Biomass Definition (Ecology)

Biomass can be defined as an ecosystem or environment where various types of living organisms are found. It involves a producer, a list of consumers, and finally, a decomposer. It can also be defined as the mass of one or more species (species biomass) or the group of all species living in a colony (community biomass). Biomass includes all microorganisms, plants and animals. It is an important part of the class 12th chapter Ecosystem in Biology.

Biomass Definition in Ecology

In terms of ecology, biomass is defined as the total population of all the living organisms existing in a given ecosystem at a given time. Why you measure biomass determines the parameters for calculating biomass in your area. Generally, biomass is calculated as the total natural mass of an organism. However, other applications consider only the tissue mass of an organism and exclude bones, teeth, horns, and shells. Some other calculations calculate the mass of organically bound carbon atoms (C).

Biomass, in ecology, is the total mass of living organisms present in a given area or ecosystem at any given time. It is comprised of all plants, animals, microorganisms, and so forth. This parameter can be measured in terms of weight (such as grams or tons) per unit area. It can be referred to as the mass of an individual species, specific groups, or all of the community within an ecosystem. Biomass is a good means through which the level of energy present in a particular ecosystem may be determined since living organisms store sun-derived energy in the form of organic matter created by such processes as photosynthesis.

Biomass is an important feature of the ecological process, as it represents the energy and nutrients to which higher trophic levels are able to gain access within a food web - herbivores, carnivores, etc. Biomass can be very different between biomes; for instance, biomass is much more significant in the densest vegetation of tropical rainforests and relatively lower in deserts. Measurements of biomass can help ecologists understand ecosystems' productivity, energy flow, and sustaining ability towards living forms.

Main Article: Biomass

Various parts of a Biome

There are 6 main parts of a biome:

• Desert Biome: These are hot, dry regions that cover about 20% of the Earth's total land area. They are further divided into semi-arid, hot and arid, and cold and coastal deserts.

• Forest Biome: Composed chiefly of carbon storage trees and plantations, it covers about 30% of Earth's total land area. These are further subdivided into temperate, tropical and boreal forests.

• Aquatic Biome: These bodies of water are on the Earth's surface and comprise about 75% of the entire planet. They are classified into freshwater and marine biomes.

• Tundra Biome: This is the coldest terrestrial biome and has very little biodiversity. They are subdivided into alpine tundra and arctic tundra biomes.

• Grassland Biome: This represents a broad range of grass species with few or no trees. They are subdivided into temperate grasslands and savannas.

• Shrubland or Chaparral Biome: mainly refers to shrubs that are dry and hot in summer and wet and cool in winter. They are only found in a few parts of the world.

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