Question

Which of the following has higher diversity?

• A. Three bird species: four birds of one species and one bird each of the other two species
• B. Six birds of three species, each with two individuals
• C. Two animals each of three species belonging to different taxonomic groups
• D. Both B and C

Answer 1

The correct option is C

Two animals each of three species belonging to different taxonomic groups

The diversity of any ecosystem is determined by two factors - species richness and species evenness. Species richness defines the number of different species present in the ecosystem, while species evenness defines how evenly the number of individuals of a species is spread across in the ecosystem. Keeping this in mind, two animals each of three different taxa represent more diversity than the rest of the options.