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Article

Spatio-Temporal Distribution and Dominant Species of the Macrozoobenthic Communties on a Soft Bottom of the Korean Coasts

한국 연안 조하대 연성기질 대형저서동물의 시·공간분포와 우점종

JIN-YOUNG LEE1
,
HYUN-SIG LIM2*
,
JUNG-HO LEE3
,
HYUN-CHUL SHIN4
이 진영1
,
임 현식2*
,
이 정호3
,
신 현출4
1Principal Research Scientist, Ecological Restoration Team, Marine Eco-technology Institute (MEI), Busan 48520, Korea
2Professor, Department of Marine and Fisheries Resources, Mokpo National University, Muan 58554, Korea
3Professor, Department of Marine Biotechnology, Anyang University, Ganghwa, Incheon 23038, Korea
4Professor, Department of Maritime Police Sciences, Chonnam National University, Yeosu 59629, Korea
1해양생태기술연구소 생태복원실 책임연구원
2목포대학교 해양수산자원학과 교수
3안양대학교 해양바이오시스템공학과 교수
4전남대학교 해양융합과학과 교수
*Corresponding Author
31 August 2025. pp. 174-198
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Abstract

This study aimed to understand the temporal and spatial distribution of the number of species, abundance, biomass, diversity and dominant species of the macrozoobenthic community in the subtidal soft bottom area of Korean coastal waters. A total of 167 sampling stations were set around west, south, east coasts in the Korean Peninsula, and around Jeju Island. During the spring and summer seasons from 2017 to 2022, surveys were conducted on the West Sea (Yellow Sea) and the western part of the South Sea (Wando-Yeosu) in the odd-numbered years and eastern part of the South Sea (Yeosu-Busan), the East Sea and around Jeju Island in the even-numbered years. As a result, a total of 1,458 species/298.2 m2 was recorded with an mean abundance of 1,398 ind./m2 and mean biomass of 156.4 gWWt/m2. and the most dominant taxon of number of species and abundance was Annelida and biomass was others. Macrozoobenthic species number and abundance in spring and summer of 2017~2022 increased over time in the middle part of the west coast of Korea. However, Jinhae Bay in the south coast showed poor species number, abundance, biomass and species diversity index. In the East Sea was relatively lower in the south part than in the northern and central parts. Around Jeju Island, the abundance and species diversity were relatively richer in the northern and southern parts than in the western and eastern parts. The dominant species Heteromastus filiformis (Polychaeta) was widely distributed along coasts of West Sea (Yellow Sea) and South Sea, Scoletoma longifolia (Polychaeta) was distributed along the coast of East Sea, and Theora lata (Bivalve) occurred mainly in the inner bay of the West Sea (Yellow Sea) and South Sea of Korea. The spatio-temporal distribution of macrozoobenthos in the Korean coastal waters showed significant correlations with environmental factors of surface sediments. In addition, by presenting the results of characteristics of macrozoobenthic community in each coastal area and each administrative area of Korea through this study, it is expected that it can be used as basic data for future policy making and for studying the changes in benthic community due to global environment changes.

Keywords
Macrozoobenthos
Communities
Biodiversity
Soft bottom
Korean coasts

우리나라 전 연안을 대상으로 조하대 연성기질에 서식하는 대형저서동물의 출현 종수, 밀도, 생체량, 종 다양도, 우점종의 시·공간분포 특성을 파악하고자 하였다. 조사정점은 우리나라 서해와 남해, 동해, 제주에 걸쳐 고르게 분포하도록 167개 정점을 설정하였으며, 2017~2022년 동안 홀수 해는 서해와 남해 서부(완도~여수), 짝수 해는 남해 동부(여수~부산)와 동해, 제주를 대상으로 봄철과 여름철에만 조사를 수행하였다. 그 결과, 총 1,458종/298.2 m2, 평균 서식밀도 1,398 ind./m2, 평균 생체량 156.4 gWWt/m2의 대형저서동물이 출현하였으며, 종수와 서식밀도의 최우점 분류군은 환형동물이었고 생체량은 기타 분류군이었다. 우리나라 전 연안의 종수와 서식밀도는 서해 중부에서 조사기간 동안 증가하였으며, 남해는 진해만에서 빈약한 저서동물상을 보였다. 또한 동해는 북부와 중부보다 남부에서의 저서동물 군집이 상대적으로 더 빈약하였으며, 제주 해역은 서부와 동부에 위치한 정점들보다 북부와 남부에 위치한 정점들의 종 다양성과 밀도 등이 더 풍부하였다. 주요 우점종인 고리버들갯지렁이(Heteromastus filiformis)는 서해와 남해의 연안을 따라 넓게 분포하였으며, 긴자락송곳갯지렁이(Scoletoma longifolia)는 주로 동해 연안에서 출현하였고 아기반투명조개(Theora lata)는 서해와 남해의 내만에서 출현하였다. 우리나라 연안의 조하대 연성기질의 대형저서동물 시·공간분포는 퇴적환경과 높은 상관관계를 보였으며, 본 연구를 통해 우리나라의 해역별, 행정구역별 대형저서동물의 분포 결과들을 제시함으로써 향후 정책수립과 지구환경 변화에 따른 저서동물의 변동을 연구하는데 있어 기초자료로 활용될 수 있기를 기대한다.

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Information
  • Publisher :The Korean Society of Oceanography
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국해양학회
  • Journal Title :The Sea Journal of the Korean Society of Oceanography
  • Journal Title(Ko) :한국해양학회지 바다
  • Volume : 30
  • No :3
  • Pages :174-198
  • Received Date : 2025-06-24
  • Revised Date : 2025-07-16
  • Accepted Date : 2025-07-30
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.7850/jkso.2025.30.3.174
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