Why carrying capacity models are useful tools for management of bivalve molluscs culture
| Type | Article | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 1993 | ||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||
| Author(s) | Heral Maurice | ||||||||
| Source | In : Bivalve Filter Feeders in Estuarine & Coastal Ecosystem Processes (NATO ASI Series - Edited by R. F. Dame Springer-Verlag), 1993 , Vol. 33 , P. 455-477 | ||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Oyster model, Analytical model, Bivalve molluscs culture, Models | ||||||||
| Abstract | In areas where oyster or mussel culture is very intensive, declines of growth rate and decreases of survival rate have occurred. For these reasons, plans have been proposed to regulate the cultivated biomasses in order to fit the carrying capacity of the different ecosystems (Heral et al 1990; Heral, 1991). In areas where new aquaculture of molluscs is beginning, oyster or mussel farmers need to know how large the extension of the culture could be and what the maximal densities should be in order to obtain the maximum economic benefit. Furthermore, as mollusc cultures are developed in coastal areas, they are very susceptible to changes in environmental conditions that can modify trophic relationships, or directly reduce growth rate, physiological functions, recruitment and mortality processes. To give responses to these three types of questions concerning regulation, development, and environmental impact, it is necessary to build models. These models should predict responses in terms of bivalve growth rate in relation to the different management strategies, taking into account biomasses, new species and environmental modifications that can be planned. Two types of models have been developed to achieve these goals, (i) general models based on long term series of population dynamics of the cultivated species, and (ii) trophic models that describe the main relationships that govern the major fluxes of energy, carbon or nutrients in ecosystems. |
||||||||
| Full Text |
|