Global priorities for conservation of reptilian phylogenetic diversity in the face of human impacts

Phylogenetic diversity measures are increasingly used in conservation planning to represent aspects of biodiversity beyond that captured by species richness. Here we develop two new metrics that combine phylogenetic diversity and the extent of human pressure across the spatial distribution of specie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 2616 - 13
Main Authors: Gumbs, Rikki, Gray, Claudia L., Böhm, Monika, Hoffmann, Michael, Grenyer, Richard, Jetz, Walter, Meiri, Shai, Roll, Uri, Owen, Nisha R., Rosindell, James
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 26.05.2020
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects:
631/158/670
631/158/672
631/181/757
631/601/2721
Animal Distribution
Animals
Biodiversity
Birds
Conservation
Conservation of Natural Resources
Endangered Species
Extinction, Biological
Geographical distribution
Human influences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
multidisciplinary
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Pressure
Priorities
Reptiles
Reptiles & amphibians
Reptiles - classification
Risk
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spatial distribution
Species extinction
Species richness
Species Specificity
Stress concentration
Vertebrates
Wildlife conservation
ISSN:2041-1723, 2041-1723
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Phylogenetic diversity measures are increasingly used in conservation planning to represent aspects of biodiversity beyond that captured by species richness. Here we develop two new metrics that combine phylogenetic diversity and the extent of human pressure across the spatial distribution of species — one metric valuing regions and another prioritising species. We evaluate these metrics for reptiles, which have been largely neglected in previous studies, and contrast these results with equivalent calculations for all terrestrial vertebrate groups. We find that regions under high human pressure coincide with the most irreplaceable areas of reptilian diversity, and more than expected by chance. The highest priority reptile species score far above the top mammal and bird species, and reptiles include a disproportionate number of species with insufficient extinction risk data. Data Deficient species are, in terms of our species-level metric, comparable to Critically Endangered species and therefore may require urgent conservation attention. In addition to species richness, evolutionary measures of biodiversity are important considerations for conservation. Here, Gumbs et al. develop new biodiversity metrics incorporating phylogenetic diversity and human pressure and highlight conservation priorities in a global analysis of reptiles.
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ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16410-6