Geological Distribution of Aquatic Invertebrates Living in Paddy Fields of South Korea

The roles of paddy fields are re-evaluated as an artificial wetland. Although 44% of total aquatic invertebrates in South Korea are observed in a rice paddy, information of their distribution and characteristics of habitat use is limited yet. This study was carried out to provide information and characterizing distribution of community of aquatic invertebrates using a rice paddy through the South Korea. Aquatic invertebrates were collected at 284 sites of a rice paddy in South Korea from June to August, 2005, 2006 and 2007. We grouped sampling sites according to its species and population of aquatic invertebrates using a non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). Total 21 orders 60 families 114 species were collected from a rice paddy. Coleoptera (25%), Heteroptera (17%), Diptera (17%) and Odonata (12%) were observed. Aquatic invertebrates were classified into three groups (Group 1: Gangwon, Gyeonggi and Chungbuk; Group 2: Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam and Jeju; Group 3: Gyeongbuk and Kyeongnam). In Group 1, Muljarus japonicas distributed mainly Gangwondo and Chungbuk. In Group 2, Sigara nigroventralis and S. substriata were mainly observed. In Group 3, higher density of Daphnia sp. and Chironomidae gen. spp. was found in the southern part of Korea.