EcologyLesson 2 of 2 in the course Plankton and marine food webs

Primary Production: Ecosystem Controls, Measurement, and Human Impacts

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Primary production converts inorganic carbon into energy-rich organic matter. It provides the material and energy on which nearly all ecosystems depend.

Primary production is the synthesis of organic compounds from inorganic carbon, usually carbon dioxide (CO2CO_2), by living organisms. The resulting organic matter stores chemical energy that can be used to build tissues or fuel biological activity.

All flashcards

Gross primary production (GPP)
The total chemical energy or carbon fixed by producers over a given area and time.
Net primary production (NPP)
Organic matter accumulated after producer respiration; NPP=GPP−RNPP = GPP - R.
C4 and CAM pathways
Photosynthetic adaptations that can improve water-use efficiency and support carbon fixation under water-limited conditions.
Human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP)
An indicator of how human activities use or alter organic production ecosystems could otherwise support.
Carbon-14 incorporation method
An aquatic production method that measures radioactive carbon incorporated into organic matter.

Quiz questions

  1. Which organisms carry out most oceanic primary production?Answer: Microscopic phytoplankton.
  2. At what depth is the lower boundary of the photic zone often defined?Answer: Where light is 1% of its surface value.
  3. What does critical depth mean in ocean production?Answer: The deepest mixed layer at which net growth can occur.
  4. Why can HNLC regions have low phytoplankton abundance despite plentiful nutrients?Answer: Scarce iron can limit phytoplankton production.
  5. In the light-and-dark bottle method, what does oxygen change in the dark bottle estimate?Answer: Respiration.

Based on the Wikipedia article Primary production, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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