Resumen

HERNANDEZ, Gonzalo  y  DEFEO, Omar. Relación masa corporal- abundancia en un gremio de mitílidos suspnsívoros del sublitoral rocoso de dos Islas de Uruguay.. INCI [online]. 2005, vol.30, n.11, pp.711-716. ISSN 0378-1844.

The corporal mass-density relationship was analyzed in a guild of benthic suspension feeders of the species Mytilus edulis platensis, Brachidontes rodriguezi and Brachidontes darwinianus of the shallow rocky coast of Gorriti and Lobos Islands (Maldonado, Uruguay). This relationship was used to build log m-log N (mean individual mass-density) and log B-log N (biomass-density) diagrams, both at species and guild levels. The relationship log m-log N denoted density-independence in the three species at Gorriti and in Brachidontes species at Lobos. However M. e. platensis at Lobos suggested an oscillation in the interface between competitive density or carrying capacity effect and density-dependence. The log B-log N relationship suggested density-independence for the tree species in the two islands. The dominant species M. e. platensis plays a key role in the explanation of the corporal mass-density relationship of the guild of mussels in both islands. Our results support recent ecological findings suggesting that when these models, developed for plants, are applied to mussel populations, density-independence is regularly observed, even in cases when competition is expected to occur, because of the occurrence of multilayered beds. The use of 3D models that include explicitly the crowding or layering effects on self-thinning is suggested in order to explore the relationship between density and size.

Palabras clave : Biomasa; Masa Corporal; Mejillones; Mitílidos; Recursos Marinos.