BIOMASS

(1) The total mass of living matter within a given unit of environmental area. (2) Plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste used as a fuel or energy source. (3) The total quantity of plants and animals in a lake. Measured as organisms or dry matter per cubic meter, biomass indicates the degree of a lake system's eutrophication or productivity. Some methods of determining biomass in a sample include: (1) Ash Mass: The mass or amount of residue present after the residue from the dry mass determination has been ashed in a muffle furnace at a temperature of 500C for 1 hour. The ash mass values of zooplankton and phytoplankton are expressed in grams per cubic meter (g/m3), and periphyton and benthic organisms in grams per square mile (g/mi2). (2) Dry Mass: The mass of residue present after drying in an oven at 105C for zooplankton and periphyton, until the mass remains unchanged. This mass represents the total organic matter, ash and sediment, in the sample. Dry-mass values are expressed in the same units as ash mass. (3) Organic Mass or Volatile Mass: Refers to the mass of a living substance as the difference between the dry mass and ash mass and represents the actual mass of the living matter. The organic mass is expressed in the same units as for the ash mass and dry mass. (4) Wet Mass: The mass of living matter plus contained water.