본 연구는 홍천군 명개리 열목어 서식지인 계방천의 어류 군집과 열목어 개체군 특성 및 서식지 주변 토지이용에 따른 상관성을 파악하고자 수행하였다. 조사는 2018년 7월, 9월, 10월 총 3회 조사를 실시하였다. 조사결과 총 6과 13종 882개체의 어류가 채집되었으며, 우점종은 금강 모치, 아우점종은 참갈겨니로 확인되었다. 채집된 어류 중 법정보호종은 멸종위기야생생물 II급인 열목어와 가는돌 고기가 출현하였으며, 천연기념물 제259호인 어름치가 확인되었다. 한국고유종은 총 10종으로 76.92%의 매우 높은 고유종 빈도로 나타났다. 계방천에서 열목어 추가조사를 포함하여 3회 조사 동안 총 99개체의 열목어가 채집되 었다. 열목어 개체군의 생육상태와 생식능력 정도를 파악 할 수 있는 전장-체중 상관관계 분석 및 비만도 지수 (k) 분석을 실시한 결과 열목어의 회귀계수 b값은 3.1272, 비만도 지수 (k)는 0.0006으로 분석되어 조사지역의 열목어 개체군은 비교적 안정적인 생육상태를 유지하고 있는 것으로 확인되었으나, 비교적 낮은 값을 유지하는 것으로 나타났다. 전장빈도분포 분석 결과 당년생 60∼130 mm, 1년생 140∼200 mm, 2년생 이상의 개체는 200 mm로 추정되었 다. QHEI는 130.0 (±2.0)∼159.0 (±1.0)의 범위인 ‘양호 ∼최적’ 등급으로 분석되었다. HSI를 분석한 결과 최적의 수심은 0.45∼0.55 m와 1.0 m 이상, 최적의 유속은 0.55∼ 0.65 m s-1, 하상은 Boulder를 선호하는 것으로 확인되었다. 조사지점별 인근 토지이용 비율을 분석한 결과 산림지역 66.26∼96.31%, 농업지역 0.00∼23.79%, 도시지역 0.00∼ 4.19%, 기타지역 3.69∼8.87%로 분석되어 대부분의 지점에서 산림의 비율이 높게 나타났으며, 다음으로 농업지역의 비율이 높게 나타났다. 지점별 출현한 열목어 개체수와 다양한 항목 간의 상관성 분석을 실시한 결과, QHEI와 산림지역과는 양의 상관성 (p<0.05), 농업지역과 도시지역과는 음의 상관성 (p<0.05, p<0.01)으로 분석되어 서식지 주변의 토지이용 유형 및 변화 정도에 따라 열목어 개체군에 많은 영향을 미치며, 열목어 개체군 보호 및 관리를 위해는 서식지 주변 토지이용에 따른 관리방안 마련이 필요할 것으로 판단된다.

Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis (family Salmonidae), cold freshwater fish, is endemic to Asia. This species is currently distributed throughout Russia, Mongolia, China and the Korean Peninsula. B. lenok tsinlingensis in South Korea was severely affected by anthropogenic activities such as habitat destruction, agricultural run-off and water pollution, and hence this fish has recently been dramatically decreased in its population sizes and become now critically endangered. To recover the number of individuals of B. lenok tsinlingensis, stocking or translocation programs have been conducted continuously by local governments since 1970s. However, these programs made little effort to clarify populations that may have originated from stocked, translocated or introduced fish. An understanding of genetic characteristics of endangered populations is critical to develop effective conservation and restoration plans especially because genetic diversity ensues their future fate. Therefore, we assessed the “conservation status” of this species by estimating the level of genetic diversity and genetic structure among ten geographic populations including restored populations via reinforcement and supplementation. Also, we aimed to trace the genetic origins of the newly translocated population (Chiak) through a restoration practice program. Moreover, we inferred the phylogenetic relationships among Korean lenok populations as well as across the Northeast Asia. Two hundred eighteen individuals of B. lenok tsinlingensis were sampled from ten localities (Yanggu, Injae, Seorak, Bangtae and Hongcheon: North Han River basin; Pyeongchang, Chiak and Jeongseon: South Han River basin; Taebaek and Bonghwa: Nakdong River basin in South Korea). Based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and eight nuclear microsatellite loci, we found extremely low levels of within-population genetic diversity, which suggests small effective population sizes (Ne) within populations. For mtDNA control region, each population housed one, or at most, two haplotypes that are restricted to the respective localities, meaning that these ‘genetically unique’ lineages will be lost permanently if the local populations undergo extinction. The overall values of haplotype diversity (h) and nucleotide diversity (π) for the entire Korean population were 0.703 ± 0.024 and 0.021 ± 0.010, respectively. In the case of microsatellites, average number of alleles across the eight loci for the entire population was 9.1 and allelic richness (AR) per population ranged from 2.375 to 4.144 (mean = 3.104). The values of observed heterozygosity (HO) and expected heterozygosity (HE) were similar to each other [HO: 0.400 ~ 0.590 (mean = 0.518); HE: 0.407 ~ 0.608 (mean = 0.504)]. The inbreeding coefficient (FIS) values were generally low, ranging from 0.048 to 0.279. Consequently, the majority of the populations (except Yanggu and Pyeongchang) were not significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), suggesting random mating at these loci tested. In addition, we found that Korean lenok populations were significantly genetically isolated from each other, with private mtDNA haplotypes and microsatellite alleles, indicating limited gene flow among populations, strong effects of genetic drift due to small Ne, or a combination of both. The Mantel test of microsatellites revealed a significant correlation (r = 0.414, P = 0.04) between genetic and geographic distances for pairwise comparisons among the ten populations, while that of mtDNA showed a lack of correlation. Given the shared identical mtDNA haplotype and similar microsatellite allelic distributions between Chiak and Hongcheon populations, we suggest that the restored (introduced) Chiak population would be inferred to be genetically originated from Hongcheon population. Phylogenetic relationships among Northeast Asian populations showed that South Korean lineages have more recently diverged from China (Yellow River), than between North Korea and Russia. Although the phylogenetic relationship would be expected to be associated with geography, South-North Korea and China populations with a similar latitude was more phylogenetically closely related. These findings may suggest a possible scenario for the historical movements of B. lenok tsinlingensis in Northeast Asia during Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). It would be supported by the line of evidence that most lenok populations migrated to southward from Northern Asia such as Russia and Mongolia during LGM because the Korean Peninsula was landlocked as inland epoch and functioned as a southern shelter with Yellow River. For this reason, the Korean Peninsula is suggested to be an important geographical region for better understanding phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary histories of B. lenok tsinlingensis across the Northeast Asia. Despite large efforts made to develop several restoration programs in South Korea for B. lenok tsinlingensis, it is still unknown whether these past restoration efforts were successful or fruitless, mainly because of little attention paid to post-restoration monitoring research. Hence, there was a lack of their published official records. In the future, conservation and restoration projects of the Korean lenok populations should consider the genetic data for a better understanding of their ecological and evolutionary trajectories. And finally, we hope that our findings here can help inform on the future effective conservation and restoration plans for B. lenok tsinlingensis populatio ns in South Korea.

낙동강 상류에 서식하는 열목어의 여름철과 가을철 일주기 이동 패턴을 파악하기 위하여 총 7개체의 열목어에 radio tag을 적용하여 약 2시간 간격으로 모니터링을 실시하였다. 조사 결과 열목어의 일일 평균 이동거리 (±SD)의 경우 182.4±79.2 m이며, 대부분의 개체가 1 km 이내의 거리를 서식범위로 이용하는 것으로 확인되었다. 시기별 구분시 여름철의 일일 최대 이동거리 및 이동범위가 550.5±75.5 m, 649±53 m로 가을철의 283.8±55.1 m, 186±32 m와 비교하여 더 넓게 나타났다. 이처럼 열목어의 여름과 가을의 이동거리 및 범위는 상대적인 차이를 보였으나 모두 서식범위를 벗어나지 않는 단거리 이동이었다. 본 연구 결과로 확인된 열목어의 시기별 일주기 이동은 열목어의 개체군 보존을 위한 노력에 유용하게 이용될 수 있을 것이다.