Primary Productivity, Blooms,

and Nutrients
Christa Lee Spurrell and Brian Gibbons
 Primary Productivity

 The amount of new biomass produced within the

world’s marine and freshwater systems during a given
time period.
 More specifically the conversion of inorganic carbon
to organic carbon at a rate of kg/m2/day.
 Takes place only in the photic zone and depends upon
photosynthesis, and to a lesser degree upon
chemosynthesis
 Primary Productivity

 Function of primary producers or autotrophs, that form

the base of the food chain.
 In the ocean most primary production is produced through
algae with a small contribution from vascular plants.
 Distinguished as net or gross primary productivity.
 Gross(GPP): the rate at which an ecosystems producers
capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as a
biomass in a given amount of time.
 A small portion of this energy is used in the cellular
respiration in primary producers along with maintenance of
existing cells.
 Primary productivity

 Net(NPP): the remaining fixed energy; the mass of

photosynthate. NPP= GDP – respiration (by plant)
 some of the net energy produced by primary producers
is used in their reproduction.
The main source of this energy is obtained through
sunlight and a minute fraction is driven by lithotrophic
organisms, which use the chemical energy of inorganic
molecules.
 Primary Productivity

 Photosynthesis (equation):

CO2 + H2O  Ch2O + O2

 Chemosynthesis (equation):

CO2 + O2 +4 H2S  CH2O + 4 S + 3 H2O

The Calvin Cycle of Photosynthesis
Photoautotroph Abundance
 Photic Zone
 The sunlit zone of the Ocean is referred to as the
Photic Zone (Euphoric Zone). Roughly 10 to a hundred
meters in depth.
 The thickness of the photic zone is defined as the
depth at which light reaches 1% of it`s surface value.
 Net photosynthesis in the water column is determined
by the interaction between the photic zone and the
mixed layer via turbulent mixing by wind energy.
 This mixed layer can vary from being shallower or
deeper than the photic zone.
 When the mixed layer is deeper than the photic zone the
resident phytoplankton does not produce a net growth.
 Photic Zone

 When the mixed layer is deeper than the photic zone the
resident phytoplankton does not produce a net growth.
 Critical Depth is the maximum depth of the mixed layer in
which net growth can occur.
 When the mixed layer is shallower than the critical depth net
primary production occurs.
 In temperate regions primary production is seasonal, where it
varies with both incident light, which is reduced in the winter,
and the degree of mixing which is increased in the winter.
 In tropical regions light may vary slightly across the year,
while mixing occurs episodically; such as during large storms
or hurricanes.
 Blooms

 A Algal Bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of

algae in a aquatic system and can occur in both fresh water and salt
water systems.
 Typically only one or a few plankton species are involved. A discolouring
of the water caused by a large density of pigmented phytoplankton
cells.
 Blooms can range in color depending on the species of Algae involved
(green, yellow-brown, red).
 Bright green blooms are a result of blue-green algae which are really
cyanobacteria.
 Blooms may also consist of macro algal species not phytoplankton
species, these blooms are recognized by large blades of algae that may
wash up onto the shore line
Blooms
 Harmful Algal Blooms
 Harmful algal blooms or HABS are algal events involving harmful
phytoplankton such as dinoflagellates of genus Alexandrium and
Karenia.
 These blooms are also known as red tides because of the red/brown
pigment of algae cells.
 Habs also commonly produce natural toxins, and cause mechanical
damage to nearby organisms.
 They are associated with large scale marine mortality events such as:
 mass mortalities in fish, sea birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals.
 Human illness or death caused by the consumption of contaminated sea
food, such as shell fish.
 Mechanical damage to other organisms such as disruption of the gill epithelial
tissues in fish causing suffocation.
 Oxygen depletion of the water column(hypoxia or anoxia) from cellular
respiration and bacterial degradation. Zones in which the water column has
insufficient supply of oxygen to the point in which organisms are unable to
thrive are called dead zones. Which are associated with sewage run off from
coastal settlements such as large coastal cities.
Dead Zones
 Nutrients

 Mixing of nutrients is a limiting factor in primary production.

 Inorganic nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate and silicic acid, are
necessary for phytoplankton in the creation of their cells and cellular
machinery.
 Due to the gravitation sinking of particulate material (such as plankton,
dead and fecal material) nutrients are constantly lost from the photic
zone and are only replenished by mixing and upwelling of deep water
masses.
 There is reduced mixed layer production in the summer due to the
constant uptake of nutrients in primary production, which can lead to
nutrient exhaustion in many regions of the ocean.
 The excess nutrients from coastal pollution may cause algal blooms
which can result in the creation of dead zones and/or fish kills.
 References

 Dawson, E.Y. (1966). Marine Botany: An Introduction. Holt,

Rinehart and Winston, Inc.: New York.
 http://kingfish.coastal.edu/biology/sgilman/770productivit
ynutrients.htm
 http://sogasex.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/primary-
productivity/
 http://www.science.oregonstate.edu/ocean.productivity/
 http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/a/algal_bloom.htm
 http://marine.rutgers.edu/opp/
 http://www.wsu.edu/~dybdahl/lec10.html