Species richness

O Species richness is the number oI diIIerent species in a given area. It is represented in

equation Iorm as .
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciesrichness

O type oI approach to assessing biodiversity that examines the distribution oI all
resident terrestrial vertebrates: amphibians, reptiles, birds, and
mammals.www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/unitgloss.php

O ount 'em! How many species oI organisms are present in a given community or
physical area. www.caveslime.org/glossary/index.shtml

O the number oI species Iound within a particular environment; a measure oI diversity
in an area thedragonflywoman.com/glossary/

The measurement is just a count oI the number oI species Iound when the observers sample
the community. It is represented by "S".
The only real complication is that the number depends to some degree on the size oI the
sample the observers use.
When you sample you take the individuals one by one, selecting them randomly, and record
the species oI each individual. t Iirst you get new species Iairly regularly, but as time goes
on more and more oI the individuals are repeats oI species you've already Iound. You may
never stop Iinding new species, they just become more and more uncommon.
The graph below illustrates how the species richness "S" increases as the number oI
individuals examined increases: rapidly at Iirst, then more slowly.


Species evenness:
O Where H' is the number derived Irom the Shannon diversity index and H' max is the
maximum value oI H', equal to: E is constrained between 0 and 1. The less variation in
communities between the species, the higher E is. Other indices have been proposed by
authors where H'min ~ 0 eg. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciesevenness

O The relative abundances oI species in a community compared with one another.
|wwwsloooetcom/ecoloqy/qlossotybtml




Spec|es Abundance

1he LoLal number of lndlvldual of a specles wlLhln a glven area or communlLy Compare specles rlchness


SLCILS DIVLkSI1

Specles dlverslLy ls a measure of Lhe dlverslLy wlLhln an ecologlcal communlLy LhaL lncorporaLes
boLh specles rlchness (Lhe number of specles ln a communlLy) and Lhe evenness of specles abundances
Specles dlverslLy ls one componenL of Lhe concepL of blodlverslLy

C|ass|f|cat|on by Wh|ttaker (1972)
O d|vers|ty (a|pha) Lhe dlverslLy of specles wlLhln a communlLy or hablLaL
O d|vers|ty (beta) a measure of Lhe raLe and exLenL of change ln specles along a
gradlenL from one hablLaL Lo oLhers ulverslLy across several communlLles or
ecosysLems (landscape or reglonal level)
O d|vers|ty (gamma) Lhe rlchness ln specles of a range of hablLaLs ln a geographlcal area
(eg an lsland) lL ls a consequence of Lhe alpha dlverslLy of Lhe hablLaLs LogeLher wlLh
Lhe exLenL of Lhe beLa dlverslLy beLween Lhem lL ls Lhe dlverslLy beLween large
geographlc reglon normally deflned as Lhe number of specles shared among reglons

and dlverslLy are Lhus quallLles LhaL slmply have magnlLude and could LheoreLlcally be
descrlbed enLlrely by a slngle number (a scalar)
dlverslLy ln conLrasL ls analogous Lo a vecLor as lL has magnlLude and dlrecLlon
1helr descrlpLlons Lherefore requlre dlfferenL approaches

Inf|uence of Spec|es k|chness on Spec|es D|vers|ty
Specles dlverslLy ls lnfluenced by specles rlchness All else belng equal communlLles wlLh more
specles are consldered Lo be more dlverse lor example a communlLy conLalnlng 10 specles would be
more dlverse Lhan a communlLy wlLh 3 specles

Inf|uence of Lvenness of Spec|es D|vers|ty
Specles dlverslLy ls also lnfluenced by Lhe relaLlve abundance of lndlvlduals ln Lhe specles found
ln a communlLy Lvenness measures Lhe varlaLlon ln Lhe abundance of lndlvlduals per specles wlLhln a
communlLy CommunlLles wlLh less varlaLlon ln Lhe relaLlve abundance of specles are consldered Lo be
more even" Lhan a communlLy wlLh more varlaLlon ln relaLlve abundance Conslder Lhe followlng Lwo
communlLles
Commun|ty A
Spec|es Abundance
1 20
2 20
3 20











All flve specles ln CommunlLy A have Lhe same abundance whereas Lhere ls greaL varlaLlon ln
abundance across Lhe flve specles ln CommunlLy 8 lor Lhls reason we would conslder CommunlLy A Lo
be more even
All else belng equal communlLles wlLh greaLer evenness are consldered Lo have greaLer specles
dlverslLy Lven Lhough specles rlchness of Lhe Lwo communlLles ls equal (specles rlchness 3 ln each
communlLy) CommunlLy 8 ls less dlverse Lhan CommunlLy A because mosL of Lhe lndlvlduals ln
CommunlLy 8 are members of Lhe same specles

Measurement of Spec|es D|vers|ty
ueLermlnlng whlch communlLy has greaLer specles dlverslLy ls easy when elLher specles rlchness
or evenness ls held consLanL whlle Lhe oLher parameLer varles buL ofLen communlLles wlll vary ln boLh
rlchness and evenness SclenLlsLs have developed a varleLy of maLhemaLlcal equaLlons (or lndlces) LhaL
lncorporaLe boLh specles rlchness and evenness lnLo a slngle measure of specles dlverslLy (eg Lhe
ShannonWlener lndex and Slmpson's lndex) ulfferenL dlverslLy lndlces asslgn dlfferenL welghLlngs Lo
specles rlchness and evenness so Lhe so mosL useful lndex Lo choose depends on Lhe clrcumsLances

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4 20
3 20
Commun|ty 8
Spec|es Abundance
1 96
2 1
3 1
4 1
3 1