Species Diversity Lab

Celeste Crispin October 25, - October 31, 2013 AP Environmental Science 2nd

I.

Background:

Species diversity in an ecosystem can be used as a gauge of the health of the ecosystem. Species richness is a measure of the number of species in an ecosystem and species evenness measures relative abundance. To measure biodiversity you find how many species are in a specific area, and then calculate the diversity index. Purpose/Objective: The primary purpose of this lab is to show biodiversity with cars like the number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, therefore demonstrating the enormous diversity in species that are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Why is Biodiversity Important? Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.

Hypothesis: If the age and interest comes into play with the diversity of cars, then its only expected that there would be more of a variety. Designing the Investigation: laying out where the different cars are

II. Materials:

Procedures:

2 parking lots full of cars Sheet of paper and a pen, along with visual eyes

III.

1. Go to the parking lot and collect data on the abundance of 20 different car brands. 2. Share and copy other data. Collecting and Presenting Data:

Pre-Lab Questions: 1. Shannon Diversity Index: Species: i ni pi ln (pi) Pi (ln(pi)) 1 22 .38 -0.97 -0.37 Sea Anemone 2 13 .22 -1.51 -0.33 Bat star 3 7 .12 -2.12 -0.25 Lobster 4 16 .28 -1.27 -0.35 Sea hare 4 N=58 1.0 -5.87 1.30 TOTAL 2. Identify which habitat (or the parking lot) you expect to be the most diverse, and defend your choice. Example: soft bottom riparian are vs. concrete channel, area near the trail or far away from the trail, area under freeway or not etc. If the age and interest comes into play with the diversity of cars, then the faculty parking lot will have more diversity. 3. Describe the location of the parking lot you are sampling.

The parking lot which Im sampling is rather spread out enough to where it has student and teacher parking.

Faculty Parking Data Table: Species Toyota Ford Chevrolet Honda Nissan Lexus Mitsubishi Acura Volkswagen Volvo Kia Mercury Infinity Jeep Dodge Mercedes GMC Mazda BMW Hyundai totals i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 S=20 ni 18 22 11 21 14 6 1 3 2 1 7 3 5 5 4 3 4 2 2 2 N=135 pi .13 .16 .08 .15 .10 .13 .007 .02 .01 .007 .05 .02 .03 .03 .03 .02 .03 .01 .01 .01 1.00 ln pi -2.04 -1.83 -2.52 -1.9 -2.3 -3.51 -4.96 -3.91 -4.61 -3 -3.91 -3.51 -3.51 -3.51 -3.51 -3.91 -3.51 -4.61 -4.61 -4.61 -71.23 pi ln pi -0.2 -0.3 -0.2 -0.2 -0.2 -0.1 -0.03 -0.07 -0.04 -0.03 -0.15 -0.07 -0.1 -0.1 -0.1 -0.07 -0.1 -0.04 -0.04 -0.04 H=2.19

Student Parking Data Table: Species Toyota Ford Chevrolet Honda Nissan Volkswagen Suzuki Mazda Lexus Dodge Mercedes Infinity Jeep Audi Kia Pontiac Subaru Chrysler i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 ni 9 8 8 14 8 6 2 4 4 3 1 2 5 1 8 2 2 1 pi 0.1 .08 .08 .15 .08 .06 .02 .04 .04 .03 .01 .02 .05 .01 .08 .02 .02 .01 ln pi -2.3 -2.5 -2.5 -1.9 -2.5 -2.8 -2.9 -3.2 -3.2 -3.5 -5.0 -3.9 -3.0 -5.0 -2.5 -3.9 -3.9 -5.0 pi ln pi -0.25 -.184 -0.2 -.28 -.2 -.16 -.078 -.128 -.128 -.105 -.15 -.05 -.078 -.15 -.05 -.21 -.078 -.15

Mitsubishi Lincoln totals

19 20 S=20

2 1 N=91

.02 .02 1.00

-3.9 -5.0

-.078 -.15 H=3.021

IV.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data Data Analysis: 1. Determine the value for the Shannon Diversity Index for the data collected by your group. The Shannon Diversity Index data for each part in our group was H=2.19 for faculty and H=3.021 for students.

2. Tabulate the value calculated by each group for the Shannon Diversity Index. Faculty: Students: -0.25 -0.2 -.184 -0.3 -0.2 -0.2 -.28 -0.2 -.2 -0.2 -.16 -0.1 -.078 -0.03 -.128 -0.07 -.128 -0.04 -.105 -0.03 -.15 -0.15 -.05 -0.07 -.078 -0.1 -.15 -0.1 -.05 -0.1 -.21 -0.07 -.078 -0.1 -.15 -0.04 -.078 -0.04 -.15 -0.04 H=3.021 H=2.19

3. Compare the values for the Shannon Value Index.

25

20

15 Faculty 10 Students Faculty (H) 5 Students (H)

0 BMW Jeep GMC Suzuki Audi Chevrolet Mercury Mercedes Pontiac Mazda Subaru Volvo Volkswagen Mitsubishi Hyundai Chrysler Dogde Infinity Lincoln Toyota Honda Nissan Lexus Acura Ford Kia H=

The SVI shows that the Students had more car diversity. Evenness: Diversity Measurement: Species richness (R) Evenness (E) Dominance (high/low) Relative Diversity (high/low) Shannon-Weiner Index (H) Community A (Student) 20 1.01 14 15 2.19 Community B (Faculty) 20 0.73 22 22.86 3.021

Post-Lab Questions: 1) Identify the parking lot that was the most diverse. Based on your observations during the lab, explain why your prediction in question #1 of the prelab was supported or not supported. Based on the prelab I thought the faculty parking would be more diverse. The reason my prediction wasnt supported was because the Shannon Diversity Index for the faculty parking was 2.19 and the students was 3.021. 2) List the single most abundant species in each set of data, and write a plausible explanation to explain why these are the most abundant species. The single most abundant species for the faculty parking was 22 Ford models and for the students it was 14 Honda models.

3) Determine the maximum and minimum values for the Shannon Diversity Index in the plot area (or parking lot) you surveyed. SDI: Minimum: Maximum: Faculty: -0.3 -0.03 Students: -.28 -.15

4) If you conducted this lab in a city park, predict whether the Shannon Diversity Index would be high or low, and how it would compare to your plot area. The Shannon Diversity would be high , due to the variety of cars 5) If you conducted this lab in the wilderness of a tropical rainforest, predict whether the Shannon Diversity Index would be high or low, and how it would compare to your plot area. The Shannon Diversity would be low because of the lack of cars, showing less cars. Conclusion: Based on the prelab I thought the faculty parking would be more diverse. I was proven wrong due to the Shannon Diversity Index for the faculty parking was 2.19 and the students was 3.021, therefore proving my hypothesis to be wrong. In this activity we learned how to gather and record results on diversity and how even cars give an example on wildlife diversity. As well as learning new formulas for species richness, evenness, dominance, relative abundance, and most importantly the Shannon Diversity Index.