1992 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 39-48
The productivity of terrestrial vegetation is a determinate element of the carrying capacity of the Earth for all living things including human being. In this study, the Chikugo model for evaluating the net primary productivity (NPP) from weather data was used to elucidate the global distribution and the latitudinal variation of NPP. Predicted NPP varied from below 1t dry-matter ha-1yr-1 in high latitude zone and dry regions to 29t dry-matter ha-1yr-1 in topical wet regions, depending on climatic conditions. The land area with the NPP above 10t dry-matter ha-1yr-1 was only 36.6% of the entire land area. The latitudinal change in NPP was characterized by a curve with a clear peak in the equatorial zone and two weak troughs in the subtropical high-pressure belts on both hemispheres. The potential global net production by terrestrial plants was estimated to be 136×109t dry-matter yr-1, agreeing well with those reported by other researchers.
