Measuring Diversity: Richness, Evenness and Turnover Between Sites · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Beyond counting species

Science · Ecology & Conservation · ages 21-22
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What is species evenness?

    • How tall the tallest species grows
    • How evenly individuals spread across species
    • How far apart the sites lie

  2. What is species richness?

    • The number of different species present
    • The total number of individuals
    • The age of the oldest species

  3. A survey finds oak, maple, birch, and beech at a site. What is the richness? Type the number.

    Answer: ______________

  4. What did evenness contribute to that comparison?

    • It broke the richness tie against the dominated site
    • It counted extra species
    • It measured the rainfall

  5. Two forests each hold 10 species. In one they are even, in the other one covers 90 percent of the ground. Which is more diverse?

    • The uneven one, since one species wins
    • They tie, since richness ties
    • The even one, since dominance lowers diversity

  6. Two lakes share no species at all. What does that say about turnover?

    • Turnover is low
    • Turnover is high
    • Turnover cannot be judged

  7. Counting species alone is enough, because equal richness always means equal diversity.

    Circle one:   True   False

  8. A planner must protect one of two equal-richness lakes, and one lake holds species found nowhere else. Which lake, and why?

    • Either, since richness ties
    • The plainer lake, since rarity is risky
    • The unique-species lake, since high turnover makes its loss irreplaceable
LightMySky · lightmysky.comW1-mt_d_iIiIArWZ-s1

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Beyond counting species W1-mt_d_iIiIArWZ-s1

  1. How evenly individuals spread across species · Evenness runs from perfectly balanced to dominated by one species.
  2. The number of different species present · Richness is the plain count of species, nothing about their shares.
  3. 4 · Four named species means a richness of 4.
  4. It broke the richness tie against the dominated site · Richness alone called it equal, and evenness revealed the real gap.
  5. The even one, since dominance lowers diversity · Equal richness splits the tie toward evenness, and dominance drags the other down.
  6. Turnover is high · Zero shared species means complete turnover between the sites.
  7. False · Evenness and turnover can split tied richness widely apart.
  8. The unique-species lake, since high turnover makes its loss irreplaceable · Unique species turn the decision: losing that lake erases life held nowhere else.
Worksheet · LightMySky