Application of diversity indices and ecological indices to evaluate nematode community changes after soil fumigation

Computation and application of nematode community indices: general guidelines

Community indices, such as maturity or diversity, condense information regarding the structure and composition of communities into a single metric. Soil health and quality can be inferred from such indices by assuming that communities with different structure and composition function differently. Thus, these indices can be instrumental in monitoring soil and sediment quality as well as assessin...

Soil Fauna Diversity – Function , Soil Degradation , Biological Indices , Soil Restoration

Biodiversity Patterns along Ecological Gradients: Unifying β-Diversity Indices

Ecologists have developed an abundance of conceptions and mathematical expressions to define β-diversity, the link between local (α) and regional-scale (γ) richness, in order to characterize patterns of biodiversity along ecological (i.e., spatial and environmental) gradients. These patterns are often realized by regression of β-diversity indices against one or more ecological gradients. This p...

Regionalized soil roughness indices

The soil roughness at the field level is an easy visually perceptible notion, but difficult to describe numerically. The objective of this paper is to propose a method to establish quantitative and descriptive soil roughness indices. A measurement system was developed using a laptop-computer and a laser cell. The elevation data are measured on the ground along a square array. They are treated w...

Relative Diversity Indices

Diversity indices are frequently applied in the form of ratios of absolute diversity to the maximum diversity possible. Regardless of whether the maximum diversity is defined to be limited by the number of species or by the number of individuals present, the resultant indices can be shown to possess mathematically undesirable qualities. All such indices, including equitability as measured by Pi...