biomass

noun bio·mass \ ˈbī-ō-ˌmas \

|Updated on: 8 Jul 2018

Definition of biomass

1 : the amount of living matter (as in a unit area or volume of habitat)

2 : plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel

Recent Examples of biomass from the Web

According to a new survey of the Earth’s biomass, plants make up 80 percent of all carbon stored in living creatures.

— laura yan, Popular Mechanics, "Humans Make Up a Teeny-Tiny Percentage of the Earth's Biomass," 27 May 2018
Recent assessments of the snapper stock indicate the Gulf-wide abundance of the popular reef fish is at a 40-year high, with 40 percent of the Gulf’s total biomass of snapper living in waters off Texas.

— shannon tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "Red snapper season gains length this year," 31 May 2018
And although humans weigh in at just 0.06 gigatons—on par with krill and termites—our impact on biomass since the beginning of civilization has been huge, scientists say.

— elizabeth pennisi, Science | AAAS, "Plants outweigh all other life on Earth," 21 May 2018
Officials are also pursuing solar, wind and biomass energy options.

— carol motsinger, Cincinnati.com, "Cincinnati Zoo just got a $50 million gift. But it's just the beginning of a big plan," 7 June 2018
That’s just one surprise in a comprehensive new survey of Earth’s biomass, which finds that groups with the greatest number of species—such as arthropods—aren’t necessarily the heaviest.

— katie langin, Science | AAAS, "Top stories: rival giant telescopes, hefty plants, and the mystery behind ‘gluten sensitivity’," 25 May 2018
But in terms of raw biomass, the results—published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—tell a different story.

— The Economist, "A planetary census puts humans in their place," 24 May 2018
But scientists have been expressing concern for years about the emissions produced by burning biomass.

— niina heikkinen, Scientific American, "Congress Says Biomass Is Carbon Neutral, But Scientists Disagree," 23 Mar. 2018
Bacteria are nearly 13 percent of the world's biomass.

— seth borenstein, chicagotribune.com, "The weight of the world: Pound for pound, humans just a tiny sliver of life," 22 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'biomass.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of biomass

1931

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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Other Ecology Terms

Malthusian, anthropogenic, carbon footprint, crepuscular, niche, sere, symbiosis, taiga, tundra

Medical Dictionary

biomass

noun bio·mass \ -ˌmas \

medical Definition of biomass

: the amount of living matter (as in a unit area or volume of habitat)

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See words that rhyme with biomass Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about biomass

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biomass

Definition of biomass

Recent Examples of biomass from the Web

First Known Use of biomass

Other Ecology Terms

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biomass

medical Definition of biomass

Learn More about biomass

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biomass

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biomass

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