The latitudinal gradient in this property describes how it is higher at the tropics than at the poles.
The completeness index is defined as the natural logarithm of the ratio of the "observed" and "dark" forms of this property. This property can be quantified using a parameter denoted alpha, called the "log series index." It has nothing to do with information theory, but one measure of this property is denoted H because its formula is the same as that of the H-function from thermodynamics; that measure is the Shannon index. This property increases with increasing (*) evenness and richness. The latitudinal gradient in this property describes how it is higher at the tropics than at the poles. Madagascar's isolation has led to it becoming a "hotspot" of this property. For 10 points, conservation biology's main goal is maintaining a high value of what property quantified by the number of species living in an area?
The completeness index is defined as the natural logarithm of the ratio of the "observed" and "dark" forms of this property.
biodiversity [or species diversity; accept "species richness" or "species evenness" until read]