Renkonen similarity index

The Renkonen similarity index (P), is a measure of dissimilarity between two communities (sites), based on relative (proportional) abundances ${\displaystyle p_{i}=n_{i}/\sum {n_{i}}}$ of individuals of composite species. It was developed by the botanist Olavi Renkonen and published in 1938.^[1]

${\displaystyle P=\sum {min(p_{1};p_{2})}}$,

${\displaystyle p_{1}}$ - percentage structure of one set,

${\displaystyle p_{2}}$ - percentage structure of second set.

The codomain of this distance function ranges from 1 (identical proportional abundances) to 0 (no taxa shared).

See also

• Index of dissimilarity