What is the Difference Between Species Richness and Species Diversity?

The difference between species richness and species diversity lies in the aspects they measure.

• Species Richness: This refers to the number of different species found in a given area, region, or ecosystem. It is a simple count of the variety of species present and serves as a common measure of biodiversity.
• Species Diversity: This is a more complex measurement that takes into account both the number of species and their evenness of distribution within a community or ecosystem. It includes species richness and species abundance, which is the number of individuals of each species present. Species diversity is often described using indices, such as Shannon's Index H', and is influenced by factors such as habitat heterogeneity.

In summary, species richness focuses on the mere count of different species, while species diversity encompasses a broader understanding of the variety of species and their distribution within a given area or ecosystem.

Comparative Table: Species Richness vs Species Diversity

Here is a table comparing species richness and species diversity:

Species diversity is a more informative measure of biodiversity compared to species richness alone, as it takes into account the evenness of species distribution and abundance within an ecosystem. Species richness, on the other hand, is a straightforward measure of the variety of species present in a specific area and does not consider the abundance or distribution of individuals within each species.