An undesirable property of Hill's diversity index $N_2$

Gadagkar, Raghavendra (1989) An undesirable property of Hill's diversity index $N_2$. In: Oecologia, 80 (1). pp. 140-141.

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Abstract

A desirable property of a diversity index is that it be a convex function of the proportions of different species that constitute a community. $N_2$, a diversity index belonging to the Hill's series of diversity indices and which is equivalent to the reciprocal of Simpson's diversity index violates this requirement when the proportion of one of the species is close to 1. Recommendations of $N_2$ as the best possible index of diversity therefore need to be examined judiciously.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Oecologia
Publisher:	Springer
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Springer Berlin/ Heidelberg.
Keywords:	Species diversity;Diversity indices;Community ecology;Hill's diversity indices
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Centre for Theoretical Studies (Ceased to exist at the end of 2003) Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	13 Dec 2006
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:33
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/9144

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