1. Production
Please do not use the images in these PowerPoint slides without permission.
Wikipedia “Maize” page; accessed 6-XI-2014
[By en:User:Pratheepps [CC-BY-SA-2.5 ( via Wikimedia Commons]
Photos from Wikimedia Commons &
livestock_and_equine_equipment/manure_spreaders/manure_spreaders.page

2. Ecosystem Ecology
Ecosystem – all the organisms and the physical environment
of a given place, including energy flow and nutrient cycling
(coined by Sir Arthur G. Tansley)
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Photo of Tansley from
Shaping%2BEcology.html?autr=%22Peter+G.+Ayres%22

3. Gross Primary Production (GPP)
Total amount of C fixation by autotrophs into energy-rich molecules
Photoautotrophic (i.e., use photosynthesis)
Marine
microalgae
Marine
macroalgae
Terrestrial
angiosperms
Please do not use the images in these PowerPoint slides without permission.
Wikipedia “Algae” page; accessed 6-XI-2014
[By Photo by NEON ja, colored by Richard Bartz (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 ( via Wikimedia Commons]
Wikipedia “Seaweed” page; accessed 6-XI-2014
[By User:Stemonitis (Wikipedia en:Fucus_serratus.jpg) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 ( via Wikimedia Commons]
Wikipedia “Maple” page; accessed 6-XI-2014
[By Bruce Marlin [CC-BY-SA-2.5 ( via Wikimedia Commons]
Photos from Wikimedia Commons

4. Gross Primary Production (GPP)
Total amount of C fixation by autotrophs into energy-rich molecules
Chemoautotrophic (i.e., use chemosynthesis)
Marine hydrothermal vent archaea & bacteria
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Wikipedia “Hydrothermal vent” page; accessed 6-XI-2014
[By NOAA [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]
Photos from Wikimedia Commons

5. Net Primary Production
Amount of energy captured by autotrophs that contributes to biomass
All living plant (or other autotroph) tissues respire (autotrophic respiration = AR);
so some captured energy is unavailable to produce biomass
NPP = GPP – AR
Aboveground NPP
& Belowground NPP
Please do not use the images in these PowerPoint slides without permission.
Wikipedia “Maple” page; accessed 6-XI-2014
[By Bruce Marlin [CC-BY-SA-2.5 ( via Wikimedia Commons]
Photo from Wikimedia Commons

6. Net Ecosystem Production or Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE)
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NEE = GPP – AR – HR
If NEE > 0, then C sink
If NEE < 0, then C source
Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), Fig. 20.8

7. Aboveground NPP
Varies as a function of Leaf Area Index (LAI) and position within leaf layers
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Light is an important limiting factor to NPP. Note that NPP would be very low in a monolayer of leaves relative to this example with 15 layers (since total NPP would be the sum of the whole stack).
Larcher, W Physiological Plant Ecology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), Fig. 20.4, after Larcher (1980) Physiological Plant Ecology

8. Limitation of Primary Production
Water & Temperature
Key variables controlling global variation in terrestrial NPP
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Schuur, E. A. G Productivity and global climate revisited: The sensitivity of tropical forest growth to precipitation. Ecology 84:
Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), Fig , after Schuur (2003) Ecology

9. Limitation of Primary Production
CO2 & Nutrients (e.g., N, P, K, micronutrients)
Alpine nutrient-addition experiment
Dry meadow
N & N+P increased biomass
Subordinate plants increased
Wet meadow
P, N & N+P increased biomass
Dominant plants increased
Please do not use the images in these PowerPoint slides without permission.
Bowman, W. D., T. A. Theodose, J. C. Schardt & R. T. Conant Constraints of nutrient availability on primary production in two alpine communities. Ecology 74:
Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), Fig , after Bowman et al. (1993) Ecology

10. Limitation of Primary Production
CO2 & Nutrients (e.g., N, P, K, micronutrients)
Lake nutrient-addition experiment
P, N & C addition (far section of lake) caused a massive cyanobacteria bloom
Whereas N & C addition alone (near section of lake) did not
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Schindler, D. W Eutrophication and recovery in experimental lakes: Implications for lake management. Science 184:
Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), Fig , after Schindler (1974) Science

11. Limitation of Primary Production
Salt marsh nutrient-addition experiment
“Nutrient levels commonly associated with coastal eutrophication
increased above-ground leaf biomass...”
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Deegan, Linda A. et al Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss. Nature 490:
TIDE experiment photos from Deegan et al. (2012) Nature

12. Limitation of Primary Production
“In nutrient-enriched marshes, smooth cordgrass allocated less photosynthate to nutrient-gathering roots and storage rhizomes, resulting in a third less total below-ground biomass and a lower root:shoot ratio...”
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Deegan, Linda A. et al Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss. Nature 490:
TIDE experiment photos from Deegan et al. (2012) Nature

13. Limitation of Primary Production
“Plants tend to allocate the most NPP to those tissues that
acquire the resources that most limit their growth”
i.e., nutrient addition shifts nutrient limitation to light limitation
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Deegan, Linda A. et al Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss. Nature 490:
TIDE experiment photos from Deegan et al. (2012) Nature; quote from Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), pg. 453

14. Limitation of Primary Production
“Alterations in these key ecosystem properties reduced
geomorphic stability, resulting in creek-bank collapse…”
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Deegan, Linda A. et al Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss. Nature 490:
TIDE experiment photos from Deegan et al. (2012) Nature

15. Limitation of Primary Production
“Current nutrient loading rates to many coastal ecosystems have overwhelmed the capacity of marshes to remove nitrogen without deleterious effects…”
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Deegan, Linda A. et al Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss. Nature 490:
TIDE experiment photos from Deegan et al. (2012) Nature

16. Global Pattern of Terrestrial Chlorophyll
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) –
calculated from satellite measurements of reflectance in red and infrared wavelengths
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Wikipedia “Normalized Difference Vegetation Index” page; accessed 10-III-2015
[“Globalndvi tmo lrg" by NASA images produced by Reto Stockli and Jesse Allen, using data provided by the MODIS Land Science Team. Caption by Michon Scott. - Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons -
Image from Wikimedia Commons

17. Global Pattern of Terrestrial NPP
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Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), Fig. 20.7

18. Global Pattern of Marine NPP
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Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), Fig

19. Global Pattern of NPP
NPP patterns coincide with patterns of climate and upwelling
High terrestrial NPP in warm, wet tropics
Lower terrestrial NPP in dry (30) latitudes & cold, high (>60) latitudes
Highest marine NPP in mid-latitude zones of nutrient-rich upwelling
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Field, C. et al Primary productivity of the biosphere: Integrating terrestrial and oceanic components. Science 281:
Cain, Bowman & Hacker (2014), Fig , after Field et al. (1998) Science

20. Net Secondary Production
NSP = ingestion – respiration – egestion (losses via urine & feces)
NSP becomes heterotrophic biomass
Most NSP in most ecosystems occurs in detritivores
(especially bacteria & fungi)
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Wikipedia “Decomposition” page; accessed 6-XI-2014
[Andrew Dunn, [CC-BY-SA-2.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons]
Video from Wikimedia Commons – “A decaying peach over a period of six days. Each frame
is approximately 12 hours apart, as the fruit shrivels and becomes covered with mold.”