Abstract

The primary productivity has received a great deal of attention from limnologists and has been
measured in detail in a number of aquatic systems. The principal reason for this is that the rate
and amount of carbon fixed at the primary producer level can determine the amount of matter
and energy available for transfer and use at higher trophic levels. In large lakes and rivers,
planktonic productivity often represents the dominant input of new organic matter and potential
energy that drives the system. In smaller bodies of water and headwater streams, energy is
derived from autotrophic production sources as well. Impacts that alter rates' of primary
production can affect the transfer of energy to higher trophic levels, thus changing the productive
capacity of the ecosystem. Consequently, to understand more clearly the changes that might
occur, it is important to measure the primary production of aquatic habitats.

Introduction
All biological systems exist as a result of
continual inputs of energy to maintain
structure and order. At the scale of the
ecosystem, most of this energy comes
from sunlight, which is converted into the
energy of organic matter in living biomass
through the process of primary
production, and from imports of organic
matter from adjacent ecosystems. Primary
productivity is the conversion of the sun's Figure 1: Aquatic Ecosystem.

energy into organic material through photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis can be
summarized in the following equation:

6CO2 + 12 H20 C6H1 2 06 + 6H20 + 602

(At present of sunlight and pigment receptors)

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On land, it is driven by temperature and availability of water and nutrients modified by land use.
In aquatic ecosystems, primary productivity is driven by the availability of nutrients and light
and, to a lesser extent, by temperature and other factors. It provides the organic carbon that
supports the metabolism of ecosystems. Primary production in aquatic ecosystems is also of
great interest for practical concerns. Eutrophication, or the excess primary production caused by
accelerated nutrient inputs, is one of the greatest environmental problems facing both freshwater
and coastal marine ecosystems. On the positive side, primary production in oceans makes up 30
to 60% of global primary production, and the balance between primary production and
respiration is important in regulating carbon dioxide uptake by the oceans, and therefore climate
change. So primary productivity is very important for aquatic ecosystem.

Primary Productivity According to Ecology:

In ecology, productivity is the rate at which energy is added to the bodies of organisms in the
form of biomass. Biomass is simply the amount of matter that's stored in the bodies of a group of
organisms. Productivity can be defined for any trophic level or other group, and it may take units
of either energy or biomass. There are two basic types of productivity: gross and net.

 Gross primary productivity, or GPP, is the fixation of inorganic carbon into organic
matter by primary producers such as trees, plants, sea grass, benthic microalgae, some
bacteria, microalgae, and phytoplankton. It is a measure of the total rate of production of
new biomass. GPP occurs by photosynthesis, a process in which primary producers
harness the energy of the sun and convert carbon dioxide and water to chemical energy
(ATP), oxygen and carbohydrates or sugars. In order to grow, primary producers also
need nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. GPP is important because it produces
the organic matter (food) needed to support animal life on land and in the ocean. In
addition, the oxygen produced by photosynthesis is used in the process of respiration.

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  Net primary productivity, or NPP,
is gross primary productivity minus
the rate of energy loss to
metabolism and maintenance. In
other words, it's the rate at which
energy is stored as biomass by
plants or other primary producers
and made available to the consumers
in the ecosystem. Net primary Figure 2: Net Primary Productivity

productivity varies among ecosystems and depends on many factors. These include solar
energy input, temperature and moisture levels, carbon dioxide levels, nutrient availability,
and community interactions. These factors affect how many photo synthesizers are
present to capture light energy and how efficiently they can perform their role.

The Major Primary Producers Found in Aquatic Ecosystems

Figure 3: Kelp, algae and phytoplankton

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At the base of every food chain lie primary producers: organisms that turn sunlight into chemical
energy and later become food for consumers that can’t manufacture their own. The major
primary producers in most marine ecosystems are microscopic plankton, kelp, tiny green
photosynthesizes floating in the ocean's sunlit upper layers.

 Mosses and Lichens - Mosses and Lichens make their home in small to medium-sized
lakes and streams. Moss is a type of plant that doesn't flower or grow roots. Lichen is
actually a group of small plants closely related to algae and fungi. Moss and lichen grow
on land but can also be found in shallow waters.
 Phytoplankton- In oceans, lakes and slow-moving streams, phytoplankton are the major
producers. Phytoplankton are simply microscopic floating plants. Fish and other aquatic
animals eat the phytoplankton as it floats through the water.
 Kelp- Kelp, an aquatic plant, is a major producer in oceans and seas. Kelp grows
abundantly in large kelp forests found throughout the ocean. They stay anchored to the
ocean floor with a structure called a holdfast. Air-filled sacs called air bladders buoy the
kelp up towards the ocean's surface where the plant's leaf-like blades collect sunlight for
photosynthesis. Kelp provides food and shelter for a variety of ocean creatures, such as
sea turtles, crabs and various kinds of fish.
 Algae- A type of algae called benthic algae can also be found abundantly in lakes and
slow-moving streams. Benthic means that this algae lives close to and on the lower levels
of a body of water (riverbeds and lakebeds). Since algae has no roots, it usually floats or
attaches itself to rocks. Benthic algae also lives in coral reefs, where the energy it
produces feeds the coral it lives in. Cyanobacteria also falls into the producer category.
The prefix “cyan” means blue, so this bacteria is also known as blue-green algae.

Factors That Influence Variations in Primary Production

Primary production is responsible for most of the life on Earth. This is the process by which
plants convert the carbon dioxide that they have absorbed from the atmosphere and ocean into
various other chemical substances. These chemical substances then provide the structure from
which an ecosystem can emerge as animals of various kinds consume plant nutrients and develop

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a food chain. The factors affecting primary productivity are as complex as aquatic ecosystems
are-

 Vascular Plants- Vascular plants are overwhelmingly responsible for primary

production on land. These plants take in water through their root systems, which they
then use to distribute nutrients from the soil throughout their system. Through the process
of photosynthesis, these plants use sunlight to convert these nutrients into complex
substances such as sugars and proteins. This basic process creates the chemical
substances necessary for most of the complex terrestrial life on Earth.
 Algae- Unlike on land, the majority of primary production in the ocean is performed by
algae, which are simple organisms of differing kinds. Occasionally single algae combine
together to form more complex structures as in seaweed. Other times they remain free-
floating. These organisms create chemical substances in much the same way as vascular
plants through photosynthesis. Because they are already submerged in water, they require
no system of circulation.
 Water- Water is also essential for photosynthesis. Obviously, lack of water is never a
factor in oceanic primary production, but plays a great role in terrestrial production. Lack
of water is the main limit on primary production on the Earth's surface. It has been found
that in any area where there is an adequate water supply there will be a large amount of
primary production. Water is primarily supplied through rain and the Earth's weather
system.
 Light- Energy from the sun is essential to the process of photosynthesis, by which most
primary production gets done. This has a large effect in the oceans, where, because of the
limits of light penetration, it is necessary for most production to take place near the
surface. This area near the ocean's surface is called the photic zone. Beneath the photic
zone is what is known as the mixed zone, where some production takes place.
 Nitrogen- Nitrogen is essential for the primary production in the ocean is the availability
of essential nutrients. In a stratified oceanic water column, the upper illuminated layer is
typically low in nutrients, with the deeper layers acting as a reservoir of nutrients. Mixing
events bring these nutrients to the surface layer, enhancing primary production. In
temperate and high latitudes, deep mixing events in winter, and subsequent stratification
as the surface warming trend begins, lead to the well-known phenomenon of the spring
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 bloom and more generally to a pronounced seasonal cycle in primary production. On the
seasonal cycle are superimposed the effects of sporadic mixing events in response to
passing storms. The short-term increases in primary production associated with these
sporadic events are often missed by sampling schemes designed to record the seasonal
cycle.
 Temperature- Temperature is another factor that influences primary production. It is
believed that temperature controls the enzyme-mediated dark-reaction rates of
photosynthesis. Thus, from laboratory experiments, it has been shown that photosynthetic
rates in phytoplankton increase with temperature up to an optimal temperature, after
which they decrease. However, the details of this response may differ with species. In
nature, the tendency of primary production rates to increase with temperature is
confounded by another effect: upwelling waters with high nutrients tend to have a low
temperature, and the increase in primary production in response to the nutrient supply
may in fact supersede the counteracting effect of temperature.
 Hydrogen Ion Concentration (pH)- PH value plays an important role in many life
processes. It may also reflect the redox potential productivity and pollution level of the
aquatic environments. The pH values in the present study were found to lie on alkaline
side.
 Dissolved Oxygen- Oxygen is often considered one of the most fundamental water
quality parameters of lakes because it is essential to the metabolism of all aquatic
organisms. The relation between dissolved oxygen (DO) and total count of
phytoplankton, chlorophyll a and net production showed a positive correlation that high
DO is a result high phytoplankton density.

Measurement of Primary Productivity in Aquatic Habitats

Oxygen measurement: Since there is a definite equivalence between oxygen and food
produced, oxygen production can be a basis for determining productivity. Oxygen measurement
has been used as a measure of productivity primarily for the aquatic ecosystems. A variety of
techniques are employed as listed as follows-

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a. Light and dark bottle method: This method pioneered by Gaarder and Gran in 1927, is
widely used in both marine and freshwater environments to measure primary productivity in an
aquatic ecosystem. It is based upon the assumption that the amount of oxygen produced is
proportional to gross production because one molecule of oxygen is produced for each atom of
carbon fixed. Samples of water from different depths are placed in paired bottles. One of the
paired bottles is covered with black tape or aluminum foil to exclude light and other is kept clear
to admit light and allow photosynthesis. Dissolved oxygen is measured tetra metrically by the
Winkler method or electronically by one of several types of oxygen electrodes. The bottles are
suspended to the same depth from where samples were collected with the help of string. After 24
hours the bottles are removed their oxygen concentration is determined and compared with the
concentration at the beginning. The decline of oxygen in the dark bottle indicates the amount of
respiration by producers and consumers where the oxygen change in the light bottle reflects the
net result of oxygen consumed by respiration and oxygen produced. Adding respiration and
production together or subtracting final oxygen concentration in the dark bottle from that in the
light bottles give an estimate of gross productivity for 24 hours. In other words the combination
of oxygen measurements in the light-and- dark bottles provide a measure gross primary
production, and the light bottle measures net community production of whatever part of the
community is in the bottle. The greatest limitation of the oxygen method is its low sensitivity,
which is dependent on the resolution of the usual methods of measuring dissolved oxygen. The
method is therefore only useful for nutrient-rich lakes with high primary production.

b. The diurnal curve method: The light-dark bottle method for measuring gross primary
production of the community (defined as the sum of the net plant production and community
respiration during the daytime) is seldom applicable in flowing waters because much of the
community is benthic and heterogeneous rather than planktonic. In such cases productivity of
flowing water systems such as streams or estuaries and especially polluted waters is measured by
an alternative method, the diurnal curve method. The method consists of measuring the amount
of oxygen dissolved in water at intervals of 2 to 3 hours throughout the 24 hours period (day and
night). The rise and fall of oxygen during the day and night is then plotted as diurnal curve. The
production of oxygen during the day and its use during the night can then be estimated by
determining the area under the diurnal curves. The “diurnal curve method” measures gross
primary production since oxygen used at night is added to that produced during the day (thus

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automatically including the respiration of the whole community). If oxygen diffuses out of the
body of water or into it from the atmosphere at an appreciable rate, a source of error is
introduced; however, reasonable corrections can be made since diffusion is dependent on well-
defined physical laws.

c. Hypolimnetic method: In specialized situations, such as deep temperate lakes, productivity

has been measured by a sort of reverse procedure, that is, by measuring the rate of oxygen
disappearance in the deep waters (hypolimnion), during the production (summer) season. During
the summer season a temperate lake is stratified into upper lighted waters, the epilimnion and the
lower deep waters, the hypolimnion. In such stratified lakes, deep waters are isolated from the
atmosphere for several months during the summer; they produce no oxygen and are not in
circulation with the upper waters during a major part of the production (summer) season and
therefore, oxygen cannot be replaced before the autumnal mixing period. Hypolimnetic oxygen
depletion hence has been considered an indicator of lake productivity since the early twentieth
century. Thus, the greater the production in the upper, lighted waters (epilimnion), the more dead
cells, bodies, feces, and other organic matter fall to the bottom where they decay under the action
of bacteria and fungi with the use of oxygen. The rate of oxygen depletion is, therefore,
proportional to productivity. Since decay of plants and animals uses up oxygen, the
“hypolimnetic method” measures the net production of the whole community (that is, both
primary and secondary production) of the epilimnion.

2. The pH method: In aquatic ecosystems the pH of the water is a function of the dissolved
carbon dioxide content, which, in turn, is decreased by photosynthesis and increased by
respiration. However, to use pH as an index to productivity the investigator must first prepare a
calibration curve for the water in the particular system to be studied because-

 pH and CO2 content are not linearly related and

 The degree of pH change per unit of CO2 change depends on the buffering capacity of
the water.

This relationship breaks down in those areas both freshwater and marine in which photosynthetic
activity is accompanied by the precipitation of calcium carbonate and the method obviously
cannot be used in such conditions. The pH method has been especially useful in the study of
laboratory micro-ecosystems such as since with a pH electrode and recorder one can obtain a
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continuous record of net daytime photosynthesis and night time respiration (from which gross
production can be estimated) without removing anything or otherwise disturbing the community.

3. The chlorophyll method: This method is based upon estimation of productivity from
chlorophyll concentration and light intensity through the water column. The technique evolved
from the discovery by plant physiologist that a close relationship exists between chlorophyll
concentration and photosynthesis at any given light intensity. With proper calibration, the area-
based chlorophyll content of a whole community can provide an index to its productivity.In a
given light-adapted system the chlorophyll in the autotrophic zone self-adjusts to nutrients and
other limiting factors. Consequently, if the assimilation ratio and the available light are known,
gross production can be estimated by the relatively simple procedure of extracting pigments and
then measuring the chlorophyll concentration with a spectrophotometer. The method was first to
used to estimate primary productivity in large water bodies such as sea but later applied to
terrestrial ecosystem as well as. This method involves the determination of chlorophyll contents
of phytoplankton in a given volume of water. Because all plants need chlorophyll to carry on
photosynthesis the amount of chlorophyll in a given amount of water is a direct measure of the
total biomass or standing crop of phytoplankton it contains. The chlorophyll is extracted
chemically and the amount of chlorophyll is measured. The deeper the color the greater is the
concentration of the chlorophyll and therefore phytoplankton biomass.

4. Disappearance of raw materials: Productivity can be measured not only by the rate of
formation of materials (food, protoplasm, minerals) and by measuring gaseous exchange but also
by the rate of the disappearance of raw material minerals. The method is used in situations like
oceans where certain constituents like nitrogen and phosphorus are not in a steady supply
throughout the year but accumulate in water once in a year or at intervals. The rate at which the
concentration of these raw materials decreases becomes a measure of productivity during that
period. This method has been used to measure the production of certain oceans where
phosphorus and nitrogen accumulate during the winter and are then used for the growth of
phytoplankton during spring. The disappearance of the amount of raw material which gets
incorporated in food production measures the net production of the whole community. This
method however cannot be used in a situation which has a steady state of equilibrium wherein

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the amount used might be balanced by the amount being released or entering the system, and
there would be no way of determining the actual rate of use by organisms.

Importance of Primary Production in Aquatic Habitats

 Fix the rate of carbon dioxide in water by photosynthesis.

 Source of energy for all other life in water.
 Fix the rate of oxygen in the water.
 Play most vital role in food web.
 Primary productivity control the different parameter in water like pH, DO, COD etc.
 Play an important role in carbon cycle.
 Help to fix the water quality.
 As the amount of water in earth is much then the land, so primary productivity is much
more in aquatic habitats than the terrestrial habitats.

Conclusion
Primary productivity play very important role in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. By the role
of primary producer, sunlight energy is converted to chemical energy and store among them. In
aquatic ecosystems, primary productivity is driven by the availability of nutrients and light and,
to a lesser extent, by temperature and other factors. Primary productivity is important because it
is the process that forms the foundation of food webs in aquatic habitats. Every single species
lives in aquatic ecosystem directly depend on the primary producers for surviving. Primary
productivity can ensure the energy flow through the food web and helps the consumers to stay
alive. So we can easily say that without primary production by the producers, it is very much
impossible to think about life in the Earth.

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References

 www.jstor.org/stable/3881530?seq
 www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary/primaryproduction
 smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/678
 www.google.com/search?q=importance+of+primary+productivity
 sciencing.com/major-primary-producer-marine-ecosystem-4683
 https://biodivcanada.chm-cbd.net/ecosystem-status-trends-2010/primary-productivity

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