Diatoms, Primary Productivity, Fish

The Dynamics of a Diatom Bloom

J. H. Ryther, C. S. Yentsch, E. M. Hulburt and R. F. Vaccaro

Biological Bulletin, Vol. 115, No. 2 (Oct., 1958), pp. 257-268
Published by: Marine Biological Laboratory
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1539030


Photosynthesis and Fish Production in the Sea
http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/~davey/Geog158/Readings/RytherScience1969.pdf

The production of organic matter and its conversion to higher forms of life vary throughout the world ocean.

John H. Ryther
Science, VOL. 166, 3 October 1969

The result has been modification of the estimate of primary production in the
world ocean from 1.2 to 1.5 x 10 * 10 tons of carbon fixed per year (5) to a new
figure, 1.5 to 1.8 x 10 * 10 tons (18 billion tons).

Attempts have also been made by Steemann Nielsen and Jensen (5), Ryther (8), and Koblentz-Mishke et al. (7) to assign specific levels or ranges of productivity to different parts of the ocean. Although the approach was somewhat different in each case, in general the agreement between the three was good and, with appropriate condensation and combination, permit the following conclusions.

1) Annual primary production in the open sea varies, for the most part, between
25 and 75 grams of carbon fixed per square meter and averages about 50 grams of carbon per square meter per year. This is true for roughly 90 percent of the ocean, an area of 326 x 106 square kilometers.