PLANET EARTH
The smallest and largest animals make up most of Earth’s biomass
WORDS ELANA SPIVACK
Scientists have spent five years classifying the size, mass and
population of all living organisms, and at the end they made a surprising discovery: the tiniest and largest living entities on Earth dominate by sheer mass. To tackle this gargantuan task, the team, led by biologists from Rutgers University in New Jersey and the University of British Columbia, divided life into 36 categories across terrestrial, marine and subterranean environments. Within each group they identified the biggest, smallest and most common body size. Then, combining that information with pre-existing data on each group’s biomass, they estimated how much of Earth’s biomass each category comprised. Forest plants had the highest biomass and amphibians had the lowest. Malin Pinsky, an associate professor in the department of ecology, evolution and natural resources at Rutgers University, said this sort of survey is “the first time this has ever been done”.