Primary production

Landscape transformation and variation in invasive species abundance drive change in primary production of aquatic vegetation in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta

Katharyn E. Boyer, Samuel M. Safran, Shruti Khanna, and Melissa V. Patten

Article link: https://doi.org/10.15447/sfews.2023v20iss4art2

Aquatic vegetation plays an important role in the flow of energy through ecosystems. Carbon that is assimilated through photosynthesis is released to food webs through herbivory and decomposition processes, and the net carbon provided by vegetation to ecosystems is quantified in a measurement of ‘net primary production.’ This chapter explores how changes in aquatic vegetation species, including new introductions of species and changes in the amount of invasive aquatic vegetation in the Delta, has affected net primary production and thus impacted food webs supporting native species.