Secondary production of an intertidal mussel (Mytilus edulis L.) population in the Eastern Scheldt (S.W. Netherlands)
Craeymeersch, J.A.; Herman, P.M.J.; Meire, P.M. (1986). Secondary production of an intertidal mussel (Mytilus edulis L.) population in the Eastern Scheldt (S.W. Netherlands). Hydrobiologia 133: 107-115
In: Hydrobiologia. Springer: The Hague. ISSN 0018-8158; e-ISSN 1573-5117, more
We monitored an intertidal mussel (Mytilus edulis L.) population between June 1981 and June 1982 in the Eastern Scheldt estuary (S.W. Netherlands). Density and biomass of the population remained relatively constant over the study period. The shell length growth was described by a Gompertz growth curve. The parameters of this equation were estimated from a log-log-modified Ford-Walford plot of the growth-ring data. The slope of the relationship between animal weight and shell length is season-dependent, mainly due to the spawning cycle in larger mussels.Secondary production is estimated with the growth rate method. In the calculated growth rates the change in slope of the weight relationship is incorporated, as well as differences in length growth rates between summer and winter. Secondary production amounts to 156 g AFDW m-2a-1 (expressed per m² of mussel bank). P:B is 0.50 a-1 . The mussel productivity is probably a limiting factor for the density of overwintering oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus).
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