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Societal issues relating to biodiversity Kath Crawford & Paul Beaumont. To: Promote discussion about measurement of biodiversity Introduce methods of data analysis Explore how such activities support A Curriculum for Excellence. Aims. Measuring biodiversity. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
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Societal issues relating to biodiversity Kath Crawford & Paul Beaumont
To: Promote discussion about measurement of biodiversity Introduce methods of data analysis Explore how such activities support A Curriculum for Excellence Aims
Measuring biodiversity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Taken from: http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/eb/homepage.shtml
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 Aims
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
Cladogram Song thrush Common shrew = 4 nodes
Summary/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