Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Boxes
- Preface
- Prologue Environmental changes and ecosystem effects: two historical examples
- Section I History and concepts
- Section II Ecosystem structure and function
- Chapter 4 Ecosystem structure: site factors, soil and vegetation
- Chapter 5 Energy and water
- Chapter 6 Plant production
- Chapter 7 Soil organic matter dynamics
- Chapter 8 Organisms and ecosystem processes
- Chapter 9 Element cycles
- Chapter 10 Principles
- Section III Ecosystem dynamics at different time scales
- Section IV Applications
- Appendix 1 Abbreviations
- Appendix 2 Glossary
- Appendix 3 Some useful values and symbols used to represent them
- Appendix 4 Information and data on selected ecosystems
- References
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Chapter 6 - Plant production
from Section II - Ecosystem structure and function
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Boxes
- Preface
- Prologue Environmental changes and ecosystem effects: two historical examples
- Section I History and concepts
- Section II Ecosystem structure and function
- Chapter 4 Ecosystem structure: site factors, soil and vegetation
- Chapter 5 Energy and water
- Chapter 6 Plant production
- Chapter 7 Soil organic matter dynamics
- Chapter 8 Organisms and ecosystem processes
- Chapter 9 Element cycles
- Chapter 10 Principles
- Section III Ecosystem dynamics at different time scales
- Section IV Applications
- Appendix 1 Abbreviations
- Appendix 2 Glossary
- Appendix 3 Some useful values and symbols used to represent them
- Appendix 4 Information and data on selected ecosystems
- References
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Summary
Plant production is the basis for almost all processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Photosynthesis is the only process that introduces energy in a chemical form that can be used to drive biochemical processes, be these within the ecosystem or in organisms living on consumed, harvested or exported products. Other processes within plants convert the primary result of photosynthesis, glucose, into a variety of other compounds, which may be useful or harmful to other organisms. Many aspects of plant production have therefore been studied in great detail. However, we focus on processes and structures at the whole-plant level, although excursions into plant biochemistry are inevitable to establish the basis for functioning at the ecosystem level.
Carbon is the major element, but the limiting constraints from other elements are apparent. Therefore, interactions between carbon, nutrients (or more precisely mineral nutrients), water and light are key topics of this chapter. These interactions also determine the type of plants that will dominate under given conditions and which properties those plants will have.
Photosynthesis at leaf level
The beginning of plant production is photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is one of the most studied plant processes. In 2009 more than 6000 scientific papers that in some way referred to photosynthesis were published. Our understanding of photosynthesis, from details of its biochemistry to the controls at leaf level, is therefore well advanced. The principles behind photosynthesis are simple. Light converts ADP (adenosine diphosphate) to ATP (adenosine triphosphate), thus providing the energy necessary to reduce carbon dioxide to glucose. Carbon dioxide diffuses/is transported from outside the leaf to reaction sites inside the leaf. The reaction sites in the leaf are enzymes (Rubisco = Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase). The double ending in Rubisco alludes to the double functioning of Rubisco; both carbon dioxide and oxygen molecules can be bound to the enzyme, with the consequence that this enzyme can drive both carbon fixation and respiration, depending upon which molecule binds the strongest.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Terrestrial Ecosystem EcologyPrinciples and Applications, pp. 88 - 123Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
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