I-HEDGE: determining the optimum complementary sets of taxa for conservation using evolutionary isolation

Area of Science:

• * Conservation Biology
• * Evolutionary Biology
• * Biodiversity Science

Background:

• * The current biodiversity crisis necessitates efficient conservation strategies to prevent the loss of evolutionary history.
• * Existing methods for prioritizing species often overlook complementarity, hindering optimal conservation planning.
• * Evaluating species importance requires considering both phylogenetic diversity and extinction probability.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To develop a novel metric, the iterative heightened evolutionary distinctiveness and globally endangered (I-HEDGE) metric, for conservation prioritization.
• * To incorporate complementarity into conservation assessments, identifying optimal subsets and orders of taxa for protection.
• * To provide a robust framework for safeguarding evolutionary history during extinction events.

Main Methods:

• * Development of an iterative calculation for the I-HEDGE metric.
• * Integration of phylogenetic diversity and extinction probability into the metric.
• * Application to a phylogenetic network of Galápagos tortoises using mitochondrial control region data.

Main Results:

• * The I-HEDGE metric effectively identifies optimal conservation priorities by considering complementarity.
• * Restoring two extinct Galápagos tortoise species offers the greatest potential gain in phylogenetic diversity.
• * An ordered ranking of species provides an optimal set for conservation prioritization.

Conclusions:

• * The I-HEDGE metric offers a significant advancement in conservation prioritization by accounting for complementarity.
• * Prioritizing species based on I-HEDGE can maximize the preservation of evolutionary history.
• * The study provides a practical tool for guiding conservation efforts, exemplified by the Galápagos tortoise case study.