What is beta diversity? (2024)

Biodiversity:

1. It is the variety observed in organisms at every level of biological organization.
2. Species diversity also refers to the variety in number and richness of the species in any habitat. The number of species per unit area at a specific time is called species richness, which denotes a measure of species diversity.

There are four indices of diversity:

1. Alpha Diversity: It is measured by counting the number of taxa (usually species) within a particular area, community, or ecosystem.
2. Beta diversity: It is species diversity b/w two adjacent ecosystems and is obtained by comparing the number of species unique to each ecosystem.
3. Gamma diversity: It refers to the diversity of the habitats over the total landscape or a geographical area.