Victoria's Biodiversity

Measuring Biodiversity
(from Victoria's Biodiversity Education Resource Books 2) 

Victorian Essential Learning Standards Domains and (Levels): Mathematics (2) Science (3,4) Duration:  1 hour Setting:  The classroom.

Biodiversity can be measured in different ways. This activity allows students to discover that habitats with the same total number of species can actually have different amounts of biodiversity. 

BACKGROUND:
Species richness equals the number of individuals in that habitat. Species evenness is a very important component of Biodiversity because it takes into account the abundance (commonness or rarity) of the species. Measurements of species evenness are especially useful when comparing habitats containing hundreds or thousands of species. 

MATERIALS:
- Habitat A and Habitat B artwork - click here to view/print both full sized images

ADVANCE PREPARATION:
- Duplicate artwork handout for small group work, or prepare as an overhead. 

ACTIVITIES: 
1. Distribute or display the Habitats A and Habitats B artwork for students to answer the following: 
2. How many individual fish are there in Habitat A; in Habitat B? (There are 20 in each.) 
3. How many species of fish are there in Habitat A; in Habitat B? (There are five in each.) 
4. How many individuals of each species of fish are there in: - Habitat A? - Habitat B? (Habitat A has five of each species; In Habitat B four species are represented by one individual while one species is represented by 16 individuals.) 
5. For each habitat, graph the number of individuals (y-axis) against the number of species (x-axis). In each habitat, is one species more common or rare than any of the others? (Habitat A has equal biodiversity; in Habitat B one species is far more abundant). 
6. Both habitats have identical species richness but which habitat has the most biodiversity? Explain why.(Habitat A). 
7. Discuss and summarise the implications of this for measuring biodiversity? What do the different measurements tell you? Is one more informative about biodiversity levels than another? 

Acknowledgement - Illustrations adapted from drawings by Christine Turnbull 1995, as used in Biodiversity Australia's Living Wealth. Andrew Beattie. Reed Australia, 1995.