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Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction
"Humans comprise a tiny share of life on Earth — 0.01% of the total and 2.5% of animal biomass (animal biomass is shown in the right-hand box on the visualization above).
But we are also responsible for the animals we raise. Humans alone may seem insignificant, but our hunger for raising livestock means we have played a major role in shifting the balance of animal life: livestock account for 4% of animal biomass.4
Livestock accounts for more biomass than all humans on Earth, more than 50% greater than humans.
And livestock accounts for much more than all wildlife: Wild mammals and birds collectively account for only 0.38% — livestock, therefore, outweighs wild mammals and birds by a factor of ten.5" - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
Functions of Biomass
Functions of Biomass
Carbon Sequestration
Carbon Sequestration
Carbon Sequestration in Soil vs Wildlife
Carbon Sequestration in Soil vs Wildlife
Fungi are effectively merchants of carbon. In the soil, they give plants the water and nutrients they need, while the plants provide fungi with carbohydrates (i.e., carbon) from photosynthesis. Fungi can act like a second set of roots, extending the plant’s ability to draw in water and nutrients.
Mycorrhizal fungi, which encompass thousands of species, can form large, underground networks, connected by branching filaments called hyphae, threading through the soil in every direction. One type of this fungi, known as arbuscular mycorrhizal, attaches directly to the cell membranes of a plant’s root, facilitating a smooth delivery. Other microbes in the soil, like protozoa and nematodes, participate in this cycling, too, digesting fungi and bacteria to release their nutrients in a more available form to plants.
“The microbes engineered habitats around the plant roots that would be high in organic matter and make it more efficient for them to be able to obtain water and nutrients that they could then–in this carbon economy–essentially sell it to the plant,” says Kris Nichols, a leading researcher on soil microbiology. “It’s really an economic relationship.”
This relationship becomes especially interesting when business is booming—when the plants are delivering a lot of carbon into the soil that is used to build larger and larger fungal networks while distributing carbon across the soil profile. The carbon accumulates in the soil in many forms, from fungal cell walls to soil aggregates, or pellets of very alive soil that Nichols describes as “little microbial towns,” like economic hubs." - Civil Eats: Fung are Helping Farmers Unlock the Secrets of Soil
Water Cycle
Water Cycle
Biodiversity
Biodiversity
What Makes Up Global Biomass?
What Makes Up Global Biomass?
Carbon-Based Life Forms Store Carbon
Carbon-Based Life Forms Store Carbon
The following have been listed from largest in terms of tons of carbon stores, to smaller amounts of carbon storage.
Scroll down further to read sections about how different branches of life interact and function as non-atmospheric carbon storage.
Carbon Mass vs Population Size
Carbon Mass vs Population Size
These numbers don't specifically or always correlate with population size, since some organisms are much larger or smaller than others listed groups. For example plants make up the largest amount of biomass, and include organisms from tiny specs of duckweed up to giant sequoia trees. In the case of livestock, humans, wildlife, and birds, livestock do specifically outnumber humans, wild mammals, and birds in terms of individuals. Chickens currently outnumber all wild bird populations.
Plants
Plants
Plants, mostly trees, account for more than 82% of biomass. - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
Bacteria
Bacteria
Though they are too small to see with the naked eye, bacteria account for 13% of Earth's biomass. - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
Fungi
Fungi
Mycorrhizal Fungi
Mycorrhizal Fungi
This particular branch of the fungi tree are responsible for helping plants sequester carbon into soil.
Archnaea
Archnaea
These are single-celled organisms which make up approximately 1.5% of Earth's biomass. - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
Animals
Animals
Livestock
Livestock
"Livestock now outweighs wild mammals and birds ten-fold." - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
Livestock represent 0.1 billion tons of biomass and make up 4% of animal biomass.
Note: "Figures for livestock don't include fish catch or farming — of course, these also had significant impacts on marine life." - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
Poultry livestock accounts for 0.2 percent of animal biomass — more than twice that of wild birds. Bar-On et al. (2018) estimate global poultry biomass to be 0.005 billion tonnes of carbon. This is approximately 0.2 percent of animal biomass (= 0.005 / 2.4 * 100). Wild birds account for only 0.08 percent of animal biomass." - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
Humans
Humans
"Humans make up just 0.01% of life: but we've had much larger impacts on shaping the animal kingdom." - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
Wild Mammals
Wild Mammals
Before human intervention, wild mammals made up a much larger percentage of animal biomass and carbon storage. However, as we continue to hunt them, destroy their habitats, driving a growing number of them towards extinction, they now only make up 3% of animal biomass, representing 0.007 billion tons of biomass.
Birds
Birds
"Wild birds account for only 0.08 percent of animal biomass." - Our World in Data: Life on Earth
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