No abstract

No abstract

This study aimed to explain how the changes in certain hydrological, meteorological and physicochemical factors influence the cell density of the cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa in the Nakdong River. Occurrence patterns of M. aeruginosa were analyzed between 1993 and 2010 (N = 96) using a selforganizing map. The cell density of M. aeruginosa was sensitive to certain meteorological, hydrological and physicochemical factors. In addition, our clustering analysis results identified specific limnological features under different environmental conditions. Cluster 1 suggested that high rainfall and increased river flow, dam discharge, total phosphorous and phosphate concentrations were associated with low M. aeruginosa cell density (June-July; monsoon season). However, cluster 2 suggested low irradiance since water temperature decreases with irradiation time, and thus low M. aeruginosa cell density (April-June and after November). Finally, cluster 3 was indicative of high water temperature and irradiance, increased irradiation time, low phosphate and nitrate concentrations, and high M. aeruginosa cell density (August, after the monsoon season). Taken together, these results suggest that rainfall, river flow, water temperature and nutrient concentration (i.e., phosphates and nitrates) were the primary factors that affected cyanobacterial bloom occurrence in the Nakdong River. M. aeruginosa blooms can be suppressed by employing an integrated water resource management program that accommodates meteo-hydrological factors along with the effective control of exogenous nutrient sources.

We conducted a distributional survey of Pectinatella magnifica, an invasive species, in the Geum River and the Nakdong River from July 12 to July 25, 2014. The spacing between the study sites was 10 km along the main channels for the Geum River (n = 12, 120 km) and the Nakdong River (n = 38, 380 km) from the estuarine barrage to upper part of main channel. Pectinatella magnifica was detected along the riparian zone (within 100 m) at each of the study sites. Presence rate of P. magnifica in Geum River and Nakdong River was 25% and 32.6%, respectively. The colony number of P. magnifica at Geum River (9.5 ± 3.1 colony/m, n = 3) was over 94 fold higher than that in the Nakdong River (0.1 ± 0.1 colony/m, n = 16). The Total length distribution of P. magnifica had a truncated bell shape at each rivers (mean length: 14.0 ± 1.2 cm for Geum River (n = 32), and 16.8 ± 1.4 cm for Nakdong River (n = 52)). These findings could provide basic information regarding the distribution pattern of P. magnifica in a new invasion area.

We simulated water-quality measures in a regulated river system (the lower Nakdong River) under simultaneous discharge control at upriver dams and an estuarine barrage with the goal of reducing phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a concentration). We used genetic programming (GP) to create a rule-set-based predictive model for the chlorophyll a concentration based on 16 years (1994–2009) of meteorological, hydrological, and limnological data. The rule-set model used eight variables, including water temperature, dam and estuarine barrage discharge, phosphate and silica concentrations, and accurately predicted the phytoplankton biomass (determination coefficients, r2, for training and test data were 0.52 and 0.45, respectively). According to sensitivity and scenario analyses, a larger water volume resulting from increased discharge from upriver dams and decreased discharge from an estuarine barrage would reduce chlorophyll a concentrations at the study site. This result provided ample evidence that simultaneous manipulation of dam and estuarine discharge rates could effectively increase river flow and flush aggregated algal populations downstream. Additionally, we considered that even small increases in river flow could play a role in diluting phytoplankton biomass during the dry winter season when estuarine discharge remains low. These two hydrological mechanisms could be used as selective strategies for water-resource management.