Carbon and nitrogen flux through the Cape rock lobster jasus lalandii (H. Milne Edwards), with particular reference to the nearshore Benguela system
Observations and experiments on Jasus lalandii were undertaken over the period 1977 to 1986 to quantify the passage of carbon and nitrogen through populations at Oudekraal and Robben Island on the west coast of South Africa. The terms of the energy flow equation, C=P+R+G+UE+Ux+Uo+F (where C=consumption, P=production, R=respiration, G=reproduction, UE=Exuvial loss, Ux=excretion of exogenous nitrogen, Up =excretion of endogenous nitrogen and F=faeces), were quantified by combining field data and laboratory results. With this information the role played by J. lalandii in the kelp-bed ecosystem under the influence of the Benguela current was explored and quantified.
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