Chesson's index

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Chesson's Index

Chesson's Index (pronounced: CHESS-on's IN-dex) is a statistical measure used in ecology and biology to quantify the degree of selective feeding or resource partitioning among species. It was named after the ecologist Peter Chesson, who first proposed the concept.

Etymology

The term "Chesson's Index" is derived from the name of its creator, Peter Chesson, a renowned ecologist known for his significant contributions to the field of community ecology.

Definition

Chesson's Index is a measure of the degree to which a species' consumption of a resource differs from the availability of that resource in the environment. It is calculated by comparing the proportion of a resource used by a species to the proportion of that resource available in the environment. The index ranges from 0 to 1, with values close to 0 indicating little or no selective feeding, and values close to 1 indicating a high degree of selective feeding.

Calculation

The calculation of Chesson's Index involves the use of the following formula:

αij = (pij / p.j) / Σk (pik / p.k)

where:

αij is the Chesson's Index for species i and resource j,
pij is the proportion of resource j used by species i,
p.j is the proportion of resource j available in the environment, and
Σk (pik / p.k) is the sum of the ratios of the proportion of each resource k used by species i to the proportion of resource k available in the environment.

Related Terms

  • Selective Feeding: The process by which an organism chooses certain types of food over others.
  • Resource Partitioning: The division of limited resources by species to help avoid competition in an ecological niche.
  • Community Ecology: The study of the interactions between species in communities on many spatial and temporal scales.

External links

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