An Introduction to Biomass
In this universe, anything having physical characteristics and exhibiting material nature occupies some space due to the ability which is referred to as mass. Such ability of biotic living organisms is termed as biomass. Simply, the mass of living beings in a certain area and during a specific period of time is called biomass. This tells us the expression that biomass can be measured or expressed as the mass of living organisms per unit area. The biomass can be studied as a particular species in a given area and time. When we study an ecosystem that is basically a community of organisms we will include biomass of all the organisms belonging to different species and term it as the mass of a community.
Measuring Biomass
Biomass is measured without taking water into consideration. It is the mass of the dry matter of the living organisms. However, there are different ways out there by which biomass can be measured. Most of the time the thing which puts a more crucial impact on measurement is the question that why we are measuring the biomass of a specific specie or the biomass of a specific community. In some situations, we have to consider the wet weight too that includes water content too. For example, in the case of studying fishes. However, in some cases, only the total mass of organic carbon present in the body is determined. For example, it has been determined that the cumulative biomass of our planet is 555 billion tonnes C (approximately). It is also measured that total primary production (TPP) per year, meaning to say the production of new biomass annually, is 100 billion tonnes C per annum. These numbers make us wonder about the gap that is present between total biomass value and annual biomass value. This is due to the reason that biomass is only calculated for the living organisms. This includes bacteria, algae, fungi, flora, and fauna. The biomass is not an expression of dead or decaying biological matter in an ecosystem or biological community.
Foundation of Biomass
There is a very unique relationship between mass and energy. Mass is said to be contained a form of energy. Due to the relationship between mass and energy, it can also be understood that everything in this universe is just energy but it exists in two forms, one is pure form and the other is material or mass form. This idea is extracted from the mass and energy equation that also makes us believe that these two quantities are interchangeable. In any biological system energy enters the system through photosynthesis. This process is mainly carried out by plants, algae, and some photosynthesis capable bacteria. This is the process by which the sunlight (a form of energy) is captured or absorbed by leaves that are rich in photosynthetic pigment. This pigment is known as chlorophyll which is contained by membrane-bound packet structures. These are called thylakoids. The membrane-associated with it helps in the utilization of energy by capturing the high energy photons and charging electrons for oxidation and reduction reactions that involve carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates (glucose) and oxygen.
The process described above is the gate through which energy enters the domain of matter. The energy in plants is stored in the form of carbohydrates, ATP, and, NADPH. These stored forms (molecular) provide energy to plants to grow and increase their biomass, as well as it provides energy to consumers which utilize the energy obtain from producers to increase their biomass.
Ecological Study of Biomass
In ecology, we can use the idea of ecological pyramids to correlate it with the idea of biomass. Ecological pyramids are theoretical pyramidal structures having levels. These ecological levels or actually trophic levels. The pyramid is supposed to go from the base towards the apex. The producers or the organisms capable of photosynthesis are at the bottom. These are also known as autotrophs. Being at the bottom they have the highest biomass production rate.
This because they are the gateway of energy to come into the ecosystem. If the flora in an ecosystem is prolific, only then it will be able to support the upper trophic levels. The ecological pyramid has its significance due to some really good reasons. In an ecological pyramid, there are levels, and each level expresses a trophic level of organisms and it is also an expression of the total biomass present at that certain level. In addition, the ecological pyramid also helps us to calculate the production in biomass at a specific trophic level. The base of the pyramid the broadest and it is resided by the producers. They produce the maximum amount of biomass as compare to any other tropic level. With each step moving upwards in the pyramid the total biomass decreases, as well as the amount of energy in each trophic level, also decreases. Because only 10% of the energy the producers produce reaches the first consumer-level and is used to produce biomass. Similarly, when moving to the next step (secondary consumer) the biomass they procure is only 1% of the gross primary production or the basic production of the producers at the base level. This makes us believe that only ten percent of the energy of the total energy is transferred to the trophic level above in the ecological pyramid. Whereas, ninety percent is utilized in biochemical processes or it is lost resulting in entropy.
Classification of Biomass
Biomass is classified into type on the bases of topography, existence in different geographical locations, and conditions. Some of them are briefed below.
Terrestrial biomass
This is usually concerned with the biomass present on the land. This includes macro-organisms. For example, trees, shrubs, herbivores, and carnivores. This is interesting to note that the difference in the biomass present between the trophic levels and levels of the food chain in the ecological pyramid of terrestrial organisms, is greater than the biomass difference present in any other type of biomass (resolved by ecological pyramid). The producers have significant biomass, but the biomass of the herbivores or primary consumers is way less as compared to the producers. The difference is approximately ninety percent. Similarly, secondary consumers have much less biomass as compare to primary consumers. And the tertiary consumers and apex predators i.e. the organisms which are on top of the food chain have the least biomass as compare to any of the trophic levels. This proves that with each step in the ecological pyramid there is significant and undeniable biomass difference.
The Marine or Aquatic Biomass
This includes organisms present underwater. These organisms can be called aquatic flora and fauna. It is amusing to know that plants which are present underwater are also capable of photosynthesis (phytoplankton). Furthermore, plants are not only the organisms which are capable of photosynthesis, there is another organism that is favored by a high amount of moisture and contains chlorophyll which enables it to play its role as a producer in the oceanic ecosystem. This organism is green algae. They are also considered among the largest ecological producers on earth. As they are also gateways for light energy to become biomass. The aquatic biomass is very huge, and it has a very complex food chain. There are also many steps of organisms that are created in the ecological pyramid of the oceanic ecosystem. Phytoplankton being the producers has large biomass.
Second to them are the primary consumers which are known as zooplankton. The marine biomass is very large, and the difference of biomass among food chains and trophic levels of the ecological pyramid is not as significant as it is on terrestrial biomass. There is another noteworthy thing in aquatic ecosystems that the trophic levels of ecological pyramids can be found upside down. This unique mechanism of inversion in the food chain brings a high level of versatility in it and also it increases the biomass of each level significantly. This is one of the reasons that the difference of biomass among trophic levels of aquatic ecological pyramids is not highly significant as compared to the terrestrial ecological pyramids.
The biomass produced by Bacteria
Bacteria are almost everywhere. They inhabit the cold north poles and they can also be found in hot springs of Mexico. They are the most common organisms in the world. This makes it undeniable that bacteria make huge biomass. For instance, there are more than fifty million bacteria in just 1ml of water obtained from a freshwater source and the same number of bacteria are present in soil weighing just one gram. The seabed is also rich with bacterial biomass. Bacteria make up to 300 billion tons of C (biomass) in the ocean, and in the terrestrial environment, it takes approximately 20 tons of carbon as biomass.
Worldwide Biomass
Worldwide biomass is the global biomass or the biomass of all microorganisms and macro-organisms. This includes biomass of all species inhabiting this earth. It is important to know that most of the biomass is present belongs to the terrestrial ecosystem. The land ecosystem is so large and prolific that it is almost one thousand times greater than phytoplankton’s in the ocean. It is quite interesting to know that floral biomass in oceans is almost thirty times less as compared to the biomass animals create in the ocean.
Use of Biomass
Biomass is an output. There are several components of biomass that are produced by the organisms living in an ecosystem and these components are treated as products or services by human beings. For example, wood is one of the components of biomass obtained from trees. This is utilized to make many other products like furniture, houses, and it is processed into pulp to make paper and other similar products like cardboard boxes. The skin or hide of animals is one of the components of biomass that is produced by animals. This is processed in tanneries to make leather products which include clothing and a lot of other things. Similarly, meat or flesh animals produce is a component of biomass produced by animals. This meat is a source of food for other consumers and human beings. The flowers which are produced by plants is also a component of biomass produced by the plant kingdom. These components play a role in reproduction, but some specific plants have certain characteristics that make them very suitable for specific purposes like medication. Some of them are also used as fodder for animals. The fruits produced by plants are also considered as biomass and used as diet source and some are also used for medicinal purposes.
With the advancement in biology, genetic engineering has come to the on such crossroads of success that scientists are able to get products from bacteria. For example, they can be modified to produce insulin or protein. Even these products contain carbon and considered biomass.
Summary
Biomass is the mass of biotic components present in an ecosystem without counting in the mass of water. Biomass is the thing in which energy comes to earth in the form of sunlight and is converted into a material form which is the biomass of living organisms. Biomass is measured in different ways according to the requirement of research. The most common is measuring it in tons of carbon or mass per unit area. In order to ecologically study biomass, we use ecological pyramids that have several steps. The most lower step is the broadest and it contains the producers. The producers are the organisms that can fix the energy (sunlight) into biomass. The energy in for of carbohydrates which contain carbon. The producers act as a source of food for the organisms on the upper trophic levels in the pyramid. It is also known that most of the energy obtained by the organisms is used to increase their biomass and little is transferred to the next trophic level. Some of the energy is also lost in the process. The biomass is classified into terrestrial and marine types. The terrestrial biomass is of the organisms present on land whereas the marine biomass is underwater. The biomass also considered as the output of an ecosystem. That many components of biomass produced by organisms provide services to humankind.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is biomass?
The total mass of living beings in a particular area during a specific period of time. Biomass can be measured or expressed as the mass of living organisms per unit area.
What are biomass fuels?
These are the fuels that are obtained from living matter or organisms via different techniques. They are either derived from living organisms or their waste or dead remains. They are carbon-based fuels.
What are 4 examples of biomass?
Examples of biomass include rice straw, wheat straw, barley straw, corn stover, etc.
Is biomass fuel environment-friendly?
Biomass fuel is environment-friendly as it has a number of advantages over fossil fuels. The most important environment-friendly feature of biomass fuel is that it cannot be depleted as long as there is life on earth.
References
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- Darby, Thomas. “What Is Biomass Renewable Energy”. Real World Energy. Archived from the original on 2014-06-08. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
- Randor Radakovits; Robert E. Jinkerson; Al Darzins; Matthew C. Posewitz1 (2010). “Genetic Engineering of Algae for Enhanced Biofuel Production”. Eukaryotic Cell. 9(4): 486–501. doi:10.1128/EC.00364-09. PMC 2863401. PMID 20139239.