- 1). Determine the number of species in a certain area. For instance, a researcher might explore a section of forest that is 50 square feet in area and find five different plants: two oaks, two pines and one cedar tree. The number of species is three.
- 2). Determine the number of individual organisms in a given area. In this example, you have five individuals (that is, a total of five trees).
- 3). Divide the number of species by the number of individuals to find the biodiversity index. In the example, 3 divided by 5 equals 0.6. Therefore, the biodiversity index for this area of forest is 0.6.
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