As well as the newly developed scaling diversity index, there are also eleven traditional diversity indices to be found in the literature. Analyses show that these eleven traditional indices are unable to formulate the richness component of diversity. In particular, the most widely used index, the Shannon-Weiner index, cannot express the evenness component. On the contrary, the scaling diversity index is able to formulate both the richness aspect and the evenness aspect of diversity. The scaling diversity index has been applied to developing scenarios of ecological diversity at different spatial resolutions and spatial scales. A case study in Fukang in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China shows that the scaling diversity index is sensitive to spatial resolution and is easy to understand. It is scientifically sound and could be operated at affordable cost.
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