Ecology 5th Edition by Manuel Molles

Exercise 15

Huston (1994b) pointed out that the well-documented pattern of increasing annual primary production from the poles to the equator is strongly influenced by the longer growing season at low latitudes. The following data are from table 14.10 in Huston. The data cited by Huston are from Whittaker and Likens (1975). Complete the missing data to compare the monthly production of boreal, temperate, and tropical forests. How does this short- term perspective of primary production in high-, middle-, and low-latitude forests compare to an annual perspective? How does the short-term perspective change our perception of tropical versus high-latitude forests?