Shannon Diversity Index Calculator

This Shannon diversity index calculator lets you estimate the diversity of species in an area of land. So without wasting time, scroll down to better know how this calculator assists you compare various lives in an ecosystem.

What Is Shannon Diversity Index?

The Shannon diversity index quantifies the diversity of species in an ecosystem.

What Is Biodiversity?

The quantity that is used to represent the various life varieties on the Earth is termed biodiversity.

It includes each and every individual organism such as plants, bacteria, animals, and fungus. According to modern research, there exist around more than 8.7 million species on the planet. But only a figure of 1.2 million has been discovered yet. This free Shannon diversity index calculator is the best method used worldwide to estimate the diversity of these species. So let’s move on to the pivot of today's discussion!

Shannon Index Formula:

Now you can easily estimate the diversity of a species in an ecosystem with the help of the following Shannon Index Equation given below:

$$ H = - \sum \left(p_{i} \cdot \log(p_{i})\right) $$

Where:

H = Shannon Diversity Index
p_i = Proportion of individuals of a species relative to the total population $$ p_{i} = \frac{n}{N} $$
n = Number of individuals in a species
N = Total number of individuals in the community

Some Other Important Terms:

Along with checking the diversity of a population in an ecosystem, you must determine the various factors that have a remarkable effect on the population of a species in the ecosystem. So let's move towards them:

Average Population Size:

Average population size is actually the number of individuals living within one single unit of area.You can find the average population size within a locality by subjecting to the formula below:

$$ \text{Average Population Size} = \frac{\text{Total Individuals}}{\text{Number of Species}} $$

Evenness:

Evenness corresponds to the closeness of various species in an ecosystem. Basically, it is an extent to which different species are distributed in an ecosystem. You can determine this quantity by subjecting to the following equation:

$$ - \sum \left(\frac{n_{i}}{N} \cdot \ln \frac{n_{i}}{N} \right) $$

The free Shannon diversity calculator also takes into consideration the use of the above mentioned formula to depict the final results in a fragment of seconds.

Richness:

Richness corresponds to the total number of species residing in a particular habitat.

$$ \text{Richness} = S $$

Margalef Richness Index:

It is an alternative way to determine the species richness in an ecosystem. Go for determining the Margalef richness index by using the following equation:

$$ \frac{S - 1}{\ln N} $$

Inverted Berger-Parker Dominance:

This particular parameter gives you organic information about the most abundant species in an ecosystem.

$$ \frac{N}{n_{\text{max}}} $$

Simpson’s Index:

This element determines the biodiversity of a species depending upon the relative species’ abundance along with the total individual families present.

$$ \frac{\sum n_{i} (n_{i} - 1)}{N (N - 1)} $$

Dominance Index:

The number of the most common species in a n ecosystem is calculated with the use of this index as follows:

$$ \frac{1 - \sum n_{i} (n_{i} - 1)}{N (N-1)} $$

Alternative Reciprocal Simpson Index:

$$ \frac{1}{\text{Simpson’s Index}} $$

Menhinick Index:

You can measure this index by commencing to the formula as written below:

$$ \frac{S}{\sqrt{\sum n_{i}}} $$

Simpson’s Index Approximation:

$$ \frac{\sum n_{i}^{2}}{N^{2}} $$

Reciprocal Simpson Index:

$$ \frac{1}{\frac{\sum n_{i}^{2}}{N^{2}}} $$

Dominance Index Approximation:

$$ 1 - \frac{\sum n_{i}^{2}}{N^{2}} $$

Buzas and Gibson’s Index:

$$ \frac{e - \sum \frac{n_{i}}{N} \ln \frac{n_{i}}{N}}{S} $$

Gini Coefficient:

It is another method used to determine biodiversity that compares the species cumulative proportion against the cumulative proportion of the individuals present in an ecosystem.

$$ \frac{2 \sum i n_{i}}{n \sum n_{i}} - \frac{N+1}{N} $$

Our best Shannon diversity index calculator also determines all these parameters but in seconds that save you a lot of time.

How To Calculate Shannon Diversity Index?

What about resolving an example that will make you learn the concept of diversity index clearly? Let’s move on together!

Example:

Calculate the Shannon-Wiener index for an ecosystem with the following species:

Species	Individuals
Tiger	31
Rabbits	45
Lions	4
Jaguars	9
Snakes	132
Parrots	64
Hippo	3
Alligators	41

Solution: Determining The Relative Abundance of Individual Species:

Here we will follow the formula given below to find this element:

Relative Abundance: $$ p_{i} = n / N $$ (e.g., Tigers: 31/329 = 0.094)
Natural Log of Abundance: $$ \ln(p_{i}) $$ (e.g., Tigers: ln(0.094) = -2.364)
Product: $$ p_{i} * \ln(p_{i}) $$ (e.g., Tigers: -0.222)
Shannon Diversity Index: $$ H = - \sum (p_{i} * \ln(p_{i})) = 1.63 $$

How Shannon Diversity Index Calculator Works?

Get going to analyse a species’ diversity in an ecosystem with this free biodiversity calculator. Let’s find out how it works!

Input:

First of all, select the way you want to adopt for writing numbers from the first drop-down list
After that, write the numbers in the designated box the way you selected before
At the end, tap the "CALCULATE" button

Output:

The free shannon wiener index calculator determines:

Evenness/Equitability Index
Richness
Total Number of individuals
Average Population Size
Margalef Richness Index
Berger-Parker Dominance Index
Inverted Berger-Parker Dominance Index
Simpson Index
Dominance Index
Alternate Reciprocal Simpson Index
Menhinick Index
Simpson Index Approximation
Reciprocal Simpson Index
Dominance Index Approximation
Gini Coefficient
Buzas and gibson’s Index

FAQs

Is the Shannon Diversity Index negative?

Whenever the influence of richness gets very high over the biodiversity, it creates a negative relation among both evenness of the species and their diversities. This will let the Shannon index become negative as well that could be verified by using our best Shannon diversity index calculator.

What is a good diversity index?

The diversity index lies in between 0 and 1. The more the value gets closer to the 1, it is considered more reliable.

What are three main indices of diversity?

As far as the ecological studies are concerned, the diversity depends upon only three factors that include:

Richness
Shannon Wiener Diversity Index
Simpson’s index

All of the parameters can easily be determined by using this free Shannon diversity index calculator immediately and accurately.

What are 4 levels of biodiversity?

The four major levels of the biodiversity include the following:

Genetic diversity
Species diversity
Functional diversity
Ecosystem diversity

Where is the highest biodiversity?

The highest biodiversity is recorded in Brazil. You can let this calculator instantly determine the diversity of any species in this country.

What is alpha, beta, and gamma diversity?

Let us define the given terms in brief detail:

Alpha Diversity: It corresponds to the diversity of a species that may be present within any ecosystem.
Beta Diversity: It represents the diversity of the species between two ecosystems.
Gamma Diversity: The entire range of a diversity in different ecosystems corresponds to the gamma diversity.

What does the free Shannon diversity index tell you?

In general, the Shannon index tells you about the abundance relativity of a species with respect to the others present.

Which forests have the most biodiversity?

The maximum biodiversity is seen in the tropical rain forests due to the balanced season out there. Infact, it is noted that these forests comprise about half of the total Earth’s biodiversity.

Which forest has the richest diversities of plants and animals?

When it comes to the richest ecosystem on the planet, Amazonia Forests is the only name that stands out.

Conclusion

Shannon diversity index calculator lets the ecologists know more about the biodiversity of the organisms living on the Earth. This is very important because human beings can not live on earth in the absence of various species that create a healthy environment for living. So start using this free calculator to determine how rich your ecosystem is with species.

References

Wikipedia: Diversity index
Khan Academy: Community structure
Lumen Learning: Quantitative Measures of Diversity