Biodiversity Lab
Using the compiled data for the student parking lot, faculty parking lot and the honor
student parking lot, calculate the Shannon-Weiner Index, Species Richness measure
and the Species Eveness measure of each community. Show all of your calculations.
DO NOT USE A CALCULATOR!!!!! Use your calculations to answer the following
questions:
Shannon-Weiner Index
H = -sum (Pi ln[Pi])
Where:
Pi = relative abundance = ni / N
ni = number of individuals in a species
N = total number of individuals in all species
Species Richness Measure
R = s (the number of species)
Species Eveness Measure
E = H / ln[R]
1. Which of the communities is most diverse? Why?
2. If all the communities were similar, which one would most likely react negatively
to a human disturbance? Why?
3. Did any species dominate in any of the communities? Explain.
4. Were there any errors in your calculations? Explain.
5. What does biodiversity mean to a community?
6. What does the term “megadiversity”mean?