After NGS analysis of 3 different DNA microbial biomass, I want to interpret diversity indices.
Sobs, Chao1, and ACE simply shows species richness but I cant understand Shannon and Simpson indices and their correlation with the values shown in the below table. I know Shannon and Simpson's indices are influenced by both evenness and species richness but the values of these indices are incompatible. please guide me on how can I interpret just my data?
thanks a lot
Both indexes are used to measure similar concepts of alpha diversity (Simpson's index is less sensitive to the difference in taxa richness than Shannon's index); however, the interpretation is inverse. The lower value of Shannon's index, the lower diversity. The lower value of Simpson’s index (range: 0-1), the higher diversity. Since this is quite a non-intuitive scale, the inverse Simpson index is more frequently reported.
For your data, the inverse Simpson index can be calculated:
1/0.23 = 4.35
1/0.44 = 2.27
The inverse Simpson's index is positively correlated with Shannon's index.
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