BeanBiodiversity:

Healthyecosystems,suchasasaltmarsh,temperateforest,andtropicalrainforests,arecomplexwebsoflivingand
nonlivingelements.AnimportantMeasureofanecosystemshealthisitsbiodiversity.Theterm"biodiversity"itself
isdefinedindiverseways.Itmaybe"alllivingthingswithinagivengeographicalareaandtheinterrelationships
amongthem(Audesirk&Audesirk1996).E.O.Wilsonabrilliantmanwithalottosayaboutdiversitycallsit"all
ofthevarietyoflifefromthedifferentgenesatthesamechromosomepositionwithinpopulations,upthrough
differentspeciesoforganisms,onuptodifferentaggregationsofspeciesinecosystems.Familiaritywiththeterm
hasincreasedinthelastcoupleofdecadesasextinctionrates,drivenbyhumanactivities,havereachedacrisislevel.

Forourpurposeswewilldefineandusethisbiodiversitydefinition.Biodiversityisthevarietyoflifethatoccurs
withinanecosystem(committhistomemory).Apopulationis"agroupofonespeciesthatliveinaparticular
geographicarea(Campbell's,1996)".Althoughitisimportanttoviewlifeatallstructurallevels,manyecologistuse
the"species"leveloftaxa(shortfortaxonomy)todeterminethebiodiversityofthesystembeingstudied.Two
simplemethodsfordescribingthebiodiversityarerichnessandabundance.Richnessisdefinedas"thenumberof
uniquetaxa(species/organisms)present".Itdoesnotgiveyouanindicationofhowthepopulation(#ofeach
species)isdistributed.Inotherwords,asystemwith100grackles,1redwingblackbird,and1Americancrowhas
thesamebiodiversity(richnessvalue3)asasystemwith34grackles,34redwingblackbird,and34American
crow.Abundance(sometimescalled"relativeabundance")is"thenumberofindividualspresentineachtaxonomic
grouprelativetothetotalnumberofindividuals"(#ofindividualsineachtaxonomicgroup,population/total#of
individualsfromalltaxonomicgroupsbeingstudiedX100).Itisexpressedinpercent.Forexample:#ofredwing
blackbirds/total#ofbirdsinthestudyareaX100.Okay,letspractice.

YouareBeanCounters(actually,youareecologistsstudyingthebiodiversityinthe
ecosystemdefinedbythevolumeofacoffeecancalled"beanworld")

Materials

Cup/Beaker(Thiscapturesasamplefromtheecosystemsyouwillobserve.)
Asampleoforganismsfromoneoftheecosystems(canA,canB,canC,orcanD)
Pencil
GraphPaper
Theabilitytocountbeyond10withoutyourfingers

Procedure

1.Pour(capture)beans(~100)fromecosystem(can)
2.Recordthecan:A,B,C,orD,youtookbeansfrom(returnbeanstothesamecanwhenyouaredonecounting).
3.Recordthetypeofbeans/uniquetaxaandthenumberofindividualsineachtaxonomicgroupintable1.
4.Calculatethetotalnumberofindividuals(beans)inthecommunity
5.Whatistherichnessforyourcommunity?
6.Calculatetherelativeabundanceofeachtaxonomicgroup
#ofindividualsineachtaxonomicgroup/Total#ofindividualsinthecommunityX100or
#ofindividualsforeachtypeofbean/Total#ofbeansX100
7.Graphrelativeabundance
8.Returnbeanstocorrectcan(tolivehappilyeverafter)
Harvard University Life Sciences HHMI Outreach
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9.Repeatprocesswithanothercommunity(coffeecan)
10.Answerquestions

BeanTable1

BeanCommunity(Circleone)A,B,C,D

Relative
Taxa/species/beandescription #ofBeans
Abundance

Total#ofBeans
Richness

BeanTable2

BeanCommunity(Circleone)A,B,C,D

Relative
Taxa/species/beandescription #ofBeans
Abundance

Total#ofBeans
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 Richness

Questions

1. Whichcommunityhasthegreatestrichness?

2. Whichbeantaxahasthegreatestrelativeabundanceineachcommunity?

3. Whichbeantaxaismostlikelytobecomeextinct?Why?(okay,weallknowthebeansaresafeinthecoffeecan
pretendtheyaresubjecttotheforcesofnaturalselectionandthenegativeconsequencesofhumanactivities)

4. Whichcommunityhasthegreatestbiodiversity?Userichness,abundancetosupportyouranswer.

5. Urbanizationistheprocessbywhichhumansoccupyandmodifyecosystems.Itisamatterofdegrees,with
denselypopulatedareas(suchasBroadwayinRevere)representingoneendofthespectrumandwilderness
areasrepresentingtheother.Howdoesurbanizationeffecthabitatqualityandquantity?

Summer 2010 Workshop in Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers
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 TeacherGuideforBeanBiodiversityActivity

Overviewandrationale:
Studentswilllearntwomethods(richnessandabundance)formeasuringandexpressingthe
biodiversityofanecosystem.Theskillswillbeusedtoascertainthehealthofactualecosystems
exploredaspartofaclassfieldstudycomponent.
Studentswillmeasuretherichnessandabundanceofamodelecosystem(canofbeans)
Studentswillgraphdataformodelecosystems
Studentswillusefindingstoanswerquestionsaboutmodelecosystems.

Materials:
Coffeecansorsimilarcontainer
Cups(beakersmaybesubstituted)
Alargeassortmentofdriedbeans(Darkkidneybeans,lightkidneybeans,navybeans,dried
yellowpeas,driedgreenpeasetc)
Copiesofactivity;includeenoughdatasheetsforthenumberofecosystems(cansofbeans)
youwantstudentstostudy.

Teachertime&preparation:(~1hour)
Purchasebeans(supermarket)
Labeleachcan(A,B,C,D)
Distributebeans.Creatingecosystemswiththesamerichnessbutdifferentlevelsof
abundancewillforcestudentstojustifyanswers(whyoneecosystemhasgreaterbiodiversity
thananother)
Example:
CanARichness10unevenabundance
CanBRichness10evenabundance
CanCRichness4unevenabundance
CanDRichness4evenabundance

Time:
Allot~1hourforintroductionanddatacollection/analysis.

Potentialissues:
Howmanybeans/peasshouldbeputineachcup?Amountvarieswithtime,objectives,and
howmuchyoulike/dislikethestudent(s).
Studentsmaywanttocountsplitpeasashalf.Decidehowpeasaretobecountedbefore
starting.

Summer 2010 Workshop in Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers
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 SimilarshapedandcoloredbeansEx.Lightanddarkkidneybeans)creategooddiscussions
aboutspeciesIsitnormalvariationwithinaspeciesoraseparatespecies?Again,having
thisdiscussionbeforestudentsbegincountingwillpreventissueslaterintheactivity.
Studentsmaynoticethatspeciesoccupydifferenttrophiclevelsandthereforesomevariation
inabundanceistobeexpectedandisnotameasureofalesshealthyecosystem.Scientists
generallygroupspeciesbyorderandtrophiclevelstogetabettermeasureofbiodiversity
evenness.

Extension/Followup:
DatacanbeusedtointroduceFrequencyandBiodiversityindices(ShannonWeineror
WeaverBiodiversityIndex)
Takestudentstoafieldsitetostudybiodiversity.Birdsaregenerallyeasytostudy.Insect
traps(pittraps)canbesetuponschoolcampus.Aquaticmacroinvertebratescanbecollected
usingkicknets,leaflitterbags.Minnowtrapscanbeusedtocollectorganisms.
Birdbiodiversityactivity
VirtualEcologyWebbasedactivitiessuchas
http://faculty.etsu.edu/jonestc/Virtualecology.htm

Summer 2010 Workshop in Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers
Harvard University Life Sciences HHMI Outreach Program