All Flashcards
What is Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)?
Total energy captured by producers through photosynthesis.
Define Respiration in plants.
Process where plants use captured energy for their needs, releasing some as heat.
What is Net Primary Productivity (NPP)?
Energy remaining after plants use some for respiration; energy available to other organisms.
What determines how much life an ecosystem can support?
Net Primary Productivity (NPP).
How does NPP relate to biodiversity?
Higher NPP usually means more biodiversity and more organisms at higher trophic levels.
Why is NPP important?
It's the real energy available to the ecosystem and determines how much life it can support.
What is the relationship between GPP and NPP?
NPP = GPP - Respiration. NPP is the energy remaining after accounting for respiration.
What percentage of sunlight is captured by plants?
Only about 1% of sunlight is captured by plants.
What happens to the energy captured by plants?
Some is used for respiration, and the rest becomes Net Primary Productivity (NPP).
How does increased sunlight affect GPP?
Increased sunlight generally increases GPP, as more energy is available for photosynthesis.
How does increased GPP affect biodiversity?
Increased GPP can support higher biodiversity by providing more energy to support more organisms at various trophic levels.