Production Estimates for Scotian Shelf Copepods Based on Mass Specific P/B Ratios

We estimated annual secondary production by copepod species on the Emerald Bank, Scotian Shelf, for the first time. We tentatively ranked copepod species in order of importance based on production to biomass (P/B) ratios calculated from adult body mass using an empirical relationship. The significance of assessing species in terms of production rather than population biomass is demonstrated. The mean estimate of total copepod production (530 kJ∙m−2) is in good agreement with previous estimates of secondary production on the Scotian Shelf.