A computationally convenient diversity measure: Theory and application

This paper introduces a computationally convenient measure of structural diversity based on absolute deviations between relative shares of individual groups forming a community. A conceptual framework is developed, some theoretical properties of the measure are derived, and its close relation to the Shannon index, a widely used diversity measure, is explored. The paper also presents an empirical application involving this measure where optimum harvesting strategies are determined under diversity constraints, and investigates the trade off between economic and environmental objectives for a mixed forest in Indonesia.