Diversity and overlap as measures of environmental quality

It is argued that indices of diversity (information function H) and overlap (percentage similarity PS) can be used together to assess environmental quality. The method is tested using data on demersal fishes from nine Massachusetts estuaries and embayments. Annual diversity ranged from H (log e ) =...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water research (Oxford) 1975-01, Vol.9 (11), p.945-952
Main Author: Haedrich, Richard L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
environmental science
natural resource management
pollution
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It is argued that indices of diversity (information function H) and overlap (percentage similarity PS) can be used together to assess environmental quality. The method is tested using data on demersal fishes from nine Massachusetts estuaries and embayments. Annual diversity ranged from H (log e ) = 0.4–2.4, with low diversities in areas of apparent high pollution and higher diversities in areas of lesser pollution. Where annual diversity is low, little seasonal change is reflected in a high PS from season to season; where annual diversity is high, a relatively lower PS indicates a greater degree of change. For their calculation, both H and PS require the number of individuals in each species in a sample. This data should be considered important in the conduct of faunal surveys that contribute to an environmental impact statement.
ISSN:0043-1354
1879-2448
DOI:10.1016/0043-1354(75)90122-0