1. Tardigrade
  2. Question
  3. Biology
  4. The productivity of the oceans is approximately the annual net primary productivity of the whole biosphere.

Q. The productivity of the oceans is approximately _______ the annual net primary productivity of the whole biosphere.

 3192  168 NTA AbhyasNTA Abhyas 2020Ecosystem Report Error

Solution:

Primary productivity depends on the plant species inhabiting a particular area. It also depends on a variety of environmental factors, availability of nutrients and photosynthetic capacity of plants. Therefore, it varies in different types of ecosystems. The annual net primary productivity of the whole biosphere is approximately 170 billion tons (dry weight) of organic matter. Of this, despite occupying about 70 per cent of the surface, the productivity of the oceans are only 55 billion tons. Thus 55 out of 170 is 32.35% which is around one third.