Shannon diversity index

Question

Hi,

I am using arcgis 10.0 and I need to install the tool (diversity calculator) that was developed for (ArcGIS 9.2/9.3).

I know that At ArcGIS Desktop 10 users have to install ArcObjects SDK for .NET which also automatically installs .NET support.

But when I launch the setup for ArcObjects SDK for .NET in the installation DVD. It gives me the error "arcobjects SDK for the microsoft.net framework requires a supported edition of microsof visualt studio 2010 to proceed"

Does anyone know what the problem might be?

JeffreyEvans · Answer

You do not give much detail on your data. The type of data really dictates the tool that you utilize. It is starting to sound like you want to apply a diversity index to landcover. This is actually somewhat straightforward. Using raster input Fragstats will calculate both Simpson's and Shannon's diversity.

See this document for details.
http://www.umass.edu/landeco/research/fragstats/documents/fragstats.help.4.pdf

ShaunWalbridge · Answer

Miguel,

The Shannon diversity index was originally designed to handle species diversity, but it has since been applied to other problems like land cover classification. Where you see 'species' you can think 'land cover class' and the same concepts apply. Vegan includes details on how its calculations are computed, and these shouldn't vary between different kinds of entities -- species or land cover classes. Diversity indicies measure similarity in categorical variables, and have been used to measure many things outside of ecology including land cover and demography.

cheers,
Shaun

MiguelGomez · Answer

The Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools (MGET) include a geoprocessing script, "Calculate Species Diversity Index for Polygons" that can compute Species Diversity Indices for polygon coverage data. Under the hood, that function uses the R vegan package to compute the measures.

cheers,
Shaun

Thanks a lot Shaun,

I downloaded and installed your tool. However, I am not sure if I can use it. My intention is to calculate Shannon entropy index to measure "urban sprawl" (diversity of land use).

I don't have points identifying the observed species but polygons capturing different land uses.

thanks so much for your answer

Miguel