Simpsons Index Flashcards
What is biodiversity?
The abundance of different species in an area
Biodiversity can be quantified using various metrics.
What are the two main components of species diversity?
Species richness and species evenness
Species richness refers to the number of different species, while species evenness refers to the distribution of individuals among those species.
What does species richness measure?
The number of different species in an area
It is one component of species diversity.
What does species evenness assess?
The evenness of abundance across different species in an area
It is the second component of species diversity.
How can Simpson’s index of diversity (D) be used?
To quantify the biodiversity in an area
Simpson’s index provides a mathematical measure of diversity that takes into account both richness and evenness.
What is Simpson’s index formula?
D = 1 - Σ(n² / N²)
Where n = total number of organisms for a single species and N = total number of organisms for all species.
What does the variable ‘n’ represent in Simpson’s index?
Total number of organisms for a single species.
What does the variable ‘N’ represent in Simpson’s index?
Total number of organisms for all species.
What is the first step in calculating Simpson’s Index?
Calculate n / N for each species.
What is the second step in calculating Simpson’s Index?
Square each of these values.
What is the third step in calculating Simpson’s Index?
Add the squared values together and subtract the total from 1.
Fill in the blank: The formula for Simpson’s index is D = 1 - ______.
Σ(n² / N²)
True or False: Simpson’s index is used to measure biodiversity.
True
What does the value of D indicate?
It indicates levels of biodiversity.
What is the range of values for D?
The value of D can fall between 0 and 1.
What does a value of D near 1 indicate?
High levels of biodiversity.
What does a value of D near 0 indicate?
Low levels of biodiversity.
Fill in the blank: Values near 1 indicate _______.
high levels of biodiversity.
Fill in the blank: Values near 0 indicate _______.
low levels of biodiversity.
