Environmental Effects on the Benthic Polychaete Communities Around the Power Plant Areas in the East Sea of Korea

Abstract

The East Sea is almost entirely composed of sandy facies, and the facies type is the major factor influencing benthic polychaete communities. There have been few studies of the effects of environmental factors on benthic polychaetes in thermal discharge areas consisting of different sediment types. This study identified the spatial distribution patterns based on the species composition and distribution of benthic polychaete communities, and the environmental factors influencing benthic polychaetes near power plants were investigated. The polychaete communities in the Uljin, Hupo, and Gori coastal areas near the power plants in the East Sea were seasonally investigated from August 2006 to February 2013. As a result, 283 species were collected. The dominant species were Spiophanes bombyx, Magelona japonica, Lumbrineris longifolia, and Sternaspis scutata. Spiophanes bombyx was the dominant species at Uljin and Hupo, but M. japonica was the dominant species at Gori. Two dominant species from the coastal waters of the East Sea, Lumbrineris longifolia and M. japonica, were rare in the power plant water intake or drainage areas. Cluster analysis was performed to divide the study area into groups by the total organic carbon content, sediment grain size and facies patterns. This study suggests that the community structures of polychaetes are more affected by the total organic carbon, grain size of sediment and facies than by disturbance from thermal discharge, which only affected the polychaete community near power plant drainage areas.

Understanding the Spatial and Temporal Distribution and Environmental Characteristics of Polychaete Assemblages in the Coastal Waters of Ulleungdo, East Sea of Korea

“…In biodiversity surveys, the assessment of diversity indices is essential to identify the community structure of the natural ecosystem [76,77]. The average polychaete species diversity index in the surveyed area was 2.45 + 0.49, which was higher than that of other regions in Korea (Gamak Bay−1.66, Samcheonpo−1.65, Dangdong Bay−0.84, Hupo−2.39) [78][79][80][81]. In the surveyed area, the sedimentation patterns were relatively diverse, which seems to have affected the diversity index.…”

“…Polychaetes are an important biomarker taxon for predicting changes in the marine environment [78]. In general, studies on the occurrence of opportunistic species, the effects of environmental pollution, and the bioaccumulation of chemical pollutants, have shown biologically diverse aspects and bioaccumulation of chemical contaminants [38,79,80].…”