Biomass

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbaɪə(ʊ)mæs/

Definitions

1. The total mass of living organisms in a given area or volume is known as it, encompassing plants, animals, and microorganisms
2. It refers to the organic material derived from living or recently deceased organisms, including flora, fauna, and microbial entities
3. This term describes the accumulated biological material within an ecosystem, representing the weight of all living entities such as plants and animals

Etymology: "Biomass" is a plain modern compound: "bio-", the combining form meaning "life" or "living organisms", joined to "mass", meaning matter or material. The result describes living material as something you can weigh, which is the core of the word's meaning, whether that material is a forest, a pond's plankton, or the people and livestock on a farm. The shift that matters most is in its later use. Originally the word referred to the total living matter in an ecosystem, a scientific measure of how much life a place holds. In more recent decades it has come to mean organic matter used as fuel or raw material, such as wood chips, crop residues, or grasses grown specifically for energy. The field of giant miscanthus grass in Devon, England, is a clear example of that sense: the plants are cultivated not for their ecological role but as a source of energy.

Synonyms: organic matter, plant matter, biofuel