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Biodiversity Lab - Draft

Submitted by sbrownstein on Mon, 09/17/2018 - 18:22

In this lab, the diversity of plant species in different types of environments was observed. In this case, the diversity of plant species were collected on a hill and a flatland. Depending on the slope of the environment the plant was growing on, the diversity of species were examined. Diversity is good in an environment because it makes it more stable and suitable for diseases and other changes to its surroundings. An environment is healthy when it is very rich. Richness is the number of species in a community. The most common way to determine whether an environment is diverse or not is through the Shannon diversity index. The Shannon diversity index is a way to mathematically measure a community’s diversity (Beals). This is important to biologists in order to observe how rare or common a species is in an environment (Beals). In this lab, the types of environments were observed to see if they make a difference on the diversity of plants in the given area. On a hill the nutrients and soil will run down to the bottom, preventing plants from using them. The assumption can be made that there will be less diversity on a hill than there would be on a flatland because of the decreased amount of nutrients on a hill due to its slope.

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