Ecosystem energetics: primary production

1
 Reminder
Primary production Primary Production = Flux (rate)
Biomass/Standing Stock = Pool
¨2 Autotrophs store potential energy in the chemical bonds of
“organic” molecules
¤ Photosynthesis: solar energy used to add electrons to CO2,
turning it into reduced, organic molecules like glucose
¤ Chemosynthesis

¨ Why is it important?
¤ Supports growth and metabolism of
n Autotrophs
n Herbivores
n Predators
n Detritivores
¤ Regulates other ecosystem processes
¤ Regulates global C cycle
Ecosystem energetics: primary production
 Carried out by chlorophyll-
Photosynthesis containing organisms

¨3 Provides the energy for (nearly) all forms of life on Earth

¨ Oxidation (loss of e-)
¤ H2O à O2 + e-
¨ Reduction (gain of e-)
¤ CO2 + e- à CH2O Gross Primary Production
Creation of organic molecules
¨ Net reaction:
¤ Light + CO2 + H2O à CH2O + O2
¨ Multiple steps: (vary by photosynthesis type)
¤ Light-capturing reactions
Where did the mass in
n Allow synthesis of ATP these logs come from?
¤ Carbon fixation
n Energy from ATP + CO2 à carbohydrates
 Carried out by all
Cellular respiration organisms

4
¨ Oxidation
¤ CH2O à CO2 + e- (used to power ATP synthesis)
¨ Reduction
¤ O2 + e- à H2O
¨ Overall: CH2O + O2 à CO2 + H2O
¨ Aerobic respiration
¤ O2 is most efficient electron acceptor
¨ Anaerobic respiration
¤ Other electron acceptors (e.g., Fe3+, NO3-) are less efficient
You have a friend who lost 7 kg (about 15 pounds) of fat on
a regimen of strict diet and exercise. How did the fat
leave their body?

A) It was broken down to amino acids and eliminated from

the body.
B) It was converted to ATP, which weighs much less than fat.
C) It was released as CO2 and H2O.
D) It was converted to urine and eliminated from the body.
E) It was converted to heat and then released.

5
Even though plants carry on photosynthesis, plant cells still
use their mitochondria for cellular respiration. When and
where will this occur?

A) in all cells all the time

B) in photosynthesizing cells in the light and in other tissues in
the dark
C) in nonphotosynthesizing cells only
D) in cells that are storing glucose only
E) in photosynthetic cells in the light, while photosynthesis
occurs concurrently

6
Why don’t primary producers use the ATP that they make in
photosynthesis for their direct cellular energy needs?

A) That ATP doesn’t provide enough energy

B) ATP doesn’t taste good
C) ATP is not durable enough for transportation
D) Because glucose is the building block of other organic
molecules that they need to synthesize, like cellulose.

7
 Components of Productivity

NEP CO2
GPP
Oxidation
(Fire or UV) Ra
NPP Rh
Consumers (Re = Ra + Rh)
Accumulation
in biomass Detritus and
exudates
Decomposers
Accumulation in Not
sediments or soil decomposed
Organic C
Organic C import
export
Primary Production
¨
9
Gross primary production (GPP)
¤ Total photosynthesis (total organic molecules made from CO2)
¨ Net primary production (NPP)
¤ Energy capture by primary producers minus their own respiration.
¤ Net carbon gain by vegetation. NPP = GPP – Ra

¨ Net ecosystem production (NEP)

¤ portion of GPP that is not respired by autotrophs or heterotrophs.
¤ NEP = GPP – Re OR NEP = NPP – Rh
n Ra = respiration by autotrophs | Rh = respiration by heterotrophs
n Re = Ra + Rh

¨ Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance (NECB)

¤ net rate of organic C accumulation/loss from an ecosystem
¤ NECB = NEP – CO efflux – CH4 emissions – VOC emissions – C
leaching – C loss fires – C harvest – C erosion – C animal transport
Can NECB be negative?
¨ Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance is the net rate of organic C
accumulation/loss from an ecosystem

Kurz et al. 2008

NPP variation & limits Sometimes
expressed in
NPP in (g C/m2/y) biomass units (g
dry mass), equal to
Desert, poor tundra 0-100 roughly carbon x 2

Grassland, shrubland 100-350

Temperate forest 300-800
Tropical forest 600-1000
Wetland, sugar cane, rice >1000

Limits
Light, Temp, Nutrients, Competition, Water, Others?
NPP and C stocks in terrestrial ecosystems

12

¨ Why are the ANPP and C stocks of tropical forests so high?

¨ Why do temperate grasslands have higher ANPP than deserts but lower C stocks?
¨ How can boreal forests have similar ANPP to deserts but much higher C stocks?
¨ What factor(s) might be limiting in tropical forests, deserts and boreal forests?
GPP From Field et al. 1998

13

Biomass (Pg) NPP (Pg/y) Turnover (y)

Marine 1 48.5 0.02
Terrestrial 600 56.4 10.7

Why do biomass and turnover differ so much between marine & terrestrial systems?
Trophic Structure
14

¨ Trophic levels
Trophic “Pyramids”
¨15 Numbers pyramids
¤ The number of individuals at each level
¨ Biomass pyramids
¤ Biomass/potential energy at each level
¤ Energy available to one trophic level is limited by the level below.

¤ Because energy is lost in the transfer from one level to the next,
there is successively less total energy as you move up trophic levels.
~10% energy transfer from one trophic level to the next
¨ Energy pyramids
¤ Rates of production rather than standing crop
¤ Usually correlated with biomass pyramid
Trophic “Pyramids”
Forest Ocean
16

Numbers

Can be
Biomass inverted

Can’t be
Energy inverted
Measuring Terrestrial PP
¨17 Field Methods
¤ Biomass accumulation
n Tree diameter growth → allometric equations
n Annual grasslands harvests
n Detritus
n Herbivory
n Belowground difficult to measure
¤ Photosynthesis rates (e.g. LiCor 6400)
n Leaf gas exchange and fluorescence
¤ Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE)
n Eddy covariance (CO2): instantaneous NEP measure

Downward flux – upward flux

Measuring Terrestrial PP
¨18 Remote Sensing
¤ Satelite
n NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index)
n Vegetation density / vegetation “greenness”
n Sometimes correlated with NPP
¤ Aircraft
n Lidar (Light Detection & Ranging)
n Laser reflectance time → 3D structure
n 3D structure combined w/ field data
n Biomass/NPP estimates

¤ Modeling
n Many to choose from!