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Healthyecosystems,suchasasaltmarsh,temperateforest,andtropicalrainforests,arecomplexwebsoflivingand
nonlivingelements.AnimportantMeasureofanecosystemshealthisitsbiodiversity.Theterm"biodiversity"itself
isdefinedindiverseways.Itmaybe"alllivingthingswithinagivengeographicalareaandtheinterrelationships
amongthem(Audesirk&Audesirk1996).E.O.Wilsonabrilliantmanwithalottosayaboutdiversitycallsit"all
ofthevarietyoflifefromthedifferentgenesatthesamechromosomepositionwithinpopulations,upthrough
differentspeciesoforganisms,onuptodifferentaggregationsofspeciesinecosystems.Familiaritywiththeterm
hasincreasedinthelastcoupleofdecadesasextinctionrates,drivenbyhumanactivities,havereachedacrisislevel.
Forourpurposeswewilldefineandusethisbiodiversitydefinition.Biodiversityisthevarietyoflifethatoccurs
withinanecosystem(committhistomemory).Apopulationis"agroupofonespeciesthatliveinaparticular
geographicarea(Campbell's,1996)".Althoughitisimportanttoviewlifeatallstructurallevels,manyecologistuse
the"species"leveloftaxa(shortfortaxonomy)todeterminethebiodiversityofthesystembeingstudied.Two
simplemethodsfordescribingthebiodiversityarerichnessandabundance.Richnessisdefinedas"thenumberof
uniquetaxa(species/organisms)present".Itdoesnotgiveyouanindicationofhowthepopulation(#ofeach
species)isdistributed.Inotherwords,asystemwith100grackles,1redwingblackbird,and1Americancrowhas
thesamebiodiversity(richnessvalue3)asasystemwith34grackles,34redwingblackbird,and34American
crow.Abundance(sometimescalled"relativeabundance")is"thenumberofindividualspresentineachtaxonomic
grouprelativetothetotalnumberofindividuals"(#ofindividualsineachtaxonomicgroup,population/total#of
individualsfromalltaxonomicgroupsbeingstudiedX100).Itisexpressedinpercent.Forexample:#ofredwing
blackbirds/total#ofbirdsinthestudyareaX100.Okay,letspractice.
YouareBeanCounters(actually,youareecologistsstudyingthebiodiversityinthe
ecosystemdefinedbythevolumeofacoffeecancalled"beanworld")
Materials
Cup/Beaker(Thiscapturesasamplefromtheecosystemsyouwillobserve.)
Asampleoforganismsfromoneoftheecosystems(canA,canB,canC,orcanD)
Pencil
GraphPaper
Theabilitytocountbeyond10withoutyourfingers
Procedure
1.Pour(capture)beans(~100)fromecosystem(can)
2.Recordthecan:A,B,C,orD,youtookbeansfrom(returnbeanstothesamecanwhenyouaredonecounting).
3.Recordthetypeofbeans/uniquetaxaandthenumberofindividualsineachtaxonomicgroupintable1.
4.Calculatethetotalnumberofindividuals(beans)inthecommunity
5.Whatistherichnessforyourcommunity?
6.Calculatetherelativeabundanceofeachtaxonomicgroup
#ofindividualsineachtaxonomicgroup/Total#ofindividualsinthecommunityX100or
#ofindividualsforeachtypeofbean/Total#ofbeansX100
7.Graphrelativeabundance
8.Returnbeanstocorrectcan(tolivehappilyeverafter)
Harvard University Life Sciences HHMI Outreach
Summer 2010 Workshop for BiologyTeachers
9.Repeatprocesswithanothercommunity(coffeecan)
10.Answerquestions
BeanTable1
BeanCommunity(Circleone)A,B,C,D
Relative
Taxa/species/beandescription #ofBeans
Abundance
Total#ofBeans
Richness
BeanTable2
BeanCommunity(Circleone)A,B,C,D
Relative
Taxa/species/beandescription #ofBeans
Abundance
Total#ofBeans
Summer 2010 Workshop in Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers
Harvard University Life Sciences HHMI Outreach Program
Richness
Questions
1. Whichcommunityhasthegreatestrichness?
2. Whichbeantaxahasthegreatestrelativeabundanceineachcommunity?
3. Whichbeantaxaismostlikelytobecomeextinct?Why?(okay,weallknowthebeansaresafeinthecoffeecan
pretendtheyaresubjecttotheforcesofnaturalselectionandthenegativeconsequencesofhumanactivities)
4. Whichcommunityhasthegreatestbiodiversity?Userichness,abundancetosupportyouranswer.
5. Urbanizationistheprocessbywhichhumansoccupyandmodifyecosystems.Itisamatterofdegrees,with
denselypopulatedareas(suchasBroadwayinRevere)representingoneendofthespectrumandwilderness
areasrepresentingtheother.Howdoesurbanizationeffecthabitatqualityandquantity?
Summer 2010 Workshop in Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers
Harvard University Life Sciences HHMI Outreach Program
TeacherGuideforBeanBiodiversityActivity
Overviewandrationale:
Studentswilllearntwomethods(richnessandabundance)formeasuringandexpressingthe
biodiversityofanecosystem.Theskillswillbeusedtoascertainthehealthofactualecosystems
exploredaspartofaclassfieldstudycomponent.
Studentswillmeasuretherichnessandabundanceofamodelecosystem(canofbeans)
Studentswillgraphdataformodelecosystems
Studentswillusefindingstoanswerquestionsaboutmodelecosystems.
Materials:
Coffeecansorsimilarcontainer
Cups(beakersmaybesubstituted)
Alargeassortmentofdriedbeans(Darkkidneybeans,lightkidneybeans,navybeans,dried
yellowpeas,driedgreenpeasetc)
Copiesofactivity;includeenoughdatasheetsforthenumberofecosystems(cansofbeans)
youwantstudentstostudy.
Teachertime&preparation:(~1hour)
Purchasebeans(supermarket)
Labeleachcan(A,B,C,D)
Distributebeans.Creatingecosystemswiththesamerichnessbutdifferentlevelsof
abundancewillforcestudentstojustifyanswers(whyoneecosystemhasgreaterbiodiversity
thananother)
Example:
CanARichness10unevenabundance
CanBRichness10evenabundance
CanCRichness4unevenabundance
CanDRichness4evenabundance
Time:
Allot~1hourforintroductionanddatacollection/analysis.
Potentialissues:
Howmanybeans/peasshouldbeputineachcup?Amountvarieswithtime,objectives,and
howmuchyoulike/dislikethestudent(s).
Studentsmaywanttocountsplitpeasashalf.Decidehowpeasaretobecountedbefore
starting.
Summer 2010 Workshop in Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers
Harvard University Life Sciences HHMI Outreach Program
SimilarshapedandcoloredbeansEx.Lightanddarkkidneybeans)creategooddiscussions
aboutspeciesIsitnormalvariationwithinaspeciesoraseparatespecies?Again,having
thisdiscussionbeforestudentsbegincountingwillpreventissueslaterintheactivity.
Studentsmaynoticethatspeciesoccupydifferenttrophiclevelsandthereforesomevariation
inabundanceistobeexpectedandisnotameasureofalesshealthyecosystem.Scientists
generallygroupspeciesbyorderandtrophiclevelstogetabettermeasureofbiodiversity
evenness.
Extension/Followup:
DatacanbeusedtointroduceFrequencyandBiodiversityindices(ShannonWeineror
WeaverBiodiversityIndex)
Takestudentstoafieldsitetostudybiodiversity.Birdsaregenerallyeasytostudy.Insect
traps(pittraps)canbesetuponschoolcampus.Aquaticmacroinvertebratescanbecollected
usingkicknets,leaflitterbags.Minnowtrapscanbeusedtocollectorganisms.
Birdbiodiversityactivity
VirtualEcologyWebbasedactivitiessuchas
http://faculty.etsu.edu/jonestc/Virtualecology.htm
Summer 2010 Workshop in Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers
Harvard University Life Sciences HHMI Outreach Program