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Net Primary Productivity Calculator

Work out net primary productivity instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Net Primary Productivity Calculator

Subtracts autotrophic respiration from gross primary productivity to give net primary productivity, and scales it to the stated area.

Formula

Net primary productivity

NPP = GPP - autotrophic respiration; carbon across an area = NPP x area in m2 / 1000 for kilograms

Worked example

With the default values below, Net Primary Productivity Calculator returns Net primary productivity of 700.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Gross primary productivityaccepts 1–10,000 gC/m2/yr
1,200 gC/m2/yr
Autotrophic respirationaccepts 0–10,000 gC/m2/yr
500 gC/m2/yr
Areaaccepts 0.01–1,000,000 ha
10 ha

Results

Net primary productivity
700.00 gC/m2/yr
Share of gross production retained
58.33%
Carbon fixed across the area
70,000.0 kgC/yr
Daily net productivity
1.9178 gC/m2/day

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Net primary productivity
  3. 3Net primary productivity= 700.00 gC/m2/yr
  4. 4Share of gross production retained= 58.33
  5. 5Carbon fixed across the area= 70,000.0 kgC/yr
  6. 6Daily net productivity= 1.9178 gC/m2/day

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are typical values?

Tropical rainforest reaches 1,000 to 2,000 gC/m2/yr; deserts and open ocean are below 100.

How does net ecosystem productivity differ?

It subtracts heterotrophic respiration too, so it measures whether the ecosystem is a net carbon sink.

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