Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index

Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index

Data from Class Data for the Student Parking Lot

A B C D E

Species ni Pi (ni / N) ln(Pi) Pi  ln(Pi) (number of individuals) 1.Cop Car 0 2.Toyota 19 3.Dodge 9 4.Lexus 0 5.Ford 7 6.Honda 16 7.Chevy 16 8.Hyundai 2 9.Nissan 7 10. GMC 4 11. Mazda 6 12.Mustangs 4 13.Buick 0 14. Kia 3 15.Hummer 0 16.BMW 3 17.Jaguar 0 18.Saturn 2 19.Mercedes 2 20.VW 1 21. Oldsmobile 0 22.Inifiniti 2 23. Jeep 4 24. Crystler 5 25. Isuzu 1 26. Acura 3 27. Audi 1 28. Pontiac 1 29. Mitsubishi 2 30. Mercury 0 31. Lincoln 0 32. Cadillac 1 33. Subaru 1 34. Taurus 0

35. Plymouth 1 N= H’= ( of B) ( of E)

Given a large sample size, with more than 5 spp., the S-W index values (H’) can range from 0 4.6. A value near 0 would indicate that every spp. In the sample is the same. A value near 4.6 would indicate that the number of individuals are evenly distributed between spp. Values in the middle are ambiguous which is an obvious flaw of this index.