生物多樣性指數－－Shannon公式探源

A Review of Shannon Formula as Diversity Index Measurement in Ecology

生物多樣性及其量測雖是生態學長久以來的核心研究議題，但也借助其他學科如統計學與數學理論來輔助，資訊理論就是其中之一。它是Claude Shannon在1948年發表的理論，原先只是為了解決通信工程上如何在不受雜訊影響下傳送資料的問題。1955年資訊理論被介紹到生態研究上，並成為生物多樣性指數量測的計算式之一，現被普遍使用，但在使用此一指數上產生的問題，例如就指數的名稱來說，就出現三種不同的名稱：Shannon、Shannon-Wiener、Shannon-Weaver，此外公式本身亦有引用疑慮的問題。本文就這些問題以文獻回顧與分析的方式，將Shannon生物多樣性指數的數學式背景、生態學引用的過程與意義、以及適當的指數名稱加以討論。

Biodiversity and its measurement are one of the core research topics in ecology for quite a long time. They have been aided by other disciplines such as statistic and mathematic theories. Information theory founded by Claude Shannon in 1948 is one of the mathematic theories. It was developed primarily for solving communication affected by noise problem. It was introduced into ecological research in 1955 and has become a popular measurement for biodiversity index. However, there were some problems: suitability for its use and confusion in its names, Shannon, Shannon-Wiener, or Shannon-Weaver, in citations. This paper discusses the problems and traced them back to the origin of the theory, the history, and the meaning in ecology, and suggests its proper name to be used in the citation.