A number of factors account for the variation in ecosystem productivity. The major factors which work in combination rather than in isolation are differences in the supply of nutrients, climatic factor ( sunlight, temperature) and the size of the photosynthetic surface.
1. Climatic factor:
The climatic factors that influence productivity include- Light
- Temperature
- Precipitation
- Length of growing season
The salva ecosystem is the most productive because of abundant light, high temperatures and also abundant and fairly distributed rainfall.
- Sunlight:
Sunlight being an essential factor, it varies in intensity and duration over the earth's surface and so too in productivity.
Areas of Latitude and longitude also defines the intensity of sunlight which brings in the differences in productivity around the globe. Also, it depends in the period of the year as there is less intensity in winter and very cold seasons than others and also in the time of the day as there is more productivity during the day than at night because of the intensity of Sunlight. More so, the intensity of Sunlight is greater at the equator and declines towards the poles.
- Temperature:
This is another important control on primary production. Generally, production increases with increase in temperature which stimulates photosynthesis. This accounts for the general decline in productivity from the equator towards the poles as temperature generally falls with increase in latitude. This may be significant on land but temperature variations within the sea are far from severe and organisms have easily evolved to cope with the near-freezing-point water.
- Precipitation
Which also determines moisture availability. Water is one of the essential ingredients that is necessary for the production of organic matter. It is also the medium by which nutrients move in plants. All things being equal, the greater the soil moisture and its regularity in supply, the higher is the productivity and vise versa. The salva ecosystems high productivity is partly accounted for by its heavy rainfall and constant soil moisture budget surplus. Conversely, desert which suffer from persistent soil moisture deficit have low productivity irrespective of the input of sunshine.
2. Nutrient supply and rate of cycling:
This is a major factor that affects the productivity of ecosystems. Nutrients are chemical elements which are required by plants for the production of organic matter. These include carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen which are needed in large quantities; calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and sulphur needed in small amounts; and trace elements such as molybdenum, boron and zinc which are needed in very minute amounts. The supply of this nutrients and the rate of cycling vary from place to place and amount for the variation in the production of the different ecosystems.
3. Amount and size of photosynthetic surface:
Productivity is generally higher on forest vegetation than grassland because of larger photosynthetic surface of the forest. Photosynthesis takes place on the green pigment of plants called chlorophyll. The highest concentration is usually on plant leaves, although any green part of a plant can photosynthesise. Even within forest, productivity varies depending on leaves sizes. The broad leaves of the rainforest and deciduous forest offer greater possibilities for photosynthesis. In salva, this is further reinforced by their evergreen nature which allows maximum opportunity for the production of organic matter than in the needle shaped leaves of cornifers which reduce the effectiveness of photosynthesis. The absence of leaves in extreme cases, of desert plants or their tiny nature meant to reduce or avoid excessive loss of water in dry environment partly explains the low productivity of desert and semi-desert ecosystems. However, this also depends on the availability of moisture and nutrients.
From the above analysis, all the factors work in combination rather than in isolation to determine variations in productivity of ecosystem over the surface of the earth.
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