A plot of grassland has four species of plant…

Contributed by StemPy Lab

Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.

A plot of grassland has four species of plant. They have $50$ , $30$ , $15$ and $5$ plants. (Simpson's index is not in the NEET syllabus, but A-Level and IB use it.)

What is the richness of the plot?

What is Simpson's index of diversity, to three decimals?

The same $100$ plants are shared equally among the four species. What is the index then?

Need a reminder? The key ideaShow

Genetic diversity is the variety inside one species. Species diversity is the variety of species in a region. Ecological diversity is the variety of ecosystems. Simpson's index of diversity is $D = 1 - \sum (n/N)^2$ , where $n$ is the count of one species and $N$ is the count of all (not in the NEET syllabus).

The worked solution

Have you tried it?

Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.

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