Biomass in soil

In ecological research it is often of interest to quantify the biomass in the upper layers of soil. One commonly used measure of biomass is the weight of live animals, FW (fresh weight), in the respective layer. Some practical difficulties exist, however, when the FW is to be measured in the field. Instead, animals collected from the soil are dried and the dry matter, DM, is used to determine the FW. Ten individuals of the species Isotoma notabilis were collected and their dry matter and fresh weights were recorded.