
CHAPTER 2
Measuring Diversity of
Environmental Systems
Enrico Feoli,
1,a,
* Paola Ganis
1,b
and Carlo Ricotta
2
1. Introduction
Diversity is a controversial concept and its common use in different
scientifi c disciplines (from chemical-physical ones to ecological and
socio-economical ones) and in our everyday language, has led to many
discussions about its meaning especially in ecology (e.g., Hurlbert 1971,
Feoli et al. 1988, Ricotta 2005, Tuomisto 2010a and b, Jurasinski and Koch
2011, Moreno and Rodríguez 2011, Tuomisto 2011). The great attention
that the concept of diversity (biodiversity) has in ecology is due to the fact
that it is considered an ...