Intro

• • In extreme environments that are dominated by abiotic factors and where populations are likely to fluctuate dramatically, species diversity is often low
  • Where few food species are available, a change in the availability of one food species will have a big impact on the number of predators
  • This will then impact the availability of the food species, creating cycles of population rise and fall
• • Less abiotically extreme environments usually have higher biodiversity, These become more stable ecosystems in which populations are dominated by biotic factors
• Simpsons diversity index:

  • The level of diversity can be quantified using several different calculations
  • One is Simpsons Diversity Index
• Simpsons diversity index: