Abstract:The Lidao reef zone is a typical artificial reef ecosystem for rare marine animal stock enhancement in the coastal sea of North China. The sea cucumber, Haliotis discus hannai, are the main enhancement species in the system. Based on the data of biological resources obtained from an investigation of the Lidao artificial reef zone in 2009, a balanced trophic model of the area was constructed using the Ecopath with Ecosim software package. The effects of uncertainty of input parameters and Ecopath analysis sensitivity were explored. Trophic flow and system attributes of the Lidao artificial reef system were analyzed. The ecological carrying capacity for were also predicted. The model consisted of 19 functional groups, which covered the main trophic flow in the Lidao artificial reef ecosystem. The results showed that the pedigree index of the model was 0.51, and the input parameters having the greatest effects on the output parameters were the production/biomass ratios () of small demersal fish groups. A –50% change in the production/biomass ratios in small demersal fish groups gave a sensitivity of the biomass (B) of the same group from 100% to 136%. The total system throughput was estimated to be 10 786.680 , 27% of which flowed to detritus and 17% of which is tranferred out of the ecosystem in the forms of fishing and sediment. Total net primary production was 4131.966 and the total energy transfer efficiency was 10.5%. The proportion of the total flow originating from detritus was 39%, and that from primary producers was 61, indicating that the energy flow was dominated by grazing food chain. The ecological carrying capacity was defined as the level of enhancement that could be introduced without significantly changing the major trophic fluxes or structure of the food web. The ecological carrying capacities for . This accounts for 31.72% and 26.15% of the biomass of each, respectively, meaning there is further potential for stock enhancement.