Why Is The Equatorial Region’S Biological Production So High?

Which terrestrial ecosystems have the highest productivity and why?

Terrestrial primary production (NPP) varies significantly across the Earth’s surface and among different ecosystem types. It varies from north to south due to factors such as plant community composition, growing season length, precipitation, temperature, and solar radiation. However, there are also longitudinal differences in terrestrial primary production. For example, there is a precipitous decline in NPP from east to west in middle North America due to declining precipitation.

NPP generally declines from tropical regions to the poles due to temperature and light limitations. Tropical forests are more productive than other terrestrial ecosystems, with temperate forests, tropical savannah, croplands, and boreal forests exhibiting middle levels of primary production. Desert and Tundra Biomes contain the least productive ecosystems. Disturbance, management, and land-use change, including urbanization, play critical roles in determining spatial differences in terrestrial primary production.

Tropical ecosystems comprise nearly half of global NPP and GPP, while temperate ecosystems and croplands account for roughly a quarter. Terrestrial NPP ranges from 48. 0 to 69. 0 Pg C yr-1, with global terrestrial GPP estimated at 121. 7 Pg C yr-1, or approximately double global NPP on land.

Why are the equatorial regions of all oceans very productive?

The high biological productivity observed in the equatorial region is attributed to the region’s year-round rainfall and abundant sunlight, which serve as a raw material for photosynthesis and as an energy source for this process.

Why it is so wet near the equator?

Warm air holds more moisture than cold, leading to the intertropical convergence, which creates tropical rainforests. As air rises above the equator, it cools and cannot hold all the moisture, causing it to rain at the equator. This creates zones of arid climate centered at latitudes about 30 degrees north and south of the equator. The great deserts of Africa, South America, and North America fall within these belts.

The solar equator varies throughout the year due to the Earth’s axis’s inclination, resulting in varying precipitation belts. Near the equator, there are two heavy seasons, while at the edges of the tropics, there is a single wet season followed by a dry season. Oceans move in response to surface winds, creating ocean currents called gyres around continents. The Gulfstream brings warm water from the Caribbean and US coasts to Europe, while the Humboldt current provides abundant fish and seabird colonies. Each year, a warm countercurrent flows down the Humboldt current and brings heavy rains.

Why does terrestrial biodiversity tend to be highest near the equator?

The equator’s favorable climate, rich in nutrients and sunlight, fosters the formation of microhabitats, thereby enhancing biodiversity due to the abundance of sunlight and precipitation in these regions.

Why is there high productivity at the equator?

The equator exhibits elevated net primary production due to its warmer climate, year-round photosynthesis, and higher solar energy per square meter than other higher-latitude regions. This enables more efficient food production.

Why do equatorial regions have more moisture?

The tropics receive a substantial amount of direct solar energy, which results in a greater rate of evaporation than that observed in higher latitudes. Warm, moist air rises, condenses into clouds and thunderstorms, and subsequently falls back to the Earth’s surface as precipitation.

Why is there greater biological productivity around Antarctica compared to the Arctic?

The high biological productivity observed in Antarctica is attributed to upwelling, which is defined as the process by which water from the bottom of the ocean flows to the top due to the action of deep ocean currents.

Why are rainforests near the equator so productive?

Ecosystems are open to nutrient cycling, with inputs and outputs being significant. Humid tropical forests are productive due to high temperatures, light, and rainfall year-round, as well as efficient nutrient recycling. However, most tropical soils are clays with little soluble mineral content and moderate to strong acidity, which hinders roots’ ability to absorb nutrients. Only about 20 of the humid tropics have soils suitable for agriculture, and most of this area is already used. Nutrients are found mainly in living plant biomass and decomposing litter, with little nutrient content in deeper soil, similar to temperate-zone ecosystems.

Why is the open ocean so less biologically productive than the coastal zone?

The presence of a thin buoyant surface layer and other processes in the ocean contribute to nutrient limitation in ocean productivity. The export of organic matter to depth depletes the surface ocean of nutrients, causing them to accumulate in deep waters where there is no light available for photosynthesis. Ocean circulation can only slowly reintroduce dissolved nutrients to the euphotic zone, effectively limiting ocean productivity.

Phytoplankton growth limitation is traditionally interpreted in the context of Liebig’s Law of the Minimum, which states that plant growth will be as great as allowed by the least available resource, the “limiting nutrient”.

However, interactions among nutrients and between nutrients and light can also control productivity. For example, in polar regions, higher iron supply can increase the efficiency of phytoplankton in capturing light energy. Generally, phytoplankton should seek co-limitation by all the chemicals they require, including trace metal nutrients.

What regions of the ocean are most productive Why?

The coastal upwelling areas in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, which occupy less than 2% of the oceans, are among the most biologically productive marine areas globally. These areas support a large biodiversity and provide 20% of the world’s fish harvest, thereby having significant societal and economic importance for neighboring countries and the global food supply. However, the potential for these areas to continue to serve their function if oceans continue to warm, acidify, and lose oxygen, and the wind systems driving upwelling change is uncertain.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is supporting three joint projects under the theme “Importance of climate change in coastal upwelling areas” to investigate these areas in the north- and south-eastern Atlantic and the south-eastern Pacific. The projects will receive a total funding of 8. 7 million euros over three years. The coastal upwelling areas are characterized by major ocean currents flowing parallel to the coast, such as the Benguela Current in the south-eastern Atlantic, the Canary Current in the north-eastern Atlantic, and the Humboldt Current in the south-eastern Pacific.