Secondary production
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Secondary production is a measurement of the biomass of herbivores in a system (such as an aquatic environment where herbivourous zooplankton would be the measured quantity). It is the amount of new tissue created by the use of assimilated energy. Secondary production can be estimated through several methods including increment summation, removal summation, the instantaneous growth method and the Allen curve method. The choice between these methods depends on the assumptions of each. Once this is reached, then primary production can take place. One should ask whether cohorts be distinguished, whether linear mortality can be assumed and whether growth is exponential.
