1. Simpson’s Diversity Lab
IA Practice
Simpson’s Diversity Lab

2. Title: The impact of species richness and evenness on biodiversity
Introduction: you can use what was given to you as a guide but you need to research and make it your own. Be sure to discuss what biodiversity is and why it’s important. Also discuss the meaning of species richness and evenness (use your notes…Ms. Simmons gave you a lot of background and you did practice problems)
Research question: To what extent do species richness and evenness affect biodiversity?
Hypothesis: must be based on research question. Look at sample questions we did before the lab. Which community had the highest biodiversity and why? If species richness and evenness are high, then biodiversity will be high.
Independent variable: the 3 different parking lots which represent “ecosystems”
Dependent variable: biodiversity which is measured using the Simpson Diversity Index
Controlled variable: the sample sizes of individuals from each “ecosystem” were the same
3 tables with data from each parking lot
Sample Simpson Diversity Calculation (define each variable)
Titled bar graph with labeled axis comparing diversity indexes
Titled bar graph comparing species richness that way you can see how species richness impacts Simpson index
Include qualitative data about evenness as well (low evenness versus high evenness)
Discuss your findings in detail being sure to come to a conclusion about how richness and evenness impacted your calculated diversity values
Applications: must relate this to a real environmental issue and provide feasible solutions on how to increase biodiversity
Works cited page, words (not including data)