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Hannah Midles
Mrs. Norris
Apes Period 1
10 October, 2014
NPP Lab
Collaborators: Jillian Thomas, Riordan Siefring, Evan Barnes

Pre Lab: Name some of the factors that can influence the productivity of an ecosystem:
Abiotic Factors
Temperature
Moisture
Soil Fertility
Introduction: Primary productivity is a measure of the amount of chemical energy (in form of
glucose) created from photosynthesis, when plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight to
produce oxygen and glucose. Some of that energy is then used by producers in the ecosystem to
convert to ATP through cellular respiration. The gross primary productivity (GPP) is the rate that
producers concert solar or geothermal energy to chemical energy available for in an ecosystem.
To calculate NPP, the following formula must be used:
NPP = GPP plant respiration (r)
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Problem: What is the average net primary productivity (NPP) of grass?
Hypothesis: If we let the grass grow for six days and trimmed twice, then the NPP of the grass
will be less then 58g/sc2/year.
Materials:
Fescue Plants
Metric Ruler
Scissors
Weigh Boats
Digital Scale
Soda Bottle
Dirt


Parts of the Experiment:
1. Independent Variable: what we observe from cutting it 2cm and for six days and how
much it grows
2. Dependent Variable: NPP
3. Control Variable: How much we cut the grass, how much we started with, how long it
grows, amount of sunlight
4. Experimental Group: whole lab
Procedure:
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Lab Day 1:
- -cut all of your grass to the same height. Use a ruler to precisely cut all the blades to a
height of 2 cm. Carefully remove and discard all the clippings from you plot. Allow grass
to grow for six days.
Lab Day 2:
- -Cut all your grass plants to same height as before. use a ruler to precisely cut all of the
blades to a height of 2 cm. Carefully remove all grass clippings and place them in a
weigh boat. Allow the clippings to dry for two days.
- Measure the area of grass used in your experiment and record in your table.
Lab Day 3:
- Weigh the grass clippings from the lab Day 2 and record in your data table. Calculate the
net primary productivity using the formula: NPP = biomass/area/day
- Obtain the NPP data from other groups in your class. Then calculate a class average for
the NPP of the grass.
- The known NPP of fescue plants in found to be 58g/cm^2/year. Compare this average
from the lab. Represent the difference using percent error.






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0
0.00005
0.0001
0.00015
0.0002
0.00025
0.0003
0.00035
0.0004
0.00045
0.0005
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group
5/6
Group 7 Group 8
Group NPP
Group NPP

Data:

Group Biomass(g) Area of Plot
(cm2)
# of days of
growth
NPP
1 .1 176.25 6 9.46x10^-5
2 .1 102 6 1.634x10^-4
3 .1 195.5 cm2 6 8.5x10^-5
4 .1 163.875 6 .0001017
5/6 .1 147 6 1.13x10^-4
7 .1 270 6 6.17x10^-5
8 .1 240 6 .0000694










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The left picture shows the bottle of
fescue seed just being planted. The
right pictures shows how much grass
grew before we cut it.
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Data Analysis:
Over the course of six days, each of the eight groups let the grass grow under light and cut
the grass two centimeters. After cutting the grass, the clippings were dried and weighed. As
shown in the data tables above, the average NPP of the fescue turned out to be .000689
g/cm^2/day. Different biomasses are being observed which can be lead to many different
factors such as too much or less water being added, too much or less seeds being planted, or
uneven distribution of light due to position of the bottle being more or less receptive of the
light.

Conclusions:
1. The percent error in this experiment was 99.99%.
2. Since the percent error was basically 100%, this is not a good model for testing net
primary productivity. The average NPP of fescue, according to the lab is said to be
58g/cm^2/year, which is nowhere near to the average recording from the experiment. To
make the experiment better, making sure to get all the grass clippings, including the ones
from the soil could increase the biomass, which increases the NPP.
3. The effect of the amount of water on NPP can be tested through an experiment. There
would be three tests group, one with fescue receiving 1 ounce of water, one that receives
ounce of water, and one that receives no water. The seeds will be evenly dispersed and
spread out so the clippings can be accessed easier and receive the same amount of light
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and amount of soil and seeds. After six days, then we will cut the plants 2cm to be
weighed determining the biomass, the area of the bottle, and then the NPP will be
calculated using the formula: NPP= (biomass/area)/day.
4. Understanding the primary productivity is important because primary production effects
an ecosystem. Energy from the ecosystem is from the growth and reproduction or
photosynthetic organisms and chemical compounds are being produced in the new plant
tissue. Consumes in the ecosystem eat the plant a receive energy from that plant. If the
NPP in an ecosystem is low, that could indicate that the ecosystem is not getting a
sufficient amount of nutrients to be used for chemical energy. If wildlife preserves for
endangered animals notice there is not enough chemical energy flowing through the
ecosystem, the animals trying to be saved can become extinct.

The hypothesis for this lab stated that if the grass was grown for six days
and trimmed twice, the NPP would be less than 58g/cm^2/day. This hypothesis was very
accurate because the outcome observed and calculated from the lab was 6.89x10^-4, which
was 99.99% error. The percent error could have been so high because some grass clippings
were left in the soil because the fell and could not have been easily accessed too because the
space between the grass blades were so tight. If those clippings were to be included, there
would be more biomass making the NPP higher. Some groups could have lacked amount of
water, which effects photosynthesis by lacking abundance of glucose. NPP shows the
ecosystem how important it is to have the right amount of energy. Without a high enough
NPP, the ecosystem lacks energy putting the health of the ecosystem into risk.
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Works Cited
Pantel, A Romo, J.T., &Bal, Y. (2011) Above- ground net primary production of plains rough
fescue [Festuca hallii (Vasey) Piper] after a single defoliation on five landform elements.
Canadian Journal of Plant Science
"The Flow of Energy: Primary Production to Higher Trophic Levels." Global Change. University
of Michigan, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.