Net primary productivity

• A very small percentage (1%-3%) of sunlight is used to produce plant materials. (fig A
pg 56)

• Gross primary productivity (GPP) is the rate at which plants make new material by
photosynthesis. It is measured in biomass area time. Eg: gm-2year-1 or gC(grams of
carbon assimilated/In biology, assimilation (also bio-assimilation) is the combination
of two processes to supply cells with nutrients) m-2year-1 or KJ m-2year-1.
• Measuring productivity is very difficult, so it is usually done by finding mass of
representative samples of biomass and then multiplying that to represent the whole
ecosystem. Theoretical calculations are used to convert biomass to energy than
using empirical measurements.
• Plants use at least 25% of the material that they produce for their own metabolic
needs.
• Most of the energy is lost in respiration in plants. In respiration glucose is broken
down to produce ATP as an exothermic process.
• Therefore it increases the energy store of surroundings as warming it up.
• The remaining material is stored as new tissues in plants and this energy store is
known as Net Primary Productivity (NPP).
NPP= GPP- R (respiration)
• NPP depends on all the abiotic factors and biotic factors that affect plant growth
within the ecosystem. Eg: latitude(how closer to the equator), ambient temperature,
water availability
Energy transfers to higher levels

• Many assumptions need to be made in measuring the energy transfer in a whole

ecosystem.(number of species in the ecosystem, how many individuals are there in
one ecosystem, average body size, how much energy that body size represents, how
much of energy is transferred into decomposers at any stage in the life cycle, etc)
• In temperate regions biomass varies with the seasons and in tropics it varies
according to the rainfall pattern.
• Considering these difficulties the energy transfer from one trophic level to another is
based completely on the biomass measurements.
• The values that are quoted from the studies are the mean values from the
calculations with large standard errors.
• The efficiency of energy transfer varies and depends on the physiology and
behaviour of the organisms and climatic conditions rather than specific positions in a
food chain.
• According to many studies the percentage energy transfer between trophic levels is
around 10%.
• Along down the food chains, the energy content drops and limit the number of
trophic levels.
• At higher trophic levels the organisms need to move over larger distances (fourth or
fifth trophic level) , it could take more energy to find food and a mate than is needed
for growth and reproduction, making their survival impossible.
• Therefore tropical regions have longer food chains than Polar Regions because of
receiving more sunlight throughout the year.