What is Biomass? - Help!?

Question

I'm trying to understand what biomass is for a self-study I have to do for Biology. The definition I've found is "the amount of biological material in an organism," but I've also found the definition, "biomass is anything that is alive." Then I found that biomass can be garbage/rubbish, which isn't alive.

So I don't understand! Can someone give me a simple, but correct definition that I can use for my self-study and I'll always understand!

Thank you!

Answer 1

1. The total amount of living material in a given habitat, population, or sample. Specific measures of biomass are generally expressed in dry weight (after removal of all water from the sample) per unit area of land or unit volume of water.

2. Renewable organic materials, such as wood, agricultural crops or wastes, and municipal wastes, especially when used as a source of fuel or energy. Biomass can be burned directly or processed into biofuels such as ethanol and methane. See more at biofuel.

A Closer Look When biologist J.B.S. Haldane was once asked if the study of life on Earth gave him any insights into God, he replied jokingly that his research revealed that God must have "an inordinate fondness for beetles." Haldane's comment is based on the fact that there are more beetle speciesalmost 400,000 now knownthan any other animal species. Beetles are just a fragment of the Earth's biomass, the matter that makes up the Earth's living organisms. Insects alonewhich comprise almost one million known species and perhaps millions yet to be discoveredcreate an amazing amount of biomass. The number of individual insects is about 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000). Insects probably have more biomass than any other type of land animal. In comparison, if the weight of the Earth's human population were added up, the biomass of the insect population would be 300 times as great. Biomass also refers to the organic material on Earth that has stored sunlight in the form of chemical energy. Biomass fuels, including wood, wood waste, straw, manure, sugar cane, and many other byproducts from a variety of agricultural processes, continue to be a major source of energy in much of the developing world. There are many who advocate the use of biomass for energy as it is readily available, whereas fossil fuels, such as petroleum, coal, or natural gas, take millions of years to form in the Earth and are finite and subject to depletion as they are consumed.

Answer 2

Biomass refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production. Most commonly, biomass refers to plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce biofuel, but it also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibers, chemicals or heat. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. It excludes organic material which has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum.

Answer 3

The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level is called a biomass. Biomass is usually in terms of grams of organic matter per unit area. A biomass pyramid represents the amount of potential food availiable for each trophic level in an ecosystem.