Question

What is primary productivity? Give brief description of factors that affect primary productivity.

Answer 1

The amount of biomass and organic matter produced per unit area over a time period by plants during the process of photosynthesis is known as primary productivity. Primary productivity of an ecology depends on the variety of ecological factors such as light, temperature, water, precipitation, etc. It also depends on the availability of nutrients and the availability of plants to carry out photosynthesis process. It is expressed as gm^-2yr^-1 or Kcal m^-2yr^-1.

Factors affecting primary productivity are:

i) Availability of nutrients which varies in different types of ecosystem.

ii) Photosynthesis capacity of plants.

iii) The plant species inhabits a particular region.

iv) Environmental factors: Sunlight, Temperature, Soil water and Nutrients.