Zooplankton communities are useful bioindicators that can provide information on the changes occurring in marine ecosystems. Therefore, investigation of zooplankton communities in marine and coastal national parks is essential. However, the surveys of zooplankton communities using morphological identification require considerable time and labor. Metabarcoding is a practical alternative that can detect various taxa simultaneously. In this study, metabarcoding was newly applied along with the traditional morphological identification to establish a method for zooplankton community survey in the Marine and Coastal National Park areas of Korea. By comparing the results of these two identification methods, the strengths and limitations of metabarcoding were verified with the zooplankton communities appearing in these areas. The sensitive detection capability of metabarcoding enabled the identification of potential bioindicator taxa associated with external factors (e.g., water temperature, salinity, topography, and chlorophyll a concentration) in these national parks. We propose the use of metabarcoding for efficient surveys of mesozooplankton communities in the Marine and Coastal National Parks to establish monitoring of bioindicator taxa. It is also necessary to continuously search for taxa with high research value in these national parks using metabarcoding. Establishing an ongoing monitoring system that employs this approach can provide an effective tool for managing marine ecosystems in the Marine and Coastal National Parks.
Biofouling is a significant means for introducing non-indigenous marine species internationally, which can alter habitats and disturb marine ecosystems. This study estimated the flux of ships’ wetted surface area (WSA) to Korea in 2020 to assess the risks of biological invasion via biofouling on ships’ hulls. The annual total WSA flux entering Korea was estimated to be 418.26 km2, with short-stay vessels (<3 weeks) contributing to 99.7% of the total WSA flux. Busan and Ulsan ports were identified as the main sources of high-risk flux, with container ships being a major vector in Busan and tankers in Ulsan. Gwangyang port had the third-highest total WSA flux, with nearly half of the flux driven from coastwise voyages, making it particularly vulnerable to the spread of hull fouling organisms. These findings could help enhance the management and inspection of hull fouling organisms in Korea.
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