Parameter Estimates for Fishes of the Upper Parana River Floodplain and ltaipu Reservoir (Brazil)

摘要

Estimates of the growth (K), natural mortality (M), consumption/biomass (Q/B) rate and trophic level (TL) for 35 species in the upper Parana river floodplairi and the Itaipu reservoir (interconnected ecosystems) are presented. A compilation of these biological statistics is made for comparison purposes and some general trends are briefly discussed. Consumption, natural mortality, trophic level and estimates of growth are very important parameters for the construction of Ecopath (trophic) models (Christensen and Pauly 1993). Consumption (Q) is the intake of food by a species over a certain time period. The ratio Q/B (Consumption/ Biomass) has been defined as the number of times a population consumes its own weight in a year (Garcia and Duarte 2002; Pauly I998a).