Production efficiency - ecosystem, Biology

Assignment Help:

Production Efficiency - Ecosystem

The maximum amount of solar energy harvested by plants is about 5 per cent but the average for green plants, on the whole is only a small fraction of sunlight, i.e., 0.02 per cent reaching the atmosphere. The production efficiency that is the ratio of net primary production to gross primary production (of green plants) is on the average rather high. It varies between 40 to 85 per cent. The most efficient are those plants which have low maintenance requirement due to minimum non-photosynthetic (non green) tissues, such as in grasses, algae and phytoplankton. Algae and crops like corn have an efficiency of about 80 to 85 per cent, submerged aquatic plants 60 to 75 per cent, deciduous forests about 42 per cent. Different ecosystems have different productivities.

Productivity of ecosystems depends on a variety of factors such as sunlight, temperature, rainfall and the availability of nutrients. Those situations that provide the best circumstances for plant growth are the most productive. Warm, moist, sunny areas with high levels of nutrients in the soil are ideal. Some areas have low productivity because one of the essential factors is missing. Deserts have low productivity because water is scarce, arctic areas too have low productivity because temperature is low, and open oceans also have low productivity because nutrients are in short supply. Coral reefs and tropical rain forests have high productivity. Marshes and estuaries are-highly productive since waters running into them are rich in the nutrients and they also get enough light.


Related Discussions:- Production efficiency - ecosystem

Explain wire loop and tube method, Explain Wire loop and Tube Method 1....

Explain Wire loop and Tube Method 1.  Use a 25-gauge dental injection needle, cut to remove beveled end 2. Both ends of-mm diameter steel ligature wire passed through the ne

What are the substances transferred from the mother to fetus, What are the ...

What are the main substances transferred from the mother to the fetus through the placenta? And from the fetus to the mother? From the mother to the fetus the major transferre

Do you know about lateral lines of fishes, Q. What are the lateral lines of...

Q. What are the lateral lines of fishes? The lateral lines of bony fishes are sense organs that extend along both sides of the animal body they make contact with the environmen

Define non-digestible oligosaccharides (ndo), Define Non-Digestible Oligosa...

Define Non-Digestible Oligosaccharides (NDO) Among the various food components, the best prebiotic effects seen to be exerted by the NDOs. They are oligomeric carbohydrates, wh

Set them up using the punnett square, Two gene loci, A and B, assort indepe...

Two gene loci, A and B, assort independently, and alleles A and B are dominant over alleles a and b. Indicate the probability of producing: An aB phenotype from a cross AaBb x AaBB

Status of dehydration, The first step should be to determine the status of ...

The first step should be to determine the status of dehydration. We have already talked about the mild, inoderate and severe dehydration. In mild to moderate cases fluid, electroly

Annelida, what are the characteristics of polychaeta

what are the characteristics of polychaeta

Bacillary dysentery and its etiology, Bacillary Dysentery   You have le...

Bacillary Dysentery   You have learnt about the diarrhoea in the foregoing sub-section, now let us take for example a child who has loose motion which contains blood and mucus

Pathophysiology and assessment of purpura, Pathophysiolog y   Normal...

Pathophysiolog y   Normally the platelets are formed from megakaryocytes (stem cells) in the.  bone marrow. These cells mature, fragment and are released in  the blood strea

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd