What are alpha, beta, and gamma diversity?

Answer 1

See explanation below.

Alpha diversity refers to the average species diversity in a habitat or specific area. Alpha diversity is a local measure.

Beta diversity refers to the ratio between local or alpha diversity and regional diversity. This is the diversity of species between two habitats or regions. It is calculated by the following equation:

(number species in habitat 1- number of species habitat 2&1 have in common)+(number of sp in H2- number of sp H1&2 have in common)

Gamma diversity is the total diversity of a landscape and is a combination of both alpha and beta diversity.

In the image below, assume the different colors represent different species of fish. The alpha diversity of Site A is 3 because there are three different species at Site A. The beta diversity of sites A and B is 2 because there are two species (the red one at site B and the teal one at site A) that are distinct from one another. The gamma diversity for the whole ecosystem is 5 because there are five different species of fish (black, orange, green, red, and purple with black stripes).

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Answer 2

Clara Addison

Alpha diversity refers to the diversity within a particular area or habitat. It is measured by the number of species (species richness) and their abundance (species evenness) within that area.

Beta diversity refers to the diversity between different habitats or ecosystems. It measures the turnover of species between habitats and indicates how species composition changes from one habitat to another.

Gamma diversity refers to the overall diversity across a large geographical region, such as a continent or biome. It represents the total number of species present within that region.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.