Fig. 1: Estimate of the global biomass of the class Mammalia since 1850. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Estimate of the global biomass of the class Mammalia since 1850.

From: The global biomass of mammals since 1850

Fig. 1: Estimate of the global biomass of the class Mammalia since 1850.The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

Black labels indicate absolute biomass estimates, gray labels indicate the fraction of the total estimated biomass of mammals (see Fig. S9 for the estimated fraction of global biomass). Top: the total biomass of humans and domesticated mammals (cattle, buffalo, swine and others). Bottom: the total biomass of wild marine mammals, along with a coarse, preliminary estimate of the total biomass of wild land mammals, based on previously published temporal abundance estimates. For wild land mammal species with no available historical abundance estimates, the majority of species in this group, we assume that their biomass remained constant between 1850 and the present (see Discussion). To estimate the historical global biomass of marine mammals, we used a population dynamics model that relies on catch records and population estimates (following Christensen17; see “Methods”). The icon for humans was created in BioRender. Greenspoon, L. (2025) https://BioRender.com/i2g5u8q.

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