Sample Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average
Fruit 6 5 6 5.67
Chocolate 6 4 5 5
Analysis
1. How did the diversity index values vary from the chocolate candies and fruit candies?
2. Which habitat is the most diverse?
3. Why are communities that are more diverse usually more stable?
4. Why would a diverse community be more resistant to disease, predation, and invasion?
5. Assume two habitats have the same number of species. One habitat is predominantly one species with just a few of the other species. The other habitat has equal numbers of all the different species. Which will have the highest diversity index? which has the most change
1. The diversity index values for the fruit candies were higher than that of the chocolate candies, indicating that the fruit candies were more diverse in terms of different types of candies sampled.
2. The habitat with fruit candies is the most diverse based on the average diversity index values.
3. Communities that are more diverse are usually more stable because they have a greater variety of species that can fill different ecological roles. This ensures that if one species is affected by a disturbance, there are other species that can take its place and maintain the functioning of the ecosystem.
4. A diverse community is more resistant to disease, predation, and invasion because there are more species present that can potentially compete with invasive species or predators for resources. Additionally, a diverse community may have species that are naturally resistant to certain diseases, reducing the overall impact of disease on the community.
5. The habitat with equal numbers of all the different species will have the highest diversity index, as diversity index measures both the number of species present and the evenness of their distribution. The habitat with predominantly one species and just a few of the other species will have lower diversity index values. The habitat with equal numbers of all species will have more change as each species contributes equally to the overall diversity index.