All about that, productivity

Temperate Grasslands NPP (Dark Green)

Gross Primary Productivity is the overall gain in energy/biomass per unit area per unit time which can be seen through photosynthesis or absorption by consumers. Basically it is what organisms actually do the photosynthesis and how much occurs and also how much biomass is produced.  

Then Net Primary Productivity is the total gain in energy or biomass per unit time by green plants after allowing losses to respiration. This is used to see how much of the biomass is stored and then how much of it produces growth. The net productivity of the temperate grasslands are around 2,200 kcal/m^2/yr. 

Temperate Grassland Net Primary Productivity
and how preoccupation effects it 

The productivity varies between the different biomes and is highly dependent on how much light the biome get throughout the year. This changes because the position of the earth relative to the sun changes when it relieves around the sun. Thus making them more productive around the equation because there is more light in that area and the plants can do photosynthesis more of the year than in colder parts of the globe. The temperate grasslands are great for producing crops because of their temperature that is not to extreme for crops and they have an abundance of producers compared to there number of consumers in the biome. 

 In the Temperate Grasslands there are fires that occur because of the dryness of the grasses and small amount of water. These fires make the trees that would be able to grow to not be able to stay. This biome has two growing seasons, a growing season and a dormant season where it is too cold and the grass cannot grow. The plants in this biome are mostly shorter grasses some as short as a few millimeters. These factors affect the productivity in the land and what kinds of plants can grow in the Temperate Grasslands. 

The soil in the Grassland has become fertile from the decomposition of organic matter from when the grasses die each year. Then this rich soil is held in place by the deep roots of the perennial grasses. The fertile soil in most if the Temperate Grasslands are what help the plants grow and contribute the biome's productivity level. However, over time the grasslands soil has been used for just this purpose of growing large amounts of crops. This continual use and over use of the soil has made it, in some areas, very depleted. It needs to be taken care of in order to try to keep the soil rich and ideal for farming or animal substance.  

The temperate grasslands used to be one of the world's greatest ecosystems, because they have a moderate productivity, a diverse conglomeration of animals, and a climate that was beneficial to most plant growth. However, of the world's 14 biomes the Temperate Grasslands are at the greatest risk because they have been the most altered and least protected over time. Making the protection now even more important. There are organization like The Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative (TGCI) that agree that the grasslands are important and feel that they need to be protected.

  

Addition Information Gathered Form:

"IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature." IUCN. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.


"Grasslands -- National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.


"Taking Global Action: Towards a Conservation Strategy for the World's Temperate Grasslands." Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative4 (2010): n. pag. July 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/d3_july_2010_newsletter_4.pdf>.