Productivity of the Aral Sea Benthic Communities

A. A. Filippov

Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

Received March 23, 2000

Abstract—The productivity of the Aral Sea benthic assemblages in 1990 and the dynamics from 1950 to 1990
were estimated. In 1990, the marine macrobenthos was characterized by a high abundance of benthic organisms
and high productivity of the benthic assemblages. In the coastal zone of the Small Aral Sea, the average biomass
was found to be 2.4 times those in the Large Aral Sea and the destruction, production, and ration were 3 times
greater than those in the Large Aral Sea. Over the last 40 years, the average values of abundance, biomass, and
production of the benthic organisms of the Aral Sea have increased 4–9 times and, despite a more than twofold
reduction in the area, the overall stock of zoobenthos grew almost fivefold. The total macrozoobenthos produc-
tion increased approximately 2.3 times. The Small Aral Sea, which in 1990 was characterized by a high pro-
ductivity of benthic communities and relatively stabile hydrological regime, has good prospects for fishery
development.

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