What makes up life on Earth? The mass of all living organisms on the planet, the biomass, is dominated by plants, mainly trees. Humans represent a minute portion of life on Earth, but have had a major impact on other living things. VIDEOGRAPHIC
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music plays]
00:07 What makes up life on Earth?
00:09 The mass of all living organisms on the planet,
00:12 the biomass, is dominated by plants at 80% of the total, mainly trees.
00:18 Then comes bacteria, comprising 15% of the planet's total biomass.
00:24 They are mainly found deep down in the soil,
00:27 but a large proportion of them are inactive.
00:29 [Music plays]
00:31 The remaining categories, notably mushrooms, viruses and animals,
00:35 represent less than 10% of total biomass.
00:38 [Music plays]
00:43 The biomass of animals comprises over 40% anthropods,
00:47 meaning insects and shellfish, followed by fish,
00:50 which make up nearly a third of animal biomass.
00:53 [Music plays]
00:55 Mammals represent less than 7% of animal biomass.
00:59 At the heart of this group,
01:01 humans and livestock exceed the biomass of wild animals.
01:05 [Music plays]
01:09 Human beings make up only 2.5% of animal biomass
01:13 and only 0.01% of the planet's total biomass.
01:18 [Music plays]
01:20 Humans represent a minute portion of life on Earth,
01:23 but have had a major impact on other living things
01:26 through the development of agriculture and the domestication of animals.
01:30 [Music plays]
01:32 It is estimated that since the start of human civilization,
01:35 the biomass of wild land mammals has been reduced by a factor of 7
01:40 and wild marine mammals by a factor of 5.
01:43 [Music plays]
01:48 [Music plays]