NPP Lab

Collaborators: James Hamil, Hailey Hendricks, Cooper Green, Amanda Goodale

Introduction and Problem: Primary productivity is a measure of te amount of
potosyntesis an ecosystem under!oes" #e amount remainin! after respiration is
called te Net Primary Productivity or NPP" #is is $at $e $ill measure as a class in
order to see o$ muc ener!y !oes into potosyntesis and measure te mass of eac
plant after it as dried out" #e relationsip is represented by
Gross Primary Productivity% &espiration' Net Primary Productivity" #e rate of $ic
an ecosystem accumulates ener!y, ten subtractin! te ener!y it uses for te process of
respiration is te same as te rate of potosyntesis minus respiration" (no$in! tis
information is important because it so$s o$ ealty a plant is and o$ muc ener!y
is needed for it to !ro$" #ere are many factors $ic can contribute to te production
of an ecosystem" #ey consist of sunli!t, temperature, $ater amount, carbon levels and
many more" In tis lab $e $ill measure te NPP for a fescue plant"
Hypotesis: I predict tat te NPP of te !rass samples $ill be around te )*
!+cm,*+year on avera!e"
Parts of te -.periment:
Control Group: None
-.perimental Group: None
Independent /ariable: None
0ependent /ariable: None
Control /ariable: None
1bservational Group: Grass
2aterials: 3escue plants, metric ruler, scissors, $ei! boats, di!ital scales
2etods: Lab Day 1
4" Cut all of your !rass plants to te same ei!t: 5se a ruler to precisely cut all of
te blades to a ei!t of * cm" Carefully remove and discard all te clippin!s
from your plot" Allo$ !rass to continue to !ro$ for 46 days"
Lab Day 2
*" Cut all of your !rass plants to te same ei!t as before: use a ruler to precisely
cut all of te blades to a ei!t of * cm" Carefully remove all te !rass clippin!s
and place tem in a $ei! boat" Allo$ te clippin!s to dry for * days"
7" 2easure te area of !rass used in your e.periment and record in your data table"
Lab Day 3
8" 9ei! te !rass clippin!s from lab day * and record in your data table" Calculate
te net primary productivity usin! te follo$in! formula:
NPP'biomassareaday
:" 1btain te NPP data from te oter !roups in your class" #en, calculate a class
avera!e for NPP for 3escue"
#e kno$n NPP of fescue plants is found to be :; !+cm*+year" Compare tis avera!e to
your avera!e from te lab" &epresent te difference usin! percent error"
0ata:
Group
Biomass(g
)
Area of
Plot
(cm^2)
# of
Days of
Growth NPP
Regular
Form
0.1 176.25 6
9.46 x
10^-5 0.0000946
2 0.1 102 6
1.63 x
10^-4 0.0001634
! 0.1 195.5 6
8.52 x
10^-5 0.0000852
" 0.1 163.88 6
1.02 x
10^-4 0.0001017
# $ % 0.1 147 6
1.13 x
10^-4 0.000113
& 0.1 270 6
6.17 x
10^-5 0.0000617
' 0.1 240 6
9.94 x
10^-5 0.0000994
Avera!e NPP: "66646*<48
Conclusions: #rou!out tis e.periment I learned o$ to measure NPP and tis tau!t
me tat tere are many tin!s one must do to measure te amount of ener!y $ic takes
place durin! potosyntesis" In order to calculate te NPP you must first measure te
GPP or !ross primary productivity" All ener!y is converted to su!ar in a plant so tat
makes it possible to determine a plant=s ener!y uptake by measurin! te amount of su!ar
produced" Part of te GPP is used by plants in respiration" &espiration !ives a plant
ener!y $ic is needed for it to survive" >ubtractin! respiration from !ross primary
productivity?GPP@ !ives us net primary productivity?NPP@"#is represents te rate of
production of biomass $ic is available by animals and oter or!anisms $ic can eat
it ten !ain ener!y from it" 2y ypotesis $as incorrect in tat our measure for NPP
$as 4"67 . 46,8 and $e ad a AA"AAB error" #is e.periment $as not even close to
elpful in findin! NPP in te fescue plant" #e errors could ave came from many
different issues $ic all contribute to tis AA"AAB error"
Citations:
#e -ditors of -ncyclopCdia Dritannica" ENet Primary Productivity
?biolo!y@"EEncyclopedia Britannica Online" -ncyclopedia Dritannica, n"d" 9eb" 4* 1ct"
*648" Fttp:++$$$"britannica"com+-Dcecked+topic+86AA67+net%primary%productivityG"
Pantel, A" &omo, J"#", H Dai, I" ?*644@ Above%!round net primary production of plains
rou! fescue JFestuca hallii ?/asey@ PiperK after a sin!le defoliation on five landform
elements" Canadian Journal of Plant Science"