Same Species Count, Different Diversity

You'll learnthat biodiversity is more than a species count — evenness, genes and habitats count too.

Two communities hold the same four species, so a species count calls them identical. Look at how the individuals are shared out and they are nothing alike. This is where biodiversity really lives: in the balance of a community, in the genes inside a species, and in the variety of habitats across a landscape. Eleven short steps; press Next for each one.

11 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · RICHNESS IS ONE DIMENSION · EVENNESS · GENETIC · ECOSYSTEM · v4

same four species, very different diversity

Before you start

What you're looking at

Two communities of 50 individuals, drawn as coloured discs. Both hold the same four species.

The question

Both have four species — does that alone make them equally diverse?

Step 1 / 11