What determines the productivity of an ecosystem?
Net primary productivity varies among ecosystems and depends on many factors. These include solar energy input, temperature and moisture levels, carbon dioxide levels, nutrient availability, and community interactions (e.g., grazing by herbivores) 2.
Why is productivity important to the ecosystem?
Primary productivity is the conversion of the sun’s energy into organic material through photosynthesis. Primary productivity is important because it is the process that forms the foundation of food webs in most ecosystems.
Which ecosystems are most productive?
The world’s ecosystems vary tremendously in productivity, as illustrated in the following figures. In terms of NPP per unit area, the most productive systems are estuaries, swamps and marshes, tropical rain forests, and temperate rain forests (see Figure 4).
Why does primary productivity vary in different ecosystems?
It depends upon the type of plant species associated with an ecosystem, photosynthetic capacity of these plants and nutrient availability. This is the reason why it varies in different types of ecosystems.
What is the primary productivity of an ecosystem and how is it expressed?
(a) Primary productivity is defined as the amount of biomass or organic matter produced per unit area over a time period by plants during photosynthesis. It is expressed in terms of weight (g-2 ) or energy (kcal m-2 ).
Why are some ecosystems more productive than others?
Why are some ecosystems or biomes more productive than others? Tropical rainforest: High productive rate because warm temp is ideal for photosynthesis, and high global productivity. Open oceans: Low rates of production, but ALOT of global productivity. Communities can be at different succession rates in one ecosystem.
What 3 ecosystems have the lowest productivity?
The biomes with the lowest levels of primary productivity include deserts, the tundra, the open ocean, and the lakes and streams biome.
Why different ecosystem have different productivity What are the factors which affect productivity in the ecosystem?
Productivity in an ecosystem can be defined as the rate at which the biomass increases per unit area. Productivity often depends on the ecosystem. Each ecosystem has a different number of producers, consumers, and decomposers, which affects productivity greatly.
Why do different ecosystems vary?
What is primary productivity and secondary productivity?
The portion of fixed energy, a trophic level passes on to the next trophic level is called production. So, the primary productivity is the production of organic matter by the producers while secondary productivity is the production of the organic matter by the consumers.
Which 3 ecosystems have the highest productivity and which 3 have the lowest productivity?
The highest net primary productivity in terrestrial environments occurs in swamps and marshes and tropical rainforests; the lowest occurs in deserts.
Are all ecosystems equally productive?
When push comes to shove, all ecosystems have the same maximum rain-use efficiency, a measure of total plant growth per unit of precipitation. …
What ecosystem would have the highest productivity?
The highest net primary productivity in terrestrial environments occurs in swamps and marshes and tropical rainforests; the lowest occurs in deserts. What causes high net primary productivity? Net primary productivity varies among ecosystems and depends on many factors.
What does primary productivity tell you about an ecosystem?
Primary productivity. Primary productivity is the generation of biomass by autotrophy.…
– Primary producers, such as plants and algae: – Primary consumers, such as snails and insect larvae: – Secondary consumers, such as fish and large insects: – Tertiary consumers, such as large fish and snakes:
How is productivity of an ecosystem measured?
Productivity is a rate function, and is expressed in terms of dry matter produced or energy captured per unit area of land, per unit time. It is more often expressed as energy in calories/cm 2 /yr or dry organic matter in g/m 2 /yr (g/m 2 x 8.92 = lb/acre). Hence, the productivity of different ecosystems can be easily compared.