Despite the numerous indices of diversity, we opt for Shannon and Pielou indices because they are dependent of the sample size.
But for the plant community, for example, in the spring, the number of plant species increases (Therophytes) and the Shannon index and equitability also increase. If I want to interpret my plant community, I would say that it is diversified and therefore there is a balance between it and the abiotic conditions. Really, this is not the the case. The increase in species is due to the presence of annuals that depend on rainfall. The environment itself is in a state of degradation (Desertified environment).
On the basis of Shannon and Pielou values, the community is described as diversified, but it's not true.
Please check the following link.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4224527/
Kindly check the following researchgate link and PDF attachment.
Best regards.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Belinda_Gallardo/publication/220092603_How_to_choose_a_biodiversity_indicator
Article How to choose a biodiversity indicator-Redundancy and comple...
Shannon is one of the most reliable indices in determining the diversity of species in a community. This is because through it you're able to determine the species richness and species evenness. Species richness(total number of species in that community) and evenness (relative abundance of each species within the particular community) are two most important factors as far as biodiversity of a community is concerned.
The problem with Shannon is it adopted routinely and uncritically. As stated in Magurran (2004) Shannon-Wiener is influenced highly by Species Richness and for this reason I use the Simpson Index which is less influenced. Amazingly Berger-Parker is almost as good albeit very simple to calculate
Dr. Feest,
I think it would be better to use both SImpson and Shannon. If SImpson gives importance to abundant species, Shannon does it for rare species.The information would be complementary.
Well I use all three for both population and relative biomass so it gives a more comprehensive picture!
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