Flora of the hot deserts: emerging patterns from phylogeny-based diversity studies
Abstract
Relatively recent increases in molecular and geographic data for
many taxa in different areas of the world have provided scientists
with tools to evaluate biodiversity using evolutionary or phylogeny-based indices (reviewed by Laffan, 2018). These measures
provide quantitative estimates of the portion of the tree of life
contained in a taxon or community, aiming to answer the question
of what percentage of the phylogeny would be lost if that taxon
or community is not conserved (Faith, 1992; Purvis et al., 2000).
One of the most widely used phylogenetic indices is phylogenetic
diversity (PD), which measures the evolutionary history captured
by a set of species (or any biodiversity unit) on the tree of life
(Faith, 1992). A higher PD value can represent either a set of taxa
that represent longer branches than expected and/or are overdispersed in the phylogeny (Fig. 1A, B). Use of PD was proposed
more than two decades ago (Faith, 1992) as a method for finding
sets of taxa that could be highlighted as priorities for conservation
and has recently been proposed as a biodiversity metric by several
international conservation organizations (see IPBES, 2019). For
example, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) has recently established a Phylogenetic Diversity Task
Force (https://www.iucn.org/commissions/ssc-groups/disciplina
ry-groups/phylogenetic-diversity-task-force), a global expert
group, aimed at incorporating PD into practical conservation
strategies.
Materias
Arid environmentsAustralia
California
Chile
Complementarity
Conservation priorities
Neoendemism
Option value
Phylogenetic diversity
Phylogenetic endemism.
Origen
American Journal of Botany 107(11): 1467–1469, 202010.1002/ajb2.1555
https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/179058
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