The Measurement of Primary Production in Aquatic Ecosystems

Abstract

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. This import of energy in organic matter is, of course, dependent upon primary production in the “upstream” ecosystem. Thus, a critical aspect of understanding the functioning of an ecosystem is an accurate estimate of its rate of primary production.