Practical 4

Introduction:

Measuring and Comparing Species Diversity

From the definition alone, which is very broad, it is clear that no single measure of biodiversity will be adequate. Biodiversity can not be captured in a single number. Essentially, measurements have two components which are the number of entities e.g. the number of individuals, the number of species, the number of different habitats etc. Another one is the degree of difference (dissimilarity) between those entities. Species richness (the number of species) describes the number of elements but will not capture information on the number of individuals of the species. Rarity and conservation status, dependant on how threatened a species is, can also provide a measure of biodiversity. Measures of biodiversity are commonly used as the basis for making conservation decisions or for planning more generally. Different measures of biodiversity may support different solutions. Often indicator species are used as a way of measuring biodiversity. Using this method can be very useful but it introduces an aspect of how we value different components of biodiversity. For example, we are more likely to use the abundance of birds or butterflies on a farm as a measure of biodiversity than the richness of microbes in the soil. Genetic diversity can be measured directly by looking at genes and chromosomes or indirectly by looking at physical features of the organisms and assuming they have a genetic basis. Using the genetic code is arguably the strongest method of measuring biodiversity as it is looking at the building blocks of life.

Generally, multicellular organisms tend to have more DNA than singlecelled organisms but there are exceptions. Similarly, although there appears to be an overall trend of increasing amount of DNA with increasing complexity of organisms, this is not invariant. The species with the greatest amount of DNA has about 100,000 times as much as that with the least, but the species with the largest number of genes has only 20 times as many genes as that found in many bacteria. In other words, much genetic variation is attributable not to differences in the number of functional genes, but in the amounts of non-coding DNA. One of the most striking findings is that there are many universal gene segments in a wide range of organisms suggesting the existence of an ancient minimal set of DNA sequences that all cells must have. Taken from: http://www.businessandbiodiversity.org/what_is_measuring.html In this practical we are doing a comparing species diversity from a butterfly in different places. There is Pulau Sipadan, Pulau Talang-talang dan Pulau Redang which is came from the Malaysia.

Objective: To investigate the species diversity of butterfly in the different island. Hypothesis: 1. The richness of the butterflies in the island can be known by the number of individuals of each species. 2. The evenness of the butterflies in the island can be known by the number of individuals of each species. Variable: Manipulated variable: Different Island Responding variable: Richness and evenness of morph species Constant variable : species (butterfly)

Procedure: 1. All the moths you must sort into groups. Use characteristics which all the moths have in common, but whose states vary. For example, relative antenna length or ornimentation, wing coloration, wing markings, abdomen or thorax size or shape might all be useful characters, but number of legs is not! Size is also not a good characteristic to use. 2. You can be considered the operational taxonomic units or OTUs, that you define (the groups) as separate species. Give each species a unique name, for ease of discussion (this is what taxonomists do). 3. Compare all three islands at the same time and color-in or mark all the individuals you think belong to the same group (species) after pick a moth species. Then pick the next moth species and repeat the procedure, until all moths have been assigned to a group. 4. The individuals belong to each species is counted on each island and enter the values into the table provided. 5. The species diversity for each island is calculated using the Simpson index D. You can do this by hand, or you can use one of the calculators on the web. There are instructions at the end on the practical. If you use the online calculator you can also easily calculate species richness and evenness.

Result:

Species
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Pulau Sipadan
9 11 64 6 10 4 5 3 2 3

Pulau Talang

Talang- Pulau Redang

11 8 10 22 2 12 14 31 9 4 3 18 14 10 7

species richness species evenness Simpson Index (D) Priority Conservation

10 0.70 0.67 for 1

7 0.89 0.80 2

8 0.94 0.85 3

CALCULATION: 1. Pulau Sipadan

Diversity Index Results

Species Richness: 10 Shannon's: 1.6197198375591708

Shannon's Evenness: 0.7034353876811792 Effective Richness: 5.051674828739569 Simpson's D: 0.6714880561034406 Simpsons(N2): 3.0440293529019344 Simpsons Evenness(using N2): 0.30440293529019347 Diversity Ratio: 0.504489979897476

2. Pulau Talang-talang

Diversity Index Results

Species Richness: 7 Shannon's: 1.7378341356544835 Shannon's Evenness: 0.8930700816264076 Effective Richness: 5.685017103075257 Simpson's D: 0.7986255726780508 Simpsons(N2): 4.965873836608066 Simpsons Evenness(using N2): 0.7094105480868665 Diversity Ratio: 0.8465014639978274 3. Pulau Redang

Diversity Index Results

Species Richness: 8 Shannon's: 1.9559556884604545 Shannon's Evenness: 0.9406158573134854 Effective Richness: 7.07067315650707

Simpson's D: 0.8456738067127678 Simpsons(N2): 6.479781420765028 Simpsons Evenness(using N2): 0.8099726775956285 Diversity Ratio: 0.902664544687491

Discussion: 1. What are the basic building blocks or operational taxonomic units of biodiversity? Explain. Operational taxanomic units (OTUs) is the entities whose affinities are studied by *numerical taxonomy. Depending on the level and the type of investigation an OTU may be of any taxonomic rank or an individual organism.

Taken units.html

from:

http://botanydictionary.org/operational-taxonomic-

While the numerical taxonomy is a classification method based on the numerical analysis of the variation of a large number of characters in a group of organisms. It is assumed that a classification will be more predictive the more characters on which it is based. It is also assumed that, to begin with, each character is of equal weight (see weighting ) although some characters may later be weighted. Initially, a matrix of data is compiled of *operational taxonomic units (OTUs) against characters so that for every OTU the state of each of perhaps 50 or more characters is recorded. This matrix can be subjected to a variety of mathematical analyses, which provide a measure of the similarity or dissimilarity between all the OTUs. The end product is usually one or more dendrograms. Taken from: http://botanydictionary.org/numerical-taxonomy.html 2. Briefly explain what (1) species richness and (2) species evenness mean. Species richness is the number of different species in a given site, habitat or defined geographic region. Species diversity in the strict sense, refers both the number and the relative abundance of different kinds of species within a habitat or a site. Species richness varies dramatically from a place to place. Patterns of decreasing species richness are associated with increasing latitude on continents and with increasing isolation of islands (MacArthur and Wilson). Evenness is a measure of the relative abundance of the different species making up the richness of an area. Taken from : http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/simpsons.htm

3. What was the order of the islands, from highest to lowest diversity?

Pulau Sipadan species richness species 10 0.70

Pulau talang 7 0.89 0.80

Talang- Pulau Redang 8 0.94 0.85

evenness Simpson Index 0.67 (D)

From the result, Pulau Sipadan takes the first place as the highest diversity with the 0.75 of Simpson index (D). Next, Pulau Talang-talang gives 0.80 of Simpson index (D) and in a second place. While Pulau Redang is the lowest diversity with 0.85. We can conclude that the result is proved by: With this index, 0 represents infinite diversity and 1, no diversity. That is, the bigger the value of D, the lower the diversity. Taken from: http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/simpsons.htm Therefore, Pulau Redang is the lowest diversity based on the ranking. Eventhough the number of D is highest but it has a low diverse. Therefore, the species richness in not highest but the species evenness in highest than other species in another island. These result influence the diversity of the island. Pulau Sipadan is the highest diversity based on the ranking. Eventhough the number of D is lowest but it has a high diverse. Therefore, the species richness in highest but the species evenness in lowest than other species in another island. These resulst influence the diversity of the island. The conclusion is as species richness and evenness increase, so diversity increases. Simpson's Diversity Index is a measure of diversity which takes into account both richness and evenness. Taken from: http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/simpsons.htm

4. How did you rank the islands for conservation? Did this follow the diversity values? What other factors could you take into account when determining conservation priority? Pulau Sipadan species richness species 10 0.70 Pulau talang 7 0.89 0.80 2 Talang- Pulau Redang 8 0.94 0.85 1

evenness Simpson Index 0.67 (D) Priority for 3

Conservation I rank the conservation based on the Simpson Index. Yes, this follows the diversity values. The higher value of D, the higher priority to conserve the species. This can be proved by the statement

The more diverse a collection of species of plants and animals in an area, the more resistant that area is to destruction. Taken from: http://www.geoplace.com/ME2/dirmod.asp? sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=13B2F0D0A FA04476A2ACC02ED28A405F&tier=4&id=C4BB410D186540EC8413787 3523623FF Based on this statement, the number of species in the Pulau Sipadan has a highest species richness than others island and the lowest of species evenness because most of the total number of every species is low. Only one or two species have high total number. There is another statement state that

A community dominated by one or two species is considered to be less diverse than one in which several different species have a similar abundance. Taken from: http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/simpsons.htm

Generally, the statement is against with result. . If we account another factors, we can determine conservation priority follow by Simpson Index. Pulau Redang should be conserve as the first rank because the number of all species is less than Pulau Sipadan. Therefore, if we contered another factor, the total number of all species in Pulau Redang is only 77 species as the lowest total number of three islands. This show that the number of various species and the total number of all species influence the priority of conservation. The ecosystem of Pulau Redang is not stable, and should being conserve first than other islands. Therefore, these are the factor that we must consider to conserve the species in the island.

5. If we do not have the resources to protect all species, what criteria could we use to decide where to focus our conservation efforts? If we do not have the resources to protect all species, there are a few criteria can we use to decide where to focus our conservation efforts. The first is we can improve the policy and institutional frameworks. There are: 1. Strengthening institutional capacity , policies, and enforcement mechanisms 2. Environmental governance reforms and accountability frameworks. 3. Increasing public awareness, participation and training. 4. Environmental cost recovery practices: internalization into fiscal policies, etc.

5. Strengthening SEA and impact assessment more broadly. Taken from: http://www.cbd.int/development/presentations/emmbdc-01/2009-0513-undp-en.pdf Then, as an individual we can conserve species by: 1. Don't buy imported exotic species for pets (parrots, frogs, lizards, fish, etc.). 2. Support responsible ecotourism and conservation programs. 3. Don't release non-native species into the wild (bait fish, plants, etc.). 4. Watch where you step (rare plants, wetlands, critters, etc.). 5. Shop smart/shop green
o o o

Buy U.S. (our species laws are better). Dont buy from countries with bad wildlife conservation policies. Dont buy rare or rainforest woods (e.g., mahogany, teak, balsa, ironwood). Do buy green products & E-certified products

(unbleached, recycled, minimal dye, etc.). 6. Use less/ be a miser/Reduce your consumption (gas milage, electricity, etc.). 7. Take care of your belongings so they won't need to be replaced as often. 8. Recycle! Recycle! Recycle! 9. Drive slowly and attentively in wildlife areas. 10. Keep your vehicle on designated roads and trails. 11. Properly dispose of toxic/harmful chemicals, batteries, etc. Taken from: http://www.voiceforthewild.org/general/conserve.html

Conclusion: Hypothesis is accepted. 1. The richness of the butterflies in the island can be known by the number of individuals of each species. 2. The evenness of the butterflies in the island can be known by the number of individuals of each species.