Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production

The Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) is a socio-ecological indicator that indicates the socially appropriated share of the biomass or net primary production available in an ecosystem . It is a methodical tool with which the intensity of human interventions in natural systems can be quantified and checked for ecological sustainability .

Areas of application

The starting point for determining the HANPP is the net primary production (NPP), i.e. the amount of biomass that is produced by photoautotrophic organisms, especially green plants in an ecosystem. In contrast to primary production , it does not contain the solar energy required for photosynthesis , but only the energy stored in biomass. The net primary production is the energy basis for all heterotrophic organisms, including humans. This influences the biomass present in the biosphere through land use practices . These practices include transforming natural systems into agricultural systems or building infrastructure . By calculating the HANPP, the consequences of these interventions in nature can be quantified.

calculation

A HANPP analysis can be carried out on a global level, on a national level or for a geographic region.

HANPP can be calculated as follows: HANPP = NPP0-NPPt

NPP0 denotes the potential vegetation , i.e. the total amount of biomass that is produced without human existence. If you subtract the amount of biomass that remained in the ecosystem after a human intervention (NPPt), you get the percentage that was appropriated by humans.

literature

Helmut Haberl: Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production as an Environmental Indicator: Implications for Sustainable Development. In: Ambio . Volume 26, 1997, pp. 143-146.
Helmut Haberl: Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production. In: Helmut Geist (Ed.): The Earth's Changing Land: An Encyclopedia of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change. Volume 1 A-K. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT, 2006, pp. 292-294.
Fridolin Krausmann et al .: Global human appropriation of net primary production doubled in the 20th century. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Volume 110, No. 25, 2013, pp. 10324-10329.
Robert H. Whittaker and Gene E. Likens : The Primary Production: The Biosphere and Man. In: Human Ecology. Volume 1, No. 4, 1973, pp. 357-369.

Web links

Global HANPP data from the University of Klagenfurt
Matthias Gräbner: I, I, I! Telepolis, July 3, 2007

Individual evidence

↑ Erb K.-H., Krausmann F., Gaube V., Gingrich S., Bondeau A .: Analyzing the global human appropriation of net primary production - processes, trajectories, implications. An introduction. In: Ecological Economics . Volume 69, 2009, pp. 250-259
↑ Helmut Haberl et al .: Quantifying and mapping the human appropriation of net primary production in earth's terrestrial ecosystems. In: PNAS . Volume 104, No. 31, 2007, pp. 12942-12947, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.0704243104

[1] Erb K.-H., Krausmann F., Gaube V., Gingrich S., Bondeau A .: Analyzing the global human appropriation of net primary production - processes, trajectories, implications. An introduction. In: Ecological Economics . Volume 69, 2009, pp. 250-259

[2] Helmut Haberl et al .: Quantifying and mapping the human appropriation of net primary production in earth's terrestrial ecosystems. In: PNAS . Volume 104, No. 31, 2007, pp. 12942-12947, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.0704243104