Question
3. Assume two habitats have the same number of species. Habitat A is predominantly one species with just a few of the other species. Habitat B has equal numbers of all the different species. Which will have the highest diversity index?
Answers
GPT-4o mini
In this scenario, Habitat B will have the highest diversity index.
The diversity index is a measure that takes into account both the richness (the number of different species) and evenness (the relative abundance of each species) in a community. Habitat A has a predominance of one species with only a few individuals of other species, resulting in low evenness. This means that while it may have the same number of species as Habitat B, it is dominated by one species.
On the other hand, Habitat B has equal numbers of all different species, which indicates high evenness. Because of this even distribution, Habitat B will likely score higher on a diversity index (such as the Shannon diversity index or Simpson's index) than Habitat A, despite both habitats having the same total number of species. Thus, Habitat B is more ecologically stable and diverse.
The diversity index is a measure that takes into account both the richness (the number of different species) and evenness (the relative abundance of each species) in a community. Habitat A has a predominance of one species with only a few individuals of other species, resulting in low evenness. This means that while it may have the same number of species as Habitat B, it is dominated by one species.
On the other hand, Habitat B has equal numbers of all different species, which indicates high evenness. Because of this even distribution, Habitat B will likely score higher on a diversity index (such as the Shannon diversity index or Simpson's index) than Habitat A, despite both habitats having the same total number of species. Thus, Habitat B is more ecologically stable and diverse.