Measuring diversity
Species richness (S) — simple count of species. Shannon index (H’) — accounts for abundance distribution. Simpson index (D) — emphasizes dominant species.
Interpreting results
High richness with low evenness means one species dominates. Compare indices only when sampling effort is equal (same quadrat size, same season).
Software
Spreadsheets or R packages (vegan) calculate indices and produce rank-abundance curves showing community structure visually.