14 Facts About Primary production

In ecology, primary production is the synthesis of organic compounds from atmospheric or aqueous carbon dioxide.

The organisms responsible for primary production are known as primary producers or autotrophs, and form the base of the food chain.

Primary production is the production of chemical energy in organic compounds by living organisms.

The main source of this energy is sunlight but a minute fraction of primary production is driven by lithotrophic organisms using the chemical energy of inorganic molecules.

Gross primary production is the amount of chemical energy, typically expressed as carbon biomass, that primary producers create in a given length of time.

Net primary production is the rate at which all the autotrophs in an ecosystem produce net useful chemical energy.

Net primary production is available to be directed toward growth and reproduction of primary producers.

Primary production on land is a function of many factors, but principally local hydrology and temperature .

Methods for measurement of primary production vary depending on whether gross vs net production is the desired measure, and whether terrestrial or aquatic systems are the focus.

Gross primary production can be estimated from measurements of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide made by the eddy covariance technique.

Gross primary production is then obtained by adding oxygen consumption in the dark vessel to net oxygen production in the light vessel.

Technique of using C incorporation to infer primary production is most commonly used today because it is sensitive, and can be used in all ocean environments.

Gross primary production is best estimated using relatively short incubation times, since the loss of incorporated C will be more limited.

Net primary production is the fraction of gross production remaining after these loss processes have consumed some of the fixed carbon.