SCALES OF BIODIVERSITY

The term was introduced by R. H. Whittaker .

Alpha diversity -It is  the diversity within a community,in a particular area or an ecosystem etc. (It represents number of species=species richness) 
Beta diversity -It represents the differences in species composition among sites(between the communities) with respect to change in environment .
β=γα 

The beta diversity between the woodland and the hedgerow habitats is 7 (representing the 5 species found in the woodland but not the hedgerow, plus the 2 species found in the hedgerow but not the woodland). Thus, beta diversity allows us to compare diversity between ecosystems.

High beta-diversity implies low similarity between species composition of different habitats. It is usually expressed in terms of similarity index between communities (or species turnover rate) between different habitats in same geographical area (often expressed as some kind of gradient).

$\frac{\mathrm{<b><span\; style="color:\; red;">Gamma\; diversity</span></b> -Is\; the\; diversity\; of\; the\; entire\; landscape\; or }}{}$Gamma diversity is a measure of the overall diversity for the different ecosystems within a region.   γ$=$βα 

Delta diversity is the change in diversity as you sample large landscapes along major climatic or other physical gradients.

1.Alpha, beta and gamma diversity refer to :

(A) Genetic diversity
(B) Landscape diversity
(C) Species diversity
(D) Population diversity                                                              Ans.  D

2. As we move from one geographical region to next neighbouring region species diversity tends to change .It is termed as -
a. α-diversity b.β-diversity  c.γ-diversity    d.delta diversity             Ans. b

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