title: The relationship between annual production: Biomass ratios and lifespans for marine macrobenthos.
abstract: Recent literature on studies of production in marine macrobenthos is reviewed, and a significant correlation between annual P/B ratios and lifespan is shown for species from a variety of phyla and habitats. A regression equation was fitted to the pooled data. This equation may be used, in conjunction with data on mean annual biomass, to give production estimates for populations of marine macrobenthic species, if sampling is not size or age selective, and the lifespans of the populations can be determined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, 3052, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Alistar I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Robertson