Table 3.

Advantages of using our indices instead of previously-defined indices.

Prior index	Proposed replacement	Equation	Advantages of replacement
Allen et al’s $H_P$	$H_P^{\prime }$	0.13	Interpretable for non-ultrametric trees
Chao et al’s ${}^q\bar{D}$	${{}^{q}D}_L$	0.3	Bounded and interpretable for non-ultrametric trees; more self-consistent; more intuitive for q > 1
All prior tree balance and imbalance indices	${{}^{q}J}_N$	0.9	Defined for all rooted trees; can meaningfully compare any pair of trees; accounts for node sizes and branch lengths