Upo Wetland is the largest riverine wetland in Korea which has been inscribed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in 1998. In this study, sedimentological study was carried out in order to understand the environmental changes in Upo Wetland during the Holocene. The drilling work for recovering the Quaternary sediments was conducted on the inner part (UPW17-01, UPW17-02, and UPW17-03) and the outer part (UPL17-01, UPL17-02) of the Upo Wetland. The recovered sediments are commonly characterized by gravel-dominated deposits in the lower part and silty clay-dominated deposits in the middle to upper parts respectively, which are seemed to be changed from fluvial to palustrine/lacustrine environments around 4,000 cal yr BP. In order to establish the Holocene diatoms distribution from Upo Wetland, we identified 63 diatom taxa. Of these, 14 species were new records for Korea: Gomphonema consector, Gomphonema jadwigiae, Hantzschia abundans, Luticola pseudomurrayi, Luticola spauldingiae, Neidium suboblongum, Ninastrelnikovia gibbosa, Oricymba rhynchocephala, Pinnularia borealis var. lanceolata, Pinnularia latarea, Pinnularia paliobducta, Pinnularia saprophila, Sellaphora laevissima, Stauroneis pseudoschimanskii. All identified diatom species are illustrated by high-quality scanning electron microscopic and light microscopic microphotographs. The ecological habitat for all taxa are presented.

우포늪의 목포습지에서 수심에 따른 수생식물의 분포 특성을 밝히기 위한 연구가 수행되었다. 274개 지점에서의 수심 및 식물종 분포 현황에 대한 표본조사가 이루어졌다. 선행연구에서 이루어진바 없었던 목포에 대한 상세한 수심 분포 지도가 만들어졌다. 평균 수심은 77㎝(±29㎝), 최대 수심은 157㎝로서 가장자리는 60㎝이내이며, 중심부가 120-130㎝ 정도의 오목한 그릇 형태를 이루고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구를 통해 침수식물 6종(검정말, 나사말, 나자스말, 말즘, 붕어마름, 실말)과 부엽식물 3종(가시연꽃, 자라풀, 마름)의 서식이 확인 되었다. 이들 수생식물들의 분포는 통계적으로 유의한 차이(χ2 = 982.2, df = 8, p< 0.01)를 보여 환경조건에 따라 식물종의 분포 양상이 다른 것으로 확인되었다. 마름이 244회 출현하여 가장 높은 빈도로 출현하는 것으로 나타났으며, 말즘과 함께 수심이 깊을수 록 피도가 높아지는 분포 양상을 보였다. 가시연꽃, 자라풀, 검정말, 나자스말, 붕어마름 5종은 수심이 깊을수록 피도가 낮아지는 음의 상관관계를 나타내었다. 수심에 따른 수생식물의 분포는 근본적으로 각각의 식물종이 가지는 생태적 특성에 의한 것이지만, 목포습지의 환경 특성을 반영하고 있는 것으로 나타났다.

This study was conducted to survey the habitat selection by the Eastern Bean Goose Anser fabalis in the Upo wetland, Changnyeong gun. South Korea from October 2004 to March 2005. The mean number of Eastern Bean Geese was 2,104 individuals during the study period. The minimum number of about 100 individuals was observed in October 2004, and the maximum number of about 3,000 individuals was observed in November 2004 and January 2005. Fourteen sites were classified with respect to water depth and dominant food plant types, and the number of geese using the 14 sites was recorded every week. The sites that were mainly used were S-2 in Sajipo and Z-1 in Jjokjibeol in October, S-2 and S-4 in November, sites U-2 in Upo and Z-1 in December, sites U-2 and S-4 in January and February, and sites U-2 and Z-1 in March. Three aquatic plants, Scirpus fluviatillis, Trapa japonica, and Zizania latifolia were the main food for geese in the Upo wetland. We determined the monthly habitat selection indexes (Jacob’s index) for the three habitat types, which were classified according to three aquatic plant species. The habitat selection index of the area where Zizania latifolia predominated from October to February had the highest score of 0.40~0.47 among the three habitat types. This indicated that Bean Geese strongly preferred the habitat where Zizania latifolia predominated from October to February. By contrast, the habitat where Scirpus fluviatillis predominated was selected mainly in March. Faecal samples were collected randomly at the six sites mainly used by the geese each month. Zizania latifolia predominated in faeces from October to November, but the proportion of Scirpus fluviatillis and Trapa japonica in faeces increased from December to February.

This study intended to collect data for evaluating the meteorological value of Upo Wetland which is the largest wetland in the downstream of Nakdong River. The observations were conducted in summer at the Upo Wetland and its surrounding paddy field that is the converted areas from a wetland to a paddy field. The following results are obtained: 1) The temperature of Upo Wetland area was 1˚C lower than the surrounding area during the day while it was a little higher during the night.; 2) The maximum wind speed in the Upo Wetland area was 3.5 m/s which is stronger than 1.6 m/s of its surrounding area. The south wind was observed in the farmland for most of the day while north winds and south winds alternated between day and night in Upo Wetland.; 3) In heat budget analysis, Upo Wetland was wasted in the form of latent heat rather than sensible heat in daytime.

In the Upo wetland, physico-chemical factors were observed during the period from March 2005 to December 2007 on a monthly basis. In the Upo wetland, water temperatures ranged 3.4~34.5℃. Conductivities were in the range of 133~806 μS

2005년 3월부터 2007년 12월까지 매월 우포늪의 식물플랑크톤 군집 변화에 대해 조사하였다. 조사 기간 동안 8강 35과 86속 213종의 식물플랑크톤이 출현하였다. 식물플랑크톤의 출현종수는 14~50의 범위였으며, 평균 출현종수는 34±10종으로 조사되었다. 식물플랑크톤 현존량은 2005년 8월에 161 cells mL-1로 가장 낮았으며, 2006년 8월에 159.283 cells mL-1로 가장 높았다. 특히 2006년 하계에는 남조류에 의한 수화 발생으로 극단적으로 높은 식물플랑크톤 현존량을 나타내었다. 총 34회에 걸친 조사에서 우점종은 총 13종으로 나타났으며, 녹조류와 남조류의 종들이 각각 4회씩 우점하였다. 우포늪에서 식물플랑크톤 군집의 계절적 변동을 살펴보면, 동계에는 은편모조강과 와편모조강, 규조강의 종들이 높은 구성비를 나타내었으며, 비동계 기간에는 녹조류와 규조강의 종들이 주요 출현종으로 확인되었다. 그러나 2006년 하계에는 남조강의 종들이 높은 구성비를 나타내었다. 종다양도지수는 0.50~2.86의 범위를 나타내었으며, 매년 점차 감소하는 것으로 조사되었다.

The community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates in Upo wetland was identified, and the biological water quality was evaluated. In addition, through statistical analysis of current and literature data, ecological changes over time were evaluated for each wetland. Benthos were quantitatively collected in March, June, and September of 2020 and 2021, and 4 phyla, 5 classes, 16 orders, 42 families, 81 species and 3,406 individuals were identified. In the functional feeding group of Upo wetland, predators were dominant with 34 species (45.95%) and 1,504 individuals (41.84%). In the habitual dwelling group, sprawlers and swimmers showed the highest proportion in the number of species and individuals. Average biological indices in Mokpo and Upo were the highest and lowest, respectively, and it is considered that Mokpo maintains the healthy ecosystem for benthic macroinvertebrates. Community stability was high in Upo, and other wetlands are thought to be stabilizing. The ecological score of benthic macroinvertebrate community is considered to be more suitable index among three biological water quality evaluation indices for the environmental evaluation of Upo wetland. The evaluation results on changes in environmental quality showed that Upo has stable ecosystem without significant change, Mokpo and Sajipo have significant increases in some indices.

We assessed the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrate at four surveying sites in Upo Wetland, a Ramsar site and the largest wetland in Korea, from February 2006 to November 2013. A long-term ecological monitoring was done monthly by using quantitative sampling method with dip net for analyzing the community change and correlation between the biodiversity and the environmental factors because environmental factors have a decisive effect on the community structure of the benthic macroinvertebrates. Total samples from the Upo Wetland area were classified into 3 phyla, 6 classes, 17 orders, 68 families, 176 species, and 25,720 individuals. Among the 176 species, 62 of the species had not been previously reported in this area. Asellus sp., Diplonychus esakii, and Gyraulus chinensis were the most common species in Upo Wetland. The change patterns of annual species diversity and species richness were calculated by using the average number of monthly occurring species and individuals. Diversity index increased from March to May and decreased after that showing lower diversity indices in July and August. It increased again in September and in October. Richness index showed similar tendency and fell around February and July, followed by a rising tendency around May and October. Correlation and regression analyses were performed with the change of biodiversity and each environmental factor. We found that water temperature have very significant positive correlation with species diversity in spring, and have significant indices in autumn and winter. On the other hand, precipitation showed a significantly negative correlation value in summer and autumn suggesting it has an effect on the community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates.

The studies on community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates and environmental survey in selected four sites were performed on wetland Upo from 2008 to 2009. The lowest water temperature was measured at Upo and Mokpo showing 7℃ in February of 2008 and 2009 respectively. The highest water temperature was measured at Upo showing 32℃ in August of 2009. The lowest pH was measured at Topyeong with 5.3 in August of 2009, and the highest pH was measured at Mokpo with 10.1 in August of 2008. Generally the levels pH of 2008 were higher than those of 2009. The range of electric conductivity to the sites was big. Overall, the higher electric conductivity was seen at Sajipo and the lower one was seen at Mokpo. The level of Dissolved oxygen was lowest at Upo with 5.53㎎/ℓ in August 2008, and it was highest at Upo with 14.76㎎/ℓ in February of 2008. The investigation was performed with both quantitative and qualitative collecting methods from four surveying sites, Upo, Mokpo, Sajipo and Topyeong. Through the eight times of seasonal survey, 6 classes, 17 orders, 59 families, 131 species and 5460 individuals of benthic macroinvertebrates were collected. 6 classes, 17 orders, 53 families 106 species and 2439 individuals were identified in 2008, and 6 classes, 16 orders, 44 families, 93 species and 3021 individuals were collected in 2009. The number of species was decreased in 2009 comparing that of 2008, however, the number of individuals were increased in 2009. The dominant species and the subdominant species was Plea (Paraplea) indistinguenda and Diplonychus esakii with 20.16% and 11.90% of dominant indices respectively. From the community analysis, both the species diversity index and the species richness index were highest in Topyeong showing 4.743 and 9.054 respectively. The similarity evaluation to the investigation sites with the species in there showed very high similarity among Upo, Mokpo and Sajipo showing 5 or lower levels of distance cluster combine.

Sustainable development is a key issue in the 21st Century and ecotourism is an alternative area of sustainable development. Ecotourism marketing is also a part of societal marketing which emphasizes social contributions. This study investigated the factors which affected ecotourist satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The sample for this study was composed of 212 ecotourists who visited the Upo area. This is one of the most well-known educational ecotourism sites in Korea and it has been registered at the Ramsar Convention for the conservation of wetlands since 1998. This study demonstrated that expectation factors did not significantly influence satisfaction. Second, the performance factors of physical attributes, eco-interpretation, eco-experience, and usability did significantly influence satisfaction. Third, the expectation factor of accessibility was significantly related to disconfirmation. Fourth, all performance factors significantly influenced disconfirmation. Fifth, it was found that disconfirmation significantly influenced satisfaction. Finally, satisfaction significantly influenced the intention to revisit and recommend the site to others. Managerial implications and future studies are discussed.

The purposes of this study were to investigate ecotourism goals of conservation and increasing residents' benefits based on perceptions from the stakeholders of the Upo wetland. The stakeholders are residents, five villages' reprensentatives, people who were residents but now live out of the area, civil officals, and environmental NGO staffs of he Upo wetland. The results of this study were as follows: While the perceptions of environmental conservation among interviewees were positive, the residents' perceptions about residents' benefits were very negative in the Upo wetland. People who used to reside and then moves out had pride about the Upo and they wanted to return to live in the Upo wetland area. Even though the wetland is named as one of the most well known ecotourism sites by the Ministry of Environment and Korean National Ecotourism Organization(KNTO), the Upo wetland area is not an ecotourism site yet based on the definition of ecotourism goals which seek generating conservation and residents' benefits in this study. There are suggestions for this wetland area. The conservation policy with the residents' benefits are strongly recommended.