What happened to the biomass?

Question

During the prehistoric days, particularly during the days of larger dinosaurs, it seems there was a large amount of biomass on this planet. In comparison, it seems impossible for such large creatures to survive in modern times b/c there isn't enough food for them to survive. Besides habitat destruction, where did the biomass disappear to? Could it have all turned into fossil fuels? And if so, will it ever reenter the bio-cycle?

Answer 1

An Antarctic krill, whose species comprises roughly 0.66% of the Earth's biomass, the highest of any single animal species.[1]In ecology, biomass refers to the cumulation of living matter. That is, it is the total living biological material in a given area or of a biological community or group. Biomass is measured by weight, or by dry weight, per given area (usually measured per square metre or square kilometre).

The most successful animal, in terms of biomass, is the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, with a biomass of probably over 500 million tons, roughly twice the total biomass of humans. The entire earth contains about 75 billion tons of biomass. Humans comprise about 250 million tons (0.33%), domesticated animals about 700 million (1.0%), and crops about 2 billion tons or 2.7% of the Earth's biomass.

Biomass may also be a measure of the dried organic mass of an ecosystem. As the trophic level increases, the biomass of each trophic level decreases. That is, producers (grass, trees, scrubs, etc.) have a much higher biomass than animals that consume them (deer, zebras, insects, etc.). The level with the least biomass is the highest predators in the food chain (foxes, eagles, etc.)

Answer 2

Diversity. Now the biomass is in forms that dinosaurs would not use. I do not know the percents on fossil fuels, but a lot of that was laid down well before the dinosaurs. In the coniferous.