Biodiversity Essay Example for Free

Biodiversity Essay Biodiversity presents occurrence of variety of species and their natural community in which they live. By the definition it is â€Å"The degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. It is a measure of the health of ecosystems and is in part a function of climate.† (Rutherford) Ecosystem is on the other hand, â€Å" community and its abiotic environment†( Rutherford). Biodiversity exists in every ecosystem, weather it is big one, or just ecosystem of one garden, it has the same importance because without it nature loses its ability to perform major functions needed for life on Earth, as it is oxygen production. Trough this investigation, two different ecosystems will be explored and the level of their biodiversity on certain area. Research question â€Å"To what extend is one ecosystem more diverse than other one?† Hypothesis If ecosystem has more number of species and organisms within those species, it will have higher biodiversity. Justification of hypothesis According to formula for Simpson`s diversity index, D = N (N-1) / ÃŽ £ n (n-1), where N is total number of organisms, while n is sum of individuals within a specie, we can see that sum of all individuals and total number of organisms of particular species affect the biodiversity index. Variables Dependent variable Biodiversity of ecosystem. Dependent variable is key of the study and it will be tested on independent and controllable ones. It will be derived from sufficient collection of data and using Simpson`s index. Finally it is going to be presented as number of species in two different ecosystems. Independent variable Size of area of ecosystem tested, which is going to be presented in m2. This variable does not depend on other ones, and I decided to calculate biodiversity on 3 m2 in both ecosystems, making sure that conditions are same for both. Controllable variables: Time, weather conditions. These variables control the biodiversity index which is going to be derived and will be controlled as I will decide at which time am I going to measure number of species in ecosystem. In my case, it will be beginning of June. As well as I am going to make sure that I measure it on optimal temperature, without rain or strong sun. PROCEDURE Material: * Meter * Paper * Pen * Calculator * Thermometer Procedure Plan is the key point of each procedure. As I already found material needed for beginning of my investigation, I have to decide on two different location for measuring. It is going to be meadow and garden around family house. In both locations, area of measurement is going to be 3 m2 and I am going to make sure that during the measurement in both locations, conditions of temperature are approximately the same. As I labeled the area of 3 m2 in meadow, I will count the number of different species living there. In addition, I will count number of organisms of each specie. While doing that, I will see the temperature on the thermometer. The same procedure is going to be repeated in garden. After collecting all the raw data, it is going to be presented through value of biodiversity index.