A new radiation index predicts the gross primary production of diverse
terrestrial ecosystems
Abstract
Solar radiation is the primary energy source that drives the physical
and biochemical processes and determines the gross primary production
(GPP) of an ecosystem. Even though the relationship between solar
radiation and GPP is acknowledged, no radiation index (RI) has been
developed to estimate GPP. Using data consisting of a total of 267
site-years obtained from 54 flux sites of diverse ecosystems, we
introduced a RI that showed a strong linear relationship with GPP.
Importantly, the estimation of GPP using the RI is independent of
ecosystem types, making it a simple and universal method to estimate the
productivity of any terrestrial ecosystems. The results from this study
demonstrated the reliable performance of the RI in estimating GPP and
its potential application in upscaling and prediction.