Diversity Indices as 'Magic' Tools in Landscape Planning: A Cautionary Note on their Uncritical Use
Agro-ecology ; Biodiversity ; Diversity theory ; Index ; Landscape ; Planning ; agro-ecology ; biodiversity ; disturbance ; diversity indices ; landscape planning
Diversity indices are often considered by landscape planners as easy to calculate and informative for planning procedures. The main objective of many landscape planners using such indices is 'to obtain the magic number'. The misinterpretation
of the real significance of diversity values that this indicates is alarming because it could induce conceptual traps and the promotion of poor strategies for ecosystem and landscape management with serious ecological, economic, and political implications
. This paper highlights the need to plan reliable diversity analysis based on a good understanding of the relevant theory. The quantitative values of indices obtained should be used as the basis for planning only after a critical and qualitative interpretation
Diversity versus tolerance : the social drivers of innovation and entrepreneurship in US cities
This article argues that diversity’s impacts on innovation and entrepreneurship are notably different from tolerance and openness and that diversity should be defined and measured differently from tolerance and openness. It uses data of US
metropolitan areas to examine the statistical difference between diversity and tolerance, and compares the effect of each on innovation and entrepreneurship in multivariate analysis. Diversity is measured using the Herfindahl–Hirschman index based on countries
From a methodological perspective, the paper aims to demonstrate that ethnic diversity can be an objectively measurable notion, thus multi-ethnicity may have its own ‘units of measurement’. However, while the Hungarian geographic literature has
concentrated by now on only the fragmentation (i.e. ‘Ethnic Diversity Index’), another type of diversity should be also defined: the phenomenon called polarization when two or maximum three ethnic groups with nearly equal population number are present. Using
the so-called ‘ethnic polarization index’ the paper emphasizes that the increase or decrease of diversity cannot be described as a two-dimensional process. - (AM)
This paper investigates the effects of this diversity for native employees at the local level, in Ger-many.The higher is high-skilled foreign employment, the higher are local wages and employment levels for natives. These effects are reinforced
the more diverse is the group of high-skilled foreigners. For low-skilled foreigners benefits from diversity are also found, but only conditional on the overall size of this group. These results suggest that cultural diversity benefits native workers
Afterword : a shoe for all occasions or shoes for every occasion : methodological diversity, normative fashions, and metaphysical unity in physical geography
L'A. apporte une conclusion à ce forum de discussions sur les diverses méthodologies utilisées en géographie physique.
Regional diversity in women's participation in the work force in Japan
., late marriage and declining birthrates. This essay outlines the changing conditions and regional diversities of work and life for Japanese women. - (IfL)
Embracing diversity in theory : a theoretical contribution to rethinking relocation settlements
This paper aims to contribute to the use of theories of diversity in geographical studies. Through the use of the case study of Bilanyoni (a former relocation settlement in KwaZulu-Natal), the paper discusses the way in which such settlements have
Water diversion proposals for the European USSR: status and trends
An American specialist on water diversion in the Soviet Union reviews the situation with respect to the proposed transfer projects within the European USSR, which are expected to receive priority over the proposed transfer of water from Western
Diversity and disturbance in a Colorado subalpine forest
Diversity of understory plant species in a disturbed subalpine forest in the Colorado Rockies was examined to explore the hypothesis that intermediate levels of disturbance generate and maintain high levels of diversity. The AA. use a natural
New firm formation facing cultural and racial diversity
The AA. examine how regional diversity affects new firm formation in 10 disaggregated industrial sectors across US counties. Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method is used to estimate the spatial autoregressive models. It is suggested
that regional diversity positively affects new firm formation in selected industries examined.
Carnivore diversity in the late Quaternary of Israel
During the past 70,000 years, Israeli carnivore faunas have varied only slightly in richness (number of species), but widely in diversity (including the relative abundances of the different species). Human population growth, sedentism
, and the beginning of agriculture are often considered to have caused habitat destruction toward the end of the Pleistocene that may have affected animal populations. However, patterns of changing carnivores diversities from three sites in the Mediterranean region
Pays déjà fortement urbanisé, la Tchécoslovaquie a connu des croissances urbaines très diverses, suivant les régions et suivant la taille des agglomérations. Tentative de modélisation de ces divers types de croissance.