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if water samples a and b both have 2 species and 42% of the individuals of sample a belong to the same species and 93% of the individuals of sample b belong to the same species, which sample has a shannon diversity index closer to one?

User Roctimo
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Answer:

Explanation:

The Shannon diversity index (H') is a measure of the diversity of a community, and is calculated using the formula:

H' = - Σ(pi * ln(pi))

where pi is the proportion of individuals in the community belonging to the i-th species, and ln is the natural logarithm.

Higher values of H' indicate greater diversity, and H' approaches 1 as the diversity of the community approaches 0.

To determine which sample has a Shannon diversity index closer to 1, we need to calculate the H' values for both samples.

Let's call the two species in the samples A and B. From the information given, we know that:

Sample a has two species, and 42% of the individuals belong to species A.

Sample b has two species, and 93% of the individuals belong to one of the species (let's assume this is species A).

For sample a, we can calculate the proportion of individuals belonging to species B as:

1 - 0.42 = 0.58

So the proportions pi for sample a are:

pA = 0.42

pB = 0.58

Using these values, we can calculate the H' value for sample a as:

H' = - [(0.42 * ln(0.42)) + (0.58 * ln(0.58))] = 0.985

For sample b, we know that 93% of the individuals belong to species A, so the proportion of individuals belonging to species B is:

1 - 0.93 = 0.07

So the proportions pi for sample b are:

pA = 0.93

pB = 0.07

Using these values, we can calculate the H' value for sample b as:

H' = - [(0.93 * ln(0.93)) + (0.07 * ln(0.07))] = 0.209

Since a higher value of H' indicates greater diversity, we can see that sample a has a Shannon diversity index closer to 1. Therefore, sample a is the sample with a Shannon diversity index closer to one.

User Nicolina
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