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Primary Production and Respiration: Ecological Processes in Wetlands

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The Wetland Book

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Abstract

Wetland primary production is a measure of ecosystem metabolism. It quantifies the amount of carbon fixed in the process of photosynthesis and released in the process of respiration by the plants and algae (photosynthetic organisms) in the ecosystem. At the ecosystem level, the total amount of carbon captured and stored via photosynthesis is known as gross primary production, or GPP. Respiration is the cellular process in which the chemical energy contained in organic compounds is converted to useful energy (in the form of adenosine triphosphate, ATP) to maintain cellular activity. The balance of these two processes represents the net carbon fixed into organic compounds, or net primary production (NPP), which can be used to build biomass.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, 43022, USA

    M. Siobhan Fennessy

  2. Columbus State Community College, Columbus, OH, USA

    Julie K. Cronk

Authors
  1. M. Siobhan Fennessy
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  2. Julie K. Cronk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Siobhan Fennessy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    C. Max Finlayson

  2. International Water Security Network, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Mark Everard

  3. UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands

    Kenneth Irvine

  4. RM Wetlands and Environment Ltd., Littleworth, Oxfordshire, UK

    Robert J. McInnes

  5. U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, Lafayette, LA, USA

    Beth A. Middleton

  6. Aquatic Ecosystems Group, Department of Water Science and Engineering, UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands

    Anne A. van Dam

  7. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    Nick C. Davidson

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Fennessy, M.S., Cronk, J.K. (2018). Primary Production and Respiration: Ecological Processes in Wetlands. In: Finlayson, C.M., et al. The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9659-3_67

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