Phylodiversity to inform conservation policy: An Australian example

Area of Science:

• Biodiversity conservation
• Phylogenetics
• Conservation science

Background:

• Phylodiversity measures use evolutionary branches, not just species, to assess biodiversity.
• Australia's rich biodiversity and policy framework offer a unique context for applying phylogenetic information.
• Traditional conservation often relies on species richness, potentially overlooking evolutionary history.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the application of phylodiversity measures across Australia.
• To compare phylodiversity patterns with traditional species-based measures in two biodiverse regions.
• To assess the utility of phylogenetic diversity (PD) and phylogenetic endemism (PE) in enhancing conservation planning.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of species richness, weighted species endemism (WE), phylogenetic diversity (PD), and phylogenetic endemism (PE).
• Calculation of complementarity scores for PD and species richness at 20 km resolution.
• Study focused on seven diverse taxa (plants, mammals, frogs, birds, snails) in South West Western Australia (SWWA) and South East Queensland (SEQ).

Main Results:

• Phylogenetic diversity (PD) was higher in SEQ for fauna and in SWWA for plants.
• PD and its complementarity generally correlated with species richness and complementarity, but less so for plants.
• Phylogenetic diversity (PD) and phylogenetic endemism (PE) identified areas not highlighted by species-based analyses alone.

Conclusions:

• Phylogenetic measures complement traditional species-based approaches in conservation.
• Incorporating evolutionary history through PD and PE can enhance conservation planning and outcomes.
• Novel weighted complementary measures can improve the protection of evolutionary history and biodiversity values.