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Some Prospects beyond Production Measurement

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Primary Productivity of the Biosphere

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 14))

Abstract

We have been asked what insight into an ecosystem can be gained if one knows its dry matter production. In some discussions of primary productivity I have heard such figures likened to the relatively insignificant house numbers along streets. The comparison is inept in at least one fundamental respect: the primary productivity of an ecosystem is its most essential resource base and the working income on which the development of community structure and function depends. Deeper insight may be gained from the study of productivity when that productivity is viewed as an approach to analysis of the structure and composition of communities. With the help of a few examples, this chapter investigates the expanded perspective one may develop by partitioning productivity into four aspects: stratal productivity, productivity of individual species, production and diversity, and the chemical composition of productivity.

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Authors
  1. Helmut Lieth
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of North Carolina, 27514, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Helmut Lieth

  2. Section of Ecology and Systematics Langmuir Laboratory, Cornell University, 14850, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Robert H. Whittaker

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© 1975 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Lieth, H. (1975). Some Prospects beyond Production Measurement. In: Lieth, H., Whittaker, R.H. (eds) Primary Productivity of the Biosphere. Ecological Studies, vol 14. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80913-2_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80913-2_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-80915-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-80913-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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