You may have a look here:

Lieth, H., Whittaker, R.H. (Eds.) (1975) Primary Productivity of the Biosphere. Ecological Studies 14, pp 340

Thank you, Till.

Hello Till and Martin

I bought the book in the seventies and binned the book two decades later. No follow up research findings that could beat the book on the global scale. Moreover, humans and animals cannot eat (all) NPP or use it otherwise. That makes the topic less relevant from a utilitarian perspective. Of course, today's' question is, how much carbon could we sequester by maximizing NPP.

But what about the local scale, the bottom up approach? Given the same local climate, terrain and herbivore assemblage, would all "vegetation types" show the same NPP? A pine forest versus a oak forest (species difference)? A deciduous forest versus a deciduous shrubland (structural difference)? My null hypothesis would be no. It depends, on the three variables and how "vegetation type' is defined.

As a first step, below 300 mm of rainfall, and seasonal T above c. 7 degrees for three months or so, water maybe the limiting for NPP. Above 600 mm, soil nutrients may become limiting. If rain and soil are optimal for plants, solar radiation becomes limiting (see green house).Once the latter is optimized, carbon-dioxide is limiting (see green house).

On the global extent , if the maximum sustainable NPP would be the aim, we should capture solar energy to desalinise sea water in arid zones, synthesize N-fertilisers in humid zones, and photo-synthetic active light and carbon-dioxide everywhere. Theoretically and technically, it would seem doable. However, there is also politics and economics.

This is an initial answer for the land. The oceans are a different story and probably the key environment.

Hi,

you have hit the nail on the head - there is no follow up or verification. As a ballpark headline Whittaker is fine, but I really do struggle to find updated/refined estimates. One would think that this would be widely available with the multitudes of models we have now, but where?

I am interested in energy capture and conversion to 'useable' NPP, many farmers ask if grassland / crop / trees are better in some situations. As you say, my gut feeling would be they differ - but how much?

Martin