BRAINCAKEMeasuring Biomass - Dry Mass
Dry mass is the mass of an organism's tissue after all the water has been removed. It is a better measure of biomass than fresh mass, because water content varies and water is not a chemical energy store.
Method:
1. Collect a sample, for example all the plants in a quadrat of known area.
2. Weigh the sample in a crucible, then place it in an oven at a low temperature, around 80 °C. This is hot enough to evaporate the water but not hot enough to burn the organic material.
3. Remove and reweigh the sample at regular intervals.
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More in Energy and Ecosystems
- Producers, Consumers and Decomposers
- Trophic Levels
- Biomass
- Calorimetry and Chemical Energy in Biomass
- Gross Primary Production
- Net Primary Production
- NPP = GPP - R
- Net Production of Consumers
All 14 lessons in Energy and Ecosystems · All AQA A-level Biology topics