Epiphyte Grazer Data Perth Coastal Waters 1994

This dataset contains results from a series of laboratory and field experiments on local grazer communities to determine the parameter values required by the COASEC (Coastal Ocean Ecology) model. These experiments are part of the second stage of the Perth Coastal Waters Study. These parameters were delta, the grazing demand (biomass of food eatern per biomass of grazer per day; beta, the assimilation constant (the difference between the food consumed and defecated as a percentage of the food consumed); micron, the mortality constant (the turnover rate of the community), and kg, the ratio of food available to food demand to satisfy 50% of maximum potential growth of grazer communities. Empirically derived parameter values for the main grazers, crustaceans and gastropods were very different from each other and from the default values in the model. Experiments indicated that both types of grazers primarily fed on periphyton and grazing rates varied between summer and winter. Grazing impacts on larger epiphytes are dependent upon the type of grazer and the species of epiphyte.