Sunday, January 29, 2017

SPECIES DIVERSITY

The wet, high elevation limestone forests of Rota in the tropical Pacific are characterized by epiphytic ferns, fern allies and orchids.

The topic of species diversity is focused upon in this next episode of a video series designed to complement the AP Environmental Science curriculum.  It begins with an exploration of the scale at which diversity is considered,  discussing the concepts of alpha, beta and gamma diversity.  It also considers the components of diversity- species richness and species evenness.  

The video then goes on to examine methods of computing diversity.  It evaluates the uses and pitfalls of diversity characterization, including the loss of information that occurs by computing diversity indicies.

Still another diversity-related issue is the edge effect.  The video examines how diversity responds to the boundary between habitats and how certain species are edge specialists.  It also notes, however, that edges can have reduced habitat quality as well as higher rates of predator activity.

The video concludes by examining the species-area effect.  It considers the phenomenon of minimum habitat size and the role of chance in the accumulation of species by virtue of area.


This and other videos in this series are produced by the publishing partner of Bird Conservation Research, Inc- Arts and AcademicPublishing.


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