Global patterns of amphibian phylogenetic diversity

Aim Phylogenetic diversity can provide insight into how evolutionary processes may have shaped contemporary patterns of species richness. Here, we aim to test for the influence of phylogenetic history on global patterns of amphibian species richness, and to identify areas where macroevolutionary processes such as diversification and dispersal have left strong signatures on contemporary species richness. Location Global; equal‐area grid cells of approximately 10,000 km². Methods We generated an amphibian global supertree (6111 species) and repeated analyses with the largest available molecular phylogeny (2792 species). We combined each tree with global species distributions to map four indices of phylogenetic diversity. To investigate congruence between global spatial patterns of amphibian species richness and phylogenetic diversity, we selected Faith’s phylogenetic diversity (PD) index and the total taxonomic distinctness (TTD) index, because we found that the variance of the other two indices we examined (average taxonomic distinctness and mean root distance) strongly depended on species richness. We then identified regions with unusually high or low phylogenetic diversity given the underlying level of species richness by using the residuals from the global relationship of species richness and phylogenetic diversity. Results Phylogenetic diversity as measured by either Faith’s PD or TTD was strongly correlated with species richness globally, while the other two indices showed very different patterns. When either Faith’s PD or TTD was tested against species richness, residuals were strongly spatially structured. Areas with unusually low phylogenetic diversity for their associated species richness were mostly on islands, indicating large radiations of few lineages that have successfully colonized these archipelagos. Areas with unusually high phylogenetic diversity were located around biogeographic contact zones in Central America and southern China, and seem to have experienced high immigration or in situ diversification rates, combined with local persistence of old lineages. Main conclusions We show spatial structure in the residuals of the relationship between species richness and phylogenetic diversity, which together with the positive relationship itself indicates strong signatures of evolutionary history on contemporary global patterns of amphibian species richness. Areas with unusually low and high phylogenetic diversity for their associated richness demonstrate the importance of biogeographic barriers to dispersal, colonization and diversification processes.     

A test of traditional diversity measures and taxonomic distinctness indices on benthic diatoms of soda pans in the Carpathian basin

Saline lakes are threatened all over the world and their conservation has been a key issue. Various diversity indices are available for ecological status assessments, however, with poorly explored relevance and applicability in saline, alkaline pans. Therefore, traditional diversity measures (species richness and Shannon diversity) and taxonomic distinctness indices (Average [AvTD] and Variance of Taxonomic Distinctness [VarTD]) were tested in more than 100 sampling sites of 39 soda pans in Central-Europe to find sufficient indicators of the ecological condition and simultaneously to facilitate their preservation according to the modern conservation practices. Results of the analyses showed that healthy soda pan ecosystems with high level of natural stress and reduced habitat heterogeneity are characterized by low diversity diatom assemblages. In soda pans where the stress can be extremely high from natural reasons, oligopoly of closely related species can develop: the average taxonomic distinctness appeared between genus and family level. The non-DNA-sequence based phylogenetic diversity measures (AvTD and VarTD), were generally sensitive to the trophic state of the lakes, in contrast to traditional diversity metrics, which were unequivocally indicative for the special physical and chemical parameters (e.g. conductivity, pH) of the soda pans. In some cases, when the response of the diversity measures for a given environmental variable (pH, temperature) overlapped, the AvTD was found to be a more precise indicator of the environmental changes (pH) than traditional ones. The decreasing tendency of the AvTD along the intensified natural impact may be explained by the long available time for the species to adapt to these special environments.     

Clade composition of a plant community indicates its phylogenetic diversity

Phylogenetic diversity quantification is based on indices computed from phylogenetic distances among species, which are derived from phylogenetic trees. This approach requires phylogenetic expertise and available molecular data, or a fully sampled synthesis‐based phylogeny. Here, we propose and evaluate a simpler alternative approach based on taxonomic coding. We developed metrics, the clade indices, based on information about clade proportions in communities and species richness of a community or a clade, which do not require phylogenies. Using vegetation records from herbaceous plots from Central Europe and simulated vegetation plots based on a megaphylogeny of vascular plants, we examined fit accuracy of our proposed indices for all dimensions of phylogenetic diversity (richness, divergence, and regularity). For real vegetation data, the clade indices fitted phylogeny‐based metrics very accurately (explanatory power was usually higher than 80% for phylogenetic richness, almost always higher than 90% for phylogenetic divergence, and often higher than 70% for phylogenetic regularity). For phylogenetic regularity, fit accuracy was habitat and species richness dependent. For phylogenetic richness and divergence, the clade indices performed consistently. In simulated datasets, fit accuracy of all clade indices increased with increasing species richness, suggesting better precision in species‐rich habitats and at larger spatial scales. Fit accuracy for phylogenetic divergence and regularity was unreliable at large phylogenetic scales, suggesting inadvisability of our method in habitats including many distantly related lineages. The clade indices are promising alternative measures for all projects with a phylogenetic framework, which can trade‐off a little precision for a significant speed‐up and simplification, such as macroecological analyses or where phylogenetic data is incomplete.     

Species richness and taxonomic distinctness of lake macrophytes along environmental gradients in two continents

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Biodiversity of marine nematodes in Australian sandy beaches from tropical and temperate regions

The universal occurrence and abundance of nematodes provides opportunities to investigate ecological factors that may influence biodiversity. Clarke and Warwick (2001) have proposed diversity indices average taxonomic distance(AvTD), variation in taxonomic distinctness (VarTD) for computing marine nematode biodiversity based on classification trees. Faith [Biological Conservation 61 (1992) 1] had previously proposed a diversity index based on phylogenetic trees, though not applied to nematodes. Clarke and Warwick (2001) also considered an index AvPD analogous to AvTD. These indices have been applied to five very large collections of free-living nematodes from three exposed sandy beaches in Australia. Two were from a beach close to Darwin in northern Australia, two from the temperate southeast coast of Australia and one from the south of the Australian mainland. The collections extend over a considerable range of latitude, from 12°26S to 38°33S and the controversial hypothesis that latitudinal gradients per se influence the biodiversity of marine nematode assemblages is examined. AvTD did not vary among collections and its value for any collection was indistinguishable from that of random samples of the same size drawn from the total species pool. VarTD showed no variation for three of the collections, but was slightly higher than expected for the mid-latitude beach, attributed to unevenness in the classification trees. AvTD and VarTD were not greatly affected by differences in sampling intensity. PD varied directly with the number of species found but observed PD did not differ from the PD of random samples of the same number of species taken from the total species pool. Thus, the observed variation in PD is wholly accounted for by variations in species richness. The number of species found increased with decreasing latitude. It appears that species richness by itself is an adequate index of biodiversity for the free-living nematodes of these sandy beaches, and more complex indices such as AvTD, VarTD and PD are unnecessary.     

Multiple facets of stream macroinvertebrate alpha diversity are driven by different ecological factors across an extensive altitudinal gradient

Environmental filtering and spatial structuring are important ecological processes for the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. However, the relative importance of these ecological drivers for multiple facets of diversity is still poorly understood in highland streams. Here, we examined the responses of three facets of stream macroinvertebrate alpha diversity to local environmental, landscape‐climate and spatial factors in a near‐pristine highland riverine ecosystem. Taxonomic (species richness, Shannon diversity, and evenness), functional (functional richness, evenness, divergence, and Rao's Quadratic entropy), and a proxy of phylogenetic alpha diversity (taxonomic distinctness and variation in taxonomic distinctness) were calculated for macroinvertebrate assemblages in 55 stream sites. Then Pearson correlation coefficient was used to explore congruence of indices within and across the three diversity facets. Finally, multiple linear regression models and variation partitioning were employed to identify the relative importance of different ecological drivers of biodiversity. We found most correlations between the diversity indices within the same facet, and between functional richness and species richness were relatively strong. The two phylogenetic diversity indices were quite independent from taxonomic diversity but correlated with functional diversity indices to some extent. Taxonomic and functional diversity were more strongly determined by environmental variables, while phylogenetic diversity was better explained by spatial factors. In terms of environmental variables, habitat‐scale variables describing habitat complexity and water physical features played the primary role in determining the diversity patterns of all three facets, whereas landscape factors appeared less influential. Our findings indicated that both environmental and spatial factors are important ecological drivers for biodiversity patterns of macroinvertebrates in Tibetan streams, although their relative importance was contingent on different facets of diversity. Such findings verified the complementary roles of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity, and highlighted the importance of comprehensively considering multiple ecological drivers for different facets of diversity in biodiversity assessment.     

Effect of environmental and spatial factors on the phylogenetic and functional diversity of the Mediterranean tree communities of Europe

• The tree flora of the Mediterranean Basin contains an outstanding taxonomic richness and a high proportion of endemic taxa. Contrary to other regions of the Mediterranean biome, a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the relationship between phylogenetic diversity, trait diversity and environmental factors in a spatial ecological context is lacking.
• We inferred the first calibrated phylogeny of 203 native tree species occurring in the European Mediterranean Basin based on 12 DNA regions. Using a set of four functional traits, we computed phylogenetic diversity for all 10,042 grid cells of 10 × 10 km spatial resolution to completely cover Mediterranean Europe. Then, we tested the spatial influence of environmental factors on tree diversity.
• Our results suggest that the nature of the relationship between traits and phylogeny varies among the different studied traits and according to the evolutionary distance considered. Phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity of European Mediterranean trees correlated strongly with species richness. High values of these diversity indices were located in the north of the study area, at high altitude, and minimum temperature of the coldest month. In contrast, the two phylogenetic indices that were not correlated with species richness (Mean Phylogenetic Distance, Phylogenetic Species Variability) were located in the south of the study area and were positively correlated with high altitude, soil organic carbon stock and sand soil texture.
• Our study provides support for the use of phylogenies in conservation biology to assess ecosystem functioning, and provides insights for the implementation of sustainable forest ecosystem management.

     

Taxonomic distinctness and diversity of a hyperseasonal savanna in central Brazil

Savannas are characterized by a sharp seasonality, in which the water shortage defines the community functioning. Hyperseasonal savannas, however, experience additionally waterlogging in the rainy season. Since waterlogging may cause local extinctions of intolerant species, we asked whether waterlogging constricts the phylogenetic structure of a hyperseasonal savanna. We studied a hyperseasonal cerrado, comparing it with a nearby seasonal cerrado, never waterlogged, in Emas National Park, central Brazil. In each vegetation form, we sampled all vascular plants by placing fifty 1-m² quadrats in five surveys. We compared the phylogenetic structure of both vegetation forms, calculating their taxonomic distinctness, taxonomic diversity, expected taxonomic distinctness, and species, genus, and family similarities. The taxonomic distinctness of both cerrados was similar and the values of similarities were high, but taxonomic diversity and expected taxonomic distinctness were lower in the hyperseasonal cerrado than in the seasonal one. Assuming that phenotypic attraction is the major process organizing local communities, the waterlogging in hyperseasonal cerrado assembles phylogenetically unrelated species that have converged on similar habitat use. As a consequence, the habitat use of hyperseasonal cerrado species is a trait widespread in the phylogeny of seasonal cerrado. Waterlogging constrains the phylogenetic structure of the hyperseasonal cerrado, especially by reducing species diversity. In more ecological terms, we can only fully assess the phylogenetic structure of a community if we consider the species abundance.     

Taxonomic and functional diversity covary in rock pool microalgal communities despite their different drivers

Local biodiversity has traditionally been estimated with taxonomic diversity metrics such as species richness. Recently, the concept of biodiversity has been extended beyond species identity by ecological traits determining the functional role of a species in a community. This interspecific functional diversity typically responds more strongly to local environmental variation compared with taxonomic diversity, while taxonomic diversity may mirror more strongly dispersal processes compared with functional metrics. Several trait‐based indices have been developed to measure functional diversity for various organisms and habitat types, but studies of their applicability on aquatic microbial communities have been underrepresented. We examined the drivers and covariance of taxonomic and functional diversity among diatom rock pool communities on the Baltic Sea coast. We quantified three taxonomic (species richness, Shannon''s diversity, and Pielou''s evenness) and three functional (functional richness, evenness, and divergence) diversity indices and determined abiotic factors best explaining variation in these indices by generalized linear mixed models. The six diversity indices were highly collinear except functional evenness, which merely correlated significantly with taxonomic evenness. All diversity indices were always explained by water conductivity and temperature–sampling month interaction. Taxonomic diversity was further consistently explained by pool distance to the sea, and functional richness and divergence by pool location. The explained variance in regression models did not markedly differ between taxonomic and functional metrics. Our findings do not clearly support the superiority of neither set of diversity indices in explaining coastal microbial diversity, but rather highlight the general overlap among the indices. However, as individual metrics may be driven by different factors, the greatest advantage in assessing biodiversity is nevertheless probably achieved with a simultaneous application of the taxonomic and functional diversity metrics.     

Can taxonomic distinctness assess anthropogenic impacts in inland waters? A case study from a Mediterranean river basin

1. It is increasingly recognised that adequate measures of biodiversity should include information on the ‘relatedness’ of species within ecological assemblages, or the phylogenetic levels at which diversity is expressed. Taxonomic distinctness measures provide a series of indices to achieve this, which are independent of sample size. Taxonomic distinctness has been employed widely in marine systems, where it has been suggested that this index can provide a reliable measure of anthropogenic impact. 2. We tested the behaviour of three related taxonomic distinctiveness indices (Average Taxonomic Distinctness, Δ⁺; Variation in Taxonomic Distinctness, Λ⁺; and Total Taxonomic Distinctness, sΔ⁺) in relation to putative levels of anthropogenic impact in inland waters and their potential utility in environmental monitoring, using an extensive data set for aquatic beetles from the south‐east of the Iberian Peninsula. 3. Taxonomic distinctness measures were not able to identify human disturbance effects and there were no clear relationships between these new biodiversity measures and the disturbance level recorded at individual localities. Furthermore, the taxonomic distinctness measures used were apparently less sensitive to the effects of anthropogenic impact than other diversity metrics, such as species richness and rarity. 4. We conclude that taxonomic distinctness indices may not always perform as well as other metrics in the assessment of environmental quality. In addition, taxonomic distinctness measure should be interpreted with caution, as their performance and ability to detect anthropogenic disturbance may depend on the phylogenetic structure of sampled taxa within a region, and their evolutionary and ecological history.     

Decomposing phylogenetic entropy into α, β and γ components

Measuring the phylogenetic diversity of communities has become a key issue for biogeography and conservation. However, most diversity indices that rely on interspecies phylogenetic distances may increase with species loss and thus violate the principle of weak monotonicity. Moreover, most published phylogenetic diversity indices ignore the abundance distribution along phylogenetic trees, even though lineage abundances are crucial components of biodiversity. The recently introduced concept of phylogenetic entropy overcomes these limitations, but has not been decomposed across scales, i.e. into α, β and γ components. A full understanding of mechanisms sustaining biological diversity within and between communities needs such decomposition. Here, we propose an additive decomposition framework for estimating α, β and γ components of phylogenetic entropy. Based on simulated trees, we demonstrate its robustness to phylogenetic tree shape and species richness. Our decomposition fulfils the requirements of both independence between components and weak monotonicity. Finally, our decomposition can also be adapted to the partitioning of functional diversity across different scales with the same desirable properties.     

Measuring ecosystem degradation through half a century of fish species introductions and extirpations in a large isolated lake

The introduction of exotic species and the extirpation of native species that occurred during the past two centuries have strongly modified the structure of most plant and animal assemblages across the globe. Such a biotic change is particularly marked in isolated environments such as islands or isolated lakes. Most studies reported drastic changes between before and after human disturbances, but the dynamics of change in assemblage structure through the invasion and extirpation processes are rarely reported. Here we measured the aquatic ecosystem degradation through exotic species introduction and native species extirpation experienced by Lake Erhai (China) during the last 50 years using structural, functional and taxonomic distinctness biodiversity indices. Structural diversity (species richness) did not varied monotonically along the temporal gradient, due to an opposite trend between exotic species increase and a concomitant decline of native species richness. Functional diversity displayed unclear ascending trends driven by the introduction of exotic species having distinct functional traits than natives. Taxonomic distinctness indices exhibited an increase of the average taxonomic distinctness (Δ⁺), but a decrease of the variation in taxonomic distinctness (Λ⁺) through time. Structural, functional and distinctness indices providing complementary information on ecosystem degradation, we here proposed a new multifaceted degradation index integrating these three facets of biodiversity. Such an index provided an accurate representation of the faunistic changes experienced by Lake Erhai and might constitute a comprehensive way to measure ecosystem degradation through exotic fish species introductions and native fish species extirpations.     

Land‐use effects on the functional distinctness of arthropod communities

Land‐use change is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity, but it is unclear to what extent this also results in a loss of ecological traits. Therefore, a better understanding of how land‐use change affects ecological traits is crucial for efforts to sustain functional diversity. To this end we tested whether higher species richness or taxonomic distinctness generally leads to increased functional distinctness and whether intensive land use leads to functionally more narrow arthropod communities. We compiled species composition and trait data for 350 species of terrestrial arthropods (Araneae, Carabidae and Heteroptera) in different land‐use types (forests, grasslands and arable fields) of low and high land‐use intensity. We calculated the average functional and taxonomic distinctness and the rarified trait richness for each community. These measures reflect the range of traits, taxonomic relatedness and number of traits that are observed in local communities. Average functional distinctness only increased significantly with species richness in Carabidae communities. Functional distinctness increased significantly with taxonomic distinctness in communities of all analyzed taxa suggesting a high functional redundancy of taxonomically closely related species. Araneae and Heteroptera communities had the expected lower functional distinctness at sites with higher land‐use intensity. More frequently disturbed land‐use types such as managed grasslands or arable fields were characterized by species with smaller body sizes and higher dispersal abilities and communities with lower functional distinctness or trait richness. Simple recommendations about the conservation of functional distinctness of arthropod communities in the face of future land‐use intensification and species loss are not possible. Our study shows that these relationships depend on the studied taxa and land‐use type. However, for some arthropod groups functional distinctness is threatened by intensification and conversion from less to more frequently disturbed land‐uses.     

Detecting local diversity‐dependence in diversification

Whether there are ecological limits to species diversification is a hotly debated topic. Molecular phylogenies show slowdowns in lineage accumulation, suggesting that speciation rates decline with increasing diversity. A maximum‐likelihood (ML) method to detect diversity‐dependent (DD) diversification from phylogenetic branching times exists, but it assumes that diversity‐dependence is a global phenomenon and therefore ignores that the underlying species interactions are mostly local, and not all species in the phylogeny co‐occur locally. Here, we explore whether this ML method based on the nonspatial diversity‐dependence model can detect local diversity‐dependence, by applying it to phylogenies, simulated with a spatial stochastic model of local DD speciation, extinction, and dispersal between two local communities. We find that type I errors (falsely detecting diversity‐dependence) are low, and the power to detect diversity‐dependence is high when dispersal rates are not too low. Interestingly, when dispersal is high the power to detect diversity‐dependence is even higher than in the nonspatial model. Moreover, estimates of intrinsic speciation rate, extinction rate, and ecological limit strongly depend on dispersal rate. We conclude that the nonspatial DD approach can be used to detect diversity‐dependence in clades of species that live in not too disconnected areas, but parameter estimates must be interpreted cautiously.     

Stochastic losses of fire‐dependent endemic herbs revealed by a 65‐year chronosequence of dispersal‐limited woody plant encroachment

The factors responsible for maintaining diverse groundcover plant communities of high conservation value in frequently burned wet pine savannas are poorly understood. While most management involves manipulating extrinsic factors important in maintaining species diversity (e.g., fire regimes), most ecological theory (e.g., niche theory and neutral theory) examines how traits exhibited by the species promote species coexistence. Furthermore, although many ecologists focus on processes that maintain local species diversity, conservation biologists have argued that other indices (e.g., phylogenetic diversity) are better for evaluating assemblages in terms of their conservation value. I used a null model that employed beta‐diversity calculations based on Raup–Crick distances to test for deterministic herbaceous species losses associated with a 65‐year chronosequence of woody species encroachment within each of three localities. I quantified conservation value of assemblages by measuring taxonomic distinctness, endemism, and floristic quality of plots with and without woody encroachment. Reductions in herb species richness per plot attributable to woody encroachment were largely stochastic, as indicated by a lack of change in the mean or variance in beta‐diversity caused by woody encroachment in the savannas studied here. Taxonomic distinctness, endemism, and floristic quality (when summed across all species) were all greater in areas that had not experienced woody encroachment. However, when corrected for local species richness, only average endemism and floristic quality of assemblages inclusive of herbs and woody plants were greater in areas that had not experienced woody encroachment, due to the more restricted ranges and habitat requirements of herbs. Results suggest that frequent fires maintain diverse assemblages of fire‐dependent herb species endemic to the region. The stochastic loss of plant species, irrespective of their taxonomic distinctness, to woody encroachment suggests that the relevance of niche partitioning or phylogenetic diversity to the management of biodiversity in wet pine savannas is minimal.     

The taxonomic distinctness of coastal bottom-dwelling fish communities of the North-east Atlantic

1. New techniques for identifying the average taxonomic range of species assemblages were applied to an extensive dataset of bottom-dwelling fish in the coastal waters of NW Europe. These taxonomic distinctness indices provided much greater resolution than traditional diversity indices as they incorporated information on taxonomic relationships into an index which measures species dominance. Unlike standard measures of species richness and diversity, the mean value of these statistics is independent of sampling effort, and this allows objective comparisons to be made between samples from studies where sampling effort is not standardized.
2. A reduction in the average taxonomic range between the fauna of western waters of the UK and that of the southern North Sea was consistent with the general decline in species richness observed between these regions, and suggests that these two factors may be spatially positively correlated. Indices calculated for individual samples of fish on a local scale, however, did not all fit this trend.
3. Much of the variability in taxonomic diversity within the coastal waters of NW Europe was caused by the variable geographical distribution of the elasmobranchs. Of all the families which comprise the fish communities, this group has life-history characteristics which make it most susceptible to impact by commercial trawl fisheries.
4. The use of taxonomic distinctness measures provided additional insights, of relevance to biodiversity assessment, suggesting that they might usefully be applied to other aquatic and terrestrial fauna.     

Richness‐dependence of phylogenetic diversity indices

Phylogenetic diversity indices are widely used to characterize the structure and diversity of ecological communities. Most indices are based on a metric that is expected to vary with species richness, so they are standardized to remove this richness‐dependence. With this standardization, values of 0 are consistent with random phylogenetic structure, while phylogenetic clustering is associated with either negative or positive values (depending on the index). One common interpretation of phylogenetic clustering is that it indicates some combination of environmental and biological filtering that restricts the species that can be present in a community. Increasingly, studies are comparing phylogenetic indices along environmental gradients to infer differences in the factors structuring communities. This comparison implicitly assumes that index values are comparable among communities with different numbers of species. Using a set of simulations, I show here that this assumption is incorrect. Holding the strength of filtering constant, communities composed of more species show larger absolute index values. This problem is most pronounced when the environmental filter favors a moderate‐sized clade strongly over others and when using the net relatedness index (NRI) to measure clustering. This bias potentially casts doubt on studies studying phylogenetic index patterns along gradients where richness also varies. Fortunately, the arising generality that more stressful environments have lower species richness and stronger clustering is opposite to this bias and therefore robust. I also show that a simple rarefaction can remove the richness‐dependence of these indices, at the expense of increased error.     

Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Eastern Arc Ecosystems,an African Biodiversity Hotspot

There is an urgent need to reduce drastically the rate at which biodiversity is declining worldwide. Phylogenetic methods are increasingly being recognised as providing a useful framework for predicting future losses, and guiding efforts for pre-emptive conservation actions. In this study, we used a reconstructed phylogenetic tree of angiosperm species of the Eastern Arc Mountains – an important African biodiversity hotspot – and described the distribution of extinction risk across taxonomic ranks and phylogeny. We provide evidence for both taxonomic and phylogenetic selectivity in extinction risk. However, we found that selectivity varies with IUCN extinction risk category. Vulnerable species are more closely related than expected by chance, whereas endangered and critically endangered species are not significantly clustered on the phylogeny. We suggest that the general observation for taxonomic and phylogenetic selectivity (i.e. phylogenetic signal, the tendency of closely related species to share similar traits) in extinction risks is therefore largely driven by vulnerable species, and not necessarily the most highly threatened. We also used information on altitudinal distribution and climate to generate a predictive model of at-risk species richness, and found that greater threatened species richness is found at higher altitude, allowing for more informed conservation decision making. Our results indicate that evolutionary history can help predict plant susceptibility to extinction threats in the hyper-diverse but woefully-understudied Eastern Arc Mountains, and illustrate the contribution of phylogenetic approaches in conserving African floristic biodiversity where detailed ecological and evolutionary data are often lacking.     

Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny

Conservation priority setting based on phylogenetic diversity has frequently been proposed but rarely implemented. Here, we define a simple index that measures the contribution made by different species to phylogenetic diversity and show how the index might contribute towards species-based conservation priorities. We describe procedures to control for missing species, incomplete phylogenetic resolution and uncertainty in node ages that make it possible to apply the method in poorly known clades. We also show that the index is independent of clade size in phylogenies of more than 100 species, indicating that scores from unrelated taxonomic groups are likely to be comparable. Similar scores are returned under two different species concepts, suggesting that the index is robust to taxonomic changes. The approach is applied to a near-complete species-level phylogeny of the Mammalia to generate a global priority list incorporating both phylogenetic diversity and extinction risk. The 100 highest-ranking species represent a high proportion of total mammalian diversity and include many species not usually recognised as conservation priorities. Many species that are both evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered (EDGE species) do not benefit from existing conservation projects or protected areas. The results suggest that global conservation priorities may have to be reassessed in order to prevent a disproportionately large amount of mammalian evolutionary history becoming extinct in the near future.     

Amphibian Species Contribute Similarly to Taxonomic,but not Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity: Inferences from Amphibian Biodiversity on Emei Mountain

Understanding the relationships between species,communities,and biodiversity are important challenges in conservation ecology.Current biodiversity conservation activities usually focus on species that are rare,endemic,distinctive,or at risk of extinction.However,empirical studies of whether such species contribute more to aspects of biodiversity than common species are still relatively rare.The aim of the present study was to assess the contribution of individual amphibian species to different facets of biodiversity,and to test whether species of conservation interest contribute more to taxonomic,functional,and phylogenetic diversity than do species without special conservation status.To answer these questions,19 000 simulated random communities with a gradient of species richness were created by shuffling the regional pool of species inhabiting Emei Mountain.Differences of diversity values were then computed before and after removing individual species in these random communities.Our results indicated that although individual species contributed similarly to taxonomic diversity,their contribution to functional and phylogenetic diversity was more idiosyncratic.This was primarily driven by the diverse functional attributes of species and the differences in phylogenetic relationships among species.Additionally,species of conservation interest did not show a significantly higher contribution to any facet of biodiversity.Our results support the claims that the usefulness of metrics based only on species richness is limited.Instead,assemblages that include species with functional and phylogenetic diversity should be protected to maintain biodiversity.