Surveying the body sizes of Earth’s living organisms, researchers from McGill University and University of British Columbia found that the planet’s biomass – the material that makes up all living organisms – is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum.
Surveying the body sizes of Earth’s living organisms, researchers from McGill University and University of British Columbia found that the planet’s biomass – the material that makes up all living organisms – is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum.
The researchers spent five years compiling and analyzing data about the size and biomass of every type of living organism on the planet—from tiny one-celled organisms like soil archaea and bacteria to large organisms like blue whales and sequoia trees.
They found that the pattern favouring large and small organisms held across all types of species and was more pronounced in land-based organisms than in marine environments. Interestingly, maximum body size seemed to reach the same upper limits across multiple species and environments.
Read more at: McGill University
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