Biology · Ecosystems · NEET
A forest ecosystem. Among forest, grassland, pond, and lake, the forest wins. Big trees are producers that build and store a very large mass of living material (wood, branches, leaves) per unit area. This stored living mass is called the standing crop or biomass. NEET 2017 asked this exact question and the answer is forest ecosystem.
Yes, for this concept they mean the same thing. NCERT says each trophic level has a certain mass of living material at a time called the standing crop, measured as biomass (mass of living organisms) or number per unit area. So the ecosystem with the most standing crop also has the most biomass. That is the forest.
Because a forest is full of large trees. A tree has a heavy trunk, thick branches, and many leaves, all made of living and structural material. A grassland only has small grasses and herbs, which weigh very little per plant. So per unit area a forest stores far more living matter than a grassland.
No. The ocean covers about 70 percent of Earth but its producers are tiny phytoplankton with very little biomass at a time. Do not confuse large area or high total production with high biomass per unit area. In NEET, when the options are forest, grassland, pond, and lake, the answer is forest, not any water ecosystem.
No, and this is a common trap. Productivity is the rate of new organic matter made per unit time (like g m⁻² yr⁻¹). Biomass is the total living matter present at one moment. A forest has the highest biomass because of standing wood, but productivity is a different measure. Read the question word carefully: 'biomass' means standing crop, not rate.
Which ecosystem has the maximum biomass?
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
The forest ecosystem, because its large trees store the most living material (standing crop) per unit area.
Biomass is the mass of living material present at a trophic level at a given time, expressed as fresh or dry weight per unit area. It is also called the standing crop.
Forest trees have heavy trunks, branches, and leaves, so each producer stores far more living matter than the small grasses of a grassland.
No. The ocean is large in area but its producers are tiny phytoplankton with low biomass. In NEET options with forest, forest has the maximum biomass.
Yes. NEET 2017 directly asked which ecosystem has the maximum biomass, and the correct answer is the forest ecosystem.
