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Chapter 6: Problem 8

What is biodiversity? What do scientists need to know to calculate it for a habitat?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms in a specific habitat or ecosystem. To calculate biodiversity, scientists need to know the number of different species in a specific area (richness) and also how evenly the individuals among those species are distributed (evenness).

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the term used to encompass the variety of all life on earth. It is a combination of the words 'biological' and 'diversity'. It encompasses microorganisms, plants, animals, and ecosystems such as deserts, rainforests, and coral reefs.
02

Elements of Biodiversity

To calculate biodiversity, scientists need to consider two main elements: the richness and evenness. 'Richness' refers to the number of different species in a particular area, while 'evenness' describes how equal the abundances of the species are.
03

Methods for Measuring Biodiversity

Scientists usually use three indices to calculate biodiversity: Shannon Index, Simpson's Index, and Margalef's Index. All these indices incorporate both the richness and evenness of the species in a given habitat.

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