Societal issues relating to biodiversity

Kath Crawford&

Paul Beaumont

AimsAims

To:

Promote discussion about measurement of biodiversity

Introduce methods of data analysis

Explore how such activities support A Curriculum for Excellence

Measuring biodiversityMeasuring biodiversity

1 2

6 7 8 9 10

3 4 5

Taken from: http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/eb/homepage.shtml

AimsAims

A local authority has a limited budget for conservation projects. You are asked to select one area which should be protected. So:

In groups of 6 examine the data and discuss which area(s) show the greatest biodiversity

Draw up a list of the factors which you might take into account when making your decisions

Species

Area No of areas where species

recorded1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiral X X X 3

Salmon

Common newt

Adder

Song thrush X

Common shrew

X

Fox

Use the data to complete the table:

Species Area No of areas where species

recorded1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiral X X X 3

Salmon X X X X X

Common newt

X X X X X

Adder X X X X X

Song thrush X X X X X

Common shrew

X X X X X X X

Fox X X X X

Species Area No of areas where species

recorded1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiral X X X 3

Salmon X X X X X

Common newt

X X X X X

Adder X X X X X

Song thrush X X X X X

Common shrew

X X X X X X X

Fox X X X X

Species richness 2

Species Area No of areas where species

recorded1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiral X X X 3

Salmon X X X X X

Common newt

X X X X X

Adder X X X X X

Song thrush X X X X X

Common shrew

X X X X X X X

Fox X X X X

Species richness 2 2 2 5 2 2 5 5 5 4

Species Area No of areas where species

recorded1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiral X X X 3

Salmon X X X X X 5Common newt

X X X X X 5

Adder X X X X X 5

Song thrush X X X X X 5Common shrew

X X X X X X X 7

Fox X X X X 4Species richness 2 2 2 5 2 2 5 5 5 4

How do we quantify rarity?

Define a quantity ‘Range-size rarity’, RSR,

RSR = 1/x where x is the number of areas in which a species is found to be present

Range size rarity:Species Area No of areas

where species recorded

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiral X X X 3Salmon X X X X X 5Common newt

X X X X X 5

Adder X X X X X 5

Song thrushX

0.20X

0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common shrew

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

7

Fox X X X X 4Species richness 2 2 2 5 2 2 5 5 5 4Sum of range size rarity values

Range size rarity:Species Area No of areas

where species recorded

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiralX

0.33

X0.33

X0.33

3

SalmonX

0.20X

0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common newt

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

AdderX

0.20X

0.20X

0.20

X0.20

X0.20 5

Song thrushX

0.20X

0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common shrew

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

7

FoxX

0.25X

0.25

X0.25

X0.25

4Species richness 2 2 2 5 2 2 5 5 5 4Sum of range size rarity values

0.34 0.34 0.34 1.07 0.4 0.34 1.12 0.99 1.18 0.85

CladogramCladogram

Adder

Salmon

Common newt

Red admiral

Song thrushCommon shrew

Fox

CladogramCladogram

Adder

Salmon

Common newt

Red admiral

Song thrushCommon shrew

Fox

Song thrush Common shrew = 4 nodes

12

43

CladogramCladogram Red admiral --

Salmon 4 --Common newt 4 --

Adder 6 4 --Song thrush 6 5 --Common shrew 8 7 5 --

Fox 8 6 4 3 --Red

admiralSalmon

Common newt

AdderSong thrush

Common shrew

Fox

Complete your cladogram table…..

CladogramCladogram Red admiral -- 4 5 6 7 8 8

Salmon 4 -- 4 5 6 7 7Common newt 5 4 -- 4 5 6 6

Adder 6 5 4 -- 4 5 5Song thrush 7 6 5 4 -- 4 4Common shrew 8 7 6 5 4 -- 3

Fox 8 7 6 5 4 3 --Red

admiralSalmon

Common newt

AdderSong thrush

Common shrew

Fox

Taxic richness for Area 1

Combination Score

Song thrush <--> common shrew 4

Taxic richness for area 1 4

Taxic richness for Area 10Combination Score

Salmon <--> common newt 4

Salmon <--> adder 5

Salmon <--> fox 7

Common newt <--> adder 4

Common newt <--> fox 6

Adder <--> fox 5

Taxic richness for area 10 31

Species

AreaNo of areas

where species recorded1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiralX

0.33

X0.33

X0.33

3

Salmon X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common newt X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Adder X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Song thrush X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common shrew

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

7

Fox X0.25

X0.25

X0.25

X0.25

4Species richness 2 2 2 5 2 2 5 5 5 4Sum of range size rarity values

0.34 0.34 0.34 1.07 0.4 0.34 1.12 0.99 1.18 0.85

Taxic richness

Species

AreaNo of areas

where species recorded1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiralX

0.33

X0.33

X0.33

3

Salmon X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common newt X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Adder X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Song thrush X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common shrew

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

7

Fox X0.25

X0.25

X0.25

X0.25

4Species richness 2 2 2 5 2 2 5 5 5 4Sum of range size rarity values

0.34 0.34 0.34 1.07 0.4 0.34 1.12 0.99 1.18 0.85

Taxic richness4 4 4 4 31

Species

AreaNo of areas

where species recorded1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Red admiralX

0.33

X0.33

X0.33

3

Salmon X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common newt X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Adder X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Song thrush X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

X0.20

5

Common shrew

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

X0.14

7

Fox X0.25

X0.25

X0.25

X0.25

4Species richness 2 2 2 5 2 2 5 5 5 4Sum of range size rarity values

0.34 0.34 0.34 1.07 0.4 0.34 1.12 0.99 1.18 0.85

Taxic richness4 4 4 54 4 4 54 52 54 31

Summary/conclusionsSummary/conclusions

Measurement of biodiversity is not trivial!

Before decisions about which area(s) to conserve are made, a number of factors need to be considered. These include species richness, range-size rarity and taxic richness

Species richness and taxic richness are useful indicators but their usefulness depends upon the quality of data collection