Exercise No.

3
Estimation of Net Primary Productivity:
Harvest Method1

Computations:

1. Instantaneous rate of disappearance of dead shoot material ( r ) in

grams/gram/day – reflects amount of dead materials that decomposes at any
given time.

loge (W0/W1)
r (grams/gram/day) =
t

Where:
W0 – weight of dead shoot material from Plot 1
W1 – weight of dead shoot material from Plot 2
t – length of production period in days

2. Quantity of dead materials disappearing from the undisturbed plot ( x ) -

reflects amount of dead materials that decomposes through out the study period.

(a0 + a1)*r t
x (grams/plot) =
2

Where:
a0 – weight of dead shoot material from Plot 1
a1 – weight of dead shoot material from Plot 3

3. Mortality of Live shoot materials ( d ) – the amount of live shoot materials that
dies out through out the study period.

d (grams/plot) = x + (a1 – a0)

4. Net production of Shoot materials ( y ) – the amount of new shoots produced

by the plants through out the given study period.

y (grams/plot) = (b1 - b0) + d

Where:
b0 – weight of live shoot material from Plot 1
b1 – weight of live shoot material from Plot 2

5. Root Increase – the increase or root development through out the study period.

Root Increase (g/plot) = TR1 – TR0

Where:
1
Prepared by Ronald C. Garcia for ES 21/ FBS 21 (General Ecology/ Forest Ecology). Adopted from
Fundamentals of Forest Ecology Laboratory Manual by Dr. Nestor T. Baguinon.
 TR0 – weight of below ground material from Plot 1
TR1 – weight of below ground material from Plot 3

Complete the table below.

Root Increase Total NPP NPP Rate
Group Replicates r x b1 - b0 a1 - a0 d y
(g/plot) (g/m2) (g-cal/m2)
1
1
2
1
2
2
1
3
2
1
4
2
Note: for ES 21 estimate NPP using data for all groups in the class.

6. Total NPP – the estimated net primary productivity of the ecosystem through out
the study period.

Total NPP (g/m2) = y + (Root Increase* 4)

Note: the “4” in the formula refers to the number of samples used or number of groups in
the class.

7. NPP Rate – net primary production expressed in grams-calories with herbaceous

plant tissue calorific value of 4000 gram-calories per gram.

NPP Rate (g-cal/m2) = NPP Total * (4000)