Ecological Energetics of the Diara Land Ecosystem and Its Management

Abstract

Ecological energetics involve energy's relationship with the ecosystem. From the standpoint of energetics, it is necessary to express biomass in terms of calories, so that the relationship between the rate of energy flow and average standing biomass can be established. Net annual energy fixation by green plants on diara land at the natural field site I (wild vegetation) was 3,408·53 Kcal m-2 y-1 and at the mixed cultivated field site II (edible vegetation with wild species) was 19,714·3 Kcal m-2 y-1. These values, measured on an area-weighted average basis, were 285·09 × 105 KJ ha-1 y-1 at site I and 5,771·16 × 105 KJ ha-1 y-1 at site II. The energy conserving efficiency was 0·13% at site I and 2·7% at site II. The ecological efficiency of the livestock community was 0·004%, and energy transfer efficiency was 0·14%. The allometric relationship between the biomass component (independent) and caloric content (dependent) was found to be highly significant with standing dead and total biomass at site I and with aboveground parts, standing dead, and total biomass at site II.