Question

b. Consider a large population of turtles in which 30% of the population are snapping turtles and 70% of the population are box turtles. What is the value of the diversity index D for the population

Answer 1

Answer: the value of the diversity index D for the population is 0.42

Explanation:

Given that; population of the two species are

p1 = 30% = 0.3 (snapping turtle)

p2 = 70% = 0.7 ( box turtle)

so if two (2) organisms are picked, then they can be different from each other ( i.e Event E) under following two scenarios

E1 → First organism selected from p1 and second organism selected from p2

E2 → First organism selected from p2 and second organism selected from p1

which means we are observing the different orders in which the organisms can be picked.

So the probability of event E = the sum of probabilities of events E1 and E2.

which is;

D = P(E) = P(E1) + P(E2)

= P1×P2 + P2×P1

= 2P1P2

so we substitute

D = 2 × 0.3 × 0.7

D = 0.42

Therefore the value of the diversity index D for the population is 0.42