methods analyzed above, on the idea of the relative stability of natural 

 populations of annual species where there are stable, periodically 

 repeating fluctuations in the environmental conditions. Actually, the 

 supplementation of a specific population with juveniles is usually 

 observed in a given area at a constantly defined time; for many species, 

 at this same time, we observe the post-spawning elimination of older age 

 groups, and the population also decreases during the winter. All of 

 this leds to fluctuations in the numbers of various cohorts in the 

 population which are predictable with respect to time, allowing us to 

 assume that during different years, at the same time of year, the 

 population has approximately the same number of individuals and total 

 biomass, with a similar relationship of numbers of individuals of 

 various generations. The steady nature of many natural populations and 

 the comparability of values of growth production calculated for a given 

 season can be shown on the example of analysis of the production process 

 in populations of a number of species of benthic organisms in Pos'yeta 

 Bay (Golikov, 1970; Golikov, Scarlato, 1970; Golikov, Menshutkin, 

 1973). A disruption of the steady nature of populations is observed 

 upon sudden, aperiodic changes in environmental conditions, related to 

 natural processes or human interference. Obviously, the closer the 

 population being analyzed is to a steady state, the more precisely the 

 calculation of its growth production can be performed, using a single 

 sample. In a steady population, increase and elimination in all 

 generations occurs at approximately the same time, and restoration of 

 near-initial structure in each generation is achieved by the growth of 

 the surviving individuals of the younger generations (supporting a 

 portion of the production process). The very phenomenon of steadiness 

 results from the presence of compensatory processes to replace losses in 

 populations and elements of self-regulation in population dynamics. 



The method we have presented for calculation of the annual growth 

 production of a steady population allows us to abstract ourselves from 

 seasonal, functional and random changes in growth rate and rate of 

 elimination of individuals, and reflects the quantity of living matter 

 formed during the course of the year (at the moment of observation), 

 necessary for creation of a definite dimension-weight and age structure 

 of the population. It allows us to determine the approximate annual 

 growth production of the population based on a single, rather complete 

 quantitative sample, if it is impossible to perform constant, year-round 

 observations. The possibility of determining production on the basis of 

 a single reliable quantitative sample of a population is also reported 

 by G. G. Vinberg (Bekman et al . , 1968, page 100). With simultaneous 

 analysis of a population and estimation of the production on the basis 

 of a single sample, the only significant factor is the time of 

 disappearance of individuals from the population, since the weight 

 growth of individuals which have moved into the subsequent age group is 

 automatically considered. If we know the spawning time and the time of 

 supplementation of the population with juveniles for the species of a 

 given biogeographic complex, as well as the general regularities of 

 elimination, we can determine the most probable periods of elimination 

 of individuals of the population and introduce the corresponding 

 corrections. 



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