Peter Crockford

Abstract:
The rate of primary productivity is a keystone variable in driving biogeochemical cycles today and has been throughout Earth’s past. For example, it plays a critical role in determining nutrient stoichiometry in the oceans, the amount of global biomass, and the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Modern estimates suggest that terrestrial and marine realms contribute near-equal amounts to global gross primary productivity (GPP). However, this productivity balance has shifted significantly in both recent times and through deep time.  A grand challenge in the study of the history of life on Earth has been to constrain the trajectory that connects present-day productivity to the origin of life. Here, we address this gap by piecing together estimates of primary productivity from the origin.