River Ecosystem and Floristic Characterization of Riparian Zones at the Youngjeong River, Sacheon-ci, Korea

Abstract

This study is examined river naturality and vegetative composition of river riparian zones to identify their most important sources of variation. Information on plant species cover and on physical characteristics that occur at upper, medium, and low areas was collected for 30 riparian plots located throughout the Youngjeong River in Korea. The riparian areas of river banks are dominated by mixed sediment and the vegetation is composed of herbs, shrub, and trees. The floristic characterization of riparian at this river during 2015 season was identified with a total of 28 families, 72 genera, 75 species, 13 varieties, 23 associations. The vegetations of low water's edge and flood way at upper region were naturally formed various vegetation communities by natural erosion. Forty plant species were identified around the upper region, where the dominant growth form was mostly trees. The flood way vegetation at middle region was both of natural vegetation and artificial vegetation. Land uses in riparian zones river levee at low region were bush or grassland as natural floodplain. The values of cover-abundance at upper, middle, and low region were total 9.26, 7.24, and 7.56, respectively. Grasses and forbs at the Youngjeong River have similar cover-abundance values. Recent, many riparian areas of this river have been lost or degraded for commercial and industrial developments. Thus, monitoring for biological diversity of plant species of this river is necessary for an adaptive management approach and the successful implementation of ecosystem management.

Monitoring of Rivers and Streams Conditions Using Biological Indices with Emphasis on Algae: A Comprehensive Descriptive Review toward River Management

“…The floristic composition of algae in the benthos could be employed in water quality, stream condition, and eutrophication monitoring [24,90,108,[311][312][313][314][315]. A number of studies show a preference for diatoms since diatom-based methods in bio-monitoring approaches demonstrating a tendency for higher success rate to be the most successful [29,316].…”

River Basin Management - Under a Changing Climate

“…The floristic composition of algae in the benthos could be employed in water quality, stream condition, and eutrophication monitoring [24,90,108,[311][312][313][314][315]. A number of studies show a preference for diatoms since diatom-based methods in bio-monitoring approaches demonstrating a tendency for higher success rate to be the most successful [29,316].…”