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Exercise · Q15

Q.What is primary productivity? Give brief description of factors that affect primary productivity.

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Step 1. Definition. Primary productivity refers to the rate of generation of biomass in an ecosystem by producers (autotrophs), expressed in units of mass per unit area (or volume) per unit time, such as grams per square metre per day. It is divided into gross primary productivity (GPP), the total rate of organic matter production during photosynthesis, and net primary productivity (NPP), the biomass left after subtracting the plants' own respiratory losses (R): GPP − R = NPP. Step 2. Factor — plant species. Primary productivity depends heavily on which plant species inhabit an area, since different species have different photosynthetic efficiencies and growth rates. Step 3. Factor — nutrient availability. The supply of essential nutrients, particularly phosphorus (which is chronically scarce and lacks an atmospheric phase) and nitrogen, directly limits how much biomass producers can generate. Step 4. Factor — photosynthetic capacity and environmental conditions. The plants' inherent photosynthetic capacity, along with environmental factors such as available sunlight (only 2-10% of PAR is actually captured), temperature, and wa …

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