measuring biodiversity

Question 1

what is the relationship between diversity and stability of an ecosystem?

Answer 1

• diversity often proportional to stability
• so more species diversity = more even distribution

Question 2

how can biodiversity be measured?

Answer 2

simpson’s index of diversity (D)

Question 3

what is the equation for simpson’s index of diversity?

Answer 3

D = 1-∑(n/N)^2

Question 4

what do the letters in the equation mean?

Answer 4

∑ = sum of
n = total number of organisms in a particular species
N = total number of organisms in all species

Question 5

what do the values given by the simpson’s index of diversity suggest

Answer 5

• gives values from 0-1
• where 0 = no diversity and 1 = infinite biodiversity