Recent Articles
What is Beta Diversity?
Beta diversity quantifies the degree of similarity between groups. However, measure that similarity most commonly in terms of species richness, phylogenetic diversity, species abundance, or functional trait diversity. Most analyses will supply a ...
Alpha Diversity Metrics - Richness, Shannon-Weiner, Simpsons, Reynis Entropy, and Effective Number of Species
Alpha diversity describes the amount of diversity local to a specific area. Diversity is then contextualized using: species richness, which is simply the number of species species evenness, which is how equal are the abundances of each species ...
Phi Statistic for Indicator Species
The Phi statistic is often used to represent Indicator Species. For example, the popular R package indicspecies relies heavily on reporting the Phi statistic from Chytrý et. al 2002 Indicator Species are those which signal some feature of the ...
Subcaudal Scales Snakes
Subcaudal Scales The scales found along the tail and up to the cloaca can be very useful for identifying species. Determining if the subcaudal scales (the scales below the cloaca) are divided or not can delineate entire families of snakes. Photos ...
Snake Scale Counts
Scale counts Scale counts refer to the number of dorsal scales across a snake. This diagram from AROD.com.au shows the 3 different methods of counting the scales. You can either go across the body diagonally, up to the vertebrae and back down, or ...
Popular Articles
How do I design a Visual Encounter Survey?
A visual encounter survey is simply a systematic survey of wildlife, by following a predefined transect and relying on visual contact. Often, visual encounter surveys involve audio encounters, particularly with vocalizing birds or amphibians. ...
What do the different branch lengths on a phylogeny mean?
Answered in the following Video: <br> When it comes to how to read a phylogenetic tree, the branch lengths can mean very different things, depending on the phylogeny. On a Cladogram, the branch lengths are meaningless and they are only ...
Software recommendations for visualizing phylogenetic trees
There exists a variety of software for visualizing phylogenetic trees. Packages in R ape - Functions for reading, writing, plotting, and manipulating phylogenetic trees, as well as comparative analyses ...
Snake Head Scalation Diagrams
Head Scalation Head scalation refers to the size, shape, and presence of scales on the head. Many species are distinguished by the presence of a single scale or the shape of scales on the head. Fortunately, scalation can be practiced readily by ...
Phi Statistic for Indicator Species
The Phi statistic is often used to represent Indicator Species. For example, the popular R package indicspecies relies heavily on reporting the Phi statistic from Chytrý et. al 2002 Indicator Species are those which signal some feature of the ...
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Questions related to ecology, evolutionary biology, or any other animal related field
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This Category holds all questions related to the Learn Adventurously Biology Club, otherwise known as the LAB