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Which ecosystem has the highest productivity?

seo-qna
Last updated date: 18th Sep 2024
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Answer
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Hint: An ecosystem is a community of living organisms that interact as a system with the nonliving components of their environment. Nutrient cycles and energy flows connect these biotic and abiotic components.

Complete answer:
The term productivity in ecology refers to the rate at which biomass is generated in an ecosystem, which is commonly stated in mass per volume per unit of time, such as grammes per square metre per day. The mass unit can refer to dry materials or the mass of carbon generated.
Primary productivity in an ecosystem refers to the accumulation of energy in the form of biomass. Coral reefs have the highest productivity in aquatic ecosystems. In terrestrial ecosystems, tropical rainforests have the highest productivity.
The synthesis of organic material from inorganic molecules is known as primary production. The process of photosynthesis, in which organisms synthesise organic molecules from sunlight, $H_2O$, and $CO_2$, dominates primary production in most ecosystems. Net Primary Production (NPP) and Gross Primary Production (GPP) are two terms used to describe primary production (GPP).
Gross primary production refers to the total amount of carbon absorbed by primary producers into organic molecules. The organic molecules produced by primary producers are measured as net primary production.
Net primary production measures the amount of carbon assimilated into organic molecules by primary producers but excludes organic molecules that are then broken down by these organisms for biological processes such as cellular respiration.

Note:
The primary fixation of solar energy by plants and the subsequent use of that fixed energy by plant-eating herbivores, animal-eating carnivores, and detritivores that feed on dead biomass are all examples of ecological productivity. A food web is a complex of energy fixation and utilisation.