assessing and calculating

BIODIVERSITY

Nirav Pandey
 OVERVIEW
• Methods of assessing species diversity

• Estimating abundance of mobile animals

• Simpson’s index of diversity

• Correlation and its types

 Methods of assessing SPECIES DIVERSITY

This section covers:

1. Collecting organisms

2. Sampling

3. Types of sampling

4. Quadrats

 Collecting organisms
The first task while assessing species diversity is to identify
and catalogue the types of organisms.

This is called a species list.

Distribution describes the way species are spread in an

ecosystem.

Abundance defines the number of species in the ecosystem.

A pooter can be used to collect tiny animals. By breathing

air, we can suck up the organism into a container.

 Sampling
There are two types of sampling

1. Random Sampling

2. Systematic Sampling

Random sampling is a way of investigating abundance and distribution determined

by chance and shows no bias.

Systematic sampling is a non-random method of investigating the abundance and

distribution where the positions of the sampling are determined by the person
carrying out the sampling.

 Quadrats

A quadrat is a square frame with multiple grids that

can help in identifying different species.

We can calculate species frequency and species

density using a quadrat

Species frequency is a measure of the chance of a

particular species being found in any one quadrat.

Species density is a measure of how many

individuals are per unit area

A percentage cover can also be estimated by

using small intervals of the quadrat frame and
counting the species in it.

Then, we can decide what percent of the area

is covered by the species.

 Estimating abundance of mobile animals

• Quadrats cannot be used for mobile species

• Instead, the mark-release-recapture technique is used to measure abundance.

• First, the individuals are caught, marked and counted.

• Then, they are returned to their habitat to mix randomly with the rest of the
population.

• Enough time is given for mixing, after which a larger sample is captured.

Fig 1.1: A bird is marked and counted. Animals are marked in a way that does not affect their future
chance of survival.
• In the large sample, the number of marked and unmarked individuals are counted. The
formula to calculate the estimated abundance is
n1 × n2
• N= , where:
m2

• n1 = number of marked individuals released initially

m2 n2
• n2 = total number of individuals (marked + unmarked) =
n1 N
• m2 = number of marked individuals recaptured

• Reason: It works by assuming that the proportion of marked organisms recaptured in

the second sample is the same as the initial marked in the total population.

 A short numerical: Meerkats

n 2
( )
Number of meerkats caught and released = 219 N

Number caught in the second sample = 371

Number of marked meerkats in second sample = 26

219 × 371
Estimate (N) = ≈ 3125
26

 Simpson’s index of diversity

• Simpson’s index of diversity (D) is a measure of the biodiversity of a habitat. The
value ranges from 0 (low biodiversity) to 1(high biodiversity).

∑(N)
2
n
• It is measured using the formula D = 1 −

• Here, n is the total number of organisms of a particular species, N is the total

number of of organisms of all species. N is constant for each sample.

• Let us look at an example to understand this process better

 Finding Simpson’s Index for Farm A

Farm A
Species n
(N)
2
n
n
N
Rice 5200 0.748 0.560
Maize 750 0.108 0.012
French Beans 500 0.072 0.005
Brinjals 250 0.036 0.001
Cucumbers 250 0.036 0.001

∑(N)
2
n
Total ( N ) 6950 ( ) = 0.579

The Simpson’s Index for diversity is 1 - 0.579 = 0.421

Thus, the overall measure of biodiversity is arguably low.

 Systematic Sampling: Transects

• It may be used to calculate distribution of organisms under changing conditions

• For example: soil pH, light intensity, altitude, etc.

• A transect can be used to sample the distribution along a straight line in the given
environment.

• It is a line marked by a tape measure.

• Can be used by noting species in equal distances (line transect) or by placing

quadrats at regular intervals (belt transect).

 Line Transect
n n 2
n ( )
N N

Belt Transect
 Drawing kite diagrams
Distance on Plants
shore /m Serrated wrack Limpet Spiral wrack
200 0 0 0
180 0 0 0
160 0 0 0
140 0 0 5
120 0 0 4
100 5 0 0
80 5 5 0
60 5 4 0
40 5 4 0
20 4 5 0
0 5 0 0

• The distribution
of organisms Kite Diagram
across the
location is shown
by the kites.

Distance / m
• The abundance
is given by the
width of the kites

• Multiple kites
can also be
formed serrated wrack limpet spiral wrack

 Correlation and its types

• Correlation is a statistical method used to assess a possible linear relationship
between two variables.

• A perfect linear correlation is the strongest and has a correlation coefficient of 1.

• A correlation coefficient of 0 signifies no relationship.

We will cover two kinds of correlation;

1. Pearson’s linear correlation

2. Spearman’s rank correlation

 Pearson’s linear correlation

• Pearson’s linear correlation is used to determine if there is a linear correlation
between two variables.

• The data needs to be normally distributed.

• First, we have to check if the relationship appears to be linear with a scatter plot

• The equation for calculating the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, r, is:

∑ xy − nx̄ȳ
• r=
(n − 1)sxsy

 Calculating r
Number of trees Circumference (x) /m Mean width of crack (y)/mm xy ∑xy = 1151.8

1 1.77 50 88.5 x̄ = 1.608

2 1.65 28 46.2
= 50.083
3 1.81 60 108.6
4 0.89 24 21.36 sx = 0.708
5 1.97 95 187.15
6 2.15 51 109.65
sy =27.484
7 0.18 2 0.36
8 0.46 15 6.9
1151.8 − 12 × 1.608 × 50.083
9 2.11 69 145.59 r=
11 × 0.708 × 27.484
10 2.00 64 128
11 2.42 74 179.08
r ≈ 0.866
12 1.89 69 130.41
ȳ
 Spearman’s rank correlation
• Spearman’s rank correlation is used to determine if there is a correlation
between two variables variables where one or both of them are not normally
distributed.

• First, make a null hypothesis that there is no correlation between the

parameters. Then, make a scatter graph to see if there is any correlation.

• The equation for calculating the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, rs, is:

( n −n )
6 × ∑D
•
rs = 1 − 3

• n is the number of pairs of items in the sample and D is the difference between
each pair of ranked measurements.

 Calculating rs
Percentage cover Rank ∑D² = 15.5
Quadrat D
C. vulgaris V. myrtillus C. vulgaris V. myrtillus
n = 11
1 30 15 9 8 1
2 37 23 11 10 1

( 113 − 11 )
6 × 15.5
3 15 6 5.5 4 1.5 rs = 1 −

4 15 10 5.5 5.5 0
5 20 11 7 7 0 rs ≈ 0.930
6 9 10 3 5.5 -2.5
7 3 3 1 2 -1
8 5 4 2 1 1
9 10 8 4 3 1
10 25 10 8 9 -1
11 35 30 10 11 -1
Thank you!