BIOLOGY 171 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Tropical Rainforest, Ocean Gyre, Primary Production
1 Feb 2017
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Unit 4 lecture 18 (cid:862)light, (cid:449)ater, (cid:374)utrie(cid:374)ts, a(cid:374)d di(cid:448)ersity all i(cid:374)flue(cid:374)(cid:272)e rates of pri(cid:373)ary produ(cid:272)tio(cid:374)(cid:863) (cid:894)p. (cid:1005)(cid:1004)(cid:1007)(cid:1012)-(cid:1013)(cid:895)(cid:863) What controls rates of photosynthesis: sunlight: intensity declines from equator to the poles, seasonality: more pronounced near poles, water and nutrients. Photosynthesis requires co2+h2o so the amount of co2 fixed into organic matter in a given time interval is closely tied to h2o availability: lack of regular h2) access limits productivity of photosynthetic organisms. If water is not limiting, rates of photosynthesis are constrained by nutrient availability. Plants/algae/photosynthetic bacteria need n, p, s, fe, and trace elements to grow: primary production is limited by the nutrient that is least available relative to its use by primary producers. Diversity of species on earth is the result of evolutionary, physiological, behavioral, and ecological processes (cid:862)glo(cid:271)al patter(cid:374)s of pp reflect variation in climate & nutrient availability (p. 1063-(cid:1008)(cid:895)(cid:863)
