Estimation of primary productivity- Winter School on Towards Ecosystem Based Management of Marine Fisheries – Building Mass Balance Trophic and Simulation Models

Gopinathan, C P (2004) Estimation of primary productivity- Winter School on Towards Ecosystem Based Management of Marine Fisheries – Building Mass Balance Trophic and Simulation Models. [Teaching Resource]

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Abstract

The primary production can be defined as the amount of organic materials, which by the activity of organisms in unit time is synthesized in a unit volume of water by the phytoplankton using the solar energy and extending from the sea surface to the bottom of the euphotic zone. The micro algae remove dissolved carbon dioxide and micro nutrients from the water and using solar energy convert them into complex organic compounds of high potential energy with the help of photosynthetic pigments, the chlorophylls. The primary productivity will be confined practically entirely to that brought about by phytoplankton. The growth and distribution is controlled by many factors which may be physical factors like light, temperature, currents etc., chemical factors like salinity, dissolved oxygen content, pH, nutrients such as nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and silicate and trace elements, organic minerals etc., biological factors like grazing and reproduction, hydrological events like upwelling, sinking, turbulence etc., and seasonal variations like winter, summer, spring and autumn.

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