Abstract
Forests and woodlands cover some 57 × 106km2, which is about 38% of the total continental area or 11% of the Earth’s surface. Despite this relatively small area, 92% of the Earth’s plant biomass and 46% of its annual net primary production come from forest (Table 23). The 79.9 billion metric tons of dry plant matter produced (net) each year by forests exceeds the total net primary production of the oceans, even though the oceans are more than six times larger in area. The animal biomass in these forests represents 68% of the total found on continental land masses (Whittaker and Likens, 1973).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Likens, G.E., Bormann, F.H. (1995). The Northern Hardwood Ecosystem at Hubbard Brook in Relation to Other Forest Ecosystems in the World. In: Biogeochemistry of a Forested Ecosystem. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4232-1_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4232-1_7
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-94351-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4232-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive