BRAINCAKEFarming Practices and Productivity
Primary productivity and secondary productivity are the rates of primary and secondary production. They are measured as biomass (or its chemical energy store) in a given area in a given time, for example kJ ha−1 yr−1. Primary productivity refers to producers such as crops; secondary productivity refers to consumers such as livestock.
Farming aims to transfer as much as possible of the energy captured by producers into food for humans. In a natural ecosystem, much of the NPP is eaten by other organisms, passes to decomposers or is used in respiration. Farming practices increase the efficiency of energy transfer in two main ways:
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More in Energy and Ecosystems
- Gross Primary Production
- Net Primary Production
- NPP = GPP - R
- Net Production of Consumers
- Efficiency of Energy Transfer
- Calculating Percentage Efficiency
- Reducing Respiratory Losses in Livestock
- Simplifying Food Webs to Reduce Energy Loss
All 14 lessons in Energy and Ecosystems · All AQA A-level Biology topics