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Plants convert solar energy to biological energy via photosynthesis

Desert.lots of solar radiationbut very low productivity (and so biodiversity

too) Why? Its more than just about solar energy, must have other aspects of
the physical environment (water). Further, deserts are typically highly variable
(diurnal / seasonal) making it further difficult.

Arctic lots of water and sun, but temperature and food (on land) are issues

Open ocean.even more barren in terms of life.why? (Nutrients and

structure )

However both polar bears and lions thrive at the Toronto Zoo so, like the
Nova documentary you watched suggests it is temperature and water that
structures the Earths biota, it does not necessarily affect organisms directly.
Polar bears are restricted to the far north and lions to the African savanna
because of indirect effects of temp and water on communities of organisms.
Both have evolved to thrive in the physical and biological contexts they find
themselves. A polar bear is ill suited to prey on gazelle and likewise lions
would starve trying to survive on seal meat.

The correlation between species diversity and key habitat characteristics is

very high. What kind of habitat (abiotic) traits are we referring to?
Temp, water etc. but really, we are talking about the capacity of a habitat to
facilitate plant growth. Primary production is a necessary prerequisite for
biodiversity.

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Can think of panel c) as the product of panel a) x panel b)

e.g. algal beds, reefs and tropical rainforests (green arrows) are among the
most productive habitats on Earth (panel b), but because they make up so little
of the total surface (panel a) the contribution to total global net primary
production is very modest. Contrast this with Open Ocean which is literally
equivalent to a desert. In fact aquatic and especially marine habitats are often
far less productive than terrestrial onesunless there are nutrient subsidies
from the land available, thus explaining why estuaries and marshes (blue
arrows) are so much more productive than most aquatic and marine habitats.

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The fixation of carbon locks energy into the products of photosynthesis

especially sugar which is particularly energy dense. Those calories (energy)
are actual sunlight, indeed all food calories are.and the matter is actual
stardust.
CRITICAL to appreciate Material cycle closed and Energy cycle open. The
fact that energy cannot be conserved is the root of most environmental issues
BUT ALSO is the root of all ecological processes.
1o = primary production

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Biological energy is stored in the molecular bonds of materials you eat. Those
bonds are stripped and the energy stored in your body for you to use. Glucose
has much more energy stored in its bonds than water or carbon dioxide (the
products of respiration)

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Plants respire too (burn energy to do work)

Net productivity is the energy made available to the ecosystem in the form of
plant biomass). In other words it is the energy remaining after the energetic
costs of its production are subtracted.

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Carbon is stripped from the CO2 to make sugar, byproduct is O2.

Constant input of energy is needed to drive process (energy cycles are open).
Carbon is cycled from within (closed system)

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Why are crop plants higher than normal plants? We seek disproportionate
production of high energy plant parts (fruits, seeds etc)
Why is sugarcane the highest? We seek high density of the most energy
dense of all components sugar.

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Of the 480,000 units of energy, only 10,400 are converted for gross primary
production that in turn only netted 4,680 which in turn produced only 1-160
units of consumer. The major message of the this and the previous slide is that
is that it takes a lot of energy to make a little bit of life life is, in general, not
very efficient in its energy use.

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Why have we switched to kJ (energy) instead of carbon? Einstein matter is

energy ( E=MC2)
The production metric here is not carbon per time (material production) but
energy per time (energy production). Carbon is a proxy measure of energy
since we know how much energy is consumed and stored per molecule
production.

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The ability of solar radiation to penetrate water is very limited. Certain

wavelengths are lost almost immediately (reds) and others (blues) penetrate
much deeper. This greatly diminishes gross productivity after only a couple of
meters.

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98% of ocean volume is aphotic

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The warmer the colour, the greater the primary production.

Equatorial regions are the LOWEST production, not highest.
Season plays a large role in determining production in temperate zones
(compare the January and July panels) but tropics are uniformly low?

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Nitrogen completely absorbed while excess phosphorus remains

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Much of the ocean is nutrient limited. Particularly nitrogen which is completely

absorbed in the euphotic zone (highly limiting). Always assumed phosphorus
was limiting because nitrogen is rich in air (N2) and cyanobacteria in ocean
but biologically usable nitrogen (nitrate, ammonium) is limiting.
Not always nitrogen limitation. Often iron also limiting (iron shortage limits
cyanobacteria to fix nitrogen). Some places like eastern Mediterranean are
phosphate, not nitrogen, limited.

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Iron is necessary for cyanobacteria to fix N2 therefore those areas with

strong offshore winds carrying iron rich dust show high marine productivity

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Regardless of the season the west coast of Africa maintains high productivity
(and intense fishing pressure as a result)

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BUT, Iron as well as other nutrients are all more dense than water.and sink
(marine snow).
Problem: Nutrients need to be near the surface (euphotic zone) if they to be
used.

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Note the convergence of currents at the equator

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Modest increase on the equator (light green). Strength of upwelling is much

less than temperate coastal upwelling owing to the weaker winds (doldrums).
Note the greater production in the boreal summer vs. austral summerwhy?
Greater proportion of land mass and thus nutrient sources.

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Not everywhere is a desert upwelling zones, terrestrial subsidies etc..

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Large plants are possible.but found only in shallow waters, anchored to the
substrate.

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Challenge unlimited chemical resources on the bottom, unlimited solar

resources at surface.? How to bridge?
If possible, would drive marine food web to the surface, massive harnessing of
solar radiation, massive increase in biomass.etc.

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Lack of nutrients does not stop tropical forests from growing thick with
biomass
Tropical soils very depauperate of nutrients, every bit as much as the
ocean.but energy harnessing plants still abound and cover the surface..?

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Large floating sponge-like plants could easily overcome the nutrient / light
challenge

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Micro floating algae have the advantage of being able to float and sink and
therefore can retard the conveyer effect of currents. Macrophytes will be
broken up in storms and drift out of optimal habitat before reproduction.
Test: Is there open ocean where the currents are not a conveyer across
latitudes and climactic gradients.?

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Massive floating mats of Sargassum sp.

Columbus calmed a mutinous crew by plucking a crab from the surface and
arguing they must be close to land..they werent

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Ocean carbon reserve is 60x greater than atmosphere

Nutrients are limiting in the ocean ; carbon is limiting on land

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Average productivity on land is 10,000x that of marine surface waters

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Low primary productivity

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Medium Primary Productivity

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High Primary Productivity

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Oxygen kill can occur in both summer and winter when the bottom layers of
water are cut off from the surface (and abundant oxygen)

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One of the many large changes that occur during eutrophication: green algae
preplaced by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria).
Blue-greens are not heavily grazed by zooplankton or fish, often cant handle
the long filaments and many cyano produce secondary toxins explode in
abundance

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Eutrophicatiuon and hypereutrophication are typically caused by run-off of

human activity. An extreme case is the Gulf of Mexico dead zone (oxygen kill).

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Similar events can be seen in marine systems too. Here the Fraser R plume.
Not just organic nutrients here, but as we have seen, vital inorganics too like
iron.

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The most powerful experiments are the ones where the conclusion is self
evident. This work done at the Experimental Lakes Area closed by DFO
Why is this design superior to simply adding carbon in one lake, nitrogen in
another and phosphorus in yet another?

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