wetland, it is judged that thorough review and management at the design stage are necessary considering that the removal efficiency of high-concentration contaminated water was high.
In ecosystems within limited resources, interspecific competition is inevitable, often leading to the competitive exclusion of inferior species. This study aims to provide foundational information for the conservation and restoration management of Microphysogobio rapidus by evaluating species’ ecological response to biological factors within its habitat. To understand this relationship, we collected food web organisms from site where M. rapidus coexist with Microphysogobio yaluensis, a specie ecologically similar to M. rapidus, and evaluated the trophic levels (TL), isotopic niche space (INS), and the overlap of INS among fishes within the habitat using stable isotope analysis. Our analysis revealed that the M. rapidus exhibited a higher TL than M. yaluensis, with TL of 2.6 and 2.4, respectively. M. yaluensis exhibited a broad INS, significantly influencing the feeding characteristics of most fish. Conversely, M. rapidus showed a narrow INS and asymmetric feeding relationships with other species, in habitats with high competition levels. This feeding characteristics of M. rapidus indicate that the increase in competitors sharing the similar resources lead to a decrease in available resources and, consequently, is expected to result in a decrease in their density.
This note summarizes the application of zooplankton indices for water quality management and estimation based on main research topics of articles focusing on wetland ecosystems, topics that are remained poorly investigated in S. Korea. The aquatic ecosystem-based consists of indices that respond to different target environmental factors, including environmental disturbance. Among the major indicator species and biota, we reviewed that management strategy for the wetland environment has to be focused more on small-sizes, in terms of zooplankton ecology and indices. The ecology of zooplankton communities in freshwater ecosystem has been the focus of an increasing number of studies since 2019, and considerable progress has been made in understanding the major mechanisms involved in regulating their abundance, diversity and spatio-temporal patterns. Even though studies on the freshwater ecosystem in Korea have a long history, a few of studies on zooplankton biota were conducted at wetlands. We suggested the candidate zooplankton indices proposed by the U.S. EPA and EU to suit Korean conditions. In the step of selecting metrics, the best available metrics are species-related variables, such as composition and abundance, as well as richness and diversity. Overall, in spite of several limitations, the development of a plankton-based multivariate assessment method in Korea wetlands is possible using mostly field research data. Later, it could be improved based on qualitative metrics on zooplankton, and with the emergence of further survey data. The present information can be used as basic information for researchers who are dealing with aquatic environments and its interaction with organisms.