Editing Biomass (ecology) (section)

==Global rate of production==
[[File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Globally, terrestrial and oceanic habitats produce a similar amount of new biomass each year (56.4 billion tonnes C terrestrial and 48.5 billion tonnes C oceanic).]]

Net [[primary production]] is the rate at which new biomass is generated, mainly due to photosynthesis. Global primary production can be estimated from [[satellite]] observations. Satellites scan the [[NDVI|normalised difference vegetation index]] (NDVI) over terrestrial habitats and scan sea-surface [[chlorophyll]] levels over oceans. This results in 56.4 billion [[tonne]]s [[Organic carbon|C]]/yr (53.8%) for terrestrial primary production and 48.5 billion tonnes C/yr for oceanic primary production.<ref name=Behrenfeld>{{cite journal | vauthors = Field CB, Behrenfeld MJ, Randerson JT, Falkowski P | title = Primary production of the biosphere: integrating terrestrial and oceanic components | journal = Science | volume = 281 | issue = 5374 | pages = 237–240 | date = July 1998 | pmid = 9657713 | doi = 10.1126/science.281.5374.237 | bibcode = 1998Sci...281..237F | url = http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/9gm7074q | archive-date = 25 September 2018 | access-date = 7 February 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180925215921/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9gm7074q | url-status = live }}</ref> Thus, the total [[photoautotrophic]] primary production for the Earth is about 104.9 billion tonnes C/yr. This translates to about 426 gC/m<sup>2</sup>/yr for land production (excluding areas with permanent ice cover) and 140 gC/m<sup>2</sup>/yr for the oceans.

However, there is a much more significant difference in [[Population density|standing stocks]]—while accounting for almost half of the total annual production, oceanic [[autotroph]]s account for only about 0.2% of the total biomass.

Terrestrial [[freshwater ecosystem]]s generate about 1.5% of the global net primary production.<ref name=Alexander>{{cite book| last = Alexander| first = David E. | name-list-style = vanc | title = Encyclopedia of Environmental Science| publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]| date = 1999| isbn = 978-0-412-74050-3 }}</ref>

Some global producers of biomass, in order of productivity rates, are
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
! Producer
! Biomass productivity<br />(gC/m<sup>2</sup>/yr)
! Ref
! Total area<br />(million km<sup>2</sup>)
! Ref
! Total production<br />(billion tonnes C/yr)
|-
| [[Swamp]]s and [[marsh]]es
| align="center"| 2,500
| <ref name="ecology">{{Cite book| last1= Ricklefs| first1= Robert E.| last2= Miller| first2= Gary Leon | name-list-style = vanc | title= Ecology| year= 2000| edition= 4th| publisher= Macmillan| page= 192| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6TMvdZQiySoC&q=temperate+forest+ecology+%22net+primary+production%22&pg=PA192| isbn= 978-0-7167-2829-0}}</ref>
| align="center"|5.7
| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/documents/library/info2007-01-e.pdf|title=What are wetlands?|website=ramsar.org|access-date=28 August 2023|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425030744/https://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/documents/library/info2007-01-e.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
|
|-
| [[Tropical rainforest]]s
| align="center"| 2,000
| <ref>{{Cite book| last1= Ricklefs| first1= Robert E.| last2= Miller| first2= Gary Leon | name-list-style = vanc | title= Ecology| year= 2000| edition= 4th| publisher= Macmillan| page= 197| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6TMvdZQiySoC&q=primary+production+biomass+g+m+yr&pg=PA197| isbn= 978-0-7167-2829-0}}</ref>
| align="center"| 8
|
| align="center"| 16
|-
| [[Coral reef]]s
| align="center"| 2,000
| <ref name="ecology" />
| align="center"| 0.28
| <ref name="Spalding">Mark Spalding, Corinna Ravilious, and Edmund Green. 2001. ''World Atlas of Coral Reefs''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press and UNEP/WCMC.</ref>
| align="center"| 0.56
|-
| [[Algae|Algal bed]]s
| align="center"| 2,000
| <ref name="ecology" />
|
|
|
|-
| [[Estuary|River estuaries]]
| align="center"| 1,800
| <ref name="ecology" />
|
|
|
|-
| [[Temperate forest]]s
| align="center"| 1,250
| <ref name="ecology" />
| align="center"| 19
|
| align="center"| 24
|-
| [[Land use statistics by country|Cultivated land]]s
| align="center"| 650
| <ref name="ecology" /><ref name="environment">{{Cite book| last= Park| first= Chris C.| name-list-style = vanc | title= The environment: principles and applications| year= 2001| edition= 2nd| publisher= Routledge| page= 564| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ew3MBjbw4OAC&pg=PA564 | isbn= 978-0-415-21770-5}}</ref>
| align="center"| 17
|
| align="center"| 11
|-
| [[Tundra]]s
| align="center"| 140
| <ref name="ecology" /><ref name="environment" />
|align="center"| 11.5–29.8
|<ref name="World Wildlife Fund">{{cite web | title=Tundra – Biomes – WWF | website=World Wildlife Fund | url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/biomes/tundra | access-date=2021-10-05}}</ref><ref name="ArcGIS StoryMaps 2020">{{cite web | title=Tundra | website=ArcGIS StoryMaps | date=2020-01-17 | url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/93e3669fa9ab42c0b98e3c8ad31f25f6 | access-date=2021-10-05 | quote=the tundra is a vast and treeless land which covers about 20% of the Earth's surface, circumnavigating the North pole. | archive-date=5 October 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005115049/https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/93e3669fa9ab42c0b98e3c8ad31f25f6 | url-status=live }}</ref>
|
|-
| [[Oceanic zone|Open ocean]]
| align="center"| 125
| <ref name="ecology" /><ref name="environment" />
| align="center"| 311
|
| align="center"| 39
|-
| [[Desert]]s
| align="center"| 3
| <ref name="environment" />
| align="center"| 50
|
| align="center"| 0.15
|}