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Characteristics of Zooplankton Community in Brackish Lakes and Application for Assessing Lake Ecosystem Health

  • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
  • Abbr : J EIA
  • 2025, 34(6), pp.518~530
  • Publisher : Korean Society Of Environmental Impact Assessment
  • Research Area : Engineering > Environmental Engineering
  • Received : December 16, 2025
  • Accepted : December 28, 2025
  • Published : December 30, 2025

Lee Hye-Jin 1,  Hyun-Woo Kim 2,  Yerim Choi 3,  장광현 1,  오혜지 4,  Geun-Hyeok Hong 5,  나긍환 6,  Min-ho Jang 7,  Jeongsuk Moon 8

1경희대학교 환경학및환경공학과
2순천대학교 환경교육학과
3경희대학교 환경응용과학
4나라여자대학교
5경희대학교 환경학및환경공학
6주식회사 에코랩공생
7공주대학교
8국립환경과학원

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Brackish lakes are characterized by salinities exceeding 5 psu but less than 15 psu. Unliketypical freshwaterlakes, they are subjected to pronounced environmental stress, including fluctuationsin salinity, and consequently tend to exhibit reduced species diversity across lower trophic-levelcommunities. In this study, water-quality and zooplankton community data were collected from sevenbrackish lakes located along the east coast of Korea between 2022 and 2024. We applied thezooplankton-based lake ecosystem health assessment framework to derive lake-specific scores, andsubsequently compared the results with those from freshwater lakes to examine the applicability ofthe current assessment system, identify limitations, and suggest directions for improvement. Clusteranalysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) revealed that brackish lakes supportedzooplankton communities that were statistically distinct from those in freshwater lakes, resulting inassessment score ranges that differed substantially between the two lake types. Salinity was identifiedas the primary factor constructing zooplankton community composition in brackish lakes. With respectto index performance, the RI (RotiferIndex), which is based on the abundance ofrotifers and Balanidaelarvae, was confirmed to be suitable for brackish-lake assessment, whereas indices that stronglydepend on freshwaterindicatortaxa (i.e., the Daphnia Index and the Cladocera Richness Index) showedlimited applicability. Notably, the CI (Calanoida Index) was evaluated as an appropriate metric forcapturing brackish-lake community characteristics in systems where copepods are dominant. However, because the CI currently receives a low weighting (10%) within the existing zooplanktonhealth assessment forlakes—largely designed around freshwater conditions—improvements such asre-weighting the CI are warranted when designing an assessment scheme applicable to brackish lakes. Therefore, more accurate assessment of brackish-lake ecosystems will likely require the selection andintroduction of brackish-appropriate indicator taxa, recalibration of scoring classes, and adjustmentof weighting factors.

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