Natural lakes in South Korea are limited in number and generally quite small. As a result, reservoirs and regulated rivers are the major sources of freshwater for society. About 18 000 reservoirs have been constructed in South Korea, and they are particularly important for domestic water supply. Thirteen of the major reservoirs were surveyed in this general assessment of the trophic state of South Korean reservoirs. Ten reservoirs were from the upper or middle reaches of rivers (including eight of the ten largest reservoirs in Korea), and three were estuarine reservoirs. Reservoirs in the mountainous district of South Korea were usually mesotrophic, whereas the estuarine reservoirs were highly eutrophic. Because total nitrogen to total phosphorus ratios were always between 18 and 163, phosphorus was probably more limiting than nitrogen for algal growth. However, hydraulic residence time and light penetration may be limiting in the nutrient-enriched downstream reservoirs. In winter, algal density was lowest in deep reservoirs, perhaps due to deep mixing. During the same season, algal density was high in shallow reservoirs, perhaps due to a favorable hydraulic residence time. Factors contributing to the observed eutrophication patterns, including nutrient runoff from agriculture, animal farms, fish aquaculture, and urban areas, are discussed. According to the national budget of phosphorus, fertilizer and livestock manure are major source of phosphorus, contributing 133 400 and 73 700 tons of phosphorus per year, respectively, while human excretion discharges 30 000 tons P year Ϫ1 . Reduction of the application of fertilizer, proper treatment of manure, and conservation of topsoil may be the most practical and effective measures to prevent further lake eutrophication.
In spite of the low temperature during the winter season and the high land environment, the wetland treatment system is gaining popularity in Korea because of its lower construction cost and simplicity in operation and maintenance. Many different types of wetland treatment systems have been built during the last 10 years, among which the free water surface wetland has been predominant. Most of the large-scale systems are government projects for improving the water quality of the streams flowing into the estuary dikes and reservoirs. The covering plants used in this system are different in different areas but cattails and reeds or their combinations are common. Constructed wetlands in Korea can be characterized by their shallow depths and short hydraulic residence times. There is no established flow pattern and configuration rules for constructing wetlands, but many efforts have been made with a view to improving their ecological function. Flow control is the most difficult problem in designing a riverbed or riparian wetland. There have been scores of flow rate control devices developed for wetlands, but none of them guarantee wetlands' safety against flooding. In earlier wetland construction, the building materials were mainly soil. Recently, strong and durable building materials such as rocks, gravel beds, concrete and steel are used at vulnerable places to protect them from erosion. Our investigation indicated that the wetland system would be an appropriate technology because it is not only cheaper to construct, but also requires less maintenance work. However, we suffer from the reduced effectiveness in performance during the winter. We need to evaluate the partial treatment accomplished during 6 to 7 months per year.
Numerous studies suggested that fish assemblage structure reflects the status of stream ecosystems.The status of streams integrity, including various trophic levels, water quality and habitat degradation, can be assessed by fish assemblages. In this study, we investigated the relationships between fish assemblages and streamline geometry of streams. Previous studies suggested that geomorphologic parameter can be a critical factor of permeability between adjacent two systems. From a landscape ecological perspective, edges may partially control the flow rate of energy between two adjacent systems. Thus, the Streamline geometry can be a geomorphologic parameter that exhibits the integrity of stream. We selected the Nakdong river for study areas, which is one of major rivers and the longest (525 km) River in South Korea. We used the revised IBI representing overall ecological characteristics of Korean fish assemblages and eight sub-assessment criteria of IBI, collected from 82 sampling sites in the Nakdong River. For calculating the Streamline geometry, we measured fractal dimension index that generally used in biology, ecology and landscape ecology. We used the digital land-use/land-cover
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.