Table 1.

Productivity per day and per unit leaf area

Biome	Total NPP (g m–2 year–1)*	Season length† (d)	Daily NPP per ground area (g m–2 d–1)	Total LAI‡ (m2 m–2)	Daily NPP per leaf area (g m–2 d–1)
Tropical forests	2500	365	6·8	6·0	1·14
Temperate forests	1550	250	6·2	6·0	1·03
Boreal forests	380	150	2·5	3·5	0·72
Mediterranean shrublands	1000	200	5·0	2·0	2·50
Tropical savannas and grasslands	1080	200	5·4	5·0	1·08
Temperate grasslands	750	150	5·0	3·5	1·43
Deserts	250	100	2·5	1·0	2·50
Arctic tundra	180	100	1·8	1·0	1·80
Crops	610	200	3·1	4·0	0·76
Range of values	14‐fold	3·7‐fold	3·8‐fold	6‐fold	3·3‐fold

* NPP is expressed in units of dry mass (Saugier et al., 2001).

^† Estimated.

^‡ Data from Gower (2002).