The total mass of living organisms in a given area or ecosystem, often measured as dry weight. Biomass can refer to all life in an ecosystem or specific groups like plant biomass or microbial biomass.
Compound from Greek 'bios' (life) and 'mass' from Latin 'massa' (lump or quantity). The term emerged in ecology during the mid-20th century as scientists developed methods to quantify the amount of living matter in ecosystems.
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