ENEC 202 Species diversity lab

Alpha diversity

The diversity present within a single sample, either in terms of the number of species in a sample, how evenly species are distributed within a sample or a combination of the 2

Species area relationship

a method for estimating the number of species within a given area

states that larger areas contain more species and that the accumulation rate of species is dependent on the beta diversity between samples (z)

can be expressed wither as a linear or nonlinear form:

non-linear: S=c*A^z

S= number of species

c= constant (species/m2)

A= Area (m2)

z= constant (no unity)

linear: log10(S)= z*log10(A)+log10)

Beta diversity

A measure of how different sampling units are from each other- either difference in species composition, the average contribution of samples to the gamma diversity or the rate of accumulation of species with increasing sampling effort or area

Gamma diversity

the total number of species across samples

Dependent on scale

Species diversity

the variety of species in a given area, when high it is hypothesised to enhance ecosystem functions as well as promote stability and resilience

Species richness

The number of species in a sample

Species evenness

How evenly species are distributed within a sample

What are we doing in this lab

Identifying plants in a plot, record data, and then calculate the alpha, beta and gamma diversity