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Commentary: Do we have a consistent terminology for species diversity? The fallacy of true diversity

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Abstract

There is no single best index that can be used to answer all questions about species diversity. Entropy-based diversity indices, including Hill’s indices, cannot account for geographical and phylogenetic structure. While a single diversity index arises if we impose several constraints—most notably that gamma diversity be completely decomposed into alpha and beta diversity—there are many ecological questions regarding species diversity for which it is counterproductive, requiring decomposability. Non-decomposable components of gamma diversity may quantify important intrinsic ecological properties, such as resilience or nestedness.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), with whom I have no conflict of interest, for a Discovery Grant. Thanks to Hanna Tuomisto and an anonymous reviewer for many helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Root Gorelick

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  1. Root Gorelick
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Correspondence to Root Gorelick.

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Communicated by Scott Collins.

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Gorelick, R. Commentary: Do we have a consistent terminology for species diversity? The fallacy of true diversity. Oecologia 167, 885–888 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2124-8

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