Maximum Diversity Index Research Articles

Diversity and seasonal changes of zooplankton communities in the Shatt Al-Arab River, Basrah, Iraq, with a special reference to Cladocera

Zooplankton abundance and distribution were studied at four stations in the northern sector of Shatt Al-Arab from September 2008 to August 2009. Monthly zooplankton samples were collected. Oblique hauls were taken at each station using a 0.120 mm mesh-sized net with 40 cm mouth opening. Air and water temperatures, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll-a, total suspended solids and total soluble solids were measured at each station and at each sampling event and were correlated with the density of Cladocera. Like Shannon index, Jaccard ʼ s similarity index, measures of richness and evenness were calculated. Water temperature ranged from 10 to 28 o C. Salinity values changed from 0.7 to 4.1 psu with a decline in the summer and an increase in the autumn. pH values were >7, dissolved oxygen varied from 4.9 in the summer to 12.3 mg/l in the winter. Chlorophyll-a values fluctuated between 2.3 in the autumn and winter and 21.4 mg/m 3 in Summer. Zooplankton density was the least at station 1 (79-10074 ind/m 3 ) and the most at station 2 (174-65170 ind/m 3 ).Cirripede larvae dominated the zooplankton community at all the stations. Cladocera was second in number, followed by Copepoda. The maximum diversity index (2.11), richness (64.45) and evenness (0.47) were obtained at station 1. The highest similarity was obtained between stations 3 and 4 and the lowest between stations 1 and 2 .

Insects associated with hospital environment in Egypt with special reference to the medically important species.

A study was planned to examine the insect fauna associated with two hospitals: urban (A) in Cairo and rural (B) in Banha, Egypt with varying hygienic levels and their adjacent residential areas (AC) and (BC), respectively and to investigate the effect of hygienic level on species composition and relative abundance. A total of 22 species belonging to 7 orders and 15 families were reported in the four study areas of which, Dipterous flies were the most common (8/22, 36.36% species). A total of 5257 adults were collected of which Dipterous flies were the abundant (3800, 72.28% insect) and Musca domestica was the most abundant species (3535, 67.24% insect) which was present in all areas where it was more common / predominant species (21.94%-90.91% insect). Moreover, higher densities of M domestica were in (B) and BC than in (A) or (AC). The heavily infested area was AC (54.55% species) followed by (A), (BC) and (B) however, the total number of the collected insects was higher in (BC) and (B) than in (AC) and (A). This was confirmed by finding maximum diversity indices in (AC) and minimum ones in B. In all areas, means of M domestica was more common during summer/autumn and spring than in the winter. Periplaneta americana collected oily during autumn in AC and was more common in autumn in (BC) while Blatella germanica collected only during summer in (AC) and was more common in autumn in (B). The prevalence and higher abundance of the medically important species mainly M domestica, P. americana and B. germanica in rural hospital than in urban one attribute mainly to the lower hygienic level of rural hospital This require a control program based mainly on sanitation supplemented by other measures to overcome the risk of disease transmission by such insects

Assessment of Bird Population in Different Habitats of Agricultural Ecosystem

The study was carried out in Vanavarayar Institute of agriculture, Manakkadavu, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India during January, 2012 to January, 2013. The institute's agricultural area classified four different habitats namely, crop land, wetland, plantations, and fallow land. The data were analyzed using Shannon-Wiener function formula; species diversity (H), maximum diversity (Hmax), and evenness (J). Based on this study we found variations in bird population distribution based on the cropping pattern and seasons of the year. Shannon-Wiener Index for diversity richness for different habitats of agroecosystem shows that fallow land recorded highest diversity (3.4619) and maximum diversity index (4.1271) compared to other habitats. Thus, fallow lands are not subject to practices of crop production and therefore supported bird's nesting and breeding. Thus, most of the birds hunt their food from agricultural field and from water bodies and made their rest place at fallow land; therefore it indicates highest number of species in all the seasons of the year. Rare birds like Indian grey hornbill, yellow - footed green pigeon, common tern, paradise flycatcher, black headed ibis, white browed bulbul, striated heron, and barn owl were observed in particular season shows the richness of the habitats in the study area. The considerable numbers of trees in fallow land and boundary of agricultural land accommodate the large number of bird's population. Thus planting trees in agricultural lands can increase bird population.

Development of an Angiosperm Quality Assessment Index (AQuA-Index) for ecological quality evaluation of Portuguese water bodies—A multi-metric approach

Salt marsh vegetation is one important biological element for establishing the ecological quality status (EQS) while evaluating transitional waters (TW). This intertidal plant community is sensitive to the most important pressures present in estuaries. In this study, an ecological index based multi-metric was established taking into account the species composition and ecological relations in Portuguese salt marsh habitats. During the AQuA-Index elaboration it was found that the parameters that respond better to the variability of ecological conditions present nowadays are the Shannon Diversity Index, the Shannon Maximum Diversity Index, the number of halophytic species, the Margalef Diversity Index and the Pielou Equitability Index. The application of the AQuA-Index index to eight TW systems varying in morphology and pressures, demonstrated that the metric responds to the ecological quality of each system. Also, it showed some advantages in comparison with other approaches, in zones with a relevant proportion of middle and upper marsh and where historical data were not available. This way the AQuA-Index proved to be an efficient Index for ecological quality assessment, using salt marsh vegetation as indicator.

Predicting spatially explicit coral reef fish abundance, richness and Shannon–Weaver index from habitat characteristics

The assessment of biodiversity in coral reefs requires the application of geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and analytical tools in order to make cost-effective spatially explicit predictions of biodiversity over large geographic areas. Here we present a spatially explicit prediction for coral reef fish diversity index, as well as habitat classification according to reef fish diversity index values in Chinchorro Bank Biosphere Reserve, one of the most important plain/atoll type reef systems in the Caribbean. We have used extensive ecological data on depth, fish and habitat characteristics to perform such prediction. Fish species assemblages and different biotic variables of benthic organisms were characterized using visual censuses and video-transects, respectively at 119 sampling stations. The information was integrated in a GIS, along with satellite imagery (LANSDAT 7 ETM+) and a digital bathymetric model. From the recorded data and a hierarchical classification procedure, we obtained nine different classes of habitats. We used a generalized regression analysis and spatial prediction methodology to create predictive maps (GIS layers) of the different reef benthic components, and a second modeling run produced predictive maps of coral reef fish diversity index. Predictive accuracy of the diversity index map presented a good correlation coefficient (r = 0.87), with maximum diversity index values en reefscapes composed of aggregation of coral colonies with seagrass beds. The implementation of our application was successful for the prediction of fish diversity hot spots and surrogate habitats.

Studies on centipede communities (Chilopoda) from three habitats in Toledo Province, Spain

The current work presents a study of the centipedes captured in three habitats of Toledo Province, Spain. These habitats correspond to a riverside, a well preserved green oak forest, and a rural field degraded by anthropogenic action. Sampling was performed using both direct capture and Berlese extraction from soil cores. In total, 12 different centipede species were collected. Analyses of frequency, abundance and density were performed, and species richness and indices of diversity, uniformity and dominance calculated. The results obtained show the highest values of mean density and average species richness (eight species) corresponding to the riverside fauna. The number of species taken in the rural field habitat (seven) was slightly lower, and so was the average species richness. The green oak forest supported the poorest chilopod fauna (three species), as well as the lowest average species richness. There was no statistically significant difference between the monthly densities for all species in the three habitats sampled, and this could be due to the large monthly variation. Diversity and maximum diversity indices showed relatively low values in the three areas regardless of the sampling method applied. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences only between the monthly diversity values of the riverside and rural populations against the green oak forest one. A comparison of results obtained from direct capture and from soil sampling and Berlese extraction, showed that the monthly density values of all Chilopoda were significantly higher for soil samples than those derived from direct capture.

Genetic diversity among south Indian tea germplasm ( Camellia sinensis, C. assamica and C. assamica spp. lasiocalyx) using AFLP markers

Amplified Fragment Length DNA Polymorphism (AFLP) analysis of 49 tea cultivars from south India produced a total number of 1555 unambiguous polymorphic amplified DNA fragments. The dendrogram derived by unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean algorithm (UPGMA) analysis and the PCO plot drawn using principal component analysis revealed that all these tea cultivars could be clearly distinguished into three distinct groups viz., Assam, China and Cambod as well as an intermediate. Among the populations characterized, the Chinary type showed a maximum diversity index of 0.612 and the minimum of 0.285 was observed within the Assam type. Genetic distance was maximum (0.946), between Assam and Cambod and minimum (0.852) between Assam and China. More than 90% similarity as observed between the cultivars UPASI-22 and UPASI-23. Affinity of each cultivar towards the populations was determined using the similarity index. Analysis and comparison of AFLP fragments revealed distinct segregation of all the cultivars into their respective groups, except UPASI-18 and UPASI-24. Studies on diversity assessment of south Indian tea cultivars using AFLP fingerprinting revealed that the present day commonly grown south Indian tea germplasm has narrow genetic diversity (<37.76) among the cultivars necessitating a sustained effort to preserve tea germplasm resources and the development of superior varietal material through wide genetic crosses.

Indicators for monitoring biodiversity in urban and suburban parks

Urban and suburban parks are rich in habitats, plants and animals. With the rapid development of urbanization, biodiversity in cities and suburbs will decrease inevitably, so it is important to protect the biodiversity in parks. To achieve this goal, monitoring biodiversity is basic. Up to now, most studies on biodiversity conservation in China focus on species diversity, but few on diversity. Actually, it has been proven that conservation is more important than species conservation. Therefore, we introduce a method for the general monitoring of the biodiversity in urban and suburban parks developed by Hermy and Cornelis, two Belgian scholars. The method partitions diversity along two axes, diversity and species diversity. At the level, the diversity in so-called habitat is measured. These units are divided into planar, linear and punctual elements. For each category they calculated a Shannon-Wiener diversity index and a saturation index. The latter is the ratio of the actual diversity index to the theoretical maximum diversity index in the region. At the species level, species richness and biodiversity indices of vascular plants, butterflies, amphibians and breeding birds were calculated. These values were compared with the total number of species in Flanders, resulting in a saturation index for each park for plants and animals. In this way, 20 biodiversity indicators were obtained. This method was applied to measure the biodiversity in the municipal park of Loppem (West Flanders, Belgium). We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this method, and suggest that it should be utilized, based on specific situations.

Succession of Ciliated Protozoa on the Solid Surfaces of Substrata in Seawater

Change over a week period in the population composition of marine ciliates attached to solid substrata was studied. A number of 0.1mm thick Teflon and about 1mm thick microscopic glass slides were placed at depth of 0.5m in seawater at Aburatsubo Inlet, Kanagawa-ken. Heterotrophic nanoplankton (HNP), ciliated protozoa, algae and DAPI-stained bacterial cells were counted using Nomarsky and fluorescent microscope. A video camera attached to the microscope was used for identification of ciliates. The numbers of bacteria, HNP, and algal population on the substrata were much higher than those in the surrounding water. Ciliates (1200 and 2400 cells/cm2 on glass and Teflon slides, respectively) appeared on the first day and seemed to feed actively on attached microorganisms. Among the dominant ciliate population (Dysteria, Aspidisca, Geleia, Litonotus, Euplotes, Holosticha and Loxophyllum), bacteriovorous ciliates attached within the first 3 days to both substrata followed by the appearance of herbivorous species. Twenty three and seventeen species of ciliates were found on Teflon and glass slides, respectively. The maximum diversity index was observed on the fourth day on both substrata. Succession of ciliate species should be due to the change in food composition despite the nature of the substrata.