Summary
Methodology for calculating aboveground net production (ANP) has progressed from a single estimate of total standing crop at the end to an evaluation of multiple categories of biomass (viz. live, recent dead, old dead) by species and considering, with statistical constraints, each peak during the growing season.
We have reviewed the published methods for calculating ANP with the purpose of critically comparing them with each other and with current understanding of primary productivity.
As a further comparison of methods we have calculated net aboveground production by 13 methods on sets of harvest data collected by the US/IBP Grassland Biome. The data represent a grazed and ungrazed treatment on 10 sites of six grassland types. One to three years of data were available for each site.
A hierarchical cluster analysis showed that all methods except one were significantly correlated (r < -0.61). Analysis of variance indicated that although all methods were significantly correlated, there were significant differences among the methods in terms of usefulness as discriminators of sites, years, or treatments.
For various utilitarian and theoretical reasons the numbers of methods were reduced to two groups of “best estimators”. One group consisted of two methods involving summation of species peaks, the first utilizing live biomass, the second live + recent dead biomass. The second group comprised three methods using troughpeak analysis on live, live + recent dead, and live + recent dead + old dead biomass. Analysis for linear relations between the “best estimator” methods and 15 abiotic variables showed many significant relationships.
Résumé
La méthologie pour calculer la production nette au-dessus du sol (ANP) a évolué depuis un seul calcul de la récolte totale fixe à la fin de la saison jusqu’ à l’évolution de multiples catégories de poids des plantes (c’est-à-dire des plantes vivantes, mortes récemment, mortes depuis longtemps) pour chaque espèce et en tenant compte de chaque maximum pendant la saison de croissance dans les limites statistiques.
Nous avons analysé les méthodes de calcul ANP qui ont été publiées avec l’intention de les comparer les unes avec les autres avec soin et avec une connaissance actuelle de la production primaire.
Afin de faire une comparaison de méthodes plus poussée, nous avons calcule la production nette au-dessus du sol à l’aide de treize méthodes à partir de données de séries de récolte rassemblées par la US/IBP Grassland Biome. Les données représentent un traitement de broutage et de non-broutage sur dix emplacements de six types de prairies. Des données datant de un à trois ans étaient disponibles pour chaque emplacement.
Une analyse hiérarchique de groupe a montré que toutes les méthodes, à l’exception d’une seule, correspondaient de manière significative (r < -0.61). L’analyse de variance a indiqué que, bien que toutes les méthodes aient correspondu de manière significative, il y avait des différences d’importance parmi les méthodes quant à leur utilité en tant qu’éléments discriminatoires des emplacements, des années ou des traitements.
Pour des raisons diverses, utilitaires et théoriques, les nombres des méthodes ont été réduits à deux groupes de “meilleurs estimateurs.” Un groupe consistait en deux méthodes entraînant l’addition des maximums des espèces, la première utilisant un poids de plantes vivantes, l’autre un poids de plantes vivantes et de plantes mortes récemment. Le deuxième groupe comportait trois méthodes utilisant l’analyse du point le plus bas de la courbe sur un poids de plantes vivantes, vivantes + mortes récemment et vivantes + mortes récemment + mortes depuis longtemps.
L’analyse pour les relations linéaires entre les méthodes de “meilleur estimateur” et quinze variables abiotiques ont montré beaucoup de rapports d’importance.
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Singh, J.S., Lauenroth, W.K. & Steinhorst, R.K. Review and assessment of various techniques for estimating net aerial primary production in grasslands from harvest data. Bot. Rev 41, 181–232 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860829
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860829