Zooplankton are dominant pelagic consumers in lake ecosystems with high population and biomass. Their broad geographical distribution, ease of quantification, and rapid responses to abiotic environmental factors, such as eutrophication, acidification, and climate change, make them highly suitable as indicator organisms for assessing lake ecosystem health. The multi-metric index (MMI) provides an effective framework for capturing the complex responses of biological communities to varying environmental stressors, making it a valuable approach for improving the practical effectiveness of lake ecosystem management based on biological assessments. This study introduces the Lake Zooplankton Assessment Index (LZAI), developed for 90 lakes in South Korea. The LZAI comprises four components: a sensitive species index based on cladocerans, a eutrophication index based on rotifers, a food web index based on copepods, and a habitat index based on species diversity. Applying the LZAI to 90 lakes showed that lake grades followed a normal distribution regardless of sampling season, though A-grade and E-grade lakes exhibited greater seasonal variability. When compared with the clustering results based on zooplankton community composition, the LZAI closely reflected the underlying patterns in community structure. However, in brackish lakes-where population densities are lower and Calanoida copepods dominate relative to freshwater lakes-the M1 and M4 indices were consistently low, while M2 and M3 were high. This suggests that the LZAI requires index adjustments tailored to regional and lake-type factors, including size, depth, and salinity. Incorporating biomass data into the index would further improve the accuracy of assessing community structure and its role in nutrient and energy cycling.

The absence of standardized, biology-based assessment criteria for lake ecosystems at the national level underscores the need for developing systematic and integrative phytoplankton-based evaluation tools. Phytoplankton are primary producers that regulate energy flow and nutrient cycling in lake ecosystems, and their rapid responses to environmental changes such as eutrophication, altered hydrodynamics, and seasonal fluctuations make them highly effective biological indicators. Multimetric indices (MMIs) offer a structured and integrative approach for capturing complex community level responses to environmental stressors, thereby enhancing the ecological relevance and management utility of biological assessment tools for lentic systems. This study presents the Lake Phytoplankton Assessment Index (LPAI), developed using long term ecological and water quality data from 90 lakes and reservoirs across South Korea. The LPAI comprises six ecologically meaningful metrics: total cell density (M2), cell density of flagellated algae (M10), cell density of harmful cyanobacteria (M17), cell density of eutrophic Chlorophyta (M18), relative abundance of saprophilous diatoms (M23), and relative abundance of eutraphentic diatoms (M25). Application of the LPAI demonstrated that lake health grades exhibited a broad and near-normal distribution across seasons, while summer assessments showed a marked increase in lower grade (C~E) lakes associated with elevated temperatures and cyanobacterial blooms. Conversely, winter assessments showed improved conditions due to reduced phytoplankton biomass and the dominance of low eutrophic diatom assemblages. Correlation analyses confirmed that the selected metrics captured distinct ecological gradients, particularly nutrient enrichment and organic matter driven turbidity, while PCA results indicated that the LPAI performed consistently across lake types without structural bias. Overall, the LPAI reliably reflects trophic conditions, harmful algal risks, and structural changes in phytoplankton communities, offering a scientifically grounded and management-relevant tool for evaluating the ecological health of Korean lakes and reservoirs.

This study aims to advance Korea’s aquatic ecosystem assessment framework by developing and validating an Integrated Assessment Index (IAI) that synthesizes three biological indicators: the Diatom Assessment Index (DAI), the Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assessment Index (BAI), and the Fish Assessment Index (FAI). Using biomonitoring data collected from 2019 to 2021, three integration methods: the minimum grade method, most frequent grade method, and arithmetic mean method, were compared. The arithmetic mean method demonstrated the highest suitability and was adopted as the final integration approach. The resulting IAI showed stronger correlations with major water quality factors (BOD, TN, TP) than individual biological indices, indicating its enhanced capacity to capture both water quality gradients and ecological response patterns across biological assemblages. Application of the IAI to aquatic ecosystem assessment data from 2016 to 2023 revealed that the overall ecological condition of Korean rivers remained at a “fair (C)” level. Approximately half of the sites were classified as good to very good (A~B), while around 20% were rated as poor to very poor (D~E). Annual cycle analysis further indicated that first-year surveys within each monitoring phase exhibited higher proportions of good conditions, whereas second- and third-year surveys showed increasing frequencies of fair conditions, suggesting cumulative environmental stressors or progressive habitat alteration. Mid-sized basin target standards achievement analysis showed a clear discrepancy between waterquality and biological outcomes. While BOD and TP targets were met at relatively high rates, IAI achievement rates were the lowest across all major river basins (18~33%). This indicates that current water quality centered management goals insufficiently reflect actual ecological conditions. The results highlight that improvements in physico-chemical factors alone are insufficient for biological recovery and that habitat structure, flow regime, and substrate conditions are critical drivers of ecological integrity. Overall, the IAI effectively integrates biological and physico-chemical information, offering a more comprehensive quantification of river aquatic ecosystem health than single metric approaches. The index demonstrates strong potential as a practical tool for future policy applications, including mid-sized basin target management, ecological restoration prioritization, and integrated water resource planning.

Current assessments of stream ecosystem health in Korea using benthic diatoms rely primarily on the Trophic Diatom Index (TDI), which is highly sensitive to phosphorus concentrations but has limited ability to capture complex environmental stressors such as organic pollution and physical habitat degradation. To address these limitations and enhance the ecological diagnostic capacity of diatom-based assessments, we developed a Korean-type multimetric diatom index, the Diatom Assessment Index (DAI). Using benthic diatom assemblage data and environmental variables collected from 3,029 sites nationwide between 2019 and 2021, we screened candidate metrics based on variability, redundancy, discriminatory power, and sensitivity analyses. Five metrics-TDI, proportion of motile diatoms, proportion of sensitive diatoms, proportion of saprophilous diatoms, and the [Achnanthes / (Achnanthes+Navicula)] ratio-were ultimately selected and integrated to calculate the DAI score. Applying the DAI to an independent dataset from 3,005 sites (2022~2024) demonstrated that the index exhibited a near-normal distribution across assessment classes, in contrast to the TDI, which tended to be skewed toward specific ranges. The DAI showed strong correlations not only with physicochemical parameters such as BOD and TP but also with physical habitat indicators, including flow velocity and the proportion of fine substrates. In addition, the DAI was significantly correlated with other biological indices, such as the Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index (BMI) and the Fish Assessment Index (FAI). These results indicate that the DAI provides a more comprehensive and ecologically meaningful measure of stream health in Korea and can serve as an effective tool for national aquatic ecosystem assessment and management.

This study examines the current framework for diagnosing the causes of stream ecosystem impairment in South Korea and proposes strategies to improve the effectiveness of aquatic ecosystem restoration policies. While technical guidelines and manuals for impairment diagnosis have been developed, they remain limited in practice due to weak legal enforceability, lack of integration with restoration planning, and insufficient coordination between related laws such as the Water Environment Conservation Act and the River Act. To address these issues, this study highlights the need for institutional reforms, including the legal establishment of a national inventory of impaired streams, the development of a comprehensive management plan, and the incorporation of diagnosis results into river planning processes. It also proposes clarifying the roles of central and local agencies to enhance administrative efficiency and reduce project fragmentation. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the potential of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as a paradigm shift in stream restoration. The application of NbS should be linked to the results of scientific diagnosis and tailored to the specific characteristics and impairment mechanisms of each stream. By strengthening the link between diagnosis, planning, and implementation, and adopting ecosystem-based approaches such as NbS, this study aims to inform integrated policy and institutional directions for sustainable stream restoration in South Korea.

Water environment management in Korea has long been driven by chemical water quality standards; however, such an approach does not adequately reflect the structural and functional integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Accordingly, the introduction of biological water quality criteria (biocriteria) has emerged as a key task for establishing ecosystem-centered water environmental policies. This study reviewed the scientific and legal foundations necessary for developing biocriteria suited to Korean aquatic ecosystems and proposed practical approaches for institutionalizing them as environmental standards. To this end, we conducted a comparative analysis of biocriteria implementation cases in major countries, including the United States, the European Union (EU), and Canada, and examined both the applicability and limitations of domestic multi-metric index (MMI)-based biological indicators. In addition, we evaluated the potential linkage with national legislation, including the Framework Act on Environmental Policy and the Water Environment Conservation Act, and proposed an institutionalization roadmap. This study emphasizes the necessity of establishing biocriteria as a policy turning point for securing the ecological health of Korean freshwater ecosystems and building an integrated water environment management framework.

This study investigated seasonal variations in phytoplankton community composition and physicochemical water quality across 90 lakes in South Korea surveyed 2022 to 2024, and examined their relationships with environmental factors. Over the course of four seasons, a total of 952 phytoplankton taxa were identified, with Bacillariophyta (diatoms) and Chlorophyta (green algae) accounting for 64.2% of the total species richness. Diatom species such as Aulacoseira granulata, Fragilaria crotonensis, and Cyclotella meneghiniana were frequently observed regardless of season. In terms of cell density, Cyanophyta were dominant, comprising 85.1% on average, with particularly high summer densities driven by blooms of Microcystis aeruginosa and Aphanizomenon sp. In contrast, diatoms accounted for the highest relative abundance in winter (54.1%). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that Cyanophyta and Chlorophyta were positively correlated with water temperature, TP, COD, and Chl-a, whereas Bacillariophyta and Cryptophyta showed negative correlations with these variables. These results indicate that phytoplankton communities in Korean lakes are highly responsive to variations in temperature and nutrient concentrations, and that summer rainfall-driven nutrient inflow plays a critical role in triggering cyanobacterial blooms. This study provides a scientific basis for understanding seasonal ecosystem dynamics in Korean lakes and offers foundational data for eutrophication management and the development of biological water quality assessment indices.

Nowadays, artificial intelligence model approaches such as machine and deep learning have been widely used to predict variations of water quality in various freshwater bodies. In particular, many researchers have tried to predict the occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms in inland water, which pose a threat to human health and aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, the objective of this study were to: 1) review studies on the application of machine learning models for predicting the occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms and its metabolites and 2) prospect for future study on the prediction of cyanobacteria by machine learning models including deep learning. In this study, a systematic literature search and review were conducted using SCOPUS, which is Elsevier’s abstract and citation database. The key results showed that deep learning models were usually used to predict cyanobacterial cells, while machine learning models focused on predicting cyanobacterial metabolites such as concentrations of microcystin, geosmin, and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) in reservoirs. There was a distinct difference in the use of input variables to predict cyanobacterial cells and metabolites. The application of deep learning models through the construction of big data may be encouraged to build accurate models to predict cyanobacterial metabolites.

Benthic attached diatoms (BADs), a major primary producer in lotic stream and river ecosystems are micro-sized organisms and require a highly magnified microscopic technique in the observation work. Thus, it is often not easy to ensure accuracy and precision in both qualitative and quantitative analyses. This study proposed a new technique applicable to improve quality control of aquatic ecosystem monitoring and assessment using BADs. In order to meet the purpose of quality control, we developed a permanent mounting slide technique which can be used for both qualitative and quantitative analyses simultaneously. We designed specimens with the combination of grid on both cover and slide glasses and compared their efficiency. As a result of observation and counting of BADs, the slide glass designed with the color-lined grid showed the highest efficiency compared to other test conditions. We expect that the method developed in this study could be effectively used to analyze BADs and contributed to improve the quality control in aquatic ecosystem health monitoring and assessment.

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.

Cyanobacterial resting cells, such as akinetes, are important seed cells for cyanobacteria’s early development and bloom. Due to their importance, various methods have been attempted to isolate resting cells present in the sediment. Ludox is a solution mainly used for cell separation in marine sediments, but finding an accurate method for use in freshwater is difficult. This study compared the two most commonly used Ludox methods (direct sediment treatment and sediment distilled water suspension treatment). Furthermore, we proposed a highly efficient method for isolating cyanobacterial resting cells and eDNA amplification from freshwater sediments. Most of the resting cells found in the sediment were akinete to the Nostocale and were similar to those of Dolichospermum, Cylindrospermum, and Aphanizomenon. Twenty times more akinetes were found in the conical tube column using the sediment that had no treatment than in the sample treated by suspending the sediment in distilled water. Akinete separated through Ludox were mainly spread over the upper and lower layers in the column rather than concentrated at a specific depth in the column layer. The mibC, Geo, and 16S rDNA genes were successfully amplified using the sediment directly in the sample. However, the amplification products of all genes were not found in the sample in which the sediment was suspended in distilled water. Therefore, 5 g to 10 g of sediment is used without pretreatment when isolating cyanobacterial resting cells from freshwater sediment. Cell isolation and gene amplification efficiency are high when four times the volume of Ludox is added. The Ludox treatment method presented in this study isolates cyanobacterial resting cells in freshwater sediment, and the same efficiency may not appear in other biotas. Therefore, to apply Ludox to the separation of other biotas, it is necessary to conduct a pre-experiment to determine the sediment pretreatment method and the water layer where the target organism exists.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) can exist in both intracellular and extracellular forms in natural ecosystems. When targeting harmful cyanobacteria, extracellular eDNA indicates the presence of traces of cyanobacteria, while intracellular eDNA indicates the potential for cyanobacteria to occur. However, identifying the “actual” potential for harmful cyanobacteria to occur is difficult using the existing sediment eDNA analysis method, which uses silica beads and cannot distinguish between these two forms of eDNA. This study analyzes the applicability of a density gradient centrifugation method (Ludox method) that can selectively analyze intracellular eDNA in sediment to overcome the limitations of conventional sediment eDNA analysis. PCR was used to amplify the extracted eDNA based on the two different methods, and the relative amount of gene amplification was compared using electrophoresis and Image J application. While the conventional bead beating method uses sediment as it is to extract eDNA, it is unknown whether the mic gene amplified from eDNA exists in the cyanobacterial cell or only outside of the cell. However, since the Ludox method concentrates the intracellular eDNA of the sediment through filtration and density gradient, only the mic gene present in the cyanobacteria cells could be amplified. Furthermore, the bead beating method can analyze up to 1 g of sediment at a time, whereas the Ludox method can analyze 5 g to 30 g at a time. This gram of sediments makes it possible to search for even a small amount of mic gene that cannot be searched by conventional bead beating method. In this study, the Ludox method secured sufficient intracellular gene concentration and clearly distinguished intracellular and extracellular eDNA, enabling more accurate and detailed potential analysis. By using the Ludox method for environmental RNA expression and next-generation sequencing (NGS) of harmful cyanobacteria in the sediment, it will be possible to analyze the potential more realistically.

Targeting Microcystin (MC), which is most abundantly detected in the North-Han River water area, we analyzed the relationship between the MC biosynthesis gene (mcyA gene), cyanobacteria cell density, and MC concentration, derived an RNA-MC conversion formula, and derived the cyanobacteria. The concentration of MC present in cells was predicted. In the North-Han River waters, the mcyA gene was found mainly at downstream sites of the North-Han River after Muk-Hyeon Stream junction, and higher copy numbers were found on average than other sites. In the Uiam Lake waters upstream of the North-Han River, the mcyA gene copy number increased at the Kong-Ji Stream point, and after September, the mcyA gene copy number decreased throughout the North-Han River waters. The expression of the mcyA gene was concentrated in the short period of summer due to the spatio-temporal difference between upstream and downstream water bodies. The mcyA gene expression level was not only highly correlated with MC concentration, but also correlated with the cell density of Microcystis aeruginosa and Dolichospermum circinale, which are known to biosynthesize MC. Six conversion formulas derived based on the RNA-MC relationship showed statistical significance (p<0.05) and exhibited high correlation coefficients (r) of 0.9 or higher. The expression level of MC biosynthesis gene present in eRNA determines the synthesis of cyanotoxin substances in water, quickly quantifies gene activity, and can be fully utilized for early warning of MC development.

The clear-water phase (CWP) is a notable limnological phenomenon in freshwater systems caused by predatory interactions between large filter-feeding zooplankton and phytoplankton. However, the mechanisms and factors that influence the extent of CWP, particularly in complex water systems with both fluvial and lacustrine characteristics, remain poorly understood. The present study evaluated CWP occurrence patterns at different sites in a large reservoir located in a temperate monsoon region (Lake Paldang, Korea); the relationships among factors associated with CWP occurrence, such as transparency, zooplankton diversity, and chlorophyll a concentration were investigated. Transparency exhibited significant correlations with precipitation and retention time, as well as the relative abundance of zooplankton (p<0.01), suggesting that a change in the retention time due to precipitation can alter CWP. Data collected before and after CWP occurrence were analyzed using paired t-test to determine variations in CWP occurrence based on the water system characteristics. The results demonstrated that various factors were associated with CWP occurrence in the fluvial-type and lacustrine-type sites. The correlation between zooplankton biomass and transparency was stronger in the lacustrine-type sites than in the fluvial-type sites. The lacustrine-type sites, where cladoceran emergence is common and is associated with long retention times, favored CWP occurrence. The results suggest that lacustrine-type sites, which are conducive to zooplankton development and have relatively long retention times, enhance CWP occurrence. Furthermore, CWP occurrence was notable in spring, and the present study revealed that site-specific CWP could occur throughout the year, regardless of the season.

환경유전자 (eDNA)는 다양한 환경 (수중, 토양, 대기)에 존재하는 생물체로부터 유래된 유전물질을 의미한다. eDNA는 높은 민감도, 짧은 조사시간 등 많은 장점들이 존재하며 이로 인해 생물 모니터링 및 유해생물과 멸종위기 생물을 탐색하는 분야에 다양하게 활용되고 있다. 이러한 eDNA 를 채집하기 위해서는 대상생물 및 대상유전자뿐만 아니라 현장 여과방법 및 eDNA 보존방법과 같이 매우 다양한 항목들을 고려해야 한다. 특히 환경에서 eDNA를 채집하는 방법은 eDNA 농도와 직결되는 항목으로서 적절한 채집방법을 사용하여 eDNA를 채집할 때 정확한 분석결과를 얻을 수 있다. 또한 현장에서 채집한 eDNA를 보존하고 추출하는 과정에서도 정확한 방법을 사용하였을 때 현장에 분포하는 eDNA의 농도를 정확하게 파악할 수 있다. 특히 eDNA 연구를 시작하는 연구자들에게 eDNA 분야는 초기 진입 장벽이 매우 높은 기술로서 이를 위한 기초 자료가 매우 절실하다. 본 연구에서는 본 연구는 eDNA가 수생태계를 연구하기 위한 도구로서 보다 널리 이용되며, eDNA를 이용하기 시작하는 연구자들에게 도움을 주고자 수생태계에서 eDNA를 채집하고 및 운반하는 방법과 실험실에서 eDNA를 추출하는 방법을 소개하고, 보다 간편하고 효율적인 eDNA 채집 도구와 방법을 제시하였다.

이취미 물질인 2-MIB를 합성하는 원인종에 대한 정보는 담수생태계에서 이와 관련된 환경 및 경제적 문제를 해결하는 데 필수적이다. 본 연구는 북한강 수계에서 출현하는 Pseudanabaena strain을 분리·배양하고, 16S rDNA 염기서열을 이용하여 종 수준의 동정과 2-MIB 합성 유전자 탐색을 통해 이취미 물질 발생 잠재성을 분석하였다. 북한강 본류 지역 (삼봉리, 조암면, 의암호 지역)에서 분리한 Pseudanabaena strain은 총 11개로서 NHUA201911과 NHPD201909 strain을 제외하고 단일세포의 크기는 서로 유사하였다. 그러나 16S rDNA 계통분석을 통한 유전자 염기서 열의 유연관계를 분석한 결과, 분리된 strain들은 총 5개 종 (P. cinerea, P. yagii, P. mucicola, P. galeata, P. redekei)으 로 분류되었다 (40~55% 유사도). 2-MIB를 합성하는 mibC 유전자는 P. cinerea 07 strain (NHUA202007-07)와 P. yagii (NHUA202007-08), P. redekei (NHUA201911)에서만 발견 되었으며, 가스크로마토그래피 분석에 따라 실질적인 2-MIB 합성은 P. cinerea와 P. redekei 종에서 확인되었다. 본 연구 결과는 분자생물학적 수준에서 북한강 수역에서 발생하는 Pseudanabaena속 남조류의 다양도에 대한 증거를 제공하는 연구로서 북한강 수계에서 2-MIB 생산 원인종에 대한 중요한 정보를 제공한다.

본 연구는 우리나라 하천 내 주요 외래어류 종인 떡붕어 (Carassius cuvieri), 배스 (Micropterus salmoides), 블루길 (Lepomis macrochirus)에 대한 국내 서식 환경을 확인하고, 어류 군집에 대한 영향을 분석하였다. 해당 외래어류종은 모두 어류 종수가 많고 종다양성이 높은 곳에 주로 서식하였다. 각 외래어류의 개체수가 증가할 때, 전체 어류의 출현 종수 및 개체수는 감소하여 어류 군집에 부정적인 영향을 보여주었다. 또한 생물 연결망을 구성한 결과, 하천 내 떡붕어는 쏘가리와 우리나라 고유종인 참갈겨니, 참 중고기 등과, 배스와 블루길은 가물치 및 쏘가리와 고유종인 참중고기와 줄납자루 등과 낮은 출현 유사성을 보였다. 그리고 외래어류 3종 모두 각각의 연결망을 구성하는 다수의 어류들과 낮은 출현 유사성을 보여, 잠재적으로 외래 어류에 의한 어류 군집 내 피해 및 교란이 크게 나타날 것으로 예상되었다. 본 연구의 결과, 국내 하천생태계 내 유입된 지 50년 가까이 지난 외래어류 3종은 여전히 하천 내 어류 군집과 국내 고유종에 부정적인 영향을 미치고 있었다. 따라서 하천 내 외래어류에 대한 지속적인 모니터링과 관리가 요구된다. 차후 다양한 외래어류 및 하천생태계 내 생물분류군에 대한 통합적 연구가 수행된다면, 하천생태계 전반에 대한 외래어류의 영향 평가 및 구체적인 생물 자원 관리 방안 마련이 가능할 것이다.

군집지수와 FD와의 상관분석 결과 FD는 군집지수 중 Shannon 다양도와 가장 높은 상관성을 보였다. 조사지점은 환경 특성에 따라 6개의 그룹으로 나누어졌으며, 고도에 따라서 뚜렷한 차이를 보였다. 이에 따라 고도가 높은 그룹 1은 산림의 비율이 많고 좋은 수질을 보였으나 고도가 낮은 그룹 6은 수질이 양호하지 않았다. 환경 구배에 따른 조사지역 그룹과 군집지수와 FD의 연관성 분석을 위해 NMDS를 시행하였으며 그룹 1~3에서 FEve를 제외한 모든 지수가 높았다. 그룹 간의 종구성은 그룹 1~3에는 하루살이목, 날도래목, 강도래목이 높았으며, 그룹 4, 5에는 잠자리목, 딱정벌레목이 주요하게 나타났다. 생물학적 형질은 그룹 1~3에서 생식기간이 길고, 이동성이 낮은 형질 특성을 보였으며 생물의 저항력 전략을 잘 보여주었다. 반대로 그룹 4~6은 생식기간이 짧고, 이동성이 높은 회복력의 전략을 뚜렷하게 반영해 주었다. 수질의 오염도가 낮은 상류는 교란의 빈도가 적고 공간적으로 높은 이질성을 가졌으며 생물이 주로 저항성 전략을 보였으며 생물이 서식지에 오래 머무를 수 있어 기능적, 구조적 생물다양성이 높게 나타났다. 반대로 수질의 오염도가 높은 하류는 교란의 빈도가 높고 공간적으로 균질성이 높으며 생물은 주로 회복력의 전력을 보여 교란에 의해 이동하거나 회피할 수 있는 휴면기, 고치, 세포, 알 등의 독특한 형태를 갖는 반면 생물다양성은 낮게 나타났다. 본 연구를 통해 저서성 대형 무척추동물의 기능적 다양성은 수서 생태계 환경과의 관계를 잘 설명해 주었다. 따라서 생물의 형질을 이용한 기능적 다양성은 잠재적으로 수생태계 건강성 평가에 효과적으로 이용될 수 있을 것이다.

본 연구는 훼손된 하천 수생태계의 훼손원인을 식별하고 그 전이 과정을 규명하기 위해 수생태계 훼손원인 진단체계를 구축하고 정책적 활용 가능성을 보고자 하였다. 수생태계 현황 조사 및 건강성 평가결과는 하천의 훼손에 대한 전반적인 상황을 알 수 있어 하천 복원 및 관리의 판단 근거로 사용된다. 그러나 하천이 훼손된 원인이나 훼손이 발생하게 된 전이 과정을 고려하지 못한다는 한계를 가진다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 과학적이고 체계적인 진단체계를 제안하여 훼손원인과 그 전이 과정을 규명하였다. 미국, 호주, 유럽의 사례를 분석하여 우리나라에 맞는 진단체계를 제안하였다. 총 8단계로 구성되며, 기초자료 조사, 하천 수생태계 훼손 판단, 훼손 구간 설정, 훼손 유형화 및 잠재적 훼손원인 도출, 본 조사, 주 훼손원인 진단 및 최적 훼손 모델 도출, 종합분석 및 하천 복원방안으로 이루어져 있다. 이러한 진단체계는 하천 생태계의 복잡하고 다양한 특성을 고려하여 훼손원인을 파악할 수 있으며 하천 복원 및 관리 방안을 제시하여 효율적인 의사결정을 지원할 수 있다.