Method: Measuring Biomass
- Cut the plants at the base, place samples on a balance, and weigh them to get the fresh mass (this includes water).
- Dry the plant material, in a drying oven at 60°C, and remeasure the mass daily until a constant mass is recorded for 3 consecutive days.
Advantages and Disadvantages of this method.
- Pros: Provides the most accurate measurement of Biomass.
- Cons: Destructive and very time-consuming. Does not record total biomass only the biomass of the plant parts sampled. Difficult to estimate biomass of an entire habitat or ecosystem.
Method: Measuring Organic Carbon
Measurements of biomass can be taken further to measure the mass of organic carbon in plant samples.
If the dry biomass sample is then combusted in a crucible until all the organic carbon has been fully combusted. The difference between the final mass (none carbon ash) and the dry biomass is the amount of Organic carbon in the sample. This needs to be completed at a high temperature.
Dry Biomass – ash remaining after combustion = Carbon content (g)