Question

The type of ecosystem with the highest mean plant productivity is

• A. Tropical rain forest
• B. Temperate grassland
• C. Desert
• D. Tundra

Answer 1

The correct option is A

Tropical rain forest

The tropical rain forests have giant trees with huge buttresses, thick vines, plants growing on plants (epiphytes), and so forth. Such luxurious growth signals high productivity. If one measures the photosynthesis, or captures the litterfall of leaves, branches, fruit and other plant parts to the forest floor, one finds the production of tropical evergreen forests to be roughly double that of temperate forests. They get a lot of heat and rain which means heavy humidity. Plants prosper with a lot of rain and sunlight. Tropical rain forsets are also rich in species diversity and having many species in an ecosystem is therefore a mechanism for fully exploiting the resources available in an area and for buffering the system against unstable conditions. The tundras (extremely cold) and deserts (extremely dry) do not have the correct conditions to support productivity. In fact, deserts are the least productive ecosystem.