Daemadeung, located in the estuary of the Nakdong River, is formed by sand dunes and possesses well-developed intertidal flats. This study aimed to investigate the habitat of benthic microalgae, photosynthetic pigments, and photosynthetic efficiency in the intertidal flats of Daemadeung from January to December 2011. The inorganic nitrogen content in the sediment pore water was primarily composed of ammonium, while nitrate+nitrite was dominant in the upper layer water. The concentration of chlorophyll a and fucoxanthin in the sediment surface was significantly higher than the mean of all the sediment layer. The average Fv/Fm of benthic microalgae during the entire survey period was 0.52±0.03, with the highest value (0.61±0.08) observed in February. The rETRmax showed a seasonal trend, being high from spring to early autumn (April to October) and low from winter to early spring (January to March, November, December), with the highest value (153.05±2.30 μmol electrons m-2 s-1) in July and the lowest (38.49±5.17 μmol electrons m-2 s-1) in January. The average Fv/Fm of diurnal microalgae was 0.48±0.03, with the highest value (0.61±0.08) observed at noon. The rETRmax showed a highest peak at noon (54.24±11.35 μmol electrons m-2 s-1) and reached its lowest point at 16:00 (26.17±4.75 μmol electrons m-2 s-1). These findings suggest that the productivity of benthic microalgae varies significantly depending on the survey time and sediment depth. Therefore, to quantify the productivity of benthic microalgae using Diving-PAM, surveys should be conducted based on tidal conditions, and simultaneous pigment analysis of sediment layers should also be performed.

본 연구는 지난 50년간 (1969~2018년) 우리나라 연안 - 하구에서 수행된 어류먹이원 분석과 관련된 논문을 수집하여 현황을 파악하였다. 확인된 연구논문은 총 101편 이었으며, 이 중 국내 학회지에 발표된 논문은 81편, 보고서는 6편 그리고 국제 학회지에 발표된 논문은 14편 이었다. 발표된 연구 논문을 10년 단위로 나누어 보면, 1990~1999년에 21편 (19.4%; 2.1편±3.0/년 [평균±표준 편차]), 2000~2009년에 26편 (24.1%; 2.6편±2.3/년) 이후 크게 증가하여 2010~2018년에는 52편 (48.1%; 5.8편±2.3/ 년)의 논문이 출판되었다. 국내 연안 - 하구에서 어류먹이원 분석을 수행한 조사수역의 해역을 방위 (남해, 남 - 동해, 동해, 서해)로 나누어보면, 남해에서 65편 (69.1%)으로 가장 많은 연구가 이루어졌다. 그 뒤를 동해가 13편 (13.8%), 서해와 남 - 동해에서 각각 8편씩 (8.5%) 연구가 수행되었다. 조사 지역의 분포를 보면 광양만에서 18편 (24.3%)으로 가장 많은 연구가 수행되었으며, 가덕도에서 8편 (10.8%)으로 그 뒤를 이었다. 출간된 논문의 방법론적 특성을 보면, 먹이원 중요도나 생태적 지위의 범위를 나타내주는 지표 를 계산하는 방법은 총 14가지가 사용되었으며, 이 중 가장 많이 사용된 지수는 IRI (Index of relative importance) 와 Pi (Prey-specific abundance)였으며, E (electivity index) 와 Bi (dietary breadth index)가 그 뒤를 이었다. 총 11가지 통계적 방법을 사용하였으며 이 중 correlation analysis와 Bray-Curtis similarity matrix를 가장 많이 적용하였다. 생태학적 연구 주제 변화를 살펴보면 초기 논문들은 계절적 또는 조사 지점별 차이에 초점을 맞추고 있었으나, 2000년도 이후부터는 국제 학회지에 출판되기 시작한 논문들은 종간 경쟁 (competition), 동소성 (sympatric), 생태직위중첩 (niche overlap) 등과 같은 세부적인 생태학적 연구가 이루어졌다. 국내 학회지에 출판된 논문들의 경우 다소 정형화 된 형태로 연구가 수행되고 있었으며 조사되지 않은 종에 대한 기초자료 제공 형태가 주류를 이루고 있었는데, 향후 국내 학회지에 발표되는 연구논문에서도 종간 경쟁, 먹이 망 구조 파악 등과 같은 생태학적 주제를 반증할 수 있는 연구 방향이 지향되어야 할 것이다.

With land-use (cover) and water quality, the distributional characteristics of epilithic diatom communities were studied with 193 samples from estuaries of Korean peninsula between 2015 and 2016. Of total 394 taxa classified, Nitzschia perminuta (19.6%) and N. inconspicua (14.0%) were the 1st and 2nd dominant species. Using a cluster analysis, the epilithic diatom communities of Korean estuaries were divided into four groups (G1-G4). Ecological characteristics of each group were followed: G1 was located in estuaries of the East Sea, and characterized by high forest land-use and high DO and low nutrients; G2 was the eastern part of the South Sea, and characterized by low turbidity and nutrients; G3 was the western part of the South Sea, and characterized by high agriculture, low electric conductivity and low salinity; G4 was the Yellow Sea, and characterized by high nutrients. The environmental factors having significant correlation with diatom distributions were as follows: TN to G1, turbidity to G2, agriculture to G3, and TP to G4. Moreover, the important factors affecting the occurrence of indicator species were forest land-use for Fragilaria construens var. venter in G1, turbidity for Rhoicosphenia abbreviata in G2, urban land- use and total phosphorus (TP) for Bacillaria paradoxa and Hantzschia amphioxys of G3, and TP and turbidity for N. ovalis and Stephanodiscus invistatus of G4. These results collectively indicate that the distribution of epilithic diatom communities in Korean peninsula was largely effected by water quality and land cover/use.

The diet composition of juvenile Korean piscivorous chub, Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis were studied using 277 specimens collected from January to December 2004 in the surf zone of Nakdong river estuary. The size of Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis ranged from 2.6 to 9.1 cm in standard length (SL). Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis was carnivore that consumes mainly amphipods and insects. Its diet also included small quantities of polychaetes, fishes, and algae and plants. Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis showed ontogenetic diet change. Smaller individuals (< 4 cm SL) mainly consumed amphipods. The portion of these prey items decreased with increasing fish size, and this decrease was paralleled with increased consumption of larger preys such as polychaetes and fishes. Insects were preyed moderated values in all size classes. Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis diet also showed diel change with consuming more on amphipods and polychaetes during day.