The EDGE2 protocol: Advancing the prioritisation of Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species for practical conservation action

The conservation of evolutionary history has been linked to increased benefits for humanity and can be captured by phylogenetic diversity (PD). The Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) metric has, since 2007, been used to prioritise threatened species for practical conservation tha...

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Published in:PLoS biology Vol. 21; no. 2; p. e3001991
Main Authors: Gumbs, Rikki, Gray, Claudia L., Böhm, Monika, Burfield, Ian J., Couchman, Olivia R., Faith, Daniel P., Forest, Félix, Hoffmann, Michael, Isaac, Nick J. B., Jetz, Walter, Mace, Georgina M., Mooers, Arne O., Safi, Kamran, Scott, Oenone, Steel, Mike, Tucker, Caroline M., Pearse, William D., Owen, Nisha R., Rosindell, James
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 28.02.2023
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Analysis
Animals
Biodiversity
Biological diversity conservation
Biological effects
Biological Evolution
Biology and Life Sciences
Computer and Information Sciences
Consensus View
Conservation
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Endangered & extinct species
Endangered Species
Evolution
Extinction
Extinction (Biology)
Humanities
Mammals
Methods
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Protection and preservation
Reptiles & amphibians
Species extinction
Threatened species
Wildlife conservation
United States
United Kingdom
ISSN:1545-7885, 1544-9173, 1545-7885
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The conservation of evolutionary history has been linked to increased benefits for humanity and can be captured by phylogenetic diversity (PD). The Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) metric has, since 2007, been used to prioritise threatened species for practical conservation that embody large amounts of evolutionary history. While there have been important research advances since 2007, they have not been adopted in practice because of a lack of consensus in the conservation community. Here, building from an interdisciplinary workshop to update the existing EDGE approach, we present an “EDGE2” protocol that draws on a decade of research and innovation to develop an improved, consistent methodology for prioritising species conservation efforts. Key advances include methods for dealing with uncertainty and accounting for the extinction risk of closely related species. We describe EDGE2 in terms of distinct components to facilitate future revisions to its constituent parts without needing to reconsider the whole. We illustrate EDGE2 by applying it to the world’s mammals. As we approach a crossroads for global biodiversity policy, this Consensus View shows how collaboration between academic and applied conservation biologists can guide effective and practical priority-setting to conserve biodiversity.
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The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1545-7885
1544-9173
1545-7885
DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001991