Biodiversity index

Biodiversity index (BI) is a tool to compare the biodiversity between two or more samplings using a simple number.

The index is a fraction used to quantify biodiversity based on the total number of different species in an area, and the number of specimens or individuals in the same area.

The BI is calculated simply as the number of species in the area (N_sp) divided by The total number of individuals in the area(N)(see equation)

An obtained BI can be used to compare two sites, or to discover trends over time.

The higher the number, the higher the biodiversity is, for example, an area with a BI of 0.33 has a higher diversity than an area with a BI of 0.06.