A trophic model for Kuosheng Bay in northern Taiwan

Abstract

Using the Ecopath with Ecosim software system, a mass-bal-anced trophic model of Kuosheng Bay, where the Second Nuclear Power Plant is sited on the coast, was constructed. This model comprised 17 compartments, ranging from a trophic level of 1.00 for primary producers and detritus to 3.97 for piscivorous fish. The geometric mean of the trophic transfer efficiencies was 6.5%. The lower efficiencies were attributable to high flows to detritus, suggest-ing that the food web was more dependent on detritus than on primary producers to generate total system throughput. The total system throughput, system production, and system biomass were comparable to other reported coastal ecosystems, indicating Kuosheng Bay be-haved like a typical coastal ecosystem. The total primary production to total respiratory ratio of 1.06 indicates that Kuosheng Bay is an autotrophic system. The low gross efficiency suggests the low fishing pressure in the bay, which implies that the fishery loss resulted from the power plant through impingement and entrainment was insignificant.