A census of the biomass on Earth is key for understanding the structure and dynamics of the biosphere. However, a global, quantitative view of how the biomass of different taxa compare with one another is still lacking. Here, we assemble the overall biomass composition of the biosphere, establishing a census of the ≈550 gigatons of carbon (Gt C) of biomass distributed among all of the kingdoms of life. We find that the kingdoms of life concentrate at different locations on the planet; plants (≈450 Gt C, the dominant kingdom) are primarily terrestrial, whereas animals (≈2 Gt C) are mainly marine, and bacteria (≈70 Gt C) and archaea (≈7 Gt C) are predominantly located in deep subsurface environments. We show that terrestrial biomass is about two orders of magnitude higher than marine biomass and estimate a total of ≈6 Gt C of marine biota, doubling the previous estimated quantity. Our analysis reveals that the global marine biomass pyramid contains more consumers than producers, thus increasing the scope of previous observations on inverse food pyramids. Finally, we highlight that the mass of humans is an order of magnitude higher than that of all wild mammals combined and report the historical impact of humanity on the global biomass of prominent taxa, including mammals, fish, and plants.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/115/25/6506.full.pdf

The biomass distribution on Earth

The volume comprises 33 chapters and is divided into the following eight Parts:Part I: Taxonomic Composition, Ecology and Biogeography of Soil-Crust Communities * Part II: Heterotrophic Components of Biological Soil Crusts * Part III: Structure of Biological Soil Crusts: Microscale to Landscape * Part IV: Biological Soil Crusts as an Ecosystem Component: Carbon and Nitrogen Acquisition and Interactions with Vascular Plants * Part V: Soil Stability and Hydrology as Influenced by Soil Crusts * Part VI: Disturbance to Biological Soil Crusts: Resistance, Resilience and Restoration * Part VII: Monitoring and Management of Biological Soil Crusts * Part VIII: Conclusions.

Biological soil crusts : structure, function, and management

CONTENTS I . Introduction . 11. Factors which influence microbial biomass . . . ( I ) Soil chemical factors . . . . . . . ( a ) Carbon and nitrogen limitation . . . . ( b ) Residue and nutrient amendment . . . (c) Influence of plants . . . . . . ( d ) Soil pH . . . . . . . . (e) Heavy metals and pesticides . . . . (2) Soil physical factors . . . . . . . ( a ) Soil texture and structure ( b ) Soil moisture and temperature (c) Seasonal fluctuations . . . . . . 111. Global distribution of microbial biomass . . . ( I ) Relationship with soil chemical factors and macroclimate

A comparative assessment of factors which influence microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen levels in soil

Cellular life emerged ∼3.7 billion years ago. With scant exception, terrestrial organisms have evolved under predictable daily cycles owing to the Earth’s rotation. The advantage conferred on organisms that anticipate such environmental cycles has driven the evolution of endogenous circadian rhythms that tune internal physiology to external conditions. The molecular phylogeny of mechanisms driving these rhythms has been difficult to dissect because identified clock genes and proteins are not conserved across the domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota. Here we show that oxidation–reduction cycles of peroxiredoxin proteins constitute a universal marker for circadian rhythms in all domains of life, by characterizing their oscillations in a variety of model organisms. Furthermore, we explore the interconnectivity between these metabolic cycles and transcription–translation feedback loops of the clockwork in each system. Our results suggest an intimate co-evolution of cellular timekeeping with redox homeostatic mechanisms after the Great Oxidation Event ∼2.5 billion years ago. Daily oxidation–reduction cycles of peroxiredoxin proteins are shown to be conserved in all domains of life, including Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota. Most living organisms possess an endogenous circadian clock that ties their metabolism to a 24-hour day–night cycle. 'Clock genes' have been studied in many organisms and their variety has encouraged the view that each clock evolved independently. But there is a unifying factor: a non-transcriptionally based form of circadian oscillation, involving the oxidation–reduction cycles of peroxiredoxin proteins, has been identified in human red blood cells and algae. This study demonstrates that these redox cycles are conserved in all domains of life, including Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota, pointing to the possibility that this type of cellular timekeeping has co-evolved with redox homeostatic mechanisms across organisms for billions of years. The link may go back 2.5 billion years, to the Great Oxidation Event that consigned anaerobic metabolism to the margins of evolutionary history.

/pdf/peroxiredoxins-are-conserved-markers-of-circadian-rhythms-2hb5xrvekl.pdf

Peroxiredoxins are conserved markers of circadian rhythms

Many terrestrial surfaces are covered by photoautotrophic communities, which are capable of synthesizing their own food from inorganic substances using sunlight. According to an analysis of previously published data, these communities account for nearly half of the biological nitrogen fixation on land.

Contribution of cryptogamic covers to the global cycles of carbon and nitrogen

Protozoa of biological soil crusts of a cool desert in Utah

Soil is the focus of organic matter turnover in terrestrial ecosystems and is an interstitial mosaic of microsites composed of particle aggregates and pore spaces, where transformation, decomposition, mineralization, and humification of organic matter takes place. Microorganisms and animals are scattered discontinuously in these microsites. Microarthropods and larger fauna increase the rate and amount of mineralization by comminution of organic matter and by redistribution of microsites through movements of earthworms and large arthropods; however, mineralization and return of nutrients to plants occurs in the community of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes living in the water films covering aggregates and filling pore spaces. Protozoa, especially small amoebae, are important bacterial grazers because they can enter tiny spaces unavailable to nematodes. The latter graze bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. Protozoan and nematode predation increase the amounts of soluble nutrients and decrease the competitive abilities of bacteria, thus making these nutrients more available to plants. Protozoa enhance nutrient recycling out of proportion to their biomass.

Symposium on “Protozoan Ecology”: The Role of Protozoa in Litters and Soils1

This is the first extensive study of soil protozoa of arid lands. Twenty-six samples from litters, soils, termitaria, and a cyanobacterial crust, collected from central and south Australian arid lands, were analyzed for numbers and species of gymnamoebae, ciliates, and testacea. Amoebae ranged from 1,000-5,000/g of material, and were two orders of magnitude more abundant than ciliates. Both groups increased in abundance and species richness from bare soils through spinifex to mulga to chenopod vegetations. Testacea ranged 900-5,000/g with similar species richness throughout vegetations, but reached 11,900/g with a doubling of species in a refugium in Kings Canyon. The most prevalent species of amoebae, ciliates, and testacea were taxa associated with ephemeral and disturbed habitats (r-selection). The cyanobacterial crust might be considered a micro-refugium because it contained a number of non-encysting protozoa, including Thecamoeba sp. and Nassula picta, feeding on cyanobacterial filaments. The numbers and species richness of protozoa under shrubs were greater than in bare soils, supporting the resource island hypothesis that desert plants create soil heterogeneity by localizing soil fertility under their canopies.

Density and diversity of protozoa in some arid Australian soils.

Water film fauna of microbiotic crusts of a warm desert

The results of soil ciliate frequency studies of 47 field studies, from 12 ecosystem types, were combined with recent concepts and observations to assess the importance of soil ciliate biodiversity in ecosystem functioning. A few species typically furnish most of the individuals; increases in biodiversity, produced by less common species, alters soil ciliate communities. Soil ciliates were grouped according to position on the r/K continuum, with polyhymenophoran species as K, and colpodids as r organisms; and according to degree of soil affinity. Grasslands and hardwood forests were characterized by large numbers of K and intermediate species, whereas pine forests and more stressed ecosystems (e.g., arable lands, deserts) had more colpodid and fewer total species. Within these systems, certain species may become prominent, or be absent, suggesting that many soil ciliates exhibit widely overlapping niches, and that while a soil might function with a few species, high diversity allows systems to respond to changing seasons and climate.

Interpreting soil ciliate biodiversity

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