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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2008 Apr 22;32(4):557–578. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2008.00111.x

Table 2.

α diversity measures. PR = Phylogenetic Richness, PE = Phylogenetic Evenness, A = Abundance

Test Measurement PR PE A Application Implementation Ref
Phylogenetic Diversity (PD) The amount or proportion of branch length in a phylogenetic tree that leads to organisms from a community. yes no no Determines which communities are the most phylogenetically diverse. (Does the phylogenetic richness of a community decrease with pollution or disease?) Phylocom: http://www.phylodiversity.net/phylocom/ (Faith, 1992)
Theta The average divergence between 2 randomly chosen individuals in a community. no yes yes Determines how phylogenetically distinct individuals in a community are. (Does the phylogenetic evenness of a community decrease with pollution or disease?) Arlequin: http://lgb.unige.ch/arlequin/ (Martin, 2002)