Application of citizen science with the nationwide bird census.

Citizen science (CS) is the most effective tool for overcoming the limitations of government and/or professional data collection. To compensate for quantitative limitations of the 'Winter Waterbird Census of Korea', we conducted a total of four bird monitoring via CS from 2021 to 2022. To use CS data alongside national data, we studied CS data quality and improvement utilizing (1) digit-based analysis using Benford's law and (2) comparative analysis with national data. In addition, we performed bird community analysis using CS-specific data, demonstrating the necessity of CS. Neither CS nor the national data adhered to Benford's law. Alpha diversity (number of species and Shannon index) was lower, and total beta diversity was higher for the CS data than national data. Regarding the observed bird community, the number of species per family was similar; however, the number of individuals per family/species differed. We also identified the necessity of CS by confirming the possibility of predicting bird communities using CS-specific data. CS was influenced by various factors, including the perceptions of the survey participants and their level of experience. Therefore, conducting CS after systematic training can facilitate the collection of higher-quality data.

Molecular Diet Analysis of Asian Clams for Supplementary Biodiversity Monitoring: A Case Study of Nakdong River Estuary.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from the gut contents of filter feeders can be used to identify biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we used eDNA from the gut contents of the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea to examine biodiversity within estuarine ecosystem. Field sampling was conducted at three points in the Nakdong River Estuary, which is characterised by closed estuarine features resulting from the presence of an estuarine barrage. The collected C. fluminea samples were dissected to separate the gut contents, and the extracted eDNA was amplified using 18S V9 primer targeting all eukaryote-derived DNA. The amplified DNA was sequenced using a next-generation sequencing (NGS) technique, and a BLASTn search was performed based on the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database for taxa identification. We obtained 23 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs), including fish (approximately 8.70%), copepods (approximately 17.39%), and green algae (approximately 21.74%), representing a wide range of habitats. Furthermore, 8 out of the 20 families were identified through comparisons with reference data from conventional field surveys, and the OTUs of elusive migratory fish were detected. The results support the application of C. fluminea as an eDNA sampler for supplementary biodiversity monitoring.

Hydrological Characteristics and Trophic Status as Dominant Drivers of Rotifer Community Composition in Artificially Created Riverine Wetlands.

Hydrological characteristics of freshwater ecosystems are powerful determinants of the distribution of biological communities and changes in environmental factors. This study identified relationships between the wetland environment, rotifer community, and hydrological factors for 48 wetlands, to determine their impact on wetland conservation and management. Different hydrological factors produced different wetland environments, which influenced the rotifer community composition. The wetlands with "poor" "in/outflow function" and "shore stability" levels showed high conductivity, turbidity, depth, and concentrations of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll a. In contrast, the dissolved oxygen levels and velocity were the highest in wetlands with "good" in/outflow function and shore stability variables. The nutritional status of each wetland affected the composition of the rotifer community. Some genera (Keratella, Brachionus, Anuraeopsis, Trichocerca, and Philodina) were found in wetlands with high concentrations of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll a, and high turbidity and depth. In contrast, Ascomorpha and Ploesoma were found in wetlands with high dissolved oxygen levels and flow velocity. High densities of Lepadella, Lecane, and Testudinella were found in wetlands completely covered by macrophytes. The rotifer community distribution can be used to understand the trophic, current functional, and environmental status of wetlands.

Implications of flow regulation for habitat conditions and phytoplankton populations of the Nakdong River, South Korea.

Anthropogenic regulation of hydrographs is a widespread approach to river management; however, the effects of river regulation on habitat conditions and aquatic communities have rarely been studied. In this study, we analyzed the physical, chemical, and biological data from the lower Nakdong River in South Korea from 2005 to 2009 before weir construction and from 2012 to 2016 after weir construction. A partial least square path model (PLS-PM) was applied to delineate the complex interrelationships of diatoms and cyanobacteria with physicochemical parameters, nutrients, zooplankton grazing, and hydrological parameters. Inferential modeling using the hybrid evolutionary algorithm (HEA) allowed the identification of differences in the importance and threshold conditions of population dynamics drivers of diatoms and cyanobacteria before and after flow regulation. The annually averaged trajectories of limnological variables displayed significant shifts in seasonality and magnitudes of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and nutrient concentrations between the two periods. The results of PLS-PM indicated that, after flow regulation, diatoms and cyanobacteria were directly affected by nutrients and zooplankton densities and the path coefficients of hydrological parameters decreased or even were insignificant. The inferential models suggested that diatom dynamics were essentially shaped by threshold conditions of water temperature (WT) and pH before regulation, but mainly by those of rotifers (below 51.1 ind. L-1) after regulation. As for cyanobacteria dynamics, WT was identified as a critical threshold condition before and after regulation, and the threshold of PO4- concentration above 145.4 L-1 was identified as the reason for occasional blooms during the post-regulation period. Overall, the results suggest that flow regulation gradually alters habitat conditions typically of rivers to those of stagnant waters. These findings must be taken into account for sustainable management strategies of regulated rivers.

Spatial patterning of chlorophyll a and water-quality measurements for determining environmental thresholds for local eutrophication in the Nakdong River basin.

Management of water-quality in a river ecosystem needs to be focused on susceptible regions to eutrophication based on proper measurements. The stress-response relationships between nutrients and primary productivity of phytoplankton allow the derivation of ecologically acceptable thresholds of stressors under field conditions. However, spatio-temporal variations in heterogeneous environmental conditions have hindered the development of locally applicable criteria. To address these issues, we utilized a combination of a geographically specialized artificial neural network (Geo-SOM, geo-self-organizing map) and linear mixed-effect models (LMMs). The model was applied to a 24-month dataset of 54 stations that spanned a wide spatial gradient in the Nakdong River basin. The Geo-SOM classified 1286 observations in the basin into 13 clusters that were regionally and seasonally distinct. Inclusion of the random effects of Geo-SOM clustering improved the performance of each LMM, which suggests that there were significant spatio-temporal variations in the Chla-stressor relationships. These variations arise owing to differences in background seasonality and the effects of local pollutant variables and land-use patterns. Among the 16 environmental variables, the major stressors for Chla were total phosphate (TP) as a nutrient and biological oxygen demand (BOD) as a non-nutrient according to the results of both Geo-SOM and LMM analyses. Based on LMMs with the random effect of the Geo-SOM clusters on the intercept and the slope, we can propose recommended thresholds for TP (18.5 µg L-1) and BOD (1.6 mg L-1) in the Nakdong River. The combined method of LMM and Geo-SOM will be useful in guiding appropriate local water-quality-management strategies and in the global development of large-scale nutrient criteria.

The influence of surrounding land cover on wetland habitat conditions: a case study of inland wetlands in South Korea.

Wetland ecosystems have been globally degraded and lost due to rapid urbanization and climate change. An assessment of national scale inventory, including wetland types and conditions, is urgently required to understand the big picture of endangered wetlands, such as where they are and how they look like. We analyzed the spatial patterns of each inland wetland type (brackish wetland was included) in South Korea and the relative importance of land cover categories on wetland conditions. The wetlands were grouped into four dominant types (riverine, lake, mountain, and human-made) according to their topography. Riverine wetlands constituted the largest area (71.3%). The relative ratio of wetlands in a well-conserved condition (i.e., "A" rank) was highest in riverine wetlands (23.8%), followed by mountain wetlands (22.1%). The higher proportion of grasslands was related to a better condition ranking, but the increasing bareland area had a negative impact on wetland conditions. We also found that wetlands located near wetland protected areas tend to be in a better condition compared to remote sites. Our results further support the importance of the condition of surrounding areas for wetland conservation.

Drivers shaping episodic and gradual changes in phytoplankton community succession: Taxonomic versus functional groups.

Describing temporal changes in phytoplankton communities is complicated owing to (i) multivariate environmental drivers, (ii) inter-specific relationships, and (iii) various species. With long-term research data from the lower Nakdong River from 1993 to 2016, we examined the temporal changes at two scales-episodic (from weekly to monthly) and long-term (yearly)-and screened the potential environmental drivers. Phytoplankton community component patterns were modeled with the drivers as covariates, using multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) models, to assess their response to environmental drivers and biotic interactions. We assumed that compared to taxonomic classification, functional classification would obtain a better identification of community response to temporal variability. Over 24 years, the succession patterns of the dominant taxonomic and functional groups decreased in diversity, with the greatest decreases in biomass of Bacillariophyceae and group D (mainly the diatom Stephanodiscus hantzschii), and coincided with the introduction of group H1 (dinitrogen-fixing nostocaleans). The potential drivers for these changes were precipitation, water level, and total nitrogen (TN) for taxonomic groups and TN, total phosphorus, and euphotic zone depth for functional groups. The results of the MARSS model and temporal trends for each driver indicated that the increases in the water level and light availability were mostly related with the taxonomic and functional groups, respectively. The model for functional groups proposed a total of 24 significant inter-group relationships, where five relationships supported the succession patterns of dominant groups in the Nakdong River. Combined with the effects of increased light availability, a positive relationship between groups H1 and M (mainly Cyanobacteria and Microcystis aeruginosa) appears to induce cyanobacterial bloom development over a long period. These results can be fundamental information for river system management concerning the resulting cascading effects of changes in environmental drivers and inter-group relationships on the phytoplankton community composition.

Responses of fish assemblage structure to large-scale weir construction in riverine ecosystems.

Worldwide, increasing amounts of dams and weirs have been established in rivers in recent decades, often with drastic effects on their ecosystems. Between late 2009 and 2011, 16 large-scale dams were built in the main channels of the four largest rivers in South Korea, eight of these along the main channel of Nakdong River (300 km, 520 km in total). We studied the effect of these constructions on the fish community in the riparian zone based on intensive fish field surveys conducted in the littoral zone during 2007-2017, analysis of fishermen's catch data and molecular analysis of the diet of the keystone species, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Our results, based on RDA and GLM analyses, showed that environmental characteristics and fish species composition changed significantly with dam construction. Total fish abundance and biomass decreased after the start of the weir construction and fish richness decreased with time. The abundance and biomass of exotic fish decreased during construction but recovered afterwards, leading to higher proportions of exotics. Dominance and Shannon indices did not change significantly from before to after construction, while the Evenness index showed a significant decreasing trend. A comparison of the diet composition of largemouth bass showed decreasing genetic variation after construction. The changes in Functional Feeding Group (FFG) of the benthic communities at the study sites did not coincide with FFG changes in the prey items of largemouth bass, indicating a transition in feeding mode from before to after construction. In conclusion, the endemic and native fish species were most sensitive and showed lower resilience to disturbance by the large-scale dam construction than the translocated and exotic species, and the lake-like ecosystems after construction markedly improved the competitive capacity of these exotic fish over the native and endemic species in the riparian zone of the river.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the freshwater bryozoan Pectinatella magnifica (Phylactolaemata: Plumatellida) assembled from next-generation sequencing data.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the freshwater bryozoan Pectinatella magnifica was sequenced. The circular mitochondrial genome is 17,539 bp and consists of 13 protein-coding, two ribosomal RNA, and 22 transfer RNA genes (GenBank accession no. MG546680). The Bayesian comparative analysis of molecular evolution rates revealed no acceleration of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evolution of P. magnifica. Results of maximum likelihood analysis showed that this species clustered with other species of the phylum Bryozoa.

Effects of algal food quality on sexual reproduction of Daphnia magna.

The objective of our study was to investigate sexual reproduction of Daphnia magna associated with mating behaviors and hatching rates, according to different algal food sources. Since a diatom is known to contain more abundant long-chain poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), we hypothesized that the diatom-consuming D. magna would exhibit more successful reproduction rates. Upon the hypothesis, we designed three experiments using two algal species, a green alga (Chlorella vulgaris) and a diatom (Stephanodiscus hantzschii). From the results, we found that the mating frequency and copulation duration increased in the treatment with S. hantzschii, resulting in a significant increase of hatching rates of resting eggs. In the other two repetitive mating strategies (e.g., one female vs. multiple males, and one male vs. multiple females), we found that the hatching rates of resting eggs were greater in the S. hantzschii treatment. In addition to the mating strategy, male body size significantly increased in the diatom treatment, hence average diameter of penis was also statistically different among the treatments (greater diameter in the S. hantzschii treatment). To examine the effect of algal food quality, we estimated quantity of fatty acids in the two algal species. Our result showed that S. hantzschii had a higher proportion of long-chain PUFAs than C. vulgaris. Furthermore, a stable isotope analysis revealed that carbon and nitrogen originated from S. hantzschii were more assimilated to D. magna. In summary, our study manifested that diatom consumption of D. magna leads to more successful sexual reproduction. We then discussed how the diatom consumption of zooplankton influences food web dynamics in a freshwater ecosystem.

Discovering hidden biodiversity: the use of complementary monitoring of fish diet based on DNA barcoding in freshwater ecosystems.

Ecological monitoring contributes to the understanding of complex ecosystem functions. The diets of fish reflect the surrounding environment and habitats and may, therefore, act as useful integrating indicators of environmental status. It is, however, often difficult to visually identify items in gut contents to species level due to digestion of soft-bodied prey beyond visual recognition, but new tools rendering this possible are now becoming available. We used a molecular approach to determine the species identities of consumed diet items of an introduced generalist feeder, brown trout (Salmo trutta), in 10 Tasmanian lakes and compared the results with those obtained from visual quantification of stomach contents. We obtained 44 unique taxa (OTUs) belonging to five phyla, including seven classes, using the barcode of life approach from cytochrome oxidase I (COI). Compared with visual quantification, DNA analysis showed greater accuracy, yielding a 1.4-fold higher number of OTUs. Rarefaction curve analysis showed saturation of visually inspected taxa, while the curves from the DNA barcode did not saturate. The OTUs with the highest proportions of haplotypes were the families of terrestrial insects Formicidae, Chrysomelidae, and Torbidae and the freshwater Chironomidae. Haplotype occurrence per lake was negatively correlated with lake depth and transparency. Nearly all haplotypes were only found in one fish gut from a single lake. Our results indicate that DNA barcoding of fish diets is a useful and complementary method for discovering hidden biodiversity.

Talking about Climate Change and Global Warming.

The increasing prevalence of social networks provides researchers greater opportunities to evaluate and assess changes in public opinion and public sentiment towards issues of social consequence. Using trend and sentiment analysis is one method whereby researchers can identify changes in public perception that can be used to enhance the development of a social consciousness towards a specific public interest. The following study assessed Relative search volume (RSV) patterns for global warming (GW) and Climate change (CC) to determine public knowledge and awareness of these terms. In conjunction with this, the researchers looked at the sentiment connected to these terms in social media networks. It was found that there was a relationship between the awareness of the information and the amount of publicity generated around the terminology. Furthermore, the primary driver for the increase in awareness was an increase in publicity in either a positive or a negative light. Sentiment analysis further confirmed that the primary emotive connections to the words were derived from the original context in which the word was framed. Thus having awareness or knowledge of a topic is strongly related to its public exposure in the media, and the emotional context of this relationship is dependent on the context in which the relationship was originally established. This has value in fields like conservation, law enforcement, or other fields where the practice can and often does have two very strong emotive responses based on the context of the problems being examined.

Investigation of bioaccumulation and biotransformation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, hydroxylated and methoxylated derivatives in varying trophic level freshwater fishes.

The concentrations and distributions of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and their hydroxylated and methoxylated derivatives (OH- and MeO-BDEs) were determined in seven representative fish species from a river in the Republic of Korea. The PBDEs and their derivatives were found to be accumulated in the internal organs of the fish to different extents. PBDEs were preferentially accumulated in the internal organs rather than muscle tissue, and especially, showed increasing accumulation tendencies with increasing bromination level in liver. The OH-BDEs and MeO-BDEs were preferentially accumulated in the liver and gastrointestinal tract, respectively. MeO-BDE concentrations were found to increase according to relative trophic level, suggesting that the PBDE derivatives can be biomagnified to a greater extent than the parent PBDEs in freshwater food webs. In a comparison with the dissolved analyte concentrations in the water that were measured by using semi-permeable membrane devices, the greater uptake of non-ortho substituted MeO-BDEs by fish was observed.

Using Internet search behavior to assess public awareness of protected wetlands.

Improving public awareness of protected wetlands facilitates sustainable wetland management, which depends on public participation. One way of gauging public interest is by tracking Internet search behavior (ISB). We assessed public awareness of issues related to protected wetland areas (PWAs) in South Korea by examining the frequencies of specific queries (PWAs, Ramsar, Upo wetland, Sunchon Bay, etc.) using relative search volumes (RSVs) obtained from an Internet search engine. RSV shows how many times a search term is used relative to a second search term during a specific period. Public awareness of PWAs changed from 2007 to 2013. Initially the majority of Internet searches were related to the most well-known tidal and inland wetlands Sunchon Bay and Upo wetlands, which are the largest existing wetlands in Korea with the greatest historical exposure. Public awareness, as reflected in RSVs, of wetlands increased significantly following PWA designation for the wetlands in 2008, which followed the Ramsar 10th Conference of Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (COP10) meeting. Public interest was strongly correlated to the number of news articles in the popular media, as evidenced by the increase in Internet searches for specific wetlands and words associated with specific wetlands. Correspondingly, the number of visitors to specific wetlands increased. To increase public interest in wetlands, wetland aspects that enhance wetland conservation should be promoted by the government and enhanced via public education. Our approach can be used to gauge public awareness and participation in a wide range of conservation efforts.

Mating behavior of Daphnia: impacts of predation risk, food quantity, and reproductive phase of females.

High predation risk and food depletion lead to sexual reproduction in cyclically parthenogenetic Daphnia. Mating, the core of sexual reproduction, also occurs under these conditions. Assessment of the environmental conditions and alteration of mating efforts may aid in determining the success of sexual reproduction. Here, we evaluated the impacts of predation risk, food quantity, and reproductive phase of females on the mating behavior of Daphnia obtusa males including contact frequency and duration using video analysis. Mating-related behavior involved male-female contact (mating) as well as male-male contact (fighting). Mating frequency increased while unnecessary fighting decreased in the presence of predation risk. In addition, low food concentration reduced fighting between males. Males attempted to attach to sexual females more than asexual females, and fighting occurred more frequently in the presence of sexual females. Duration of mating was relatively long; however, males separated shortly after contact in terms of fighting behavior. Thus, assessment of environmental factors and primary sexing of mates were performed before actual contact, possibly mechanically, and precise sex discrimination was conducted after contact. These results suggest that mating in Daphnia is not a random process but rather a balance between predation risk and energetic cost that results in changes in mating and fighting strategies.

Population growth of the Cladoceran, Daphnia magna: a quantitative analysis of the effects of different algal food.

In this study, we examined the effects of two phytoplankton species, Chlorella vulgaris and Stephanodiscus hantzschii, on growth of the zooplankton Daphnia magna. Our experimental approach utilized stable isotopes to determine the contribution of food algae to offspring characteristics and to the size of adult D. magna individuals. When equal amounts of food algae were provided (in terms of carbon content), the size of individuals, adult zooplankton, and their offspring increased significantly following the provision of S. hantzschii, but not after the provision of C. vulgaris or of a combination of the two species. Offspring size was unaffected when C. vulgaris or a mixture of the two algal species was delivered, whereas providing only S. hantzschii increased the production of larger-sized offspring. Stable isotope analysis revealed significant assimilation of diatom-derived materials that was important for the growth of D. magna populations. Our results confirm the applicability of stable isotope approaches for clarifying the contribution of different food algae and elucidate the importance of food quality for growth of D. magna individuals and populations. Furthermore, we expect that stable isotope analysis will help to further precisely examine the contribution of prey to predators or grazers in controlled experiments.

Application of DNA barcoding for identification of freshwater carnivorous fish diets: Is number of prey items dependent on size class for Micropterus salmoides?

Understanding predator-prey interactions is a major challenge in ecological studies. In particular, the accurate identification of prey is a fundamental requirement in elucidating food-web structure. This study took a molecular approach in determining the species identity of consumed prey items of a freshwater carnivorous fish (largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides), according to their size class. Thirty randomly selected gut samples were categorized into three size classes, based on the total length of the bass. Using the universal primer for the mtDNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) region, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was performed on unidentified gut contents and then sequenced after cloning. Two gut samples were completely empty, and DNA materials from 27 of 28 gut samples were successfully amplified by PCR (success rate: 96.4%). Sequence database navigation yielded a total of 308 clones, containing DNA from 26 prey items. They comprised four phyla, including seven classes, 12 orders, and 12 families based on BLAST and BOLD database searches. The results indicate that largemouth bass show selective preferences in prey item consumption as they mature. These results corroborate a hypothesis, presence of ontogenetic diet shift, derived through other methodological approaches. Despite the practical limitations inherent in DNA barcoding analysis, high-resolution (i.e., species level) identification was possible, and the predation patterns of predators of different sizes were identifiable. The utilization of this method is strongly recommended for determining specific predator-prey relationships in complex freshwater ecosystems.

Delayed influence of dam storage and discharge on the determination of seasonal proliferations of Microcystis aeruginosa and Stephanodiscus hantzschii in a regulated river system of the lower Nakdong River (South Korea).

This study presents the relationship between the dam hydrology and phytoplankton proliferations in a regulated river system in East Asia. A long-term ecological study reveals that multi-purpose dam regulation on river flow in the Nakdong River (South Korea) affects proliferating patterns of phytoplankton, especially during summer (June-August) and winter (December-next February) as Microcystis aeruginosa and Stephanodiscus hantzschii, respectively, dominate each season by over 80%. Eutrophication was observed in the lower Nakdong River (South Korea) (mean+/-standard deviation: nitrate-N, 2.8+/-0.9 mg L(-1); phosphate-P, 40.3+/-31.3 microg L(-1); chlorophyll a, 45.2+/-84.9 microg L(-1); n=449), and the limnological characteristics responded to climatic variations such as monsoon and summer typhoons. The river basin experiences concentrated rainfall during the rainy season (June-September, over ca. 60% of total annual rainfall). Correlation and cross-correlation for time-delayed relationship revealed the hydrological environments (i.e., quantity of dam storage and discharge) had significantly negative relationship with the population dynamics of the two bloom-forming species for up to the next 2 years. S. hantzschii had clearer relationship with dam storage and discharge, which might be due to the seasonality exhibited by the species. The results support the necessity of "smart flow control" which may enable destruction of bloom formation by the two species with an adequate pulse of discharge generated by upstream dams in the far-east Asian river systems. This would increase the efficiency of water resource management system.

Degradation of microcystins by adsorbed bacteria on a granular active carbon (GAC) filter during the water treatment process.

The degradation of microcystin by adsorbed bacteria on GAC (granular active carbon) filter from a water treatment facility was investigated. Dominant bacteria isolated from GAC were indigenous microorganisms, Psuedomonas sp. and Flavobacterium sp. The direct exposure of dominant GAC bacteria to microcystins resulted in a significant reduction of microcystin levels in both shaking and static conditions (t-test; p < 0.01). In bacteria-treatments, the half-life of microcystin was 2.6-3.5 days in both conditions. Based on this result, approximately 9-10 days would be estimated for 90% or up to 18-21 days of 99% of toxin to be degraded. This biological degradation by the GAC bacteria in combination with existing purification systems has potential to increase the efficiency of water purification.

Changes in microcystin content and environmental parameters over the course of a toxic cyanobacteria bloom in a hypertrophic regulated river, South Korea.

Cyanobacterial blooms and associated microcystins in hypertrophic stagnant West-Nakdong River were investigated at weekly intervals from April to August, 1999. Microcystis spp. accounted for over 85% of the numeric abundance of total phytoplankton. Microcystins were present in the blooms sampled between May and August. The peak of total microcystin (microcystin-LR + -RR) levels (maximum level; 612 microg g(-1)) was detected in the initial stage of the bloom (mid May), at the same time as high N/P ratio and high Microcystis biomass. This study indicated that total microcystins of this regulated river was positively correlated to Microcystis biomass, absolute nutrient concentration and TN/TP ratio.