Production Potential of a Seaweed–Lobster Community in Eastern Canada

Abstract

An energy-flow diagram for the bottom community in the seaweed zone of St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia, has been constructed, using previous estimates of seaweed production and observations on animal biomass and respiration rates. Annual seaweed production exceeded the annual consumption by herbivores by a factor of more than 10 (7000 vs. 572 kcal/m2 per year). This fact, plus observations of physical processes in the seaweed zone, indicate that most of the seaweed production is exported as particulate matter in suspension. Production rates of the American lobster (Homarus americanus) prey species exceed lobster ingestion rates, also by a factor of more than 10 (84 vs. 6 kcal/m2 per year). The difference is presumably consumed by lobster competitors. The available information suggests lobster production in the seaweed zone could be increased by reducing predation and competition for food, together with an increase in suitable shelter.