Measuring Biodiversity

Module 6 Lesson 2

LESSON #2: DIFFERENT MEASURES OF BIODIVERSITY OVERVIEW:

The goal of this lesson is to introduce students to different methods of calculating biodiversity and to consider how different biodiversity indices are sensitive to species richness and species evenness. This lesson builds off of the previous lesson where students brainstormed different ways of determining biodiversity. The first activity engages students in developing a way to evaluate which cell-phone plan is best. The goal of the first activity of this lesson is to help students to understand that there are multiple ways to measure something. The second activity introduces four measures of biodiversity (species richness, species evenness, Simpsons Index and Shannon-Weaver Index) through a reading and discussion. The third activity has the students use these different measures to evaluate the bird biodiversity of the three urban sites introduced in Lesson 1. There is also a fourth optional activity that can be completed either in class or as homework that provides students with additional practice calculating biodiversity using tree data.

SUB-QUESTION:
How do we measure biodiversity?

WAYS OF KNOWING URBAN ECOLOGY:

Understanding Students will understand that
It is important to use more than one method of measurement when evaluating biodiversity. Species richness is the number of species present in a specific area. species evenness is the similarity of the numbers of individuals of each species in a specific area. Simpsons index and the Shannon-Weaver index are measures of biodiversity. Students will justify the use of different biodiversity measures. Students will calculate biodiversity indices of different sites using different methods. No specific goals connected with acting on urban ecology in this lesson.

Talking Doing Acting

SAFETY GUIDELINES:
None.

PREPARATION:
Time: 2-3 class periods Day 1: Activity 2.1 Activity 2.2 Day 2: Activity 2.3 Day 3: Optional Activity 2.4

Measuring Biodiversity

Module 6 Lesson 2

Materials: Activity 2.1 For each student Copies of student sheet 2.1 Activity 2.3 For each student or group Computer with Excel Biodiversity spreadsheet M6_L2_biodiversity_measures.xls (OR if multiple computers are not available then one computer with projector and PowerPoint Lesson 2.3) Student instructions and sheets Optional Activity 2.4 For each student or group Computer with Excel Biodiversity spreadsheet M6_L2_biodiversity_measures.xls Student instructions and handouts

INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE:
Activity 2.1: Multiple Measures Cell Phones 1. Remind students that in the previous lesson they had been exploring biodiversity in order to answer the driving question for this module: How do we develop cities that sustain biodiversity? Before returning to talk about biodiversity, the students are first going to take a look at an everyday example to think about how people come up with ways to rate or evaluate things. Teaching Alternative The Multiple Measures Cell Phone Activity can also be used as a Do Now or warm up activity at the beginning of the class either individually or in groups. 2. Either pass out the student sheet for Lesson 2.1 with the cell phone data or project the data table for the whole class. Have students work in groups to determine which cell phone plan they would purchase. 3. As you walk around the room, pay attention to what students observe about the three plans and what components of the plan they value most highly. You may need to probe the students thinking or help them get started if you see some groups struggling. Some potential questions to ask are: o What would you most value in a cell-phone call quality, features, number of features, coverage area? Which is more important: the overall average score or the number of features? 4. Once the students have come to a conclusion, have groups share their analysis as to which cell-phone is best. You may want to take a tally of how many groups chose each plan and their reasons for their choice using a table format similar to the one below:

Measuring Biodiversity

Module 6 Lesson 2

Number of Student Groups that Chose this Plan Reasons why they plan is best

Company A 2 Highest Average score. Highest call quality and reliability.

Company B 1 Lowest cost. Has more features. Has good downloadable games.

Company C 3 Medium cost. No feature has a real low rating. Has more features.

5. Discuss with the class the results of their analysis. Students should note that each plan has strengths and weaknesses, and different student groups focused on different aspects of the plan. o Some groups may have focused on one or two particular features (e.g. cost or call quality) while other groups focused more on an overall average score or number of features. There are different potential ways to rate a cell phone plan. 6. You may also want to ask the students if they think their parents would choose a different cell phone plan. You could use this example to talk about how just like different people might look for different characteristics in a cell phone plan scientists may be looking for different characteristics when they are assessing an ecosystem. This is why they can have different indices to measure the same thing. In the next activity, you will be talking about different indices that they use to measure biodiversity. Teacher Background Knowledge There is not a right answer to this activity there is usually more than one way to measure the same phenomenon. When the students present their work it is important to point how different groups valued different aspects of each cell-phone plan. This is important because the two indices that your students will explore in the next lesson place a different value on different components of biodiversity. Activity 2.2: Measuring Biodiversity 1. Discuss some of the key ideas with students. Ask students why they think scientists have different measures of biodiversity. You may want to suggest that they think back to what they talked about with the cell phone activity and in Lesson 1. o Biodiversity is the variation of life at all levels of biological organization (e.g. genes, species ecosystems). The level a scientist focuses on can influence their measure. Even if two scientists are focused on the same level such as the species, they can still have different interests or value different aspects. 2. Ask students - What are the different ways that scientist measure biodiversity? How are the measures different from each other? o Species richness - the number of species present o Species evenness (relative abundance) considers the distribution or number of individuals of each species. o Simpsons index a measure of biodiversity that takes into account both the number of species and the evenness or abundance of each species. o Shannon-Weaver index Similar to the Simpsons Index, it is also a measure of biodiversity that takes into account both the number of species and the evenness

Measuring Biodiversity

Module 6 Lesson 2

or abundance of each species. It places a greater importance on distribution and evenness (i.e. If there is one new individual of a species added to an area, Shannon-Weaver is more likely to decrease than Simpsons). 3. If students seem confused by the difference between species evenness and richness, you may want to draw a picture like the following on the board or overhead and ask them questions about these different biodiversity measures. Site 1 10 robins 12 song sparrows 14 Dark-eyed juncos 11 American Crows Site 2 10 robins 2 song sparrows 14 Dark-eyed juncos 7 American Crows 1 Common Grackle

o What is the species richness of each site? Site 1 = 4. Site 2 = 5. o Which site has a greater species evenness? The species evenness is higher for Site 1 than Site 2, because they are more evenly distributed at Site 1. Activity 2.3: Calculating Biodiversity for the Three Urban Sites 1. Remind the students of the previous lesson where they were comparing the biodiversity of the three different urban sites. You may want to show the PowerPoint from Lesson 1 with the images of the three sites. Tell the students that they are now going to use the different measures for biodiversity that they just discussed to calculate the biodiversity at the three sites. 2. Have the students work in groups or individually to use the biodiversity excel sheet and the student activity sheet to calculate the different biodiversity indices for the two sites. If your students are new to using excel, you may want to project the excel sheet first and talk through the excel sheet before having them work on the computers. Teaching Alternative Having the students actively manipulate the excel file can help them develop a stronger understanding of the indices. However, if computers are not available for the students, alternatively you can project the excel file and go through the scenarios as a class or you can use the Activity 2.2 PowerPoint which has the biodiversity indices for the three locations. You can use an overhead projector to show students the PowerPoint. 3. As your students are working on calculating the different measures, you may want to ask individuals or groups questions such as the following to help them to make sense of the numbers o Which site has the greatest species richness? Which site appears to have some dominant species (large numbers)? What characteristics of the data impact whether the Shannon-Weaver and Simpsons indices are high or low? 4. In a full class discussion, have students share their responses to the reflection questions and discuss the differences in the two indices in terms of how they measure biodiversity

Measuring Biodiversity

Module 6 Lesson 2

Teacher Background The Simpsons Index ranges from 0 to 1 where zero is no biodiversity and 1 is infinite biodiversity. The Simpsons index represents the probability that if you randomly selected two individuals, that the two individuals would belong to different species. If the Simpson Index = 1, that means you have a 100% chance of selecting two individuals from different species. The Shannon-Weaver Index ranges from 0 to a theoretically infinite level. The maximum value is calculated by the log (1/ # of species) so it is limited only by the number of species in the community. The Shannon-Weaver index places a greater weight on the species evenness. In other words, if one new individual of one new species is added to an area, the Shannon-Weaver is more likely to decrease while the Simpsons index is more likely to stay the same. Under most conditions, the Shannon-Weaver and Simpson will change in similar ways as the biodiversity of an area changes. In order to see a difference in the two indices, you typically need a large number of species (100+), which the students will not collect in their field studies. If you do want to observe the difference with the 10 species in excel sheet, set the excel sheet to the following conditions: Condition #1: 10 species all with 99 individuals: S-W = 2.3 and S = 0.90. Condition #2: 9 species with 99 individuals, 1 species at 25 individuals: S-W = 2.26 and S = 0.90. The Shannon-Weaver will decrease slightly while the Simpsons remains the same. More information on both indices including their mathematical formulas can be found in the teacher background information in the beginning of Module 6. Optional Activity 2.4 If you feel that your students need more practice calculating biodiversity, you may want to complete Activity 2.4. This activity has two versions. Version 1 has students revisit their tree data from Module 2 and calculate the biodiversity of their trees. Version 2 provides the students with tree data from two areas in Boston to calculate biodiversity and can either be used in class or as a homework assignment. Optional Activity 2.4: Version 1 - Revisiting the tree data from Module 2 1. Ask students if they remember earlier in the year during the Land Use Module going out to their field site and collecting information on what trees were in the field site and the health of those trees. o You may want to ask students probing questions: What species of trees did we find? How many trees did we find? What was the role of those trees in the environment in terms of global warming? What was the economic value of the trees? 2. Have students use their tree data from Module 2 along with the excel sheet and Activity Sheet 2.4 Version 1 to calculate and analyze the biodiversity of their field site. 3. Discuss students responses to the conclusion questions.

Measuring Biodiversity

Module 6 Lesson 2

Teaching Alternative If it is difficult for you to access computers or if you want to provide your students with mathematical calculations, you can have students calculate the Simpsons index by hand. The formula and an example are provided in the Teacher Background Information at the beginning of Module 6. Please note that this could extend the time of the activities so plan accordingly. Activity 2.3: Version 2 Data Provided 1. Tell students that they will be analyzing urban street tree data collected in Boston in 2006 from two different sites. Have students use the excel sheet and Activity sheet 2.4 Version 2 to calculate and analyze the biodiversity of the two sites. o Discuss students responses to the conclusion questions. Concluding the Lesson 1. Tell students that in the next lesson they are going to start investigating the biodiversity of their field site. Ask students the following reflection question: o In order to determine the biodiversity of our field site, what data do you think we need to collect from our site? What measure or measures of biodiversity should we calculate? Why? o You may want to introduce here that they will be studying the bird biodiversity of their field site. You can link this discussion to the first narrative, which discussed that birds are good indicators of the ecological health of a community, because they are so mobile and will leave if the conditions deteriorate. You may also want to discuss the importance of using more than one measure of biodiversity (species richness, species evenness, Simpsons Index and Shannon-Weaver Index) because they give you different perspectives on a site.

Measuring Biodiversity Name: _________________________________ Date: _________

Module 6 Lesson 2 Class/Period:________

Lesson 2.1: Different measures for different needs. Purpose Scientists have developed multiple measures to evaluate the biodiversity of a particular site. To understand why scientists use different methods to evaluate biodiversity we will develop our own methods to evaluate the diversity of an everyday object: the cell-phone. The review below rates each cell phone company from very good (score of 5), good (score of 4), fair (score of 3), poor (score of 2), and very poor (score of 1) on several categories. Rating Category Cost of phone Call Quality and Reliability Number of free minutes Available features (call waiting, redial when busy) Phones are easy to use Coverage area Other media (phones play music and videos) Downloadable Games Thickness/Size of Phones Average Score Total Number of Plan Features Company A $100 5 5 5 4 5 Not Available Not Available 4 4.70 6 Company B $60 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 3.50 8 Company C $90 4 4 4 4 5 5 3 3 4.0 8

1. Based upon the data in the table, which cell-phone companys plan would you buy? Why? What were the factors that most influenced your decision?

2. Do you think your classmates will agree with you that Company _______ is the best? Why or why not?

Module 6 Lesson 2.3 Name: ______________________ Period/Class: __________________ Date:__________ Lesson 2.3: Examining Biodiversity measures Purpose In the previous lesson, you examined three different urban sites and discussed which one you felt had the greatest biodiversity. In this activity, you are going to revisit those sites, examining specific bird data and using different measures of biodiversity. Prediction Look at the data in the table below. Which of the three sites do you think will have the greatest biodiversity using the Simpson and Shannon-Weaver indices? Why?

Procedure 1. For each site record the species richness in the data table on the next page. 2. Describe the species evenness for each site in the table (e.g. even number of each species, a couple of dominant species with high numbers and the rest are low.) 3. Open the spreadsheet biodiversity_measures.xls. The data for the three sites is recorded in the table below. You will need to add the data from one site at a time to calculate the Simpson and Shannon-Weaver indices. 4. Start with Site #1. Species #1 will be the Rock Dove so change the species number to 32. Repeat this with all 10 species. After adding all of the data, record the final Simpson and Shannon-Weaver Indices in the data table on the next page. 5. Repeat the procedure for Site #2 and then Site #3. SpeciesofBird Rock Dove (pigeon) Black Capped Chickadee European Starling House Sparrow Song Sparrow House Finch Dark-eyed Junco American Crow Common Grackle American Robin Total Number Site #1 32 4 43 15 1 23 0 4 0 0 122 # of individuals counted at site Site #2 44 22 47 42 6 45 0 4 5 4 219 Site #3 20 23 25 25 20 24 20 20 23 20 220

Module 6 Lesson 2.3

Results: Record below the species richness. Then use the excel sheet to calculate the Shannon Weaver and Simpsons indices for both sites. Record both indices below. Site Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Species Richness Species Evenness Simpsons Shannon-Weaver

Conclusion 1. Which of the three sites had the greatest biodiversity? Explain why it has the highest biodiversity.

Further Exploration 1. What do you think will happen to the Simpsons and Shannon-Weaver index if there is only one species? Will it be high, in the middle or low? First make a prediction. Then use the spreadsheet to test your idea and then record your results.

Module 6 Lesson 2.3 2. What do you think will happen if you have 10 species but one very dominant one? Again, make a prediction, then use the spreadsheet to test your idea and record your results below.

3. Using the spreadsheet, try to make the Simpsons and Shannon-Weaver index as high as possible. What conditions lead to the two indices being high?

4. What do you think is the best indicator of biodiversity, the number of species, the number of individuals, the evenness, or a combination of all three indicators? Why?

Module 6 Lesson 2.4 Name: _________________________ Period/Class: __________________ Date:__________ Lesson 2.4: Measuring biodiversity using tree data Version 1 Purpose In Module 2, you collected tree data at your field site. You are now going to revisit that tree data to calculate the tree biodiversity of your field site. Before conducting your calculation please answer the following questions. Predictions 1. Do you think you have diverse sampling of trees? Why or why not?

Results 1. Use the biodiversity_measures.xls spreadsheet to calculate the Simpson and ShannonWeaver indices for your field site. Record the results below.

Conclusion 1. Do you think the biodiversity of your field site is high or low? What is your evidence for this?

2.

Do your results from the biodiversity indices surprise you? Why or why not?

Module 6 Lesson 2.4

Name: _________________________ Period/Class: __________________ Date:__________ Lesson 2.4:Measuring biodiversity using tree data Version 2 Background During the summer of 2006 a group of volunteers conducted an urban street tree inventory and collected data about trees in the entire city of Boston. Below are two images from the neighborhoods of South Boston and the Codman Square area near Dorchester High School. The square is the study area in which trees were sampled and each dot represents a tree. The gray areas are buildings. The different color dots represent a different species of tree. South Boston Tree Sample Site Dorchester High School Tree Sample Site

South Boston Tree Sample American Elm American Sycamore Elm hybrids Green Ash Honey Locust Japanese Tree Lilac Japanese Zelkova Littleleaf Linden London Planetree Norway Maple Total Trees Total Species 3 5 5 8 65 6 6 64 12 38 212 10

Dorchester High School Tree Sample Callery Pear Gingko Green Ash Honey Locust Littleleaf Linden Norway Maple 7 26 14 49 68 33

Total Trees Total Species

197 6 6

Module 6 Lesson 2.4

Prediction Looking at the data, predict which area do you think has the greatest tree biodiversity? Why?

Results Record below the species richness. Then use the excel sheet to calculate the Shannon Weaver and Simpson indices for both sites. Record both indices below. Site South Boston Species Richness Simpsons Shannon-Weaver

Dorchester High School

Conclusion 1. Which site has a higher biodiversity? What is your evidence that it has a higher biodiversity?

2. What do you think is the best indicator of biodiversity, the number of species, the number of individuals, the evenness, or a combination of all three indicators? Why?

Measuring Biodiversity Name: ____Teacher Version_________________ Date: _________

Module 6 Lesson 2 Class/Period:________

Lesson 2.1: Different measures for different needs. Purpose Scientists have developed multiple measures to evaluate the biodiversity of a particular site. To understand why scientists use different methods to evaluate biodiversity we will develop our own methods to evaluate the diversity of an everyday object: the cell-phone. The review below rates each cell phone company from very good (score of 5), good (score of 4), fair (score of 3), poor (score of 2), and very poor (score of 1) on several categories. Rating Category Cost of phone Call Quality and Reliability Number of free minutes Available features (call waiting, redial when busy) Phones are easy to use Coverage area Other media (phones play music and videos) Downloadable Games Thickness/Size of Phones Average Score Total Number of Plan Features Company A $100 5 5 5 4 5 Not Available Not Available 4 4.70 6 Company B $60 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 3.50 8 Company C $90 4 4 4 4 5 5 3 3 4.0 8

1. Based upon the data in the table, which cell-phone companys plan would you buy? Why? What were the factors that most influenced your decision? Students responses here will vary. For example - They could choose Company A, because it has the highest average score. They could choose Company C, because it has all of the possible features and they all score at least fair. They could choose Company B because it is the cheapest. Or they could focus on one other specific category like reliability. 2. Do you think your classmates will agree with you that Company _______ is the best? Why or why not? Again, the responses will vary. Hopefully, they can provide some reasoning for why another individual may pick a different plan.

Module 6 Lesson 2.3 Name: ______Teacher Version_______ Period/Class: __________________ Date:__________ Lesson 2.3: Examining Biodiversity measures Purpose In the previous lesson, you examined three different urban sites and discussed which one you felt had the greatest biodiversity. In this activity, you are going to revisit those sites, examining specific bird data and using different measures of biodiversity. Prediction Look at the data in the table below. Which of the three sites do you think will have the greatest biodiversity using the Simpson and Shannon-Weaver indices? Why? Students responses will vary. They will most likely choose either Site 2 or Site 3, because the two sites have more individual birds. Procedure 1. For each site record the species richness in the data table on the next page. 2. Describe the species evenness for each site in the table (e.g. even number of each species, a couple of dominant species with high numbers and the rest are low.) 3. Open the spreadsheet biodiversity_measures.xls. The data for the three sites is recorded in the table below. You will need to add the data from one site at a time to calculate the Simpson and Shannon-Weaver indices. 4. Start with Site #1. Species #1 will be the Rock Dove so change the species number to 32. Repeat this with all 10 species. After adding all of the data, record the final Simpson and Shannon-Weaver Indices in the data table on the next page. 5. Repeat the procedure for Site #2 and then Site #3. SpeciesofBird Rock Dove (pigeon) Black Capped Chickadee European Starling House Sparrow Song Sparrow House Finch Dark-eyed Junco American Crow Common Grackle American Robin Total Number Site #1 32 4 43 15 1 23 0 4 0 0 122 # of individuals counted at site Site #2 44 22 47 42 6 45 0 4 5 4 219 Site #3 20 23 25 25 20 24 20 20 23 20 220

Module 6 Lesson 2.3

Results: Record below the species richness. Then use the excel sheet to calculate the Shannon Weaver and Simpsons indices for both sites. Record both indices below. Site Site 1 Site 2 9 Site 3 10 Species Richness 7 Species Evenness Uneven distribution 3 dominant species Uneven distribution 4 dominant species Even distribution no dominant species Simpsons 0.76 0.83 0.90 Shannon-Weaver 1.55 1.86 2.30

Conclusion 1. Which of the three sites had the greatest biodiversity? Explain why it has the highest biodiversity. Site three has the greatest biodiversity. The Simpsons and Shannon-Weaver indices are the highest for site 3, because it has the most species (high species richness) and there is an even distribution of the number of individuals for each species (species evenness).

Further Exploration 1. What do you think will happen to the Simpsons and Shannon-Weaver index if there is only one species? Will it be high, in the middle or low? First make a prediction. Then use the spreadsheet to test your idea and then record your results. Prediction Students responses will vary. Example -both indices will be low. Both the Simpsons index and the Shannon-Weaver index = 0.

Module 6 Lesson 2.3

2. What do you think will happen if you have 10 species but one very dominant one? Again, make a prediction, then use the spreadsheet to test your idea and record your results below. Prediction Students responses will vary. Example The numbers will be in the middle, like .5 for Simpsons and 1 for Shannon-Weaver. Results Students responses will vary. Example I put species 1 had 100 individuals and the other 9 species had 5 individuals. My Simpsons Index was 0.52 and my Shannon-Weaver Index was 1.30.

3. Using the spreadsheet, try to make the Simpsons and Shannon-Weaver index as high as possible. What conditions lead to the two indices being high? To make both indices high, I included a high number of all species. Both the species richness and the species evenness were high.

4. What do you think is the best indicator of biodiversity, the number of species, the number of individuals, the evenness, or a combination of all three indicators? Why? I think you need to look at a combination, because it is important not only that there be a lot of species, but also a number of individuals of each species. Biodiversity measures both the number and the variety of organisms at a site.

Module 6 Lesson 2.4 Name: _____Teacher Version________ Period/Class: __________________ Date:__________ Lesson 2.4: Measuring biodiversity using tree data Version 1 Purpose In Module 2, you collected tree data at your field site. You are now going to revisit that tree data to calculate the tree biodiversity of your field site. Before conducting your calculation please answer the following questions. Predictions 1. Do you think you have diverse sampling of trees? Why or why not? Students responses will vary depending on their site.

Results 1. Use the biodiversity_measures.xls spreadsheet to calculate the Simpson and ShannonWeaver indices for your field site. Record the results below. Students responses will vary depending on their site.

Conclusion 1. Do you think the biodiversity of your field site is high or low? What is your evidence for this? Students responses will vary.

2.

Do your results from the biodiversity indices surprise you? Why or why not?

Students responses will vary.

Module 6 Lesson 2.4 Name: _____Teacher Version________ Period/Class: __________________ Date:__________ Lesson 2.4:Measuring biodiversity using tree data Version 2 Background During the summer of 2006 a group of volunteers conducted an urban street tree inventory and collected data about trees in the entire city of Boston. Below are two images from the neighborhoods of South Boston and the Codman Square area near Dorchester High School. The square is the study area in which trees were sampled and each dot represents a tree. The gray areas are buildings. The different color dots represent a different species of tree. South Boston Tree Sample Site Dorchester High School Tree Sample Site

South Boston Tree Sample American Elm American Sycamore Elm hybrids Green Ash Honey Locust Japanese Tree Lilac Japanese Zelkova Littleleaf Linden London Planetree Norway Maple Total Trees Total Species 3 5 5 8 65 6 6 64 12 38 212 10

Dorchester High School Tree Sample Callery Pear Gingko Green Ash Honey Locust Littleleaf Linden Norway Maple 7 26 14 49 68 33

Total Trees Total Species

197 6

Module 6 Lesson 2.4 Prediction Looking at the data, predict which area do you think has the greatest tree biodiversity? Why? Students responses will vary. Example South Boston because it has more species.

Results Record below the species richness. Then use the excel sheet to calculate the Shannon Weaver and Simpson indices for both sites. Record both indices below. Site South Boston Species Richness 10 Simpsons 0.78 Shannon-Weaver 1.76

Dorchester High School

0.77

1.59

Conclusion 1. Which site has a higher biodiversity? What is your evidence that it has a higher biodiversity? South Boston has a higher biodiversity, because the Species Richness and Shannon-Weaver index are higher. The Simpsons index is basically the same for the two sites.

2. What do you think is the best indicator of biodiversity, the number of species, the number of individuals, the evenness, or a combination of all three indicators? Why? I think you need to look at a combination, because it is important not only that there be a lot of species, but also a number of individuals of each species. Biodiversity measures both the number and the variety of organisms at a site.