Lab Report Biodiversity
INTRODUCTION
Biodiversity presents occurrence of variety of species and their natural community in which they live. By the definition it is “The degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. It is a measure of the health of ecosystems and is in part a function of climate.” (Rutherford) Ecosystem is on the other hand, “ community and its abiotic environment”( Rutherford). Biodiversity exists in every ecosystem, weather it is big one, or just ecosystem of one garden, it has the same importance because without it nature loses its ability to perform major functions needed for life on Earth, as it is oxygen production. Trough this investigation, two different ecosystems will be explored and the level of their biodiversity on certain area.
Research question
“To what extend is one ecosystem more diverse than other one?”
Hypothesis
If ecosystem has more number of species and organisms within those species, it will have higher biodiversity.
Justification of hypothesis According to formula for Simpson`s diversity index, D = N (N-1) / Σ n (n-1), where N is total number of organisms, while n is sum of individuals within a specie, we can see that sum of all individuals and total number of organisms of particular species affect the biodiversity index.
Variables
Dependent variable Biodiversity of ecosystem. Dependent variable is key of the study and it will be tested on independent and controllable ones. It will be derived from sufficient collection of data and using Simpson`s index. Finally it is going to be presented as number of species in two different ecosystems.
Independent variable Size of area of ecosystem tested, which is going to be presented in m2. This variable does not depend on other ones, and I decided to calculate biodiversity on 3 m2 in both ecosystems, making sure that conditions are same for both.
Controllable variables:
Time, weather conditions. These variables control the biodiversity index which is
Biodiversity presents occurrence of variety of species and their natural community in which they live. By the definition it is “The degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. It is a measure of the health of ecosystems and is in part a function of climate.” (Rutherford) Ecosystem is on the other hand, “ community and its abiotic environment”( Rutherford). Biodiversity exists in every ecosystem, weather it is big one, or just ecosystem of one garden, it has the same importance because without it nature loses its ability to perform major functions needed for life on Earth, as it is oxygen production. Trough this investigation, two different ecosystems will be explored and the level of their biodiversity on certain area.
Research question
“To what extend is one ecosystem more diverse than other one?”
Hypothesis
If ecosystem has more number of species and organisms within those species, it will have higher biodiversity.
Justification of hypothesis According to formula for Simpson`s diversity index, D = N (N-1) / Σ n (n-1), where N is total number of organisms, while n is sum of individuals within a specie, we can see that sum of all individuals and total number of organisms of particular species affect the biodiversity index.
Variables
Dependent variable Biodiversity of ecosystem. Dependent variable is key of the study and it will be tested on independent and controllable ones. It will be derived from sufficient collection of data and using Simpson`s index. Finally it is going to be presented as number of species in two different ecosystems.
Independent variable Size of area of ecosystem tested, which is going to be presented in m2. This variable does not depend on other ones, and I decided to calculate biodiversity on 3 m2 in both ecosystems, making sure that conditions are same for both.
Controllable variables:
Time, weather conditions. These variables control the biodiversity index which is
References: * Rutherford, Jill. Environmental Systems and Societies. Oxford. Oxford.2009. * Simpsons Diversity Index, August 2012. http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/simpsons.htm * Google images. Garden. 25. August 2012. http://www.floatproject.org/garden/small-garden-ideas-design/attachment/entrance-garden-with-brick-walkway-2 * Photo 1. Meadow ( Google images. Meadow. 25. August 2012. http://belle1620.deviantart.com/art/Edward-s-Meadow-126549318) -------------------------------------------- [ 2 ]. Simpson 's Diversity Index is a measure of diversity. In ecology, it is often used to quantify the biodiversity of a habitat. It takes into account the number of species present, as well as the abundance of each species.( Simpsons Diversity Index, August 2012. http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/simpsons.htm )