Abstract
Seven diversity indices were calculated for each of fifty-eight microcosm communities. All fifty-eight communities were initiated from equal density inoculations of fourteen algal species. Each microcosm developed in one of six controlled experimental environments; the environments differing only in their temporal patterns of disturbance. Five linear discriminating techniques were used to evaluate the diversity index most useful for discriminating between these environments. The Shannon-Wiener index was best according to two of the discriminating methodologies and second best using the other techniques. Evenness was best when the Shannon-Wiener index was second best and vice versa.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Auclair, A. N. & Goff, F. G., 1971. Diversity relations of upland forests in the western Great Lakes area. Am. Nat. 105: 499–528.
Berger, W. H. & Parker, F. L., 1970. Diversity of planktonic Foraminifera in deep-sea sediments. Science 168: 1345–1347.
Birch, M. W., 1963. An algorithm for the logarithmic series distribution. Biometrics 19: 651–652.
Bliss, C. I., 1965. An analysis of some insect trap records. In: G. P. Patil (ed.), Classical and Contagious Discrete Distributions. Statistical Publishing Society, Calcutta: 385–397.
Bowman, K. O., Hutcheson, K., Odum, E. P. & Shenton, L. R., 1971. Comments on the distribution of indices of diversity. In: G. P. Patil, E. C. Pielou & W. E. Waters (eds.), Statistical Ecology, 3. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park: 315–359.
Bulmer, M. G., 1974. On fitting the Poisson lognormal distribution to species abundance data. Biometrics 30: 101–110.
Cairns, J. Jr., Lanza, G. R. & Parker, B. C., 1972. Pollution related structural and functional changes in aquatic communities with emphasis on freshwater algae and protozoa. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 124: 79–127.
Cairns, J. Jr., Kuhn, D. L. & Plafkin, J. L., 1979. Protozoan colonization of artificial substrates. Spec. tech. Publ., Am. Soc. Test. Mater. 690: 34–57.
Connell, J. H., 1978. Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199: 1302–1310.
de Benedictis, P. A., 1973. On the correlation between certain diversity indices. Am. Nat. 107: 295–302.
Fisher, R. A., Corbet, A. S. & Williams, C. B., 1943. The relation between the number of species and the number of individuals in a random sample of an animal population. J. anim. Ecol. 12: 42–58.
Frontier, S., 1976. Utilisation des diagrammes rang-frequence dans l'analyse des ecosystemes. J. Rech. Oceanogr. 1: 35–48.
Frontier, S., 1977. Reflexions pour une theorie des ecosystems. Bull. Ecol. 8: 445–464.
Gage, J. & Tett, P. B., 1973. The use of log-normal statistics to describe the benthos of Lochs Etive and Creran. J. anim. Ecol. 42: 373–382.
Gower, J. C., 1961. A note of some asymptotic properties of the logarithmic series distribution. Biometrika 48: 212–215.
Grundy, P. N., 1951. The expected frequencies in a sample of an animal population in which the abundances of species are log-normally distributed. 1. Biometrika 38: 427–434.
Hairston, N. G., 1959. Species abundance and community organization. Ecology 40: 404–416.
Heyer, W. R. & Berven, K. A., 1973. Species diversities of herpetofaunal samples from similar microhabitats at two tropical sites. Ecology 54: 642–645.
Holgate, P., 1969. Species frequency distributions. Biometrika 56: 651–660.
Hurlbert, S. H., 1971. The nonconcept of species diversity: A critique and alternative parameters. Ecology 52: 577–586.
Johnson, M. P. & Raven, P. H., 1970. Natural regulation of plant species diversity. In: T. Dobzhansky, M. K. Hecht & W. C. Steere (eds.), Evolutionary Biology, 4. Appleton, Century-Crofts, N.Y.: 127–162.
Kempton, R. A. & Taylor, L. R., 1974. Log-series and log-normal parameters as diversity discriminants for the Lepidoptera. J. anim. Ecol. 43: 381–399.
Kendall, D. G., 1948. On some models of population growth leading to R. A. Fisher's logarithmic series distribution. Biometrica 35: 6–15.
King, C. E., 1964. Relative abundance of species and MacArthur's model. Ecology 45: 716–727.
Kohn, A. J., 1959. The ecology of Conus in Hawaii. Ecol. Monogr. 29: 47–90.
Kricher, J. C., 1972. Bird species diversity: The effect of species richness and equitability on the diversity index. Ecology 53: 278–282.
Lehman, J. T., 1976. Photosynthetic capacity and luxury uptake of carbon during phosphate limitation in Pediastrum duplex (Chlorophyceae). J. Phycol. 12: 190–193.
Lloyd, M. & Ghelardi, R. J., 1964. A table for calculating the ‘equitability’ component of species diversity. J. anim. Ecol. 33: 217–225.
Longuet-Higgins, M. S., 1971. On the Shannon-Weaver index of diversity, in relation to the distribution of species in bird censuses. Theor. Popul. Biol. 2: 271–289.
MacArthur, R. H., 1957. On the relative abundance of bird species. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. USA 43: 293–295.
MacArthur, R. H., 1960. On the relative abundance of species. Am. Nat. 94: 25–36.
MacArthur, R. H., Recher, H. & Cody, M., 1966. On the relation between habitat selection and species diversity. Am. Nat. 100: 319–332.
MacMahon, J. A., Phillips, D. L., Robinson, J. V. & Schimpf, D. J., 1978. Levels of biological organization: An organismcentered approach. BioScience 28: 700–704.
May, R. M., 1975. Patterns of species abundance and diversity. In: M. L. Cody & J. M. Diamond (eds.), Ecology and Evolution of Communities. The Belknap Press Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 81–120.
McIntosh, R. P., 1967. An index of diversity and the relation of certain concepts to diversity. Ecology 48: 392–404.
McNaughton, S. J. & Wolf, L. L., 1970. Dominance and the niche in ecological systems. Science 167: 131–139.
Nie, N. H., Hull, C. H., Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K. & Bent, D. H., 1975. SPSS: Statistical package for the social sciences, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd., N.Y., 675 pp.
Patil, G., 1962. Some methods of estimation for the logarithmic series distribution. Biometrics 18: 68–75.
Patrick, R., 1968. The structure of diatom communities in similar ecological conditions. Am. Nat. 102: 173–183.
Patrick, R., 1971. Diatom communities. In: J. Cairns (ed.), The Structure and Function of Freshwater Microbial Communities. Res. Div. Monogr. 3, Virginia Polytechnic Institute Press, Blacksburg: 151–156.
Peet, R. K., 1974. The measurement of species diversity. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 5: 285–307.
Pielou, E. C., 1966a. Species-diversity and pattern-diversity in the study of ecological succession. J. theor. Biol. 10: 370–383.
Pielou, E. C., 1966b. The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections. J. theor. Biol. 13: 131–144.
Pielou, E. C., 1967. The use of information theory in the study of the diversity of biological populations. Proc. 5th Berkeley Symp. Mathl Statis. Probability 4: 163–177.
Pielou, E. C., 1969. An Introduction to Mathematical Ecology. Wiley-Interscience, N.Y., 288 pp.
Pielou, E. C., 1974. Population and Community Ecology: Principles and Methods. Gordon & Breach, N.Y., 424 pp.
Pielou, E. C., 1975. Ecological Diversity. Wiley-Interscience, N.Y., 165 pp.
Plafkin, J. L., Kuhn, D. L., Cairns, J. & Yongue, W. H. Jr., 1980. Protozoan species accrual on artificial islands in differing lentic and wetland systems. Hydrobiologia 75: 161–178.
Preston, F. W., 1948. The commonness, and rarity, of species. Ecology 29: 254–283.
Preston, F. W., 1962. The canonical distribution of commonness and rarity. Ecology 43: 185–215, 410–432.
Risser, P. G. & Rice, E. L., 1971. Diversity in tree species in Oklahoma upland forests. Ecology 523: 876–880.
Robinson, J. V. & Sandgren, C. D., 1983. The effect of temporal environmental heterogeneity on community structure: a replicated experimental study. Oecologia 57: 98–102.
Sager, P. E. & Hasler, A. D., 1969. Species diversity in lacustrine phytoplankton. 1. The components of the index of diversity from Shannon's formula. Am. Nat. 103: 51–59.
Sanders, H. L., 1968. Marine benthic diversity: A comparative study. Am. Nat. 102: 243–282.
Shannon, C. E. & Weaver, W., 1949. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. University Illinois Press, Urbana, 117 pp.
Simpson, E. H., 1949. Measurement of diversity. Nature 163: 688.
Sournia, A., 1978. Phytoplankton manual. UNESCO Publ. 6, Paris, 337 pp.
Southwood, T. R. E., 1978. Ecological methods with particular reference to the study of insect populations, 2nd ed. Chapman & Hall, London, 524 pp.
Stein, J. R., 1973. Handbook of phycological methods. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 448 pp.
Taylor, L. R., Kempton, R. A. & Woiwood, I. P., 1976. Diversity statistics and the log-series model. J. anim. Ecol. 45: 255–272.
Tramer, E. J., 1969. Bird species diversity: components of Shannon's formula. Ecology 50: 927–929.
Whittaker, R. H., 1965. Dominance and diversity in land plant communities. Science 147: 250–260.
Whittaker, R. H., 1970. Communities and ecosystems. MacMillan, N.Y., 162 pp.
Whittaker, R. H., 1972. Evolution and measurement of species diversity. Taxon 21: 213–251.
Williams, C. B., 1953. The relative abundance of different species in a wild population. J. anim. Ecol. 22: 14–31.
Williams, C. B., 1964. Patterns in the Balance of Nature. Academic Press, N.Y., 324 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Robinson, J.V., Sandgren, C.D. An experimental evaluation of diversity indices as environmental discriminators. Hydrobiologia 108, 187–196 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014879
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014879