Lesson 12 - Alaska Geobotany Center

Alpha and Beta diversity• Whittaker (1972 ) defined alpha diversity as the “withinhabitat diversity”. It is often considered the number of plantspecies in a given habitat. This can be waited by theabundance of the species as in the Shannon-Weiner indexof diversity.• Beta diversity is the “between habitat diversity”. It is thediversity of plant communities or the amount of speciesturnover along a ecological gradient. It is often consideredthe diversity of plant communities in a landscape.