An evaluation of the dynamic information for South West Arm, Port Hacking

Abstract

A multidisciplinary study of the structure and dynamics of a small (~78 ha) Australian marine embay ment (South West Arm of Port Hacking, New South Wales) was conducted during 1973–1978. Some chemical and biological studies were conducted specifically to obtain data for incorporation into a dynamic model of the flow’ of carbon through South West Arm. This paper represents an attempt to synthesize that dynamic information: the functions and parameters were based on studies in South West Arm, rather than on the literature. This attempt to study an incomplete set of data of the sort required to make a dynamic model of the flow of carbon (or other chemical species) through the environment is novel, or at least such an attempt has not yet been reported in the literature. The study shows that synthesis of dynamic information can be usefully done, using a procedure analogous to that used in synthesizing an incomplete set of static information in a budget. The value of such a synthesis is that it organizes currently available information, and hence should make a useful contribution to further planning for research or ecosystem management.