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biomass
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This infographic compares the relative biomass in gigatons of carbon among major kingdoms of life, showing plants with the greatest biomass, followed by bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, animals, and viruses. A detailed breakdown highlights that among animals, arthropods and fish have the highest biomass, with much smaller contributions from annelids, mollusks, livestock, humans, wild mammals, wild birds, nematodes, and cnidarians. Simple illustrations represent each group.
Understanding biomass in forests
Figure 1: A schematic representation of the biogeochemical cycle of carbon.
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Chutes d'Ekom - a waterfall on the Nkam river in the rainforest near Melong, in the western highlands of Cameroon in Africa.
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This infographic compares the relative biomass in gigatons of carbon among major kingdoms of life, showing plants with the greatest biomass, followed by bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, animals, and viruses. A detailed breakdown highlights that among animals, arthropods and fish have the highest biomass, with much smaller contributions from annelids, mollusks, livestock, humans, wild mammals, wild birds, nematodes, and cnidarians. Simple illustrations represent each group.
biomass Relative biomass on Earth. The planet's biomass is classified by kingdom of life and other major groupings, and the size of each group's relative footprint is displayed using gigatons of carbon as the common measure.

biomass

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biomass, the weight or total quantity of living organisms of one animal or plant species (species biomass) or of all the species in a community (community biomass), commonly referred to a unit area or volume of habitat. The weight or quantity of organisms in an area at a given moment is the standing crop. In a separate but related usage, the term biomass refers to plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel.

Understanding biomass in forests
Understanding biomass in forestsThe biomass of temperate forests.
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In contrast, the total amount of organic material produced by living organisms in a particular area within a set period of time is called primary productivity (that is, biomass production by plants and other photosynthetic organisms) and secondary productivity (that is, biomass production by animals). Primary and secondary productivity are usually measured as rates in units of energy per unit area per time, such as gram calories or kilojoules per square meter per year. Measures of weight, characterized as the mass of carbon per unit area per time—such as tons of carbon per square kilometer per year or gigatons of carbon per year—are also commonly recorded.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.