Biological Productivity
Biological Productivity
Biological productivity is defined scientifically as
the
rate at which organic matter is produced. Measuring this rate directly for an entire waterbody is
difficult and prohibitively expensive by most standards.
For this reason, many scientists base estimates of biological productivity on one or more quantities that are more readily measured. These include measurements of concentrations of nutrients in water, concentrations of chlorophyll in the water, aquatic plant abundance, and/or water clarity. The level of biological productivity in a waterbody is used to determine its trophic state classifcation.
The information on this page was derived in part from the following
publication of
Florida Lakewatch of the University of Florida Department of
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
This booklet may be downloaded in its entirety as a PDF file
by clicking here.
Scroll down till you see the Circular 101 icon.
This project is a collaboration of
the Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, University of Florida,
and the Bureau of Invasive Plant Management, Florida Department of Environmental
Protection
